Hands All Over

Ch. 49 Silver Lining

Angela was woken up by the shrill ringing of her phone. She groaned as she opened her eyes, her neck stiff from sleeping on the couch all night. She'd been determined to stay up and wait for him but had clearly failed. Rubbing at her tired eyes, she reached out for the vibrating phone. "Hello?" she mumbled, holding back a yawn.

Juice relaxed at the sound of her voice. As soon as the DA decided to move him into ATF holding, he'd demanded his one phone call. He knew his rights, and he also knew he needed a story to tell his brothers, one that could be verified by his girl. "Hey baby," his voice sounded rough, even to his own ears. "I'm in ATF holdin'. Shit's a little bigger than I thought. I don't know how much longer they'll make me stay."

"Okay," she said nodding slowly. She heard the sound of Harley's pulling into the drive and grimaced, cursing under her breath.

"What? What's going on?" he asked, panicking slightly. A number of things could make her curse like that, and he was especially jumpy now he knew the DA knew about her.

"Chibs and Bobby are here."

"Tell 'em I got taken in by Roosevelt and then went out for a ride when I was released. Somewhere far but close."

Angela let out a light laugh at his twisted description. "Far but close? What the hell, Juice?" she hissed, watching as Bobby answered his phone and Chibs made his way to the door.

"Yosemite. Tell 'em I went up to Yosemite," he clarified knowing it wasn't that far of a stretch. He'd made the ride up there before when he'd needed an escape. Chibs knew how much he liked that ride. "That's all you know, okay?"

She sighed, raking a hand through her hair. "Yeah."

"Everything's going to be okay, Angel. I'm going to make it okay," he promised her, his voice shaking just a little with his nerves. He didn't know why they were holding him or what they wanted from him, but he had to find a way to make it okay. For her. For their kid.

"I know." The knock on the door told her their conversation had to be cut short. She hated to let him go like that. "I gotta go, Juice. Be careful. I love you."

"Stay safe, Angel. Love you too."

Reluctantly, Angela hung up the phone and made her way to the door. She sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves and put on a brave face. Chibs would spot her lie from a mile away if she was just the slightest bit nervous. Forcing a smile on her face, she opened the door. "Hey Chibbies."

Chibs looked her over, a frown turning down the corners of his lips. The big circles under her eyes were a dead giveaway that she hadn't slept the night before, and he knew why. Roosevelt had picked Juice up...again. The stress of that topped with Juice's suicide attempt looked like it was wearing on her. "Mornin', love. Juicy-boy home?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

"Heard he got picked up by Roosevelt. Piss test," he stated, looking over her shoulder as if Juice was hiding behind her. "He come home at all?"

Angela nodded. "Earlier this morning," she answered casually. "Grabbed his bike and headed off to Yosemite to think."

Chibs raised his eyebrows, surprised she'd let him ride out by himself especially because of what happened just a few nights before. "Alone?"

"Yeah. I offered to go with him, but he told me to go back to sleep," she explained on a shrug. She knew she had to look like she hadn't slept in days, so she played it to her advantage; the state she was in, it was totally reasonable for Juice to tell her to go back to sleep. "He's okay, Chibs. It's not going to happen again. I promise you."