After the initial shock had faded Molly finally started to respond, bringing her hand up to his chest she started pulling on his shirt, bringing them even closer together. She could feel him smile in approval, before his fingertips wandered to the bottom of her dress, pushing it up even higher then it already was, when...
Molly froze when the door was suddenly pushed open and Drake, followed by two of his security guards, entered the room.
"I have to say, this isn't what I expected, when I was told that Sherlock Holmes is sneaking around up here," he said, signalling his guards to wait outside.
"I imagined I'd find you kneeling in front of my safe, or going through my desk drawers, but it looks like the two of you were just looking for some privacy," he continued, his eyes fixed on Molly as if he was waiting for her to confess.
"I must apologize," Sherlock finally replied. "We shouldn't be up here, but it was just too tempting, you're a passionate man yourself, you must understand," he added fixing his shirt, a fake smile that was a reflection of Drake's own on his lips.
"We're so sorry..." Molly also apologized, wishing that the bed would just swallow her...a strategy, a way to save them from getting into too much trouble this was all this had been...
"Did you like it?" Drake asked.
"Excuse me?"
"The book, Mr Holmes. You obviously saw it, maybe even flipped through the pages."
"Well," Sherlock finally got up and picked up the book from the floor where he had dropped it. "I'm afraid I was otherwise occupied," he smiled at Molly causing her to blush even more.
"That's too bad," Drake replied. "You might find it quite intriguing," he explained, taking the book from Sherlock and locking it in his desk.
"I don't read detective stories."
"Right, you're just living them. But for now you better get back to the party, we wouldn't want anyone to wonder where you went Mr. Holmes."
"Of course not," Sherlock replied watching Drake leave.
xoxo
"That was very close," Molly commented, taking a glass of wine from one of the masked waiters that were making their rounds through the crowd.
"He's playing with me..." Sherlock murmured, typing so ferociously that Molly was worried he'd brake his phone.
"I can't imagine how that must feel..." she replied taking a sip from her wine.
"What?" He looked up in bewilderment.
"Just tell me what is going on," she begged, and Sherlock just sighed in frustration, shoved his phone back into his pocket, and put her glass on one of the tables, before he pulled her out onto the dance floor.
"The book Molly, you saw it," he explained, holding her firmly as they fell into a slow waltz.
"Yes...for about 30 seconds before you, you know..." she replied, the close contact reminding her of what they had been doing just a few moments ago...
"The Last Bluff," he continued ignoring her remark. "The case, the missing girl, the presumptuous, over confident killer – he thinks that he can get away with murder and write a book about it, he even dedicated it to her. For inspiring him..."
"So what is our next move?"
"Our next move..." Sherlock stopped to spin her around before he pulled her in closer. "... is to get you home. I texted Lestrade, he is going to pick you up."
"But..."
"I need to see the rest of that book, and I did not like the way he was looking at you. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Molly sighed in defeat.
xoxo
Getting back into Drake's bedroom was an easy task, getting into his desk, however, was not. Without any tools to pick, or break, the lock Sherlock was trying to find a way around it, there had to be a weak spot...
He was so focussed that he didn't even notice the door handle being pushed down...or so it seemed.
"I told you to wait for Lestrade," he said matter-of- factly, as Molly carefully stepped into the room.
"How did you know it was me?" She asked, giving the detective, who had his back to the door, a questioning look.
"Easy, I didn't hear you coming, and you're the only person besides me who has a reason to be sneaking into rooms. And since you're so good at it I suggest that you find your way back now. Lestrade will be here soon."
"But I remembered something,"
"And what is that?" He asked, noticeably annoyed.
"Just come on," without waiting for a reply Molly stepped back out into the hallway, followed by a rather reluctant Sherlock, they came to a stop at one of the large bookshelves, that lined the walls of Drake´s mansion.
"Molly I don't think he has extra copies just lined up here for the world to see," Sherlock commented as Molly started to examine the backs of the antique looking volumes.
"There it is," She stopped, looked around to make sure that they were still alone, and then pushed the book in until a they heard a quiet click, and the shelve sprang open like a door, revealing a dark stairwell.
"We might not need the book to find the body," she said, a proud smile on her lips as Sherlock just looked at her in amazement.
"How did you..."
"See the embellishment around the shelf? The skulls? All the others have dragons, but this one looks exactly like the one in 'The Blue Phoenix', and just like in the story, it was 'The Pit and the Pendulum' that started the mechanism," She explained.
"It seems like reading these despicable stories wasn't a total waste of time. Well done, Molly," Sherlock said already on his way down into the dark tunnel.
"Sherlock wait," she hesitated a moment, but then she figured that she'd be safer with him than without him, and followed him into the darkness as the door closed behind her.
xoxo
"This looks so real," Molly commented as Sherlock lit up a few candles to get a better look at the room they had found at the end of the tunnel.
"That is because it is real," Sherlock replied and Molly shivered as she watched him admire the torture devices that decorated the walls.
"And this is real blood," he added getting down one knee to inspect something on the floor.
"Great..." Molly mumbled, wishing that she had listened to him earlier...
"I'm calling Lestrade, this is all we...," Sherlock started but was interrupted by the sound of slow clapping.
Uh oh... what's going on? Well you're gonna find out very soon. Even sooner if you leave a lot of reviews, since they are the best kind of motivation there is ;)
Love Laura