The Trinity Game

wouldn’t serve—”
    “Three: You stand in front of those cameras tomorrow, and the first thing you do is tell the world that you are not the Messiah.”
    “With pleasure. I ain’t applying for that job.”
    “OK. But what I told you before still stands. If this all turns out to be some massive con, I will make it my mission in life to ruin the rest of yours. I will expose you, with the whole world watching.”
    Trinity reached forward and clinked his glass against Daniel’s. “I’ll hold you to that.” He drank the bourbon down in one gulp and refilled his glass. “Look, I understand you still suspect a grift…” He shrugged. “How could you think otherwise? But when that oil refinery blew, part of me died… I’m not lying to you. I believe in God, and this is no con.”
    “Then you better tell me what you and God are planning.”
    “Well, now you’ve pierced the heart of it.” Trinity’s hand shook a little as he sipped his drink. “I don’t have a clue what God is planning. He don’t tell me a goddamn thing.”
    “He told you He wanted me at your right hand.”
    “Danny. This thing didn’t come with an instruction manual. I’m fumbling around in the dark here.
Help
me.”
    Daniel stepped back, rocked by the sudden and certain knowledge that there was no con, that it was all true…and bythe responsibility it imposed…and by the enormity of what they didn’t know.
    He sat on the nearest chair, drank the bourbon.
    Trinity’s smile contained no humor. “
Now
you seein’ what I see. Welcome to my hell.”
    OK, all right, no panic. Use the brain God gave you, figure it out…
    Daniel took a deep breath. “All right, let’s start with what we know. You’ve been given the gift of prophecy—”
    “That’s a stretch,” said Trinity. “It just spews out of me at random, and I don’t even know what I’m saying when I’m saying it.”
    “Maybe God doesn’t trust you with it yet, but it’s still prophecy. What else do we know?”
    “We know it comes with money and power,” said Trinity.
    Daniel made a face. “Do you ever think of anything else?”
    “No, you’re not hearing me. It’s not about my desires. I already had plenty of money, but now I got money
simple
. That may be part of God’s plan, I don’t know, but we can’t ignore it. He musta known the dough would pour in when this went public. And the sermon tomorrow? Half a
billion
people might hear it, or read it in the paper. That’s power. And it petrifies me.”
    “Yeah…we can’t let fear paralyze us. What else do we know? We know—”
    “Holy crap!” Trinity shouted.
    “What?”
    “I got it! I got it!” Bouncing on the balls of his feet, like an excited kid. “The answer’s right there in scripture, son.
Do not worry beforehand about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.”
    “You’re just gonna wing it? That’s your plan?”
    “Oh ye of little faith,” said Trinity. “I’m gonna stand up there on that stage, look into the camera, open my mouth wide, and invite God to talk.”
    “A minute ago, you were petrified.”
    Trinity swallowed the rest of his drink. “Still am. But I’m choosing to put my trust in the Big Guy. Otherwise, why bother getting up there at all?”
    Daniel thought about it a long time, saying nothing, not quite successfully avoiding the thought that Tim Trinity’s faith was stronger than his own. He nodded, put down the glass.
    “OK, Tim. We’ll leave it up to God. Get some sleep, we’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

    As Daniel slipped the card key into the door, he felt the full weight of the last twenty-four hours. God, he was tired. He figured to be asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.
    He opened the door, stepped inside, flipped on the lights.
    His carry-on bag was sitting open on the dresser. He’d left it closed, on the chair.
    He crossed to the dresser and looked in the bag. The case file was gone. He ripped open the dresser’s top drawer. His laptop computer, also stolen. He walked to the closet, pulled the extra pillow off the shelf. The digital camera had been snatched as well.
    In its place, there was a small note card. It read:
    No theft here tonight.
The Church simply reclaimed her property.
–C.
    Daniel crumpled the card in his fist, threw the pillow against a wall, and swore. Then he took a couple of deep breaths and began a meticulous search of the room.
    Nothing