The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle (27 page)

‘Ah,’ Jared said and rolled his
eyes. ‘I see.’

He didn’t.

It took fifteen minutes to fill up
most of the auditorium.
More than just two hundred people here,
Jared
thought as he studied the people flooding the building. He was about to mention
it to Shaun when a well-dressed gentleman approached the pulpit. The man made
sure that the band was ready and then lightly tapped his finger on the
microphone.

‘I greet you in the wonderful name
of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ,’ the man said and a hush fell over the
congregation. ‘Let’s all stand up and greet the people around us.’

Jared jokingly shook hands with Amy,
and while she continued greeting strangers around her, Jared avoided that
discomfort by “greeting” Shaun and striking up a meaningless conversation.

The band kicked off the atmosphere
with a few fast-paced songs. Amy joined in, clapping and singing with the rest
of the congregation. Shaun mumbled the words displayed on the LED board at the
front, trying to blend in but failing miserably. Jared merely sat and scanned
his eyes through the crowd, trying to see if he could spot someone he knew.
Despite the fact that Jared didn’t share their enthusiasm or belief, he still
couldn’t help but notice a certain kind of unity amongst the people; a
comradeship that he admired. There was a kinship that one wouldn’t find among
the employees at the office.
This is the kind of teamwork we need at Whyte
& Greene
, Jared thought.

As if on cue, the music took a
drastic turn from upbeat and cheerful to a slower and almost morbid pace. Jared
couldn’t prevent himself from being emotionally affected by the slow rhythm of
the electric guitar and the falling seeds of the bamboo rainmaker that the
drummer held in front of his microphone.

This is all just part of the scam
, Jared reminded himself.
Their way of getting me emotional enough to fork out my cash
.

Amy joined the others in raising her
hands into the air as they sang the worship songs. Some cried. Others went down
on their knees.

‘Bring the whole tithe into the
storehouse,’ the Pastor read from the Bible in a soft, soothing voice. ‘That
there may be food in my house.’ The Pastor paused for effect. People hummed to
the tune as a few random people garbled something in an unintelligible
language. ‘Test me in this, says
the LORD Almighty
, and see if I will
not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you
will not have room enough for it.
’

Jared studied the reactions of the
people. This was definitely the kind of stuff that they
wanted
to hear.
More
blessings than I can handle
, Jared thought.
So how would that be any
different from what I have now?

‘Now we have an opportunity to bring
the whole tithe to the Lord’s house with our offerings,’ the Pastor said.
‘Allow the Lord to bless you as you seize this opportunity.’

One of the musicians on the stage
played a solo on a violin and Jared found himself instinctively reaching for
his wallet.
No
, he thought and sat down.
I will have no part of this.
Shaun stood a moment longer and then took his place next to Jared. Amy
remained standing, humming to the tune that the violin player strung with
exceptional skill.

The offering basket came past and
Jared shot a quick glimpse into it.
These people pay in the fifties and even
hundreds
, he thought.
Never mind a mere ten dollars!
Amy nudged him
and he passed her the basket where she dropped a few notes of her own before
passing it on.

Once the offerings had been
collected, the Pastor dismissed the band and asked the people to be seated. He
began his service by reading a scripture from the Bible; pausing for a brief
moment to allow the hundreds of congregation members to turn their own Bibles
to the same verse. He then had them jump to three or four more places in the
Bible and Jared found Amy’s flipping through the book disrupting.

The Pastor shared a few more
scriptures and explained with great passion and fervour what the scriptures
meant and how one could apply it to everyday life at home or at the office in
order to live a more ‘Christ-like’ life.

Jared yawned. He wondered how he
managed to have himself conned into coming in the first place. The Patterson
and Lewis contract would have been a more eventful meeting.
When will these
people use these two hours and rather invest it into something tangible, like
feeding the hungry or handing out blankets?
Jared thought.

It was then that it happened.

‘The Lord does not care about the
tangible things that we invest our time in,’ the Pastor spoke from the pulpit.
Jared looked up. ‘It is by grace that we are saved, and not by works, so that
no man may boast.’

What?
Jared shook his head.
Do that
again! Tell me how and why I must get saved! Saved from what?

‘No man stands innocent before God,’
the Pastor said. ‘Not even one. No one is righteous. But God, who is forgiving
and righteous, has sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us on a
cross so that we may be spared from that terrible fate. Hell isn’t a mere lake
of fire and brimstone,’ the Pastor said and paused. ‘Hell is the complete
absence of the presence of God. And because He so desperately wanted to be with
us, we don’t have to go through that. All we need to do is to believe and
accept. That’s it.’

That’s it?
Jared thought. His mind
was racing and his heart felt heavy as it bounced around in his chest.
I
can’t believe that it’s as simple as that!

‘It’s as simple as that,’ the Pastor
said.

Jared’s heart pounded his ribcage
and he sat upright.
Okay,
he thought.
No need to get yourself all
worked up over nothing. It’s a fluke! There’s no way that an Almighty God, if
He even existed, would waste time with mere humans!

‘Through this book,’ the Pastor said
and held up the Bible for all to see, ‘we can all have a personal relationship
with the One that created us. This is an instruction manual from the Creator to
the created, to tell us how to live holy lives and how to have an intimate
relationship with Him. He
wants
to spend time with you.’

Jared was sold. His mind calculated
the improbability of the Pastor knowing just one of his thoughts. Knowing two
in a row was overwhelming. Knowing three was a statistical impossibility.

‘If anyone here feels the tugging of
the Holy Spirit,’ the Pastor said, ‘please come forward so that we may pray for
you and lead you to Christ. There is no cost involved other than the sacrifice
of ego; of oneself.’

Jared turned to move but stopped
himself short. He wanted to join the twenty or so people slowly making their
way to the front. He suddenly yearned to speak to the Pastor, to have all his
questions answered. For some unexplained reason he wanted to have a taste of
life the way Amy experienced it; to understand the excitement she found in the
little things; to finally be able to see why she could be so content with so
very little.

Shaun blocked his way.

‘Please,’ the Pastor urged. ‘I feel
that the Lord wants one more to step forward; to repent and join His Kingdom.
Please do not hesitate, for doubt and confusion is from Satan. Step out and
join these people at the front.’

Jared twisted his foot. He wanted to
take the step, but his legs felt as if they were encased in cement. Jared made
brief eye contact with Shaun and realised that he wouldn’t be able to do it.
Next
time, Lord,
he thought.
I promise that I’ll go next time.

‘We do not know the hour nor the
day,’ said the Pastor. ‘Any day could be our last. We could lose our lives in
the blink of an eye.’ He scanned the crowd and finally locked his eyes with
Jared. ‘Only one more. Please. Don’t let the devil keep you away from your
eternal reward. You might never get this opportunity again.’

Next time, Lord
, Jared thought and
lowered his head.
Next time
. He didn’t say another word for the
remainder of the trip home. His mind was racing, his thoughts incoherent, as he
wondered what on earth just happened.

*   
-    -    -    *

Jared lay on the soft grass, a boy
no older than nine. A gentle spring breeze ruffled the leaves in a tree nearby
as the boy searched for hidden pictures in the clouds. At one time he spotted a
unicorn; at another, the head of an eagle.

Jared
, someone whispered softly. It was a
female voice, the gentleness of the voice interwoven with that of the light
wind that ruffled his hair. The boy sat up and looked around.
Jared
, the
woman spoke again.
Come to me.

Jared stood up. Around him trees
gently swayed to and fro with the hypnotic rhythm of the breeze. The boy turned
around, scanning his eyes across the field for as far as he could see.

Nothing.

Come, Jared.

The grass turned to flames. The boy
panicked. ‘Mommy?’

Jared.

The flames scorched away the earth,
consuming a nearby tree. The tree transformed into a massive flaming dragon.
Jared stood on the scorched earth, his legs trying to move, but unable to do
so. The dragon neared Jared, opening its huge jaws and inhaling deeply to spurt
out a blast of fire that would totally engulf the boy.

Flames.

Fire.

Sulphur.

‘
Jared!
’ Rebecca screamed as
she woke from her nightmare.

Justin sat up and slapped his arm
around in the darkness. He finally found what he was looking for and the room
lit up when pressed a button. ‘What’s wrong, baby?’ he asked.

‘Bad dream,’ she said; her throat
dry and her voice coarse. ‘Bad dream...’

Justin lay his head back down on the
pillow. ‘Don’t...worry...’ he said and managed a half-hearted ‘nggg...’ before
he fell asleep again.

Rebecca wiped the sweat from her
forehead and flung her legs over the edge of the bed. It had been years since
she had a nightmare this intense. She looked at the digital alarm clock. It
flashed a constant 03:00. Rebecca held her hand to her stomach.
Jared!
In the bathroom, she gulped down large quantities of water that made her throat
feel somewhat less parched. Her stomach ached from the speed with which she
consumed the water.

Monique!

Through the darkness, Rebecca
managed to reach Monique’s room without making too much noise. She entered the
room and stood next to her daughter. The gentle breathing coming from the bed
relaxed Rebecca somewhat. But something still felt out of place. An old
familiar fear crept down her spine and she realised that something was wrong;
very, very wrong.

Jared was on his way out when the
phone rang. He checked his watch. It was still early enough to take a quick
call. ‘Hello,’ he answered when he picked up the phone.

‘Hi sweetie.’

Mother
.

‘Is this a bad time?’

‘Not at all,’ Jared said and smiled.
‘How are you? Is everything okay?’

‘I’m fine,’ she said and paused.
‘The question is, are you?’

Jared frowned at the question. ‘I’m
all right? Why?’

‘I had a bad dream last night,’
Rebecca said. ‘I…I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay.’

‘I’m fine, mom,’ Jared assured his
mother. ‘In fact, things couldn’t be much better.’

‘You sure?’ his mother insisted. ‘If
something’s wrong, you know you can always talk to me, right?’

‘Will do,’ Jared said. ‘I’m actually
seeing a potential client today and, if he signs, it will launch Whyte &
Greene onto a whole new platform. We’re talking
hundreds of millions
.’

‘That’s nice,’ Rebecca said and sighed.
‘I was just worried that something bad might have happened...’

‘It was just a dream,’ he said. ‘Is
it money? I could transfer some if you need.’

‘No,’ she said. ‘Thank you for the
gesture, but it’s not that. Your father and I are coping just fine; it’s
you
I’m worried about.’

‘Well, rest assured that I’m okay,’
Jared said and checked his watch. If he didn’t leave now, he would be late for
the meeting. ‘Listen, I have to go, but I’ll call you. Send my love to dad.’

They finished their conversation
promptly and Jared still stood there for a few seconds after hanging up the
phone, wondering what it was that had his mother so rattled. He shrugged it off
and shot his cuffs before picking up his briefcase and briskly walking out the
door.

*   
-    -    -    *

 ‘Six hundred and seventy
million,’ Jared said and whistled through his teeth. ‘That’s a lot of money,
gentlemen.’

The four men opposite Jared merely
smiled. He could see that smiling wasn’t a gesture they were used to. ‘At
Patterson and Lewis,’ one of the older men said, ‘we go big or we go home.
Simple as that.’

‘I believe in that very same
principle,’ Jared said and swivelled his seat. It was so easy to forget the
little things in business. The art of war. One could be so easily enticed by
numbers that he wouldn’t see the attack from the side until it was way too
late. The little things that meant a lot, like the fact that this wasn’t his
office, nor his chair. Jared stopped in mid-swivel and sat up straight,
suddenly very aware of himself and his every movement. ‘One cannot expect to
reap huge rewards if he is not prepared to take huge risks, right?’

The men nodded. Samuel Berkley, the
eldest of the group, was in his mid-sixties. His dark suit and silver hair made
him appear more sophisticated than the rest and his experience reflected in his
cobalt eyes. He had seen well-established companies sink because of
misjudgement, and as Patterson’s right-hand man, didn’t want to see those same
mistakes repeated. ‘Huge risks indeed,’ Samuel said after a moment of thought.
‘Have you ever worked on a contract of this magnitude before, Mister Greene?’

Jared hesitated. He briefly scanned
his eyes across the men at the other end of the table. ‘No,’ he finally said.
‘This will be a first for Whyte & Greene.’

Samuel nodded without saying
anything. Shaun shifted his weight in his chair and shot a side-line glance at
Jared. Silence lingered in the room as the old man’s eyes seemed to penetrate
Jared’s very soul. When Samuel spoke again, a slight echo trailed his voice.
‘You do understand the Service Level Agreement standards stipulated by
Patterson and Lewis, is that right, Mister Greene?’

‘I do,’ Jared said and nodded. ‘And
I have to be honest; it will be extremely challenging to live up to those
standards, Mister Berkley. But I’m confident that we will be able to execute
all orders seamlessly within the agreed-upon service timeframe.’

‘And if you don’t?’

‘As per the agreement, Whyte &
Greene International will bear the cost…plus penalties.’

‘Correct, Mister Greene,’ Samuel
said with a nod. The old man was pleased that Jared knew and understood what he
was getting himself into. ‘Our sources,’ he said, ‘informed us that you use
more than one supplier to get the job done. Is this information accurate?’

Jared nodded. ‘If the situation
calls for it, yes,’ he said. ‘Any means possible to get the job done on time;
within legal limits, of course.’

One of the men at Samuel’s side
scribbled a note and Jared couldn’t help but wonder what he had said that
triggered the note. Was admitting to more than one supplier a mistake? Had it
been a trick question?

‘To your knowledge, Mister Greene,’
Samuel said and paused. He studied Jared for a moment before wording the
question. ‘Has Whyte & Greene ever breached service level with one of its
clients in the last six months?’

Jared pondered the answer. Just how
much did this man know about his company? Who were the
sources
Samuel
made use of? For a moment the thought of lying and saving face seemed the
better option, but if he was caught out, he would lose the contract, and the
reputation of Whyte & Greene would forever be tarnished. Jared shot a
glance at Shaun and dismissed the thought. He took a deep breath before
answering with a firm, ‘Yes.’

The men looked at Jared without
saying anything. They were waiting for him to continue.

‘There were three instances where we
didn’t reach SLA,’ he said.
Might as well go all the way
. ‘One was a
cargo plane that crashed somewhere in the Atlantic,’ Jared said. ‘The second
was a client that burdened the company to the extent that we had to cancel the
contract, lest we lose all our other clients.’

‘And the third?’

Shaun shifted uncomfortably in his
chair, relieved that it wasn’t he that had to answer that question. For a
moment he wondered if Jared would answer truthfully.

Jared looked down at the table and
took a deep breath. ‘I had...an affair with the client’s wife,’ he said. The
silence in the room was tangible. No one said a word. ‘Needless to say, the
client found out about it and retaliated in anger by loading the company down
with impossible demands. Instead of admitting to my mistake, pride made me
believe that I could manage the orders.’

‘And you failed?’

Jared nodded. ‘You could say that,
yes,’ he said. ‘Then again, the lesson did not go unlearned. Sometimes we pay
dearly for the experience that would save us at a later stage in life.’

Shaun studied Samuel. The old man
sat expressionlessly for what felt like forever; saying nothing; giving away no
thoughts. He merely studied the young man sitting opposite him. Finally he
stood up and the three others followed suit. ‘Thank you for your time,’ he said
and extended his hand toward Jared.

Jared’s mind raced. His heart
bounced around in his chest and his throat felt constricted. He stood up on
legs that felt like rubber and had to force himself to shake Samuel’s hand. Was
this it? Was the meeting over already? Did he blow his only chance by telling
the truth?

‘My secretary will be in touch with
you later today to update you on our final decision, Mister Greene,’ Samuel
Berkley said. ‘Please note that if we decide not to go with Whyte & Greene
International, it won’t be on the basis of a personal issue. It’s purely
business, as I’m sure you’ll certainly understand.’

‘I understand,’ Jared said and
followed Shaun to the door. He shook hands with everyone before leaving the
four men in the boardroom and closing the door behind him. ‘We’re dead,’ Jared
said as they left the building.

‘You think it’s that bad?’ Shaun
asked. ‘I honestly couldn’t tell from their body language.’

Jared stopped before opening the car
door. ‘Should I have lied, Shaun?’ Jared asked. His stomach churned and his
legs felt weak. It had been a while since anyone had been able to intimidate
him like this. ‘Do you think I blew our only shot at this?’

‘I don’t know,’ Shaun said. ‘But I’m
glad that you didn’t lie. You handled the situation quite well and if they knew
about Elsa, we wouldn’t just be losing their contract. You know Patterson’s
reputation for ruthlessness. We would never manage to land another contract
anywhere again.’

‘I guess you’re right,’ Jared said
as he got into the Bentley. ‘Come, let’s go lick our wounds over a few beers.’

*   
-    -    -    *

Both Tanya and Amy let out a gasp of
surprise when Jared popped the cork of the champagne. He entered the dining
room with three glasses and filled them before handing each to the ladies.

‘Oh my,’ Tanya said. ‘What’s the
occasion?’

Jared raised his glass into the air.
‘To new contracts and old friendships. May all our future ventures be
prosperous.’ Amy’s hand shot to her mouth and Jared grinned widely. ‘Guess who
landed the largest financial contract in Kelwick’s history?’

‘You got the Patterson contract?’
Amy shrieked.

Jared answered with an assuring nod.

Tanya clapped her hands excitedly
and Amy jumped up and flung her arms around Jared. ‘Congratulations, my love,’
Amy said and kissed him. ‘I told you that there was nothing to worry about.’

‘I’m so proud of you,’ Tanya said as
she moved in for a hug. ‘Those guys made the right choice in signing you up for
the job.

‘Can’t argue with you on that one,’
Jared chuckled.

The three of them took their seats
at the table. Jared waited patiently for the ladies to help themselves to the
food that Tanya had prepared for them. He was relieved that it was Tanya’s turn
to prepare dinner. They had an unofficial arrangement where every other Monday
evening, they would dine at each other’s homes. He liked getting out every once
in a while, and spending an evening at Tanya’s place was the perfect excuse for
doing so.

‘Your mother e-mailed me today,’
Tanya said. ‘She’s worried about you.’

‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘She called me this
morning and raised her concerns. She’s all worked up over some dream or
something.’ He chewed on a piece of chicken as he thought about his mother and
how literally she sometimes took her dreams. ‘I guess nothing has changed over
the years, eh?’

‘I wish my mother would worry about
me for a change,’ Amy said. ‘You should be glad that yours does.’

Jared didn’t answer right away. He merely
studied Amy’s facial expression and body language as he finished chewing. He
swallowed, took a sip of wine, and then ate another mouthful before answering.
‘I guess you’re right,’ he said. ‘Although I’m fine, as you can see. It’s
her
that I’m worried about.’

‘Oh, she can look after herself,’
Tanya defended her old friend. ‘Trust me on that one.’

For a while no one said anything.
Jared merely smiled while absentmindedly scraping the food around the plate
with his fork. He looked up at the two women and for a moment, soaked in the
utter contentment he felt. ‘So,’ he said as a sly grin formed on his face. ‘Did
I tell you guys how much the Patterson contract is worth?’

*   
-    -    -    *

 ‘She’s a keeper,’ Tanya said
as she and Jared entered the living room. Although the house was substantially
larger than the tiny two-room apartment she lived in on the ranch when Jared
first came to Kelwick, it was still considerably smaller than Jared’s mansion.
He bought her the house as a gift shortly after he had made his first million.

Jared nodded. ‘Yeah, Amy’s the
best.’ Teaspoon clinked against mug as Amy prepared coffee in the kitchen. ‘In
fact,’ Jared said, making sure that Amy couldn’t hear him. ‘I think that she
might even be
the one
.’

Tanya pulled her face. ‘The one...?’

Jared nodded as he produced the
velvet box with the ring. ‘I’m going to ask her to marry me on Sunday evening,’
he said and smiled proudly. ‘Right after the Church service.’

Tanya looked at Jared as if she had
been physically struck. ‘Church service?’

Jared nodded, the smile broadening
on his face. He listened over his shoulder to make sure that Amy was still in
the kitchen. He had to talk quickly before she returned. ‘I went to Church with
her last night. Oh, I wish you could have been there, Tanya. I never thought
that I would actually say this in my lifetime, but it was nothing short of
spectacular. I can’t explain it, but something in me just opened up to the
whole Christian thing.’

Tanya didn’t respond. She merely
allowed him to continue.

‘I wanted to convert—’