Page 62 of The Prodigal Prince

And changed his mind. “Change of plans. We’re not going to run yet. I want you to sneak. Stay as low as you can. Go to the right until you get to the hallway, okay? Keep going, and I’ll catch up with you.”

“Okay, Daddy.”

Praying this would work, Mac opened the door a little farther, just enough for his son to squeeze out then closed it again as Gray moved away.

Mac started back the other direction, toward the place where he’d been sitting a few minutes earlier. If Mr. Villain and Lefty looked toward him, hopefully they wouldn’t notice Gray as he moved toward the passage closest to the door he’d come out of.

There were multiple passages coming off the open area.

He had no idea which corridor was the right one, but that one made the most sense for Gray to go to. Surely they’d eventually find an exit of some kind no matter which one they took. If only there was some sort of map lying around for him to look at. He held out no hope that there would be one on the wall around the corner showing them which way to go.

Once Gray made the turn down the corridor, Mac worked his way back to the table and moved in front of the object he wanted to pick up.

The small torch found its way into his pocket before he went back the other direction.

Both of the men had their backs to him so Mac moved faster. As soon as he knew he was out of sight, Mac turned his attention to moving down the corridor.

“Gray,” he whispered.

“Here, Daddy.” The whisper came back from just a little ways ahead.

The further away they got from the open area, the darker the corridor became. He took Gray’s hand as they moved more slowly than Mac would have liked.

But it would be better to move slowly and not make any noise than move more quickly and alert the two men when they fell or bumped into something.

Mac could barely make out a turn in the corridor and breathed a sigh of relief. Once they were a short ways down the next arm, he’d feel more comfortable turning on the torch.

“Are we almost there?” Gray whispered.

“I don’t know how far we have to go.” He glanced back to see only a slight glow from around the corner. He pulled the torch out of his pocket and clicked it on.

The corridor looked just like the other ones they’d been in with no way Mac could tell to distinguish it from any other corridor.

He didn’t know how he felt about the torch. The light was far brighter than he felt comfortable with, but he knew they needed something. Mac looked at Gray to see how he was holding up and realized that, at some point, he’d put Fiona’s sweater on and gave Mac a flash of brilliance.

“Can I get your mum’s sweater?”

Gray looked confused, but took it off and handed it over. Mac wrapped it around the torch to diffuse the light. It gave them enough to see but wouldn’t be as noticeable if someone was looking for them.

“That’s smart.” The admiration in Gray’s voice warmed Mac’s heart. “They won’t see it, but we can see.”

“Exactly.” A minute later, they came to a junction and had to make a choice.

“Which way do we go?” Gray whispered.

Mac looked down one side then the other. “I don’t know which way we should go.” He threw up a prayer for wisdom. Before he could decide, he heard a shout behind them.

Their escape had been noticed.

Right.

Right had to be the right way, right?

“Let’s go.” He held Gray’s hand and moved faster. The voices behind them started to get closer and closer.

As they reached another turn, Mac picked up the pace, but as soon as the rounded that corner, they jolted to a stop.

The thing Mac feared the most about their escape.

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