I wake up in what looks to be Ekaterina’s office in Ipatiev House. The one room that doesn’t seek to replicate the original building. But it looks slightly different. Maybe because I’m viewing it at a right angle. I blink. My head rests on the floor. I roll over. Groan. Look up.
I see Ekaterina has been placed in a chair and she’s coming to, regaining her consciousness as my eyes blink open.
‘Novak . . . is that you?’
I try to stand but realise my wrists have been shackled by a pair of handcuffs, and glancing across at Ekaterina, I see she’s been similarly inconvenienced. I shake my head. Sniff the air.
‘Who did this?’ she demands, glaring at her cuffs.
‘Colonel Bulatov.’
‘How do you know?’
‘Only he’d have the chutzpah and manpower to break into your little fortress. And I recognise his brand of cigarette. He’s been here recently.’
Ekaterina peers to her left. One of her guards appears to be asleep in the seat behind the room’s main desk. ‘Soldier!’ she shouts. ‘Soldier!’
I recognise the man as the guard who’d escorted me to the main entrance during my first visit.
Ekaterina bawls at him again, but he gives no sign of having heard her. No sign of anything.
I stagger to my feet and make my way over to him. ‘What’s his name?’
‘I don’t know. Pavel, I think.’
‘Pavel! Wake up, mate! We need to know what happened here!’ I spin his chair around and very gently shake his shoulder. ‘Come on! You can hit snooze after you’ve—’
The guard’s body topples forward and slumps heavily to the floor. Pavel is lying on his front, meaning his back is exposed. There’s a circle of blood between his shoulders and a dagger handle protrudes from it. I drop to my haunches and check for a pulse.
‘For God’s sake, you can see he’s dead! Why’s he been stabbed, not shot?’
‘Your compassion is boundless, Ekaterina.’ I look up. ‘Yeah, he’s dead. Poor bugger. And I imagine he was one of the first to be taken out and Bulatov was relying on stealth as part of his attack.’
‘Oh my God!’ Ekaterina gets to her feet. ‘Are you saying the Colonel’s taken over Ipatiev House?’
‘No idea. But it seems likely.’
I hurry to the door. Check it. ‘Locked.’
‘This is a nightmare!’
I nod to the blinds covering the windows. ‘Can we get out that way?’
‘They’re perma-locked.’
‘Bulletproof?’
‘Damn near missile-proof.’
I lean my back against the door. ‘Then it looks like Colonel Bulatov is holding all the cards. The question is, what does he want from us?’ I glance at my watch. ‘And let’s hope he’s in a merciful mood.’
‘Why?’
‘Because my deadline is almost up. If I don’t hand him the Romanov Code in ten minutes, he’s promised to slaughter my friends and family. And knowing Bulatov as I do, whatever the circumstances, well, I’ve absolutely no doubt he’ll make good on his vow.’
For once, Ekaterina is completely candid. ‘I’m afraid your assessment is correct,’ she tells me. ‘You have less than a quarter of an hour to avert unimaginable bloodshed.’