Free THRILLER: The Galilee Plot: (International Biological Terror, The Mossad, and... A Self-contended Couple) by Shlomo Kalo

alcohol.”
    “To champagne, never! Can
we invite you to join us for a glass?”
    “Thanks very much. I’m
addicted to champagne, but not just now.”

Chapter Thirteen
     
     
     
    The young police officer
phoned. In his opinion and on the basis of his professional judgment, it was
most advisable that I should have a professional bodyguard, at least until the
end of my holiday. He recommended to me a young man who was experienced, loyal
and conscientious, named Karl. Karl would come to the hotel this afternoon, and
he hoped I would appreciate the exceptional efforts he was making to guarantee
my safety and security, and not reject his services.
    He concluded with all
kinds of salutations and promises, waited about half a minute for my response
and when none came, wished me a good afternoon and cut the connection, with all
the delicacy appropriate to a police officer.
    Karl was a youth of about
seventeen-eighteen. Thin and wiry, muscular, with an intelligent look about
him. He offered his services “pursuant to a conversation with the police
commander”, for the same fee that he charged everyone: one hundred francs per
day. I hesitated. It didn’t seem to me his services were vital. I felt a
certain affection towards him, the affection of a grandfather towards his
grandson, but nothing more. Was it worth paying a hundred francs a day for
this? I didn’t turn him down out of hand. I said, I would weigh up his offer.
At first sight he seemed suitable, but there were other factors to be
considered. At this point young Karl tried to meet me halfway:
    “I’m not allowed to reduce
the fee. What I can promise, is to do a reliable job whichever days I’m
guarding you. You can be secure in the knowledge that no one will dare get too
close to you.” We parted with a firm handshake. About an hour later, there was
a call from the hotel reception. A girl called Irena was looking for me, to
discuss something of importance to both of us. I announced that I would be
coming down within a quarter of an hour at the most, if Madame Irena was
prepared to wait. The immediate answer was: she was prepared.
    “Take care you don’t get
tangled up in anything,” my wife advised.
    I went down to reception.
Waiting there was a pretty young Swiss, by which I mean a girl overflowing with
youth, energy and health and something more, that could be defined as
integrity, since her body was the lithe body of a woman, with nothing wasted
about it. Everything was in its place, having the right shape and the precise,
classical proportions. Making her acquaintance was easy. We went down to the
café. I ordered herbal tea, she – a glass of mineral water.
    “Awfully sorry to be
bothering you,” Irena began with an apology in English that was colloquial and
at the same time, vehement in tone. She went on to explain that she was Karl's
girlfreind. “I may as well come straight to the point and tell you, that if you
agree to employ him, and this is something that’s very important to him, and in
a moment I’ll explain why, I’ll be happy to pay half of the cost. Karl is a
very talented lad. His grandfather was the most senior police officer not only
in Zurich, but in the whole canton of Zurich. In other words: his grandfather
was the Zurich police chief. Highly respected, a man of knowledge and
experience, quick on the uptake. He was killed in the line of duty! (The last
sentence was spoken with emphatic tribal pride.) Karl’s father was a senior
police officer in Zurich too. Karl thought he’d be taken on in the Zurich force
and he’d make his career there, more or less automatically. For some reason, up
until now he hasn’t been accepted. I don’t want to go too deeply into things,
because these are really family matters and it doesn’t seem right to involve strangers
in them… Friends and relatives are worried about Karl and from time to time
they throw him a little bone and this makes Karl happy, ridiculously happy.
Karl,” she went on