The Trinity Game Read Online Free Page A

enslaves us, and causes us to break God’s laws. Get back, Devil! Powers and principalities!” Trinity swatted the air again with his Bible. “Glory to God, I am telling the
truth
today! Sin is a demonic force that causes
all
our suffering.”
    Pacing the stage again. “People ask me, they say, ‘Reverend Tim, do you mean that poverty is a sin?’—
thwack
—YES! Poverty is a sin. God don’t want you to be poor of spirit, and He don’t want you to be poor of material comforts. God loves you—why would He want you to suffer? And poverty
is
suffering. Only the Devil wants you to be poor.” The toothy smile flooded his face once more. “But here is the good news: If you
really
want to live in abundance—abundance is yours for the taking! Word of God. All you have to do is act
in faith
. When you act in faith, God will return it to you
one-hundred-fold
. But you must sow your seed, or you cannot expect to reap the harvest of God’s riches.”
    Trinity stopped pacing, dropped the smile, looked straight into the camera lens. “I’m calling on you,
right now
, to make a thousand-dollar vow of faith to this television ministry. You know who you are—I’m
talking
to you. You don’t have a thousand dollars right now, in the material world, but that’s OK—you
vow
it,and you start
paying
on it, in faith, fifty dollars, a hundred dollars, two hundred dollars, five hundred dollars at a time…and as you pay on your vow, God will take the measure of your faith, and He will begin to work
miracles
in your life! Word of
God!
Hallelujah!
”
    Father Nick lowered the volume as Trinity assured viewers they could use any major credit card to sow their seeds of faith. “You know him better than anyone,” he said and gestured at the screen.
    “
Knew
him,” said Daniel. “Twenty years ago.”
    “Just tell me what you see.”
    “I don’t see anything. It’s the same old snake oil, and he still sells the crap out of it. Just a fancier package…nicer suit, bigger watch, better hairdo. The man knows his scripture, and the way he twists it, it always comes out
Send Me Money
. That’s all I see.” He searched for something else to say. What
did
he see? “He’s got a lot more followers now. Oh, and he’s had a facelift.”
    “Really?”
    “He’s sixty-four, and he’s a drinker. He’s had a facelift.”
    “What else?”
    Then it hit him. “Ah, he’s not speaking in tongues anymore. He used to sprinkle a lot of gibberish in with the rest of the pitch.”
    “Watch.” Nick paused the video. “He still does the tongues routine, but not as often. And it’s different now.” He hit play.
    Trinity continued his money pitch for another minute or two. Then he froze, mid-sentence, like an epileptic having a
petit mal
seizure. He stood stock-still for a few seconds. Then his lips began to twitch. His entire body lurched to the left. Then jerked again, harder, like he’d just stuck his finger in a light socket.
    And the tongues began. It was still gibberish, but Nick was right—it had changed. The tongues that Trinity used to speak sounded like a bad parody of some West African language, spicedwith a little Japanese inflection. But what Daniel heard now was very different. The sounds coming from Trinity’s mouth were not like any language Daniel had ever heard. In fact, like
nothing
he’d ever heard. He couldn’t even imagine how to make them.
    Father Nick shut off the television. “What do you think?”
    “It’s different, all right,” said Daniel. “Very dramatic. Weird. I don’t know how he does it.”
    “It goes way beyond just sounding weird,” said Father Nick. He put on his reading glasses and moved a thick file folder to the center of his desk blotter, then reached for the telephone. “Here’s where it gets
really
weird.”

 
    N ick picked up the telephone receiver, punched a single button, and spoke to his secretary. “George, send Giuseppe in.”
    As the door behind him opened, Daniel turned in