Page 64 of Lilly

The meeting is being held in a conference room at a hotel owned by one of our members. It's a secure location where we don't have to worry about people listening in or cameras watching us.

There's a guard at the door of the conference room. At first he refuses to let me in because he wasn't given my name as an attendee. I show him the note from William and he lets me through.

When I enter the room, Phillip is talking but he stops when he sees me, the color draining from his face.

"Pearce? What are you doing here?" He can't hide the sheer panic in his voice. It just confirms that this involves me somehow.

"William asked me to attend," I say casually as I take the seat across from him.

"You can't—you can't just show up." He's flustered, scrambling to hide whatever papers he had in front of him. He stuffs them in a folder.

"As I said, William asked me to be here." I slide the note across the table to him. "He's feeling much better by the way."

"Did they find out what's wrong with him?" the man next to me asks. It's Ken, an older man I've known for years. He doesn't seem the least bit concerned that I'm here. Actually, no one here does except for Phillip, which tells me that the rest of the committee isn't aware of whatever Phillip is planning.

"Not yet," I say to Ken. "But I'm sure they will soon enough."

"You need to leave," Phillip says.

"I'm not leaving. The rules dictate that I follow the orders of someone at a higher ranking. I'm simply doing as I'm told."

"Since when have you ever followed orders?" he spits out.

I let out a laugh. "True. But today I'm being obedient. Doing as I'm told." I check my watch. "We should get started. I'm sure these gentlemen would like to get on with their day."

Phillip points to the door. "Get out."

"You can't order me to leave."

"I'm running this meeting and I choose who will be here."

"And face punishment for going against the wishes of an upper level member?"

"He's on a leave of absence. His orders are meaningless!" Phillip's face is becoming red.

"That's incorrect," Ken says. "The rules state that William's orders still stand despite his leave of absence."

"Then fuck the rules!" Phillip shouts.

All the men in the room look at Phillip, appalled at both his language and his disrespect of the rules.

"Maybe you should excuse yourself, Phillip," a man at the end of the table says, "until you're better able to control your temper."

Phillip straightens up and takes a deep breath. "Forgive me for acting out. I just wasn't prepared to have an unexpected guest at our meeting today. So no one else objects to him being here?"

The men give no response.

"Very well." Phillip opens his folder. "Continuing where we left off, we are now in the second stage of the interviews. I've met with both of our candidates and both have signed the contracts. At this point, they know too much to go back to their regular lives. They'll either become members or we'll be forced to resort to measures that will ensure they keep quiet."

"Wait," I say stopping him. "You're saying these men have signed the contract without knowing if they've been accepted for membership?"

"That's how it works now, Pearce," Phillip says, a smug grin on his face. "Things have changed since you were in charge."

"And you've shared this with the other members?" I ask.

"Not yet," Ken says. "It's a new rule. Phillip's suggestion."

"And you all went along with it?" I ask, looking at the other men.

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