Chapter 1

It started out as a perfectly normal late September day. Woke up, prepared my daily mug of Latte Machiatto, successfully scanned all the headlines, sent the boys off to school, and kissed daughter and wife goodbye. Off on my bike down the road, I already wished I’d have put on an extra layer under my too thin jacket. Summer was over and Autumn was making itself felt with a surprisingly cold wind. Scooting by all the kids on their way to school, I cruised across the bridge and down along the Neckar River, my favorite stretch on my short commute.  The tall chestnut trees, lining both sides of the river, caught me off guard with their almost offensive yellow-orange glare. The trees had been turning for a few days now, but the last time I took a closer look, the chestnut leaves were just starting to make the change from deep green to red. The strong colors served to counterbalance my rather melancholy mood in the face of the oncoming dreary winter months.

Turning away from the bright river lane and approaching the modern glass building housing our new office, I felt a fresh exuberance knowing that we’d met our latest deadlines and were in for a beefy raise at the end of the month.
After 8 plus years in the old 5-room office where we couldn’t even afford a cleaning lady, I’d still not gotten used to the spiffy new building, with the glass elevator and stylish furniture. Although it was great having my own office with ceiling-high windows, I often missed the cozy atmosphere of the old run-down office where we were lucky if someone got around to vacuuming every 4 weeks.

My boss Michael was almost never there before 8, so it kinda surprised me when I heard him call me into his office. “Steinbruck wants to talk to us, real urgent. He didn’t sound too happy when he called last night. I don’t know what’s up but he seems to want to see you and didn’t really care if I came along or not”. “Today?”, I protested. “Can’t it wait til the end of the week. I’d really enjoy a couple relaxed days after last week’s release.” “Sorry”, Michael tried, “but there’s no way around this one”.

Of course I couldn’t tell him the main reason I didn’t want to go was because I’d miss my quarter final soccer match on Tuesday. If there was anything my boss couldn’t stand it was my pension for sports. “Sport ist mord” was his favorite saying. His idea of exercise, and he hated it, was having to walk up the two flights of stairs when the elevator was broken.

“Stephanie has a train scheduled for you leaving the main station at 9:30”. Michael explained. “You’ll be in Zurich by one o’ clock”.

“Man, that’s cutting it pretty damn close”, I countered. “Am I supposed to jump on my bike and head out there in these clothes?”

“You can grab a taxi to your place, put on your suit and be at the station by 9:30”, Michael said, seemingly so organized and in control. Control it may have been, but in a very strange variety. Steinbruck was one of those customers who could get my boss to cow down just like a small boy. In a panicky manner, he’d lose his one-of-the-boys attitude and become the big boss in the blink of an eye. Even though I was one of a handful who helped turn the company into what it was, Michael didn’t let us forget who signed the paychecks.
He also failed not again to remind me of my tendency to be loose at the lips. “ Hermosa Beach remains within these walls, right”. I truly hate secrets and lies, but knew this one to be vital to my livelihood and had many times convinced myself that it wasn’t really a lie. Deception, yes, lie, no. We weren’t violating our contracts and agreements with Steinbruck and I certainly had no personal amenities with him. It did truly bug me, though, to be reminded of the secrecy of this matter by my boss.