here are all lawyers, my lawyers. The organization you’re joining is very secretive. We have to be with what we get up to.” He laughed gently and guided her past his legal battalions.
“More documents to sign, I’m guessing?” Eve said.
“Extensive, I’m afraid. Something to drink?”
“Riesling...” she motioned to a small bar on the far side of the room and sat down at the only open chair, “you know I really don’t see the need to do this. I’m a grown woman.”
“Ah, yes, yes you are, but you know this world of lawyers we have, we must cover all eventualities. Don’t worry; we’ll have you back with Matt on tomorrow’s flight to D.C. Promise.” He held up his best scout’s honor three-fingered salute, and busied himself with her drink.
“Okay, let’s get this over with,” she returned his smile, picked up the pen, and began speed signing documents. The Ralph Fiennes look-alike glanced at the lawyer sitting next to him on his right and smiled, giving a slight nod.
Ninety minutes and stacks of documentation later, Eve’s hand cramped. She forced her fingers to sign the last paper. “Are we done with this nonsense now? I have a life to get back to.”
“All done. The limo will take you back to the house. See you soon Eve.”
Eve paused. “You know it’s rather expensive… having a roomful of lawyers in one place at one time... and not a corporation. What exactly is going on here?” She looked around the room quickly and the full weight of all the documents hit her. She was too busy thinking about Matt, wanting to get back to him, but her encounters with Henri kept interrupting her more chaste, loving thoughts about Matt. Distracted... and that’s how this happened. That’s how hours’ worth of documents had been signed in total without knowing much about what she was joining let alone the man’s name that had picked her up that morning and had surrounded her with a legal army for hours.
The chestnut-haired gentleman held a finger up to his lips, stopping himself before he began to speak. He obviously was concerned about the wording, which wasn’t a good sign.
“Eve, you’re a smart woman. I’m going to be blunt with you. Everyone joins us for the sex, the money... such petty reasons for such a commitment. But, noone has said no yet. I’ll let you in on a secret no one else will admit to... they stay, Eve, they stay with us, working for us, for the power. By the way… my name is Malcolm. I’m the current head of the organization. We have many happily retired members, of course, if that’s your concern. I hope you will be one someday, wealthy and with a very adventurous life behind you and ahead of you at least as much as you want. That’s up to you.”
“What in the hell are you talking about. What did I sign?”
“Didn’t your mother tell you not to sign things you haven’t read, Eve? You are now an asset of The Black Band. We are a sub-order, so to speak, of the British Order of the Garter. I know that Mr. Chapman has told you that much at least. We started out as an organization to care for the members of The Order and their less desirable business and problems during World War I, but we… progressed from there during and after World War II. We now do quite a bit of untoward business for various American and Western security agencies. We are strictly black ops. That means we leave no paper trails. Everything is cash or limited bank accounts that go nowhere. We’re untraceable except for those papers you just signed and those will go deep, deep into the Earth where you and others can’t get to them. We have no official government affiliations. We never will. Officially, we don’t exist. You are a deniable asset. That means if someone captures you, kills you, or otherwise, no one admits to knowing you no matter the situation. To the people that think they know we’re simply a sex club. To the people that belong and those that hold power, we’re what’s standing