Once we’re both dressed, I look at him and raise an eyebrow. “So, now what?” I can hear the party is still raging on the other side of the thick door of the study. “Do you think we can slip out unnoticed?”
“We’ll slip out unnoticed,” he says as he leans down and picks up his cane. He then reaches for the bottle of bourbon he had been drinking and takes a long swig of it before placing it back down, reaching for my hand, and asking, “Shall we?”
I take his hand, and he leads me to a bookcase. He then begins tapping books with the bottom of his cane. There’s a clicking noise when he knocks on one, and he chuckles. “There you are.”
He then pushes the book forward and the bookcase moves, revealing a secret passageway on the other side.
“This should lead us out,” he announces.
“How did you know this was here?”
“I’m Nick Hudson. It’s my job to know everything.” He then gives me a wink and charges us into the dark hallway.
I suppose every mansion has secret passageways when the owner lives in the world of high-stakes business and may need a fast getaway, but how he knew… I guess I shouldn’t question but instead be grateful.
“How do you know where it leads?” I’m hesitant to enter, but I don’t resist. I don’t have any other choice but to follow.
He doesn’t answer right away, but instead walks me down a dark corridor. My eyes try to adjust to the darkness, but they can’t. I’m not sure how he knows where we’re going, but I cling tightly to his hand and stay close to his side. It’s cold, dank, and leads to the unknown, but I still march forward.
I hear him opening a door in front of us, and the fresh air of the outside kisses my face. The starry sky welcomes us from the darkness. We stand about a hundred yards away from the Morelli mansion. I turn to see the party still at its height, and no one the wiser that we were there, and now that we are gone.
He gestures me out the door. “Until we meet again…”
I walk into the cold night air.
By the time I turn back, he’s already closed the door. Already disappeared. It almost feels like he was a figment of my imagination. As if he never really existed. Except that I’m standing here, not being used as ransom by the Russian mob.
There was a moment tonight that I truly didn’t believe I’d leave the mansion alive. I look up at the night sky, feeling relief that it won’t be my last night alive.
* * *