An hour later, Chen strode into his office, which was bigger than most hotel suites. Ezekiel swept the area for additional surveillance before allowing Chen to set up the call. In the center of the room was a table big enough to seat twenty.
A small monitor sat in the center of the table. Chen tapped on the “start conference” button, and a gigantic movie screen lowered from the ceiling and blinds covered the windows, leaving the room in a semi-darkened state.
Moments later, several video feeds appeared on the gigantic screen. Ezekiel contacted the conference attendees who had disabled the video feed; Chen enjoyed seeing everyone’s faces when he was speaking to them. He liked how it provided a little more intimacy in an age where that was rare. He glanced at his watch; it was 8:57 a.m. Latecomers weren’t reprimanded, but Chen reserved the right to suspend any territory payments for those in violation of his rules. Chen always waited until the scheduled meeting time to begin. He disliked repeating himself, and if anyone was late, it was their responsibility to get caught up.
At the stroke of nine, Dahlia, Mr. Tage, and the Sultan were visible on the conference screen.
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“Welcome, esteemed members. I know it is late for some of you, and my apologies. I just wanted to ensure that your lieutenants will be available during our conference. You are allowed three lieutenants, but they must be prioritized in order of rank or importance. For example, the man standing behind me is Ezekiel, and he is my primary,” Chen said.
“Are we to bring all of our lieutenants, or just the primary?” asked Dahlia.
“I’ll leave that choice to you, but it’s your responsibility to brief them on the inner workings of our Cabal. Are there any more questions?”
Everyone on the video conference shook their head.
“Excellent. I will expect all of you—including the lieutenants—at the Bromwick Hotel a week from today. I have reserved suites for all of you. I’ll reserve additional rooms for your lieutenants. I just need a final count before tomorrow.”
“I’m bringing all three of my lieutenants,” Dahlia said.
I don’t know Dahlia very well, but anyone trained by the infamous Black Heart will be formidable, Chen reasoned silently.
“I will bring my primary, but I suspect my two new lieutenants will be in attendance,” the Sultan said.
“Excellent! What about you, Tage? Do you have a final count?” Chen asked.
“Just my primary,” Mr. Tage confirmed.
“Remember you will need to stay for the entire conference, but it shouldn’t last more than a few days. Security will be provided, and bring no additional people, except your lieutenants, of course. We have much to discuss.”