The Overseer Read Online Free PDF

dislike of people being focused on making money.
    “And then there was the investment firm earlier this week.”
    “I know,” John acknowledged. “You guys said not to pull everything because it might look bad, but you remember how much money we saved.” John looked at one of the accountants across the table. “It was somewhere in the millions, wasn’t it?”
    The accountant nodded.
    “See?” John said in his own defense. “I knew that keeping us financially afloat so that we could continue to fund missions was the best thing for everyone—so as Overseer I gave the order.”
    “Yes.” Vince accepted his explanation with a forced smile. “Devin Bathurst did appoint you as Overseer. And we’ve obeyed your position of authority as Overseer. But it’s more complicated than that.”
    John looked up. “How so?”
    “We found out those investments were going under because members of the Ora and Domani were able to predict what was going on with those companies before they tanked.”
    “And?”
    “And…” Vince cleared his throat. “As a result of receiving that information by means of visions from God , we have no documentation regarding why we dumped those stocks.”
    John sat back, bored with all the financial mumbo jumbo. So what if they had some problems with record keeping? Why would the Securities Executive Council, or whatever they were called, have a problem with that? “Seriously, I don’t see the problem, guys,” John replied.
    “It looks like insider trading,” someone said from across the room, firm and unapologetic.
    John blinked. His body froze. The term was scary to say the least. He remembered something about Martha Stewart and jail time. “But it’s not insider trading,” he replied slowly. “They can’t prove that it is.”
    Vince closed his eyes slowly in a decidedly defeated look. “We can’t prove that it’s not. Intuition is the only way to explain those investments away. What are we going to tell them? That God told us a telecommunications giant was going under?”
    “People get lucky,” John suggested. “Intuition can be a crazy thing.”
    “Once?” Vince replied sternly. “Maybe. Twice? Probably not. By number three, there’s a distinct pattern—and our competition in the investment world has noticed.”
    “Noticed what?”
    “That every time they lost their shirts on an investment, we miraculously—literally miraculously —got out of those investments unscathed. They’re jealous, they’re angry, and they’ve contacted the SEC and the IRS.”
    “Then it’s just angry competition making unfounded accusations,” John replied, trying to blow it all off. “Right?”
    Vince tapped his fingers anxiously on the boardroom table. “We got a call this morning from the Wall Street Journal . They’re doing a piece on the investigation. By this time tomorrow the entire financial community will know we’re being investigated for serious white-collar crimes. From Internet chatter alone we’ve already had several major investors pull their money—and good luck attracting new investors once this hits the presses.”
    John looked at the table and let out a long breath. This was more serious than he had previously realized. “So, it’s a PR problem? We can deal with this. We’ll just have to pull together a team to—”
    “There’s also the IRS,” Vince interrupted.
    “Why are they involved?” John asked, confused by all the business concepts being thrown in his direction.
    “The SEC and the IRS are often a package deal, and the IRS is very interested in our charitable contributions.”
    “The missions money?” John asked. “That’s tax exempt. Why would the IRS care about that?”
    “Because,” Vince explained, obviously trying not to lose his temper, “we have millions of dollars in deductions from ‘charitable giving’ that’s going to members of the Firstborn. People we have relationships with.”
    John shook his head. “I don’t