The Goddess Legacy

Chapter 35

Spencer was waiting on the sidewalk with Allie’s bag hanging from his shoulder when Drake and Allie arrived. They walked to a small two-story mall with twenty shops built around the world’s sorriest plaza and sat at an outdoor table and ordered cold drinks. Reynolds hadn’t answered the phone when Allie had called, so she’d left her new number and was waiting for him to call back.

“How am I supposed to get to Jaipur?” Spencer asked. “Most means of travel are going to require identification. Even the buses want to see a passport.”

“How do you know that?” Drake asked.

“Google.”

“Ah.”

“Maybe we can have the French guy drive you? He seemed like a fun fellow to do a road trip with. Little male bonding?” Allie suggested.

“Always thinking of me, huh? Don’t worry, I’ll get there on my own. I can always hire one of the incredibly comfortable taxis from around here and have it drive me.”

Allie’s phone rang. Reynolds’s voice came on the line.

“Sorry. I have to be discreet about taking calls on the job,” he explained.

“We need some help. We’re making progress, but we need to get into an ashram and don’t have the faintest idea how to do so.”

“An ashram? I don’t understand. Why would I be able to help?” Reynolds asked.

“The guru who runs it is apparently a prominent figure. Lot of government functionaries are followers. We were hoping you might have some contacts in his organization?”

“I can check. Who is it?”

“Guy calls himself Swami Baba Raja.”

“I can do a search in our database. I don’t have anyone in my network who has anything to do with him. Where’s the ashram located?”

“Bhiwani.”

“West of Delhi, maybe seventy miles. Not a lot going on there,” Reynolds said. “I seriously doubt we’d have any reason to cultivate assets in an ashram in the middle of nowhere.”

“That wasn’t the response we were hoping for,” Allie said, shaking her head at Drake.

“I’ll check. Anything else?”

She told him about the professor and the disappearing Oliver Helms. Reynolds was quiet when she finished.

“I’ll run his name, too. But if his people have the juice to get him released after being found at a murder scene, that raises the stakes to a whole new level. I doubt that’s the case.”

“You’ve got the clout to get Spencer absolved of his crime.”

“That’s because he didn’t do it, and they’ve got nothing. You’re talking about the murder of a prominent academic, with the perpetrator’s prints all over the knife. Different story.”

“Let me know what you learn. In the meantime, we’ll be pursuing the leads we have.”

“Fair enough. Do you need Roland for anything?”

“Not just yet. We’re keeping a low profile. We’ll call if we need his help.”

“What about a place to stay?”

“That didn’t work out so well the last time, did it?” She hung up and eyed Spencer. “What were you able to learn about the ashram?”

“Pretty much what you know. Although there are some hysterical videos of the guy wrestling a tiger and supposedly materializing crap.”

“Tiger wrestling?” Drake asked.

“He claims he’s a reincarnation of a previous guru who did the same thing.”

“Really? That’s a thing? You can just say anything that pops into your head, and people believe it and give you money?”

“Apparently so.”

“I’m in the wrong business,” Drake muttered.

“I know. Sounds like being a politician, only you lie less,” Allie said.

“But as far as the ashram goes, I think you can just make a donation and join,” Spencer continued. “Pretend to be truth seekers or whatever on a spiritual quest, and they should be on you like white on rice. But you can’t take your bag with the dagger, Allie. Only what you have on your back and enough cash to make you interesting. Maybe a change of clothes. You’re pilgrims, and they’re usually pretty broke, but you can be spoiled rich kids seeking wisdom.” He frowned. “The temple is going to be a different matter. It’s closed and you can’t get in, according to the web. A few folks probably go there to take photos of the grounds and exterior, but nobody’s allowed in.”

“So how are you going to handle it?” Allie asked.

“Where there’s a will…”

Drake looked around the mall and then back to Allie. “Where can we stash the dagger and your stuff?”

“I took the liberty of looking up storage lockers,” Spencer said. “Short answer is there aren’t any, but you can leave the bag at the cloakroom at any railway station if you have a valid ticket — they’re apparently completely safe. So buy a ticket for Allie traveling three days from now, buy a hard suitcase and stuff everything in it, lock it, and we’re good to go.”

“You sure they’re safe?” Allie asked.

“Hey, it was on the Internet. It must be true!” Spencer’s expression grew thoughtful as he studied Allie and Drake. “You should say you’re brother and sister. That’s the most innocent way to approach it. They might have some restriction against admitting couples who are living in sin.”

Drake held his tongue, leaving the obvious retort that they were living in anything but sin unspoken, and Allie nodded.

“Good idea.”

They finished their drinks, paid the bill, and went in search of luggage, which took no time at all — there were three stores selling suitcases in just the little mall. Allie suggested a brushed aluminum number, haggled for several minutes as expected, overpaid for it, as well as two cheap backpacks for Drake and herself, and then they were ready to head to the train station and, from there, to the ashram.

“Bhiwami’s only an hour or so from Delhi,” Spencer said. “Easy cab ride.”

“How are you fixed for money?” Allie asked.

“I’ve got plenty of cash, but if you’re handing it out…”

“Hold on to mine, Spencer,” Drake said, sliding a folded wad of hundreds from the pocket of his cargo pants and handing it to Spencer. “I’ll live off Allie for now.”

Allie counted off ten hundred-dollar bills and folded them flat before giving Spencer the rest. She slipped the money into a compartment of her phone case and closed it, satisfied with the undetectable result.

They parted ways, and Drake and Allie headed for the Delhi Junction Railway Station, where she purchased a ticket and checked her bag with no drama, in the process confirming that the ticket person didn’t require identification to buy a ticket, but that she’d need a passport to board the train — which ruled out their riding the rails anywhere.

The prospect of an hour or more in a car on the Indian highway was daunting as the sun climbed in the sky, but they resolved to make the best of it and negotiated a deal with the newest taxi they could find.

“You are going to the ashram?” the driver asked, making conversation as he started the car.

“Yes.”

“It is a very serene place. I myself have been many times. Swami Baba Raja is a great man.”

“That’s what we’ve heard. We’re very excited,” Drake said, not a trace of irony in his voice.

“The swami has done wonderful things. He is a national treasure. It is an honor to be in his presence — you are very fortunate.”

“Yes, we’re hoping to be accepted into the ashram.”

“I believe they take everyone. We are all, after all, created from the same matter, and this incarnation is merely an illusion we must work to see beyond. It is a wonderful journey of discovery you are on, my young friends. Wonderful indeed.”

They picked the driver’s brain for the entire trip, and by the time they neared Bhiwani, felt like they’d taken a crash course on the swami’s philosophy, as well as his many miraculous deeds. Drake leaned toward Allie and whispered to her as they entered the town, “We could pass a written test on Baba Raja by now. Good call on the cab.”

“Every now and then I make one,” she said, and they sat back as they bounced the remaining distance to the ashram, unsure of what to expect but steeled for whatever the cosmos threw at them.