The Big Bad Wolf

"I'M GLAD YOU'RE HERE to see this for yourself, Atticus," the Wolf said to his lawyer. "This is such bullshit harassment. My businesses are beyond reproach. You know that better than anyone. This is highly insulting." He looked at me. "Do you know how many business associates you've insulted at this party?" I was still restraining myself from responding to his threat to my family, to Little Alex. I didn't want to take him down; I wanted to take him out. "Trust me, this isn't harassment," I told the lawyer. "We're here to arrest your client for kidnapping." Sorokin rolled his eyes. "Are you people mad? Do you know who I am?" he asked. Jesus, I'd heard almost the same speech in Dallas. "As a matter of fact, I do," I said. "Your real name is Pasha Sorokin, not Ari Manning. Some people say you're the Russian godfather. You're the Wolf." Sorokin heard me out, then he laughed a crazy laugh. "You are such fools. You, especially." He pointed at me. "You just don't get it." Suddenly there were shouts coming from one of the other rooms on the first floor. "Fire!" someone was yelling. "C'mon, Alex!" Mahoney said. He and I left Sorokin with three other agents and ran to see what the hell was going on. How could there be a fire? Now? There was a fire. It seemed to have started in the large study off the main living room, in a closet. Swirls of smoke came from under the door. A lot of smoke. I grabbed the doorknob, which was hot. The closet was locked. I lowered my shoulder and hit the door hard. I slammed into it again. The wood cracked this time. I hit it once more, and the door collapsed. Thick black smoke billowed out. I stepped up close and tried to peer inside. Then I saw something move. Someone was in there. I could see a face. Elizabeth Connolly was in there - and she was on fire!

I TOOK A BREATH, then lunged forward into the cloud of smoke and heat. I felt the skin on my face begin to burn. I forced myself inside the walk-in closet. Stooped down. I grabbed Elizabeth Connolly in my arms and stumbled backward out of the closet with her. My eyes were tearing, and my face felt blistered. Elizabeth's eyes were open wide as I removed her gag. Ned Mahoney worked on the rope bindings around her arms. "Thank you," she whispered in a voice hoarse with smoke. "Oh, thank you," she gasped. Tears ran from her eyes, smudging the soot on her cheeks. My heart thumped a wild beat as I held her hand and waited for the paramedics to come. I couldn't believe she was alive, but it made everything worthwhile. I only got to savor the feeling for a few seconds. Shots rang out. I ran from the den, turned the corner, and saw two agents down but alive. "Bodyguard came in firing," the closest agent told me. "He and Manning ran upstairs." I hurried up the stairs with Ned Mahoney following close behind. Why would the Wolf go upstairs? It didn't make sense to me. More agents joined us. We searched every room. Nothing! We couldn't find the Wolf or the bodyguard. Why had they run upstairs? Mahoney and I did another full walk-through of all the rooms on the second and third floors. Fort Lauderdale police had begun to arrive and helped secure the house. "I don't see how he got out of here," Mahoney said. We were huddled together in the second-floor hallway, puzzled and disgusted. "Has to be a way out up here somewhere. Let's look again." We retraced our steps down the second-floor hallway, checking in several guest bedrooms. At the far end of the hall was another stairway, probably used by the help. We'd already searched it. Sealed it off at the bottom. Then it struck me: a small detail I had overlooked. I hurried down to the first landing. There was a casement window and a window seat there. It was just as I'd remembered. Two small cushions on the floor. I opened the cover of the window seat. Ned Mahoney groaned out loud. He saw what I'd found. The escape route. The Wolf had gotten out! "He might still be in here. Let's see where this goes," I said. Then I lowered myself into the opening. There were narrow wooden stairs, a half dozen of them. Mahoney held a flashlight on me as I climbed down. "It's here, Ned," I called back to him. I saw how they'd made it out. A window was open. I could see water a few feet below. "They went into the Intercoastal," I called up to Mahoney. "They're in the water!"