Chapter 3 - The Escape Route
Dante coughed weakly and grabbed Sadi by the wrist.
"You brought me back," he whispered in utter disbelief.
"You are going to die again if we stay in this room," Sadi replied, wiping sweat from her forehead.
Dante nodded slowly and pointed a trembling finger toward the massive bookshelf covering the western wall.
"Pull the red leather book on the third shelf," he instructed.
Sadi scrambled over to the enormous wooden bookcase and found the specific volume.
She pulled the book backward.
A loud mechanical click echoed from behind the wall.
The entire bookshelf swung open like a heavy door, revealing a pitch-black stone tunnel.
"Help me up," Dante ordered.
Sadi threw his heavy arm over her shoulder and hoisted him to his feet.
They stumbled into the secret passage just as the front doors of the mansion were kicked open downstairs.
More rogue guards were flooding into the estate.
Sadi pushed the bookshelf closed from the inside, plunging them into total darkness.
"Where does this tunnel lead?" she asked, guiding him blindly forward.
"It goes directly to the underground parking garage," Dante answered, his voice echoing off the damp stone walls.
They walked in agonizing silence for ten brutal minutes.
Sadi could feel the warm, sticky blood soaking entirely through her uniform.
They finally reached a heavy iron door at the end of the long passageway.
Sadi pushed it open, and the fluorescent lights of the underground garage blinded her for a moment.
The massive concrete room held six luxury vehicles.
Dante pointed to a sleek, armored black SUV parked near the exit ramp.
"The keys are hidden inside the sun visor," he said.
Sadi helped him into the passenger seat and ran around to the driver's side.
She climbed in, pulled down the visor, and found the heavy electronic key fob.
She pressed the ignition button with a sigh of relief.
The dashboard lit up brightly, but the engine only made a pathetic clicking sound.
She pressed the button again, but the car was completely dead.
A harsh, mocking laugh echoed across the silent concrete garage.
"I cut the battery cables twenty minutes ago," a cold voice announced.
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Sadi looked through the windshield and froze in absolute terror.
Rosa, the head housekeeper, was standing at the top of the exit ramp holding a shotgun.
