She had to know Rudolph did a great deal of work with Russians, because after a moment’s pause she agreed to meet. Juan was relieved. He could have simply bound and gagged the woman in her bed, had Julia send away the maid when she arrived in the morning, and put his plan into motion. However, that wasn’t his style. The woman was an innocent in this affair, and he wouldn’t put her through any more than absolutely necessary.

A light at the head of the stairs came on. Made up and properly dressed, Kara Isphording was not an attractive woman. But fresh from her bed with her hair awry and her face puffy with sleep, she was downright scary. She’d donned a heavy robe over whatever she wore to sleep in, and Juan fervently hoped it wouldn’t slip open. For this meeting he was dressed in black jeans, a black shirt, and a large black leather jacket, the de rigueur uniform of an enforcer in the Russian mafia. He’d dyed his hair and five days’ worth of beard a ginger red. He also wore tinted contacts that darkened his bright blue eyes.

“I am sorry to disturb you, Frau Isphording,” Juan said when she reached the first floor. Neither made a move to shake hands. “There was no other way. Plans are in motion to free your husband, but we need your help. You are the only one allowed to see him at Regensdorf, and he needs to be made aware of what is happening.”

“You said someone wants to kill my Rudy?” She dumped herself into a chair. Tears were already in her eyes.

“Yes. You may not be aware, but factions within the Palestinian movement believe your husband is the key to a great deal of their money. Perhaps billions of dollars.”

“But…but he said that what he did for the Palestinians was legal.”

Juan knelt in front of the frightened woman and took her trembling hands in his. “That may be true, but for these people rumor is as good as fact. They are either going to kill him on Monday or try to abduct him. We must act before they do.”

“I don’t…I don’t know what to do. Shouldn’t you tell the police?”

“Your husband’s testimony has already ruined the careers of several prominent people in business and the government. There are even more powerful people who would like nothing more than for your husband to be silenced.”

Juan could see he was being too circumspect. Kara Isphording was already at the end of her mental and emotional rope and couldn’t grasp what he was saying. He couldn’t blame her. A year ago she was married to a successful lawyer and enjoying the genteel life of a Swiss hausfrau. Today she was bombarded with reporters and dosed daily with stories about her husband’s criminal activities.