Chase Baker and the God Boy: (A Chase Baker Thriller Series Book No. 3)

by Vincent Zandri

  “Holy cow,” he says. “Anybody get the license plate on the truck that just plowed me over?”

  Holy cow…pun entirely intended, right Tony?

  My eyes fill with tears. Dr. Singh did not lie about the power in Rajesh. His power of good over evil. His gift for raising up the dead with just a single touch. If only he’d been able to touch Elizabeth, she might be here with us now. But the kid was locked in a cage. How awful it must have been for the God Boy to know he could have saved her life…so many lives that were sacrificed here…and not be able to do a damn thing about it.

  Rajesh is Brahma…Brahma is Rajesh…

  Rajesh turns and goes to his mother. Once again, she receives him in her arms like she is never going to let him go.

  “Mother,” he says. “I had such a terrible dream. I dreamt that the evil Kali returned to earth along with an army of evil men dressed all in black…the terrible Thuggee.”

  “It was all a dream, Rajesh,” Anjali says, pulling away his turban and running her hand through his thick black hair. “It’s all right now. It was only a dream.”

  Tony approaches me, his eyes wide. There’s blood on his shirt, but no longer is there an entry or exit wound. Together, we take a step or two backward, to get a better look at the diamond deposit.

  “You sure what happened here was just a dream?” Tony says. “Because I swear I took a bullet not five minutes ago. Although, I could be wrong about that. Maybe somebody just hit me in the chest with a rock.” He pauses for a moment as if needing time for the reality of what just happened to him to sink in. Then, “But if somebody told me they’d witnessed a giant evil see-through skull projecting itself from out of the earth by means of a gigantic blue diamond, a golden statue, and an evil high priest who levitates, I’d say, take another sip why don’t ya.”

  “I didn’t see anything like that happening,” I say. “Did you?”

  “Save that stuff for your novels.”

  “I’m already writing it in my head.”

  Then, coming from above, an armada of Blackhawk choppers. Slowing to a hover, they open up with their nose-mounted Gatling guns on the escaping Thuggees. In the end, it’s a turkey shoot while the evil terrorist cult is stopped dead in its tracks out in the open field.

  “Hell’s gonna be busy today,” Tony says.

  “Hell for bad people,” I say. “Heaven for good.”

  Epilogue

  Another chopper appears on the scene. This one a Huey that, like the Blackhawks, bears the signature red Star of David and trident crest of the Nepalese army. It sets down only a few feet away from the big blue diamond. Emerging from it is Dr. Singh, neatly attired in a white Nehru jacket and matching pants. First he goes to Anjali and Rajesh, hugging both of them tightly, clearly relieved to see that not only have they survived, but they appear to be in relative good health. He then releases the two and approaches Tony and me, a broad smile planted on his face.

  “Why is it the good guys always show up after the battle?” Tony whispers.

  “Shush,” I say. “This good guy has a thick wallet, and he owes us big time. You’ve got an office and a bar to rebuild, remember?”

  “You’ve done a splendid job, Mr. Baker,” Singh says, holding out his hand. “However will I reward you?”

  “You’ll get a bill,” I say. “Don’t you worry.” I take his hand in mine, shake it.

  “Don’t forget that little bit about Rudy being dead and my bar burning down,” Tony says. The old excavator tosses me a wink and a sly smile. He then places some fresh chew in his cheek, excuses himself, heads back toward Anjali and the God Boy.

  Singh turns to me.

  “I am truly sorry for your loss,” he says, pursing his lips. “But I see Anjali and the boy are safe.”

  “It must have been a tough thing to swallow,” I say, “knowing Anjali was with Kashmiri and that the relationship, however brief, would lead directly to the boy’s abduction.”

  He nods, the look on his face like I’m opening a deep wound that never healed in the first place. “She truly had no idea regarding the depth of his evil intentions. But then, she doesn’t need any chastising from the likes of me…the man who left them in the first place. She already blames herself for what happened. I suspect she will go to her grave bearing the burden of that guilt. That’s why she insisted on accompanying you on the mission. She knew it was dangerous. But if she died while trying to save her son’s life, then that final act would at least absolve her soul of permanent damnation.”

  “And what about you?” I say. “How deep does your guilt go for having left Anjali and Rajesh when they needed you most?”

  The skin on his normally coffee-with-milk colored face turns pale.

  “You have to ask that question, Mr. Baker?”

  “That kind of child handicap can place great strain on a family,” I say. “Rajesh was cast out, considered a freak. It must have been difficult for a man of your power and prestige. So then, it must have come as quite a shock when suddenly the entire Hindu world went from treating Rajesh as a freak to a God.”

  He nods contemplatively.

  “We all seek perfection, Mr. Baker,” he says. “In both ourselves and in our children. But I am ashamed I left when I did. And it is something I will have to live with for the rest of my days. So you see, my chance at achieving perfection is forever vanished.”

  …You’re being too tough on the guy, Chase. You’re no better than he is…

  “I know the feeling, pal. I have a daughter in New York. I too have to live with the fact that I don’t see her enough.” In my head, I see the spunky little long-haired girl in her short dress and sneakers, running off to school or the park. “We all make decisions and then we have to live with them.”

  He bites down on his bottom lip. “We get another chance if we don’t get it right in this life. If you believe in that kind of thing.”

  “Right you are, Doc. If it doesn’t happen in this life, Dharma or Brahma or whoever will see to it that you get another chance, and another, and another, until you get it right…Like you said, if you believe in the sort of thing.”

  “Something like that.”

  “And now, you not only get your son back,” I say, “but you claim quite the prize for Nepal. The lost Diamond Mine of India…which, it just so happens, is located in Nepal.”

  “Or perhaps the Lost Diamond Mine of India is indeed waiting to be discovered in India along with another Golden Kali Statue. Perhaps it makes this find look like the corner jewelry shop.” His face assumes a smile. Because his story has a happy ending. But I can’t say the same for mine.

  “Elizabeth died for the statue that marked the location of this blue diamond mine,” I say. “She spent her whole life in pursuit of the Golden Kali Statue. If she hadn’t sent me the bronze key, Anjali would be dead now. Maybe Rajesh, too.”

  “I understand you are grieving, Mr. Baker. Grieving for a second time.”

  “Once was enough, Singh,” I say. “Elizabeth gave up on me, even if I never stopped loving her. She’s in a better place than you and me.”

  He purses his lips.

  “On this day, a baby will be born somewhere in the world, and it will bear the soul of Elizabeth. She will graduate from the transition phase to the earthly life phase once more. If you believe that…believe it with all your heart and soul like I do…then she is far from dead. She lives, all over again.”

  A wave of warmth pours over my body. Makes me shiver for a second or two.

  “Here’s what I know so far about being…well…not alive,” she says. “It’s all true. We live again. Until we get it right.”

  I hold out my hand. Singh takes it in his. Shakes. Releasing it, he heads across the blue diamond deposit to his ex-wife and child.

  The God Boy.

  I stare up at the blue sky and I see the face of Elizabeth staring back at me. See her smile, her green eyes, her lovely hair. Singh was right all along. She never really died in the first place. E
lizabeth is about to live again.

  “I’ll see you soon, babe,” I whisper. “In this life or the next.”

  To one day have a second chance with Elizabeth…

  …That’s all the reward a jerk like me will ever need.

  THE END

  If you enjoyed this Chase Baker Thriller, please explore The Shroud Key (Chase Baker No.1) and Chase Baker and the Golden Condor (Chase Baker No. 2)

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Vincent Zandri is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than sixteen novels, including Everything Burns, The Innocent, The Remains, Orchard Grove, and The Shroud Key. He is also the author of the ITW Thriller Award winning and Shamus Award nominated Dick Moonlight PI series. A freelance photojournalist and solo traveler, he is the founder of the blog The Vincent Zandri Vox. He lives in New York and Florence, Italy. For more, go to http://www.vincentzandri.com/.

  Chase Baker and the God Boy (A Chase Baker Thriller No. 3)

  Vincent Zandri © copyright 2015

  All rights reserved as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

  Bear Media LLC 2015

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  http://www.vincentzandri.com

  Cover design by Elder Lemon Art

  Author Photo by Jessica Painter

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to a real person, living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Published in the United States of America