Hands All Over

Ch. 111 Forget the World

Angela locked the door to the workroom and glanced up at the window, considering it for a moment. She could fit through there. Easily. She wouldn't be going far. Bones' parent's place was only twenty minutes away. They wouldn't notice she was gone in that time, right? She pushed herself up onto the counter and then laughed. What the hell was she doing? She was a grown woman with a daughter, she shouldn't be shimmying out of a window to sneak out. It was likely that she was crazy anyway. Juice was long gone. Bones had promised her he was. There was no way her apprentice was hiding her husband at his ranch house. That was just insane.

But still...she hadn't seen any of the groceries Bones had bought off of Juice's list in his apartment. She'd looked through every cabinet and that gigantic bottle of protein powder was nowhere to be found. She knew the ranch house had a gym and Bones said he was using it, but where did all the fruits and vegetables go? Those were perishable. He didn't go there often enough to go through them in two days. She knew because he spent most of the time in the funeral or at her house since he and the Winstons decided to start sleeping over there. No way would he leave the fresh fruits and veggies in that beautiful kitchen to rot.

She knew it was unlikely Juice was hiding out there, but she had to make sure for her own sanity. So she'd set her plan into motion. She'd grabbed Bones' ranch keys, told him and the idiot prospect sitting on her that she had a case to work on, and locked herself in the morgue, pumping the music as loud as she could to avoid detection. "Here goes nothing," she muttered, pulling herself up and out through the window with a grunt. Once out, she stood and stretched, feeling her back pop with the movement; she was too old for this shit. Looking around quickly, she made a run for the cemetery where she'd left the funeral home van. Her hands shook as she stuck the keys in the ignition. She wasn't sure if it was the adrenaline that came with sneaking out that made her jittery or the idea she might see Juice again.

Her heart was beating fast as she pulled up to the wrought iron gate and typed in the code. The large hacienda style house before her looked the same as it always did, totally pristine. Her hands fumbled clumsily with the keys as she unlocked the door's three locks and pushed inside. Looking around, she noticed a change from the last time she'd been there. All of the toys that had previously littered the floor were gone as were the old magazines and books. The remotes were lined up on the table in order of size, the kitchen immaculate. It looked like her house did after Juice stress-cleaned. Mini hand sanitizers and all.

Her heart was in her throat as she headed into the kitchen and opened a few of the cabinets. The first thing she found was the big bottle of protein powder. She slammed the cabinet closed as if she'd been burned. No, no this wasn't happening. They weren't that dumb. Bones wouldn't go behind her back. Juice was not there. He was away. He was safe. He was-

"Hey Bones, I..." the familiar voice interrupted her thoughts and she froze. All the signs pointed to him being there, but she didn't want to believe them. Slowly, she turned around, ready to chew him out for being such an idiot, but the sight before her had her forgetting all of the things she wanted to say.

Juice was shirtless save for a pair of basketball shorts, his tanned skin gleaming as if he'd just finished a workout. God, she wanted to jump him. Wrap her legs around those hips and let him take her against the nearest wall. At the same time, she wanted to punch him in his handsome face. How could he do this to her? How could he jeopardize his own life like this? He was supposed to be gone! He was supposed to be somewhere safe!

"Angel," he breathed, his doe eyes wide with shock as he approached her. "What are you doing here?"

She swallowed hard, remembering how furious she was supposed to be with him. "I could ask you the same fucking question!" she exclaimed angrily, pushing him away with her hands on his chest. "What happened to leaving Charming?"