Marcus sat in the Lobby of Finn’s office, dressed in a high-end burgundy suit. He’d clocked Finn’s secretary looking at him, but he’d chosen to ignore her. He still wasn’t sure why Bishop Ellis wanted him in this meeting, but orders were orders. Finn’s secretary picked up her phone, and then motioned to Marcus to go into the office.

Just as Marcus got to the door, he got a vision in a flash. It lasted barely a second, but somehow he knew what he was about to walk into when he opened that door.

He opened it and saw a lady moving to the other end of the conference table, giggling as she straightened her hair. Marcus knew that whatever negotiation was going to happen here, it had all been worked out already; this was just the formal song and dance for the rest of the parties involved.

***

“So the accounts and assets for Upward Ministries will all be transferred to Temple of Believers Incorporated, but Upward Ministries will continue operating under that name. The current board will be dissolved, and a new board will be installed by the Temple of Believers leadership. The current head pastor, Reverend Christie Simmons, will remain in that role until otherwise. Any disagreement so far?”

No one answered, so Hans kept going. “A percentage of the money that comes in through tithes, offerings, vows, et cetera will be sent to the Temple of Believers headquarters as a token, and Temple of Believers reserves the right to assign and remove pastors and leaders from Upward Ministries as they see fit. Of course, in the spirit of cordial relations, we will always consult Reverend Christie before we make any such decisions.”

Finn winked at Christie, which yielded a smile from her. The entire board of Upward Ministries seemed fine with everything so far, and none of them seemed to notice the interaction between their reverend and Finn. That was no surprise, given that most of them were bored to sleep by all the legalities because they were not business people.

Marcus observed as Hans spoke, laying out the rest of the terms of the deal. Upward Ministries was previously under Reverend Jim Simmons, but he died mysteriously eight months ago. His son, Les, had taken over for about three months, but all three months came with multiple moral missteps which led to a hostile removal which led to Christie taking over. She immediately restructured the board, removing anyone who posed a threat to her and replacing them with people who would be agreeable to her ways.

It all looked random, but what Marcus knew that the rest of the room didn’t was that Finn and Hans had each cultivated separate relationships with Christie under the guise of consoling her through her grief. Both of them had an amorous relationship with her, and Hans had been the unseen brain behind the restructuring. This was not a deal between a fractured church that was desperate for help; it was the crowning move of an eight-month operation to steal this church and its assets. As to why this church mattered that much, he didn’t know.

***

Hans was chuckling to himself the whole meeting. The only thing about this deal which had annoyed him was the fact that the whole board had to approve; one dissent and the deal would be halted. But, he’d worked around this problem through his special relationship with Christie, who had made sure that none of them would dissent. It was time to end this drab meeting, and maybe go for pancakes after.

“If there are no further questions, I would like to thank you all for-“

“I have a question.”

That unexpected interjection woke everyone up.

“Hi, I’m Jude Stevens. My father, Jordan, has dialysis today and sent me in his place. I believe the proxy laws for our church allow that.”

Hans looked at Christie, who nodded, and a now mildly annoyed but polite Hans looked back at Jude. “Welcome, Jude. What’s your question?”

“You mentioned that a percentage of the money that comes in will go to Temple of Believers Inc. Is there a specific number for that?”

“That number is usually determined by the heads of both churches. So Bishop Ellis and Reverend Christie will get together and have a discussion on that before the next phase of negotiations. I hope that answers the question.”

Hans was ready to close the meeting again, but Jude wasn’t done. “Actually, my dad had concerns about that number. Before we lost Reverend Jim, there had been secret talks between him and Bishop Ellis concerning a potential sale, but they never got anywhere because he wasn’t interested in coming under the umbrella. But he did tell my father that if a sale ever happened, the most he’d allow to be sent out is ten percent. Now that he’s dead, my dad was wondering if this figure could be pre-agreed in honor of the dead founder’s wish.”

Finn gave Christie a cold stare, clearly annoyed by this development.

Hans turned to Christie, who looked a mix between confused and apologetic. “Reverend Simmons, did the late reverend mention any such agreement prior to this meeting?”

“Jim never said anything like that to me. At the time of his death, our church was thriving, so he had no reason to go under this church’s umbrella, and he definitely had no reason to even decide how much he would send in the event of an absorption.”

Hans turned back to Jude, who seemed unfazed by Christie’s response. “Jude, would you happen to have any evidence of this interaction? A signed document, a recording, anything of the sort?”

Jude pulled out an old cell phone, hit a few buttons, and handed it to Hans. Hans looked at the phone screen and although he kept his demeanor, anyone who knew him would know that he was fuming on the inside. He handed the phone to Finn, who also looked at it, and also kept his composure, hid his anger, and then passed it to Christie.

Christie took a look and then smirked as she tossed the phone back to Jude. “That’s not Jim’s text. It’s not even his number. Please disregard the gentleman’s assertion; it must’ve come from a different person. Mere speculation, nothing factual.”

Jude looked at her, and then smiled. “My mistake. I will go back to my dad and let him know he was misinformed.”

“Good, Jude. Now, if there are no further questions, I will ask Reverend Christie to close us with a prayer.”

*****

Later that night, Finn got up from his extra-curricular activities with Christie at her house and went into her kitchen to get a bottle of water. He opened her fridge and grabbed two bottles, but then Christie had followed him in without him knowing and hugged him from behind. “Brother Finn, you really know your way around a woman’s body. You never fail to get mine purring and wanting more.”

Finn turned around in her embrace and kissed her forehead, moving her towards the counter across the fridge. Then he kissed her on the lips, and turned her around. “You’re a naughty girl, Reverend Christie. You are gleefully wallowing in sin, and you need this deliverance.”

“Yes, brother Finn. I have been corrupted and I need deliverance.”

Finn put the bottles of water on the counter, and then grabbed Christie’s hair and pulled her head back so that she was looking up at him. “You have been a bad girl. What was that whole thing with the young man in the meeting today?”

“Oh my goodness, Finn. Now? You want to do this now?”

“You know how important this deal is to the both of us. Does he pose a threat to it?”

“Finn, I promise you, neither Jordan nor his son will give us any trouble. Jordan was a holdover from the previous board, and he’s never gone against me because I have something on him. Now, stop worrying and start your deliverance.”

“He better not, Christie. Hans was really angry today. You know how he hates being upstaged when he thinks he has a sure thing.”

Christie leaned up to Finn, her hair still firmly in his grip. “Tell Hans that he has a sure thing. Better yet, I’ll go to his office tomorrow and tell him myself. Now, back to the business of the night.”

Finn let go of her hair, and she took the satin robe she was wearing off, and had Finn fully captivated with the view. She walked to the stairs, turned to him, and then motioned to him. “You coming?”

*****

“Marcus, how on earth do you not enjoy the pleasure that is goat meat light soup? I know you mostly ate chicken, but you have to understand, goat meat is a whole seasoning on its own. You have to give it a try.”

Bishop Ellis had invited Marcus to dinner at his home, and Marcus had committed the cardinal sin of choosing beef over goat when the chef asked which he would prefer. Marcus knew that his choice would earn a lecture, but he’d been distracted by the meeting from earlier in the week. “Bishop, goat overrides every other flavor. Can’t enjoy the food if all I taste is the goat.”

Bishop Ellis sensed that something else was going on, so he switched gears. “Marcus, what’s going on? Is it the meeting that’s bothering you?”

“Bishop, why is Upward Ministries so important to your plans? I get that it’s a big church, but their style of ministry is very different. They are independent Presbyterians and this church is charismatic. They are one church, and Temple of Believers has many branches and churches in its network. Why do we need more?”

“Son, don’t worry about that for now. You’ll understand in time. For now, learn as much as you can about the business.”

“I would love to, as long as I don’t have to rig deals and parade myself in front of a board as though I’m acting in good faith.”

“What do you mean, Marcus?”

“I saw something before I walked into the room, and the body languages of Finn and Reverend Christie confirmed it. Bishop, I have reason to believe that some arrangement was made by those two before the meeting, and it was not the godly kind.”

“Son, be careful what you say. You may have my favor, but those two are ordained ministers of the gospel. They are covered by God’s anointing. To slander them is to slander the name of God.”

“Its not slander, bishop. I know what I saw. They have a romantic relationship going.”

Bishop Ellis’ face darkened. He’d heard reports from different men of God and gotten warnings from different prophets, but this deal needed to be done and it needed to be done yesterday. He would deal with the boys after, maybe even demote them to teach them some humility. But whatever tactics they needed to employ to obtain this piece of the puzzle would have to do for now.

“Son, rest assured, I will deal with them myself. In the meantime, continue to observe and let me know what you see. Now, let’s finish this food.”

Did I say those sons were shameless? Yeah, they’ve showed us a new low, haven’t they? Uggghhh! The work of the ministry is really being treated like a business, isn’t it? And that Christie lady clearly has no morals herself. Man…