Chapter Two

2.1 Meeting the Pastors and their son Paul

After parking their car, Andrew, Jaimee, and Barbra looked upon the massive structure that housed Shephard Ministries in the outer Melbourne suburb of Carrum Downs. It consisted of three parts, the center being the church proper and two adjacent wings obviously planned for administration. As Team Leader Andrew made inquiries in the foyer, explaining who they were and that they had an appointment with the Pastors Hudson.

The surroundings were sumptuous. Marble floors, walls, and pillars were prominent as were the obligatory Christian Crosses. Subtly placed plants softened the impact. Just beyond the foyer, massive double doors offered entry to the church proper. Being early morning and a weekday, the doors were shut.

The muted atmosphere discouraged conversation so the trio sat silently on comfortable lounges awaiting their summons. Eventually, a mousy young girl greeted them to say that Pastor Bernard and Pastor Cynthia would see them now. Asked to follow she led them into what was a conference room.

“Pastor Bernard this is Mr. Andrew Simpson from Thompson and Partners. The man that rose to extend his hand was about 170 cm tall but obese. However, he had penetrating grey eyes that seemed to focus intensely on the person in front of him. The voice had a low timbre about it, which demanded that a listener, listen.

‘Good to meet you, Andrew, your Senior Partner speaks highly of you and I feel confident in his recommendation.’

‘Thank you, sir. May I introduce . . .’

“Let me introduce the most important person in our organization, Pastor Cynthia Hudson.’

From the other end of the table, a woman rose, about 165 cm but with stunning red hair and green eyes. Unlike her husband, she was trim and shapely. She moved towards them with grace and composure. But there seemed a feline poise about her that Andrew found disturbing. She was a man-trap.

‘So nice to meet you, young man. Your boss indeed sings high praise for your career prospects. Now meeting you in the flesh I can see his regard is well placed. Now, why don’t we meet the rest of your people.’

Jaimee had been watching her performance and decided she was dangerous. He wasn’t taken in by her charm offensive. There seemed something vindictive in her over-all manner. Introductions completed the five people turned to business and discussed general aspects of the team's involvement. When Andrew began to venture into detail, Cynthia Hudson held up her hand.

‘Forgive me Andrew, but Pastor Paul and I don’t get involved with the minutiae of the business; all that we leave to our son, Paul. I think (looking at her husband who nodded) it’s time you met our son.’

With that, she picked up a phone, dialed a number, and said,

‘Paul, can you please join us in the Conference room.’

Jaimee began to search for his briefing notes until he heard a new voice,

‘Good morning, folks; I’m Paul Hudson.’

Jaimee looked up and . . .

. . . froze . . . stars . . . no oxygen . . . can’t breathe . . . mouth open . . . eyes fixed and staring, because,

Standing before him was the most beautiful man he’d ever seen. Tall, about 180 cm, beautifully styled fair hair, the bluest of blue eyes, and lightly tanned. He had the face of an angel.

. . . and there was reciprocity. Paul Hudson stared at Jaimee with the same riot of emotions that consumed our lad. For several seconds, it seemed, both men just gazed at each other, lost in a cocoon of animal, magnetic attraction.

At last, Jaimee found his voice and lined up behind Andrew and Barbra to shake the dreamboat’s hand.

‘N.n.nice t.t.to met you, Paul. I’m j-j-Jaimee Burrows.’

When their hands touched bolts of electricity flowed both ways. For several nanoseconds, their eyes locked with meta-messages exchanged and acknowledged. Eventually,

‘Nice to meet you Jaimee; I’m looking forward to working with you . . . I mean, you all.’

‘Now if you don’t mind, Pastor Bernard and I will retire and leave you with Paul. Don’t hesitate to come to either of us if you have any questions. Paul, make sure you look after these folks. Please use the executive lunchroom whenever you want. Now Bernard . . .’

With that the Pastors left, leaving four people to get down to the main business. Andrew began to brief Paul on their objective; simply to verify the latest Income and Expenditure Statement and verify Assets. The final report to be distributed to the ‘Elders’ and the two Principals.

As the conversation proceeded, Jaimee could sense Paul’s eyes would stray to him when someone else spoke. Acknowledging he had a crush on the man, Jaimee tried to control his unruly emotions. If a point needed close examination, Paul would sidle close to Jaimee; so close their knees touched.

I must control myself. This guy is a client and I should conduct myself with professional propriety. But I am crushing on him and I believe it’s reciprocated . . . I think. Or is it my imagination? Oh, shit, what about Andrew and Barbra . . . have they noticed? Gotta pull myself together. Didn’t I read somewhere he’s engaged . . . to a girl? Face it Jaimee, he’s off-limits . . . totally off-limits. Think of my beautiful Simon instead. He’s real and fuckable. What about this morning’s sex. No Way! No Way! No Way! But there’s nothing wrong with perving on an attractive man is there? I wonder what deodorant he’s using . . . is it vanilla? Gotta get some.

After a short interlude, Paul took them down to the general office area where they were introduced to the people they’d be working with daily. He also showed them a small conference room which would be their domicile. After that, he left and Jaimee breathed a silent prayer of relief.

2.1 Partners Meeting.

‘Bloody hell! When and how did you dig up that disturbing piece of shit?’

Frank Cunningham, as Senior Partner, sat at the end of the table surrounded by his other partners.

‘Umm, Andrew came to see me this morning with the news, and that’s why I called this urgent meeting. We need . . .’

‘Well, by god, thank Andrew for us. Once again he’s proven . . .’

‘No, Andrew can’t take the credit. It was young Jaimee Burrows who discovered it when chasing through to get background info on the audit of Shephard Ministries. He immediately told Andrew, who . . .’

‘Well, give Jaimee our heartfelt thanks; maybe a small raise. We should’ve known this before we accepted the job. How did he find out?’

‘There’s a full Wikipedia article that refers to Bernard Hudson's father Richard molesting young boys. I’ll let you read about it yourselves.’

‘Fine. But what say you give us the gist of the problem.’

‘OK. Originally Richard Hudson admitted to molesting 9 boys but that has now grown. I guess we’ll never know what the final number is. However . . .’

From down the table, one of the other partners spoke up.

‘Why are we here discussing this. What has it to do with our firm? I don’t see any relevance.’

‘I’m coming to that Jeremy; I’m trying to give you all the big picture. Can I continue? (Most nodded their heads) It seems when Bernard Hudson found out about his father being a pedophile, he failed to report it to the police. He tried to keep the matter in house by removing the father from any official activity and making sure he wasn’t near any young boys. The problem now is Bernard Hudson, our client has been reported to the Royal Commission set up to discover these pedophile activities. One of Richard Hudson's victims has come forward and made a statement to the Commission. The Ministry offered him a measly $12,000 to keep quiet. Now our client’s failure to come forward has been referred to the police. That’s the gist. Oh, by the way, Richard Hudson died in 2005.’

(From somewhere down the table) The bastard! Now no one can touch him.’

‘I still can’t see why we would have a dilemma, Frank? All this happened long before we accepted the brief. Why do you think we have a problem?’

‘I don’t know Jeremy. As the Pastor has been referred to the cops, we could be dragged in and have our brief expanded. All I want today is to give you the facts and open a discussion. Of course, I’ll refer the matter to our legal people.’

A general murmur ensued but no-one seemed to advance any concrete objections to the Senior Partner’s actions.

2.3 Paul confronts his Parents . . Zumba

‘Paul, Paul; now you listen to me. We’ve had this discussion before and I don’t intend to re-visit the subject. Just deal with it. I’m ashamed to think my son is such a weakling. Your father and I have worked hard to establish Shephard Ministries. Now we’re branching out Internationally we don’t want any family dissension to become public . . . SO CAN IT MISTER!’

‘NO, I WON’T! you don’t know the minefield we’re in. Now we’ve got Auditors pouring over our books and they’re sure . . .’

‘WHAT DO YOU MEAN, MISTER? I told you to only give them access to the official books, not the confidential ones. TELL ME YOU DIDN’T LET THEM HAVE ACCESS TO OUR PRIVATE LEDGERS?’

‘Don’t you dare shout at me, mother. You treat me like an idiot . . .’

‘ONLY WHEN YOU ACT LIKE AN IDIOT. Now tell me what you let them have access to.’

Paul Hudson and his mother stood toe-to-toe in Cynthia’s office. With cold piercing eyes, she stared down at her agitated son. Paul had often questioned the family’s source of funds as he knew so well all the dirty secrets. His mother . . . his mother had complete control over all aspects of the church activities, both ecclesiastical and financial. His father couldn’t control his wife, so just played the part of the principal Pastor. Everybody, from Elders down to general staff, feared the mother.

‘Of course, I gave them access only to the official books. But here’s the problem, you know nothing about financial accounting and your ignorance is going to see us undone. You can keep ledgers private but you can’t keep Bank Statements private. And all our dirty linen is sourced in those Bank records. You never listened to me before, so now it’s going to be your fault if some clever clerking exposes us.’

Cynthia suddenly felt the cold winds of fear. She’d never seen Paul so agitated. Before he simply objected to the immorality of the family’s financing, but now she sensed something deeper.

‘Isn’t that why we sent you to an expensive college to get your CPA? You’re supposed to use that knowledge to make sure no one knows the true state of our finances, you’re supposed to cover for us, mister. You’re not some accounting partner in an established firm. You’re our General Manager and Chief Financial Officer with the sole responsibility to make sure all our dirty washing is secure. Is that clear?’

‘(Ignoring the last) Why are we having an audit anyway? you never told me and you certainly didn’t give me any advanced warning. I don’t understand!’

‘I thought your father explained. (Paul shook his head) OK. It’s politics. We have some enemies in the Elders – some bad blood – that can be traced back to your fucking grandfather. (Paul shuddered) After what he did, and what your daddy did to cover up, we lost trust. We were always able to control rogue elements by simple threats and payoffs, but with recent changes to the Board of Elders, our control has ebbed away. There are now two political parties operating within the church – our family and the Elders. The only leverage we have is to remind them that it’s your father and me who draw in the crowds (Paul went to interrupt) No, let me finish. The Elders voted to have an audit, so here we are. If we get a clean report, it will go a long way to re-establishing trust. That’s why it’s so important you make sure the final report will be smelling like a rose.’

‘OK, OK, I sorta knew about the trouble but didn’t realize the tension had gone this far. But let’s get back to my earlier point. I can’t do anything about Bank Statements because they’re Bank records – not ours. Don’t you see . . .’

‘What if we ask the Bank to delete any items that we don’t want the auditors to . . .’

‘WHAT! That’s stupid! That’s insane! Just goes to show how ignorant you are of financial stuff. That’s never gonna happen. OK? The only thing I can do is invent some plausible story about those transfers in and out. It’s obvious you and dear old daddy are not gonna be any help.’

‘Well you’re intelligent Paul; go put your thinking cap on.’

‘Thank you mother dear. Now, what about the family’s private accounts; I trust they’re not scoped by the audit?’

‘No, the Elders won’t go that far. It’s only church matters they’re concerned about. They just want to be sure the church is squeaky clean. Look, what’s your main concern? What part of the church’s financial records worry you?’

‘Basically the deposits being just under the $10,000 official reporting limit . . .’

‘But that was your recommendation, you said anything $10,000 and above had to be reported to the Government. On that basis, we asked our friends to make sure . . .’

‘I know, I know, and don’t interrupt. All deposits are under the threshold so we don’t have any statutory issues. That’s not the problem. If someone stumbles on the over-all picture, matching deposits with mortgage payments and property titles, we’ll have some explaining to do. I just don’t know how good the Thompson people are. I intend to stay close as much as possible.’

‘That’s wise. There’s a young lady in the audit team, so use your good looks, charm, and cock to keep us informed on their progress. I hope you can do the latter OK?’

‘My god you’re a hard, cruel bitch mother. Sometimes . . .’

‘I am, aren’t I?’

<<<>>>

Back in his office, Paul told his secretary he didn’t want to be interrupted and shut the door. Then sat down, elbows on the desktop and head in his hands.

FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! When am I gonna grow some balls and tell them . . . well, her. Let’s see it would go like this. ‘Dear mother I’m a screaming gay atheist.’ Ha, ha I don’t know what would upset them . . . her . . . more. Being Gay or being an Atheist. It’s funny her asking me do I know how to use my cock. If she only knew how proficient I’ve got sticking it up boys’ bums. (sigh) What about that auditor Jaimee? God, I’d love to have him on his back with my cock penetrated deep inside him. Wait there . . . I’m sounding crude because there’s something mysterious about that lad; he has this weird impact on me. Sure, sure I’d like to fuck him, but it’s more than just sex. No-one else, ever, has affected me the way he has . . . and I don’t even know if he’s gay. No, just my luck, he’s probably got a mousy girlfriend stacked away somewhere. I bet he has her screaming for more . . . shit . . . gotta stop this. Maybe . . .

He reached for the intercom.

‘Sandra, hey I don’t like asking but any chance you can drum up a cup of coffee? I’m involved in something and don’t feel like going down to the cafeteria (His secretary responded) . . . OK thanks.’

I must find out if he likes boys. I haven’t a clue how to do that. But I still remember the effect he had on me in the conference room. I‘m sure it was reciprocated. But now I have this other problem to solve. I thought I’d been clever, separating deposits and mortgage payments but never envisaged we’d be audited by professionals . . .

A quiet knock, the door opened and his secretary came in with a mug of coffee.

‘Thanks, Sandra, sorry for being a dork but I’m trying to solve a problem here. I honestly don’t like you running errands for me.’

‘That’s OK Paul, you mostly get your own so I’m not fussed. Enjoy.’

After she left, he swallowed some coffee and returned to his thoughts.

It’s the Bank Statements that could be a problem. My only hope is they get mired in detail and no-one sees the bigger picture. But then if they start asking questions about the family’s wealth source, which only partly comes through the church, I’m gonna have to refuse to answer. Their brief is only the church finances apparently, not the family’s private income. Well, that’s settled then.

Jaimee! I’ve got to find out if I have a chance with him. Shit, I really need a pipe now!

<<<>>>

Cynthia made the phone call as soon as Paul left. It was answered on the third ring.

‘Zumba here. Look I just need you to know we may have a problem developing here. It’s been caused by the audit that’s been thrust upon us. I already gave you the details. Now my son . . .’

‘We don’t want to know about problems – only solutions. Even though you’re help is appreciated, we pay you enough to solve any challenges that arise. I thought you were on top of it!’

‘I am. We are. But it may come to some heavy stuff that’s more in your line of work. We’re not there yet. I just thought you should know we may have to let the dogs loose at some stage. And don’t get snappy with me. We’re in this together and if I decide I need your help I expect you to respect my judgment.’

‘OK, OK Zumba. Just call me when you need something done.’

. . . and hung up.