It Was Always You

Ch. 42 Getting Closer

Juice couldn't take his eyes off the printed out photo that the bounty hunter, Sergio, handed him. It was a little blurry, but he could make Angela, Cameron, and Abel out clear as day. It made everything they'd gone through to help Serg worth it. The chase in the porn stop, getting bowled over by that asshole, and chasing him down the street until the dumbass finally ended up getting hit by a damn Prius. The grainy photo in his hand made it all worth it. He traced a finger over her face, his heart aching in his chest. She was still wearing his sweatshirt, her hair in two braids on either side of her head, a diaper bag slung over her shoulder. Cameron and Abel were looking at something, but she was looking directly into the camera as if she knew they'd pull this footage. Sergio had said she was what caught his eye when he was looking through security camera footage from the train station. She'd paused in front of the camera, looking straight down the lens. An odd thing for someone to do, but Juice knew it was Angela trying to find some way to get help. To signal to someone what they were doing, where they were going. He couldn't be more proud of her.

After showing the picture to Jax and the rest of the club, he set his sights for Elena's house. He was ready to drive up to Vancouver now, but the rest of the club decided to see if they could find a more specific location. Canada was big, and since they were all out on bail, they weren't allowed to cross country lines. They needed an exact location to make it worth it. If it were up to him, they'd leave that same night and figure it out as they went, but it wasn't up to him, and he understood the reasoning behind holding off, he just didn't like it.

He and Happy rode together to Elena and Graciela's house. Both of them silent as they walked into the dark house. Graciela and Elena were both already asleep but knowing they were there was comforting to him. "Ma made food," Hap said as he turned the lights in the kitchen on. "Hungry?"

Juice sighed; he wasn't hungry. Hadn't been hungry since Angela was taken. "Not really."

"Gotta eat," Hap said, punching at the microwave buttons and watching the plate spin as it heated up.

"I'm fine," he stated, sitting down heavily at the kitchen table and pulling his laptop towards him. Unbeknownst to his club, he had another copy of the print out that was just her. He'd asked Sergio for it, and the guy had printed him a different still. He took it out of his pocket, unfolding it, and laying it on the table. He opened the laptop and went to the Vancouver train station website.

Happy set a plate and fork down beside the printed photo.  "Eat."

"I'm good," he insisted, trying to find a blue print of the station's layout to see where the cameras were. Maybe he could get a good read for what direction they were headed by which cameras picked them up at which platform.

"Eat," he repeated, sitting on the other side of the table with a plate of his own. He reached over and grabbed the print out. Juice fought every instinct to snatch it back away from him. Hap regarded the photo with a frown. "You look like a skinny shit when we find her, 'n' she's gonna be pissed."

Juice knew he wasn't wrong; Angela would be pissed he wasn't taking care of himself. Begrudgingly, he took a forkful of rice and shoved it in his mouth. It didn't taste quite as good as it normally did, but he kept eating the rice, beans, and chicken, forcing it down because he knew he needed the sustenance if he was going to stay up late again. Happy looked back at the picture, frowning as he looked her over. Juice nodded towards the photo. "Why hasn't she run? What's she waiting for?"

"Probably a minute alone with the baby. Got a feelin' he ain't letting her be with the baby alone. She ain't gonna just leave him."

He didn't know why he felt relief at his answer. Those questions had been plaguing him. He had thought that would be the first thing she did, her sole purpose for even going. Happy's response made sense, though; she wasn't going to leave Abel behind. "Right," he breathed, taking a sip of the beer Hapy had also placed in front of him. "You think we're smart to wait?"