Page 69 of Demo

“Or someone really smart,” Jumper added softly.

Everyone turned towards the quiet man. As a general rule, Jumper didn’t talk during Church. He preferred to listen. More than once, Demo had heard him tell Bulldog or Lucky that it helps to keep him in the present. Aerial was lying peacefully at his feet. Jumper was always careful of the wheelie chairs around her.

“You think he’s being set up?” Steel questioned the other officer.

Jumper shrugged. “You have a man of questionable intelligence being accused of making a sophisticated explosive device that required making a homemade plastique. That in and of itself is difficult, regardless of one’s search histories. The smallest mistake could make the plastic explosive useless or too volatile.”

“He’s right,” Demo agreed. “We used to call it the Goldilocks Effect. The recipe has to bejust right.”

“Yet he makes the one mistake that rendered his creation utterly useless?” Jumper inquired of the table as a whole.

“Heput the bomb in the parking lot,” Keys reminded them all, again.

Jumper shrugged, “Maybe. But who says he knew what was in the duffel?”

“You can’t honestly believe someone was able to trick the man into leaving abombin a duffel on our property?” Cage scoffed.

“According to you, he’s a dumbass.”

“Evenhe’snotthatdumb.”

Steel wrapped his knuckles on the wood table. “The bomb took time to create. Regardless of the fact that it was a dud, it took purpose and intent. Merrick lacks motive.”

“He hates us,” Pumpkin put in. “Yelizaveta has lent me a hand a few times with SJ. I’ve asked her how she likes working here. She says she loves it but her husband doesn’t. He wants her to quit.”

“Her broken English is difficult to understand at times,” Lucky said gently. “I’ve tried to talk to her but it’s hard. How did you get so much from her?”

Pumpkin shrugged. “My deadbeat of a dad was Ukrainian and spoke Russian. I grew up bilingual before he left us for his secretary. Took a bit to remember some things, but we muddle through. While I can’t guarantee a perfect translation, it’s enough for us to hold a conversation when she helps out.”

“Why is she working here if her husband doesn’t want her to?” Everyone turned to Grumpy.

Angel’s eyebrows flew up. “Because a wife needs her husband’s permission to work somewhere?”

Grumpy did not take the bait, though his perpetual scowl did deepen slightly. “Of course not. I meant, given her history and what seems to be the uneven dynamic of their marriage. Merrick seems like the type of man who is misogynistic by nature.”

“She knew of the job opening from Harper,” Lucky said from the other side of the table. Yelizaveta’s son, Carter, was one of Harper’s students. “Steel and I interviewed her. She likes cleaning and has always wanted a job but she can’t leave Carter home alone. Harper assured her before she came in to interview that Carter was welcome here whether she was on the clock or not.”

“Merrick not approving or wanting Yelizaveta to work here still isn’t a motive to plant abomb,” Bones piped up from beside Pirate. Demo knew he’d been quiet for most of the meeting because he was trying not to draw Steel’s attention to him. Steel was still pissed about Bones not calling for help following his therapy session two weeks ago. Since then, Will had been at Bones’ beck and call per Steel’s order.

“And around and around we go,” Bulldog scoffed. “I am fairly certain we could argue this all damn day.”

Steel hit his gavel against the table. “Which is why I am calling for a closed vote now. Normally we openly vote,” Steel explained, “but given how divided we are, I am willing to do a closed vote should anyone here wish it.”

Demo flipped the top sheet on his legal pad to a blank page as Lucky said loudly, “All in favor of a closed vote?”

No one spoke up.

Lucky turned to Steel. “Open vote it is.”

Steel looked to Demo. “Ready?”

Demo nodded.

“Those who believe Billy Merrick is guilty of planting the bomb at the clubhouse with the intention of having it explode to wound and/or kill many of us, raise your hand.”

Out of sixteen patched members, eleven raised their hand. Bear, Angel, Cage, Bones, and Jumper did not. Though an officer, Bear, as Road Captain, did not get a vote unless it was to be the tiebreaker. Since there were sixteen in the room, removing Bear from the voting members gave them an odd number so there couldn’t be a tie. If someone was absent or wished to transfer their vote to Bear, then he would become the tiebreaker.

Clearly, more than half of the club believed in Merrick’s guilt.

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