Runaway ✔

118 • Juice

Juice leaned forward to tap his cigarette on the edge of the ashtray and looked awaiting at Clay. The man heaved a deep sigh and leaned with both elbows at the table. His head was bent a little. He looked older than Juice had ever realized. 

"That girl needs to go," he said without any introduction.

Juice widened his eyes in shock. "W-what?"

"There are already three of our brothers missing around the table and she left this morning. She's a liability. If we are going to retaliate, I want her far away from here. Abroad, if possible, so we don't have to worry about her."

Juice took the words in, not knowing what Clay wanted to tell him. He shook his head. "I won't leave her side," he clarified. 

Clay glared at him. For a moment he seemed at the verge of scolding him because he wasn't putting the club first, then his eyes shot to Kozik and Chibs. "Figured that," he said with a gruff tone. 

Nervously Juice shove from left to right on his chair. What did he mean? He'd told them he wanted to stay with Dana before thinking about it, but he didn't want to turn his back to the club either. "What's the plan?" he insisted when the silence persisted. 

Some looks were exchanged. Juice got the feeling there wasn't a plan at all. In the end it was Jax who sat up a little straighter. His eyes seemed to get a bluer glow, as if his grief because of Opie subsided for a while. "I'll talk to Alvarez, I bet he can get the two of you in Mexico. I can't imagine he has no connections. As soon as that asshole is six feet under the ground, we'll let you know so you can come back. Consider it as a vacation or something," Jax added as Juice raised his eyebrows in protest.

He didn't like it, go into hiding with Dana in a place where he couldn't count on his brothers. But Clay got a point. As long as Dana was here, she was an added concern to the club. 

He looked briefly at Kozik, curious to the opinion of his brother. He cared more about Dana than any of the others. When he nodded slowly, Juice caved in too.

"Nobody outside this room will know she goes to Mexico. We make it look like we take her to a safe house close to Charming. We guard the place for a few days, until we're sure there's no way anyone can track you two."

Juice took a drag from his cigarette while letting the plan sink in. The safe house was hidden in the woods, if they would leave with a different car in the middle of the night, they might indeed get away unnoticed. If the pres of the Mayans could really smuggle them into his homeland, he had more confidence in their safety than when they would stay around Charming.

"But won't you need me?" he asked, hesitating. Even though it hadn't been his own idea, he still had the feeling he was abandoning the club. 

"We borrow a guy from one of the other charters," Kozik suggested. "If you keep your burner and laptop close, we can always reach out for your help if we really need you."

Again Juice nodded, glad he would still be involved with the club. "And you? What will you do?"

"Not anything rash," Clay answered. "Observe. That guy will become impatient, especially when his informants no longer get a glimpse of his lover and he has no idea where to start looking for her." His lips turned into a smirk. "It's a big world..."

A big world... it certainly was. The thought of going to Mexico made Juice feel nervous. Even though his mother was Puerto Rican, he didn't speak a word Spanish and he'd never went to another country. Still he hid his fear for the unknown behind an optimistic grin, before Kozik would decide it might be better if he was the one going with Dana.