Chase Baker and the Seventh Seal (A Chase Baker Thriller Book 9) by Vincent Zandri Page A

first? What’s really going on here?”
    “It’s like I told you,” Magda says, sipping her coffee. “We’re looking for some lost antique books.”
    “Antique books,” James says, staring into his coffee. “If it were that simple, you wouldn’t be getting shot at. Nor would you be traveling with a band of Uzi-carrying Hasidic Jews.”
    I nod, take a long drink of my coffee. It was prepared in a Turkish coffee press, and it’s very strong.
    I say, “I think what you’re looking for is the significance the books pose and why men are willing to shoot to kill for them?”
    “You’ve got my attention, Chase,” James says.
    “According to my employer, the books, or codices, are the most important find since the Dead Sea Scrolls and offer up a contemporary account of Jesus’ life. A first person, reliable witness account.”
    “But that’s not why your employer, whoever he is, is willing to place you in danger in order to find them.” James gets up, grabs the whiskey bottle, comes back to the table, pours a generous shot into each of our coffees. “Makes the coffee taste better,” he adds. “Tough to get good coffee beans in Jerusalem. Especially in the West Bank.”
    “I didn’t know any better,” Magda says, “I’d say you’re trying to loosen up our lips, old friend.”
    “Right you are,” James says. “So, what is it your employer really wants and why are you two willing to risk your necks for it?”
    “Why do you ask?” I say more than a hint of suspicion in my voice. Chase the untrusting? Maybe. But in cases like this, even when a seemingly good Samaritan like James is helping you out with a dire situation like Moshe’s, it’s best to trust your built-in shit detector. And thus far, this mission to find seven little metal books has proven to be just a hint more complicated than it appeared to be on paper. Okay, a hell of a lot more complicated . . . and dangerous. 
    “Chase,” Magda says. “James is just concerned.”
    “Actually,” James says, “now that you mention it, Mag, I’m more than concerned. I watched you grow up to become a beautiful, intelligent young woman, and I wouldn’t want you getting sucked into something that could potentially get you killed.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “That’s about as plain as I can put it.”
    I drink some of the coffee. He’s right, it tastes better with the whiskey.
    Magda drinks some, then clears the frog from her throat.
    “Would you believe me, James,” she says, “if I told you the fate of the entire world rests upon our locating the codices?”
    He unfolds his arms, forms a hint of a grin in the corner of his mouth.
    “The fate of the world,” he says. “Did I hear you correctly, Mag?”
    “You did,” I interject. “Have you ever heard of the legend of the seven seals?”
    “The New Testament Book of Revelations. By John of Patmos. You can’t breathe the dry air in this country, Chase, and not be reminded of it.”
    Recalling the small paperback copy I intended to purchase, but ended up stealing, from the vendor in the Old City, I reach into my bush jacket pocket and pull it out, set it on the table that still contains some of Moshe’s blood stains.
    I go on, “The book talks of seven seals that, when broken, will usher in the end of days. But only when the seventh seal is broken will the final battle of Armageddon begin, and guess who gets to lead the charge?”
    “Jesus,” James says.
    “Bingo,” I chime.
    “And the metal books?” he asks.
    “Our employer is convinced they are the books that correspond to the end of the times,” Magda says, passion in her voice. “I’ve seen them once before with my own eyes. I know they are real . . . That they exist.”
    “Are they sealed?” James says.
    Magda shakes her head. “The seals on six of them are broken. Which means the first six evils have already been unleashed upon the earth.”
    “How so?”
    “Islamic extremism and Christian genocide,