The Golden Bond

Chapter 16

"Is she all right?" The Master asked after picking up the phone, without greeting or asking who was there. He knew who was calling and why.

"Yes, sir, relatively," Ben replied and gave the Master a detailed description of everything that happened from the moment Eve sent the blue code, up until the point where she was admitted to the hospital. "They've pumped her stomach and treated her wounds, she looks like shit but she'll get over it. When we arrived she was already unconscious and that bastard Ferdinand was just removing her clothes." Ben could barely hide the rage in his voice. The Code would not allow it, but he would have loved to strangle that millionaire idiot with his bare hands.

The Master knew it and that's exactly why he asked him the next question. "What about Mr Franz and his gorillas?"

Ben knew he would make the Master happy. "We didn't hurt them, as the Code commands we just tied them up and called the police. Thanks to the pile of coke that the idiot had there they'll be locked up for a few years. Ferdinand is out of the game, sir. Not even his tycoon daddy can help him now."

The Master was satisfied. This was exactly the way the Lux Club disposed of their enemies. They never killed unless in self defence. They would only tidy the Umbra ones away skilfully somewhere and publicly discredit them with the help of the media so their power networks couldn't grow any more. An experienced PR department was one of the most productive floors of the 'bank'. That evening, an article on Mr Franz junior's drug scandal was already hitting the press.

The Master, however, still wasn't feeling totally at ease. Eve was in medically induced coma because of the seriousness of her injuries and nobody knew whether she'd been able to keep the Club's secrets or not. It was fair to assume that Ferdinand succeeded in violating her shield and found out about the whereabouts of William and the civilian, and maybe more. Nobody would know the full extent of the catastrophe until Eve woke up. However, at this point, Adam had a head start and William could be in danger.

"Warn Will," the Master said at last and hung up the phone.

Ben knew what to do and the other agents too. One of their kind was missing in Rome. Another one lay in hospital with serious injuries and the most skilled member of them was babysitting a mysterious civilian and he'd been with her right under the enemy's nose for far too long. There was a busy night ahead for the city, at the Lux Club headquarters they tried to regroup as best as they could whilst a few miles away Adam celebrated.