Esc key to press a button: works if an alert() is fired in the function; otherwise Esc has to be pressed multiple times

In a ColdFusion application, I have an Exit button on each page. Sometimes the exit button invokes some cleanup in the app and sometimes, when cleanup isn't necessary, it just loads the previous calling page of the app. My customer requested that he be able to hit the Esc key to go back. (I've told him NOT to use the back arrow in the browser because then the cleanup doesn't happen when it is necessary. Hence, I can't listen for Esc and then use history.back). My solution was to listen for the Esc key and then get jquery to press the Exit button already on the page. I did this by adding a class of "exit" to the Exit button, and putting the following script in the head section of the page:

<script>
	$(function() {
		document.addEventListener("keydown", function(event) {
			const key = event.key;
			if (key === "Escape") {
				pressExitKey();
			}
		})
	})
	function pressExitKey() {
		alert('Press Esc Again to Exit');
		$(document).find('input.button.exit').click();
	}
</script>

The script as it is written works. Of course, it takes pressing Esc TWICE to fire the Exit button. (Once to close the alert window, and again to fire the exit button. But here is what I don't understand. The only reason I put the alert in there in the first place is that without it, the Esc button has to be hit a seemingly unpredictable amount of times before the event fires and the Exit button is pressed. If there is a pattern to the number of times it has to be pressed, I have not been able to determine it.

The effect can be reproduced by commenting out the alert statement in the script.

Leaving the alert in there at least produces a consistent result. I easily can tell the customer, "You can either press the Exit button, or hit Esc twice." That's better than telling him to "hit the Esc button again and again until the Exit happens." Either way, it looks or feels sloppy. (It's an eyesore for the alert to popup, and it's annoying to press Esc over and over an unpredictable number of times.)

Edited:
My question is: why does leaving out the alert cause the user to press Esc over and over (an unpredictable and inconsistent number of times) before the event fires?

I found something that works, using <kbd>Alt</kbd> + <kbd>x</kbd> or <kbd>Alt</kbd> + <kbd>X</kbd> as the triggering keystroke instead of <kbd>Esc</kbd>. I do have a question about this. I'll put it at the bottom after the code. Credit for this idea goes to @BrockAdams. Many thanks.

document.addEventListener ("keydown", function (zEvent) {
  if (zEvent.altKey && (zEvent.key === "x" || zEvent.key === "X")) {  // not case sensitive
    pressExitButton();
  }
})

function pressExitButton() {
  $(document).find('input.button.exit').click();
}

The question: If I include this script in the application.cfm template, the script will be included at the top of every page in the application. The question is, will adding the listener at the top of every page stack up somehow and eat memory or cause some conflict? If so, how would I prevent this?