There are two ways to be fooled; one is to believe what isn't true. The other is to refuse to accept what is true. S. Kierkegaard
Hezekiah sat in his home office going over his message for Sunday. Everything was going right in his life and for that, he was especially grateful. He had a fat bank account, a couple of nice rides parked inside his three-car garage, a beautiful wife who loved him deeply and a church full of dedicated and committed members who loved presenting him with 'love offerings.'
Jubilee would probably bring in at least a hundred thousand and that wouldn't include the money he stood to receive personally from many of his members. He didn't take a salary. Instead, he preferred a love offering, which was raised for him every Sunday and could easily tally five figures. Along with the love offerings plus all the extra perks he received from Holy Rock, one could easily surmise that Pastor Hezekiah McCoy was sitting on top of the world. He wasn't an Osteen, Jakes, or Dollar but he was definitely doing well for himself and his family.
Not that he needed to, but because he could, he had his hands in a little of this and a little of that at the church, but he didn't think it was enough to cause suspicion. He'd learned from his past and knew how to avoid getting caught with his hand in the church cookie jar. Only one thing, or one person, could mess things up for him, and that was his head of Security, George Reeves.
About a year ago, George started attending Holy Rock with his wife, Bernice. She was a faithful member while George only attended to keep peace at home.
During one of his visits, he thought that he recognized the McCoys from somewhere other than Holy Rock. It wouldn't have raised suspicion because the McCoys quickly became known not only at Holy Rock but in the mid-south community. But George’s recognition went further than that. He thought there was something worth looking into with the dynamic duo.
Hezekiah leaned back in his office chair, placed the top of his ink pen to his lips, and inwardly cursed the fact that George was a sickening, nagging thorn in his flesh. He remembered that Sunday like it just happened yesterday. He had preached all three services and his voice had dwindled down to almost nothing. Yet, right before the end of service he left out of the sanctuary went to take a quick shower, customary for him, before he changed into the extra set of clothes he maintained in his church office. He planned to return to the sanctuary to greet his members as they exited.
This particular Sunday, after he’d performed his ritual and was about to go back into the sanctuary, he stepped outside his office and was confronted by a stocky, short white guy who looked eerily familiar. Hezekiah looked around. His armor bearers were nowhere to be found, and after what transpired, Hezekiah fired them. "Horace? Horace McKellar," the stranger said.
Hezekiah stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the man. He looked around again for his armor bearers. No one but him and this stranger were in the hall. Holy Rock was a diverse congregation but there was something that stood out like a sore thumb with this guy.
"I beg your pardon?" Hezekiah replied to the man. What did you call me?"
"I said, Horace McKellar. That is your name, isn't it?"
"I’m sorry. You’re mistaken. I'm Pastor Hezekiah McCoy. Look, if you need help, you can go to the front receptionist area and they can get one of the ministers to talk to you. Follow me. I’ll show you," Hezekiah said, trying to hide the nervousness in his voice. Who was this man? How did he know his real name? This could not be good for Hezekiah. He continued to walk down the hall, hoping to run into his armor bearers, and get this dude escorted out of the church. But was that what he really wanted. With this man knowing who he was, it may not be such a good idea.
"I think it's time we had a little one on one," the man said. "If you talk to me now, I don't see why I would need to bring the first lady into this."
Before Hezekiah could respond, one of his armor bearers appeared. Hezekiah looked at the armor bearer with anger in his eyes. His nostrils flared and he balled his hands into a tight fist like he was trying to keep himself from bursting.
The armor bearer must have detected the look on Hezekiah's face and realized that something was not quite right. "How can I help you, sir?" the armor bearer asked as he walked up on the man.
"You can't help me," George said. "Pastor McKel, uh, Pastor McCoy, will you tell him that you and I go a long way back, and we're just catching up?"
Hezekiah thought that he'd better see where this dude was coming from and what, if anything, he knew about him and Fancy. "Yeah, we do. Look, give us a few minutes. Tell one of the associate ministers to greet the congregation."
"Pastor, are you sure about this?" the armor bearer asked, as a second armor bearer walked up.
"Everything okay?" this one asked.
"Everything is fine. This is an old friend of mine. I haven't seen him since..."
"Since he moved from Chicago to Memphis," the man interrupted, causing Hezekiah to swallow deeply.
"That's right. It's been a minute. Anyway, we're going to be in my office," he told both armor bearers.
"Sure. I'll stay here outside your door," the first one said.
"We won’t be long,” Hezekiah told the armor bearers.
“Yes, Pastor. I'll go let Minister Eddie know that you won't return to the sanctuary," the other one said.
Hezekiah turned and went back to his office with the man who knew too much following behind him.
That day changed everything for Hezekiah as he listened to the retired Chicago police officer tell him that his name was George Reeves. George explained how he and his wife had relocated to Memphis from the Chicago area after he retired from a position in felony law enforcement. They wanted to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren. He was not a churchgoing man and did not consider himself to be religious, but his wife was just the opposite. She rarely missed a Sunday going to church, and ironically had chosen to join Holy Rock and insisted that he come along. To appease her and keep his home life in check, he frequently accompanied her. Happy wife, happy life, he told himself.
His “cop intuition’ kicked in and he began to make it his personal mission to delve deeper into the McCoy’s past, seeing that he couldn’t shake the feeling that the couple had something to hide. He didn’t forget a face easily, and he had an uneasy feeling about this so called ‘man of God.’ He already distrusted men of the cloth, seeing them only as wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing. Listening to the sermon that fateful morning only added to his philosophy that all preachers were no more than hustlers, trying to get over. It became his personal mission to find out just how much of a hustler this Hezekiah McCoy was, and if there was something he was hiding. What he uncovered was enough for George to confidently approach Hezekiah and tell him what he knew about him and Fancy. He threatened to spill the beans to the congregation and anyone else who would listen about Hezekiah and Fancy’s past unless the two of them could perhaps come to an agreeable compromise.
If George snitched, it stood to chance that it would ruin everything Hezekiah was finally building up in his life.
Their meeting that Sunday boiled down to the two of them having several long and heated meetings. Hezekiah agreed to bring George on as head of Security. He paid him a nice salary, plus extra money under the table, all for George to keep his mouth shut. Part of their arrangement was that George was not to approach Fancy with any of what he knew about the felony couple and their past. George had no problem agreeing to Hezekiah's terms, as long as the dollar bills continued to flow his way.
To this day, Hezekiah had maintained his word and George upheld his end of the bargain. Other than the fact that George was just as crooked as Hezekiah, the man looked out for his investment, Hezekiah and Fancy McCoy, as if his very livelihood depended on keeping them and their secrets safe - because it did.