Scoundrel's Honor (Russian Connection 3)

“I found this in Tarvek’s bedchamber,” he said, pulling out a folded piece of parchment and handing it to his companion.

“Katherine Marie,” Josef read out loud. “Friday at noon.” He glanced toward Dimitri with a frown. “An assignation, no doubt.”

“Quite possible,” Dimitri readily agreed, urging his horse into a trot as they reached the paved street leading toward the Winter Palace. “But I recall finding a similar message in Pytor Burdzecki’s desk.”

Josef easily kept pace. “Katherine is a common enough name.”

Which was precisely why Dimitri had dismissed Burdzecki’s note as inconsequential. The aging roué was known to keep several mistresses, not to mention the brothels he visited on a regular basis.

“Yes, but for both gentlemen to have an assignation on the same day, at the same time, with a woman with the same name defies the odds.”

“You suspect this Katherine is a female they have abducted?”

“Or intend to abduct.”

Josef was swift to realize the importance of Dimitri’s words. “Then we can follow them. If they do snatch a female they will have to take her to their hidden lair.”

Dimitri nodded, his expression grim as the traffic thickened and he was forced to slow his pace.

“That was my thought, as well. We need to keep a close guard on the men we suspect are involved with my father.”

They traveled in silence as they weaved through the elegant carriages and small groups of pedestrians who were battling to make their way to the Palace Square. It was not that the crowds possessed an interest in the military drills or the poor soldiers expected to stand for hours in the cold as they prepared for the event.

But, it had become a rare occurrence for Alexander Pavlovich to make a public appearance over the past few years and the entire city was determined to catch sight of him.

“What’s troubling you?” Josef abruptly demanded.

Dimitri smiled with wry amusement at his servant’s perception. Yes. They had most certainly been working together for too long.

“Katherine Marie,” he muttered, annoyed by a vague memory teasing the edge of his mind. “The name is familiar.”

Josef shrugged. “As I said, it’s common enough.”

“Yes.” Dimitri shook his head in frustration and abruptly turned down a side street that would lead to the Summer Garden and the Field of Mars beyond. He knew a few tricks to avoid the worst of the traffic. “This way.” Intent on reaching Emma, it took Dimitri a moment to realize his companion was beginning to fall farther and farther behind. He glanced over his shoulder with an expression of impatience. “Josef?”

The servant shifted uneasily in his saddle. He hated being in the finer neighborhoods. Understandable, of course. One misstep and a man could find himself rotting in the nearest dungeon.

“You wanted those noblemen to be watched. I’ll find—”

“I have need of you,” Dimitri firmly interrupted, returning his attention to the road.

“I knew that woman was going to be trouble the moment she threatened to geld Semyon with scalding coffee,” Josef muttered, grudgingly returning to Dimitri’s side.

Dimitri scowled. He was not pleased when he discovered Emma had been troubled by one of his own servants.

“Semyon should have been gelded, although I believe the flogging I gave him should be lesson enough in how to treat a lady.”

“What do you intend to do with her?”

“That is a question that kept me pacing the floor most of the night,” Dimitri said dryly.

Josef shook his head in sad resignation. “A wise man would pack his bags and flee at this moment.”

“No doubt.”

“And yet you intend to pursue her.”

Dimitri shifted in his s