Chapter 28: Shopping in Old Town

I showered and dressed for dinner. No one had mentioned company so I skipped the tie and just wore the sport coat. When I arrived in the dining room, I discovered that it was just the four of us.

“I thought the Grunder’s were coming with their daughters,” Sofía asked.

“I postponed our dinner considering what happened last night. We certainly don’t need a repeat of that tonight. Especially with Hans,” Cynthiana said.

“He has a reputation as something of a hothead,” Isabella supplied.

“Alex, you once mentioned something about pheromones. Have you looked into that anymore?” Cynthiana asked.

“No, Ma’am. We had no way of doing that on the yacht,” I told her.

“Oh. Okay. I’ll look into that first thing in the morning. When was your last physical?”

“I had to have a sports physical for golf last February, and then there were all the tests they ran in the hospital. And of course, Carina had to examine me periodically, but I’m not really sure that would count as a physical. In general, I try to avoid them because of what they may discover about my abilities.”

“Oh. Right. I hadn’t thought of that. How did you do on the driving range today? Any problems?” she asked.

“You should have seen it!” Sofía said. “It was amazing! First he taught me to hit the ball, then he put on a clinic and all the other golfers were standing around him, watching. When he finished, they all clapped.”

Cynthiana looked at me and arched an eyebrow.

“You know, we may want to re-consider entering him in the country club tournament next week,” Isabella suggested. “He’s likely to blow them all out of the water. How would that affect your plans if they all resent him?”

“You may have something. I’ll think on it. I should probably call Mr. Wilson at the PGA and see what he thinks,”Cynthiana mused.

Suddenly Cynthiana stood. “I think I need to call the states,” she said. “Goodnight everyone. Remember that Captain Franc will be here at eight-thirty for breakfast, Alex.”

“Would you like to watch the new Avengers movie, Alex?” Sofía asked.

“Sure. What about your sister?” I asked.

“I think I’ll pass on that one,” Isabella replied.

Sofía took my hand and I followed her out of the room. I know that somewhere in that house was a theater room complete with big screen TV and a fantastic audio system, but Sofía didn’t take me there. Instead she took me to her bedroom. As she closed the door with her foot, she began unbuttoning my shirt.

“What about the movie,” I asked her.

“Already seen it,” she replied.

Oh, well...

By Thursday morning, I found my life settling into a routine. A routine that I was really beginning to enjoy. Six-thirty in the dojo with Sensei Itsuki, breakfast at eight-thirty with Captain Franc, working on sailing stuff until lunch, then a quick bite in the kitchen with one or both of the girls, followed usually by testing of some kind and then two hours at the practice range. Dinners were still in flux, but that was okay because I wasn’t looking for a bride just yet.

The only slight variance this day was that Captain Franc took me to the marina to see his sailboat. The Catalina 22 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of fiberglass, with teak wood trim. It has a masthead sloop rig, a raked stem, a vertical transom, a large self-bailing cockpit, with under-seat lockers, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a folding swing keel. It has two winches for the jibsheets. Her sails include a jib, a 150% genoa and a spinnaker.

His Catalina 22 also had a small six horsepower outboard motor for docking and maneuvering.

The accommodations include a forward “V” berth with a privacy curtain and a port berth with the optional head that was stowed underneath. The main cabin area included a dinette table and a molded fiberglass galley that rolled away under the cockpit space. The foredeck featured an opening hatch for ventilation. The companionway hatch had a ‘pop-top’ fitted for additional headroom.

We never left the marina, instead we sat in the cockpit and went through the books he had brought me. He would have me read a passage in the ‘How to Sail’ book and then have me try to find all the things they mentioned. Of course, there was much that was similar to what I had experienced on the Serendipity, but there was more that I didn’t know. We ended up crawling all over that sailboat, looking at how it was put together and even the upgrades he had made over the years.

We finally got back to the house about one-thirty and I made a dash for the kitchen for a quick bite to eat. Isabella came in shortly after I arrived.

“Take your time, Alex. When you finish and get changed, Sofía and I are going to take you to old town for some shopping.”

Parts of Zurich’s old downtown are said to be more than six hundred years old. These days, many of the paved streets have been closed to motorized traffic, except for the electric streetcars that run on rails embedded in the pavement and electric bikes or electric scooters. But the best way to get around is on foot.

We parked the BMW in the car park near the Grossmünster church, which is a landmark in Zurich. Legend has it that the church was built on the graves of the city’s patron saints, Felix and Regula.

From there we walked over to one of the two main streets that run through downtown, called Limmatquai. The other main street is Bahnhofstrasse, which is one of the world’s most expensive and exclusive shopping avenues and definitely not somewhere I wanted to shop today.

We soon turned off Limmatquai and began to explore the myriad side streets and alleyways. Everywhere there were small café’s with sidewalk seating (although not in use due to the cold), and hundreds of shops selling everything from clothing and jewelry to pots and pans and other household goods. There were plant shops, and candy shops, and even a pharmacy. It was like a Hogsmeade (near Hogwarts) on steroids.

I found some earrings for Jenna, and Isabella found a comfortable pair of furry slippers for me to give Kelly Ann to wear in the dorm. For mom, I got this Swiss flower that had been preserved in some kind of hard plastic. It was the kind of thing she liked to collect. And for dad I found a wood and acrylic case to display the hole-in-one ball that I planned to give him. Mom and the girls had already given him the picture. I also picked up a small carved plaque that said ‘World’s Best Caddy’ on it.

I was done. But the girls were just getting started. So I grabbed a seat at one of the tables outside the Oliver Twist Pub while I waited for the girls to finish in the shoe store next door. It was then that a gentleman sat down beside me. Because of the weather, the pub wasn’t serving outside today, so we were the only ones there for the moment.

It was when I noticed the plastic earpiece that I felt the panic start rising within me. Taking a deep breath, I quickly located three others, two men and a woman, connected to the earpiece in the stranger’s ear.

“Do not be alarmed, Mr. Masters,” he said in slightly accented English. “We are only here to deliver a message.”

“A message?”

“Da. The others that watch you are waiting on you in the auto park behind the big church,” he said. “I would watch my step, if I were you. I would hate for you to do anything that might get those pretty ladies injured.”

And with that, he was gone. I could still sense the electrical impulses from their radio receivers, but they were all fading away towards the north. My first thought was to go in the shoe store and check on the girls, but I decided to scan the area for any other strange electrical signals first. And while I did, I began to consider our options.

These strangers with the Russian accent, for I had decided that’s what their accent was, had just warned me that someone else was watching us and planning a surprise for us when we returned to the car.

“Wait until you see the cute shoes I bought,” Sofía gushed as the girls reached the table. “Why don’t we go inside the pub and get something warm to drink. It’s freezing out here!”

Temperatures in the high forties were not freezing, but I’m sure it felt that way after being inside the store for the last half hour. “C’mon. My treat,” I told the girls as I opened the door to the pub. It was definitely warmer in here. As we stood in the small vestibule waiting to be seated, I leaned over and whispered in Isabella’s ear, “We’ve got trouble.”

I’ll have to hand it to her. Isabella didn’t react like I would have expected. No questions, no comments, no rushing out the door. She simply glanced at me once and shoved her hand inside of the handbag on her shoulder.

I asked the hostess for a booth near the back. She looked at the two beautiful women with me and then nodded before leading us to a circular booth with high partitions along the back wall. Then she took our drink orders and left us with menus.

“Give it to me,” Isabella said quietly.

“I was sitting there waiting on you all when a guy sat down and called me by name and said that someone else was watching us and they were planning a surprise for us at the car park next to the big church. Then he warned me to be careful and they all left,” I relayed.

Isabella pulled out her cell phone and punched one button.

“Code 3,” she said. Then she listened.

“No, we’re safe for the moment. The Oliver Twist on Rindermarkt.”

“Negative on the car. We suspect an ambush in the car park.”

She listened a moment longer and then hung up her phone.

“We wait,” she said in response to my unasked question. “Would you change seats with me?”

Which I did of course. Sofía sat quietly without saying anything.

Soon, Isabella’s phone chirped. She glanced at it and then throwing some cash on the table, she said, “Let’s go!”

Sofía and I followed her silently as she lead us the two blocks towards the main street but then suddenly turned into a narrow alley, where she stopped and knocked on the first door. We were quickly admitted and led to a conference room on the second floor. I found out that it was one of the Rappeneau family banks, so we were safe for the moment.

Larry picked us up out front in the limousine fifteen minutes later and we headed home. We still hadn’t said anything about what happened. When we got to the house, we all filed into Cynthiana’s office.

I was surprised to see Reggie sitting there in one of the leather chairs.

“Report?” he said to Isabella.

“I think Alex should go first,” she told him. Reggie just turned and looked at me.

“I was sitting at an empty table outside the Oliver Twist Pub, waiting on the girls who were in the shoe shop next door. Out of nowhere, this guy in a black overcoat and one of those fur hats with the ear flaps sits down. I noticed the ear piece with the wire trailing down the back of his neck and immediately followed it to three other people with the same device.

“The man said he wasn’t there to hurt me and that the others who were watching me were planning a surprise for us when we returned to the car park next to the old church. Then he said to be careful and he disappeared, along with all the other signals,” I told him.

“Thank you, Alex. Good job. You stayed cool under pressure. After dinner, Isabella and I will debrief you and we can talk about what to do if that happens again in the future. For your information, the Zurich police did find a very small explosive device attached to the drive shaft. It looks like they wanted to disable the car. They also found a canister of nitrogen. Presumably for nitrogen asphyxiation.”

“I don’t understand,” I said.

“Simple, really. The explosive is triggered somehow, probably by cell phone, and the car stops. It’s cold out, so we sit in the car and call for backup. When backup arrives, we’re dead from nitrogen asphyxiation,” Isabella explained.

“Did you see the man who warned Alex?” Reggie asked Isabella.

“No. I’ve gone over everything in my mind, but there were so many in winter coats and hats with ear flaps to hide their communications devices, that I just can’t say,” Isabella told him.

“He was Russian,” I said aloud.

“What?” Reggie’s head jerked up.

“I’m sorry. I thought I mentioned it. He said the word ‘Ja” and he spoke with a Russian accent. Either he was Russian or a very good actor,” I said.

“Excuse me, Ma’am,” said the cute maid. “There are two gentlemen at the door. One of them claims to be the Russian Ambassador to Switzerland.”

“Denice, would you show them to the parlor?” she asked the maid. Then to Sofía, she said, “Dear, would you go pack your bag. I’m afraid your visit has been cut short. Isabella, you also.”

“Gentlemen,” she said to Reggie and I, indicating we should follow her as she then led the way to the parlor.

“Madam Rappeneau, thank you for seeing us on such short notice. I would never dream of bothering you at home, except, it seems there is some rather ugly business going on, and we have information we think might be helpful to you.”

“And you are?” Cynthiana asked.

“Please forgive me. I am Ambassador Boris Chortkoff, and this is my Chief of Embassy Security, Meryl Rhyner.

“I am Mrs. Rappeneau, and this is my Chief of Security, Reginald De’bushe and my guest, Mr. Alex Masters. What brings you gentlemen out on such a cold Thursday evening?” she asked politely.

“As I said, I appreciate you seeing us without an appointment, but felt the situation dictated such a meeting. I’d like Mr. Rhyner to explain, Ja?”

“Please do,” Cynthiana said.

“Thank you,” Mr. Rhyner said. “Last night, three men arrived at the Zurich Airport on a Turkish Airlines flight that originated in Islamabad. While unknown to us at the time, we later discovered they are on Interpol’s Watch List. I notified Interpol and then told our people to be on watch for them as well.

“Earlier this afternoon, my people were downtown and spotted Mr. Masters and the two ladies arrive at the car park near the old church. While two of my people followed Mr. Masters, the other two continued to observe the area around the church. Shortly after Mr. Masters and company left the car park, the three men on the watch list appeared and began doing something to Mr. Masters’ car. My people immediately notified me and I decided that Mr. Masters should be warned, so I had Savon intercept Mr. Masters and warn him.”

“We have heard many things about Mr. Masters and his rumored clash with the US Navy and have no desire to incur his wrath against the Motherland,” explained the Ambassador. “So I came here personally to assure you that the Russian government has no desire to interfere in Mr. Masters life or in the Rappeneau Foundation’s business.”

“Do you know what happened to the three men?” Reggie asked.

“They were last seen at the train station in Zurich about an hour ago, getting on the train to Paris.”

“Thank you both for your thoughtfulness,” Cynthiana said. “Is there anything else?”

“Well...” Ambassador stammered, his face turning red. “I saw the replay on the Golf Channel of Alex playing in the golf tournament and I wanted to meet him in person and invite him to play a round of golf with me at my country club one day soon.”

“Why, thank you,” I said in surprise. “I do not know exactly what my schedule is, for Cynthiana has me up to my eyeballs in classes and training, however, I will work something out for one day real soon. May we call you?”

“Of course,” he said as he offered me his card.

“I look forward to playing with you,” I told him as I shook his hand.

“Reggie, call Paris and let them know. Everything there goes to code red immediately,” Cynthiana instructed.

“What just happened?” I asked aloud.

“Not now, Alex.”

Then Cynthiana picked up the phone and said, “Isabella get everyone ready, we’re going to Paris. Now.”

Then she made two more quick calls. One about the plane and the other for the car to be brought around. Finally, turning to me, she said, “Roland, Carina, and all of your family are scheduled to arrive in Paris in the morning. We need to get there as soon as we can. Now go pack your bag, and hurry.”

We were airborne in the Foundation’s private jet forty-five minutes later. And while nobody said anything directly, the tension inside the plane was noticeable.

Three hours ago, Isabella, Sofía, and I had avoided being killed by a hidden canister of gas. Fortunately, the Russians stumbled across the plot and warned us. Then later they showed up at the house and told us that the three assassins were heading to Paris, which is exactly where the rest of our families were headed.