Move the Sun (Signal Bend #1)(77)

But Lilli was resolute. “I won’t, Isaac. No. It brings the club way too far into this. I won’t do it.”

He tried again. “Lilli—,” but then he realized that he was alone on the call; she’d ended the connection.

Fuck. He also knew she wouldn’t pick up again if he called back. She’d made her decision. FUCK.

“Show. Hold on. Change of plan.” Rover was in the corner, playing Galaga on one of the old arcade games. Isaac called him over. “Rove’s gonna take Ray back home and hang out with him until he hears otherwise from you or me.” He turned to Rover. “Just keep him home, buddy. That’s your job today. Get Ray home and keep him there until you get word from me or Show. Got it?”

Rover got it. He and Show went back and roused Ray. When they got him into the van and Rover took off, Show came back to Isaac. “What the hell, boss?”

He shook his head. “God save me from women who think they know better. Lilli doesn’t want it goin’

down in the clubhouse. She’s trying to keep us clear.”

“I get that. She’s a good girl, but we’re not clear. No way we can be.”

“I know.” But his woman was stubborn and sure she was right.

oOo

By the time the club was in the Keep, surrounding the ebony table, Show and Isaac had been able to talk to Bart, Len, Victor, and CJ. All were shocked about what Ray had done and how Lilli was involved.

All were dismayed at the way it bore down on a brother and sorry for what Wyatt would face. But all were in agreement that the club should not stand in Lilli’s way. Dan had been out with Wyatt, and Havoc had been out on a repair job and late back to the clubhouse, so they would be hearing of all this for the first time at the table, with Wyatt. They were wild cards. Wyatt was not. This was going to be a hard vote.

Isaac took a moment to collect this thoughts, then looked around at the faces of his brothers. “We have a hard vote today, brothers. I need to tell you a story first, so bear with me.” Without naming Ray or Lilli, he told the story they’d both told. He watched each man’s reaction. Most had heard it once before. Dan and Havoc clearly had not, and he could tell from their reactions that they would most likely vote with the rest to stay out of Lilli’s way. But Isaac was especially interested to watch Wyatt’s reaction. He looked surprised as well, but not in the same way. Wyatt looked surprised as if a secret he’d held had been revealed.

Isaac had been right. Wyatt had already known what his brother had done.

When Isaac finished, he said, “And here’s why it puts us around the table today. The female pilot I’ve been talking about is my Lilli. The bastard who rigged her copter to fail is Ray Hobson. He confessed to me and Show this afternoon. Lilli is here to render justice. Because Ray is family to a brother, we need to vote on whether he remains under club protection.”

Wyatt leaned forward, stunned. “Goddammit, Isaac. You can’t be saying you’re putting my brother’s life to a f*cking vote! He did nothing to the club. This isn’t club business—or if it is, he is our business. He’s my business, my responsibility.”

Isaac leaned forward, too. “It’s not our retaliation, that’s true. And we’re not taking it. But we have to decide as a club whether we’re prepared to defend a man who got almost a dozen men killed because he thought having a woman doing the same job as him made his dick look small. Defend him against my old lady— also family to the club.”

There was a collective sense of shock in the room. Isaac was pushing it here; he hadn’t even talked to Lilli about this. But the stakes were high, and he had to go all in. Poker might not be his game, but sometimes he had to play.

Wyatt virtually threw himself out of his chair. “Your old lady? How can she be your old lady? You’ve known her, what, a month? A little more? Fuck, I haven’t even seen the bitch yet! She’s no family to me!”

Isaac was out of his chair, now, too, ready to fight. Show grabbed him. Dan grabbed Wyatt. Show urged Isaac to sit, but he would not until Dan wrangled Wyatt back into his chair. Then Isaac sat. Still standing, Show spoke.

“Seems to me Lilli’s status is between Isaac and her, and it’s not on point. The point is this: I heard Ray confess. His side of the story jives right up with what Lilli told me. It’s a true story, boys, and it’s an awful thing he did. He got away with it, and he let Lilli take the fall. No matter what we vote, I won’t stand in the way of her justice. Nothing can bring back the men whose lives ended because Ray didn’t like a woman getting up on him.” He looked at Wyatt. “I’m sorry, brother. But you know this is how things work. A man pays what he owes.”

Wyatt looked stricken but said only, “Vote.” Show sat down.

Isaac went around the table. The final tally was 8 to 1. Ray had lost club protection. Wyatt stormed out of the Keep. Isaac pointed at Dan and Havoc. “Keep an eye on him. He stays put. I don’t want him doing something stupid and digging himself a hole.” Havoc went straight out.

Dan was set to follow, but then CJ spoke up, his gruff voice filling the room. CJ and Wyatt were close.

“Point him at a girl. Wy never turns down *, ‘specially when he’s het up.”

Isaac nodded, knowing Ceej was right. “LaVonne’s out there. She likes Wyatt.” With one quick nod of his head, Dan headed into the Hall.