Page 78 of Once Upon A Time

The Prince Arrives

Dieter Schwarz

The operation begins,

and the Welfenlegion were sloppy.

Bad luck.

Dieter glanced at his phone’s wristband and noted the time.

Damn it, they should have arrived already.

He loitered in the hotel lobby near the base of the grand staircase that spilled down from the upper floor. The parquet floor was inlaid with alabaster and metallic gold tiles. Laser-like reflections glared where the morning sunlight hit the bright gold in the floor and dotted the white walls.

A firefight in here would be a nightmare. Those glares would distract Dieter when he should be looking for muzzle flashes and laser-sight dots.

He stood just to the side of the staircase, wide enough for eight people to walk up shoulder-to-shoulder, and rested one hand on the black wrought iron railing. The twisted metal cooled his palm.

And he waited.

The flowers in here were different today. They were whiter, smelled sweeter, and most importantly, weretaller.They blocked his view of the room’s corners and from the doors to this staircase.

Operational security was always changing.

Luca Wyss had checked in with Dieter when the von Hannovers’ plane had arrived at theGeneva Cointrinairport, but that had been hours ago. The caravan should have arrived at the hotel before this.

Dieter was just about to call that damned Luca Wyss and ask what the hell was holding them up, when the concierges and hotel desk staff stood a little straighter, brushed any lint off their clothes, and looked alert.

Someone important had pulled up under the sunny yellow awnings that shaded the front of the hotel.

Dieter relaxed.

A few moments later, the point of theWelfenlegionteam entered the lobby of the Le Montreux Palace hotel, spreading to control the area. Friedhelm was in the lead.

It wasn’t a bad maneuver.

But they were too relaxed. Their legs strolled instead of marched. Their arms swung instead of hovering near their weapons. Yes, they were looking around the lobby, but they weren’t scanning for where the trouble was.

Time to see just how alert they were.

He ducked out of his hide and strode toward the party, his long legs covering the flashing floor quickly.

More security men entered the lobby, looking up and around, followed by Wulfram and Rae von Hannover.

Rae caught sight of Dieter moving in first. She instinctively drew back and toward Wulf, who whirled her behind himself and was reaching inside his jacket.

Dieter grinned and raised his hands, showing no harm. He called out in Alemannic, “Do you think they’ve noticed me yet?”

Wulf relaxed, and his hand dropped away from his suit coat.

AndthenWulf’s security guys contracted their circle to protect Wulfram and Rae.

Dieter didn’t like it and pushed through those slow assholes.

He clapped Wulf on the shoulder as they walked, still grinning, and he switched to English. “Such a sloppy maneuver. Half of them didn’t even have their weapons at the ready. I would have docked all their pay, every one of them.”

Wulf chuckled, and the guys started grumbling.