Dimitri smiled, recalling numerous traps meant to destroy him that he had efficiently avoided. There were many on the streets of St. Petersburg who would swear he possessed magical powers.
“I am not so easily captured, as many men have discovered over the years.”
Josef grunted, unable to argue with his logic. Not that he was satisfied. The servant would be snarling and snapping until they were far away from Egypt.
“But how could any enemy know you would kill Valik and that the pasha’s guards would bring you to the citadel? Do you think they are fortune-tellers?”
Dimitri stepped back, regarding the narrow bed. At the moment it appeared to be a sheet pulled over a line of pillows. But in the dark and at a distance, the lumps beneath the sheet should give the impression of a body.
Or at least that was his hope.
All he needed was for his enemy to be distracted for a few moments to launch his ambush.
Dimitri returned his attention to Josef, accepting he had done all that was possible with no weapons, no notion of who or how many might attack, and a wounded shoulder that still ached like the very devil.
“No fortune-tellers, merely a man swift to take advantage of the situation,” he said. “After all, no one attempted to have me arrested before now—”
“That we know of,” Josef interrupted.
“That we know of,” Dimitri conceded. “But now that I am trapped at the citadel, it obviously occurred to someone that they could use my confinement to their advantage.”
“To kill you?”
Dimitri restlessly paced to blow out the candles that burned in the candelabras. The light from the fireplace should be ample enough to see any intruder without revealing his bed was empty.
“Who is to say?” he muttered. “It could be for the simple enjoyment of watching me suffer, or an attempt to flee before I have the opportunity to interfere in their plans, or any number of plots…including the desire to put me in my grave.” His jaw clenched. “I intend to be prepared.”
/> Josef’s lips parted to continue his arguments, then recognizing Dimitri’s stubborn expression, he heaved a resigned sigh.
“What do you want of me?”
“It appears that the doors are the only entrance to the room, but I prefer not to take a risk of being caught off guard.” He waved a hand toward the elaborate gilded-iron grills he had inspected earlier. So far as he could determine they appeared to be firmly attached to the stone of the citadel, but he had not survived so long without a good deal of caution. “I want you to remain near the windows.”
Josef grimaced, but he readily moved to crouch near the edge of the windows.
“This is going to be a tedious night.”
Dimitri extinguished the rest of the candles and moved to stand beside the door.
“It is preferable to listening to you snore.”
They fell silent as they waited.
And waited. And waited.
As the minutes, and then hours, passed, however, he did not abandon his post or ease his vigilance. He was accustomed to thieves, cutthroats and pirates who did their business at night and on their own schedules.
Besides, if there were an assassin, he would want to wait until he was confident that Dimitri was asleep before entering the room.
Shifting his weight from foot to foot to keep alert, Dimitri froze at the sound of the door being slowly pressed open.
A fierce satisfaction jolted through him. Not at the sight of the slender man who slipped into the room and crept toward the bed with a pistol in his hand. In truth, it was unnerving to witness his potential murder from a distance. But at the knowledge his suspicions had been justified.
His instincts remained honed to razor sharpness, even if his lust for his career had begun to wane.
Waiting until the intruder had nearly reached the bed, Dimitri slid silently forward, approaching the man from behind. With one swift motion, he had plucked the pistol from the intruder’s hand and pressed it to his temple. His other hand he wrapped around the man’s neck, jerking him against his chest to cease his struggles.
There was the faint sound of shuffling from across the room before Josef was lighting the candles to show that the intruder was an Egyptian attired in a European-styled uniform that revealed he was one of the pasha’s guards.