Chapter 2 – The Only Way

Washington D.C

Charlotte walked around her apartment trying to find out what she could do to stop Ian. She felt guilty because, in the end, she was the one who made that greedy man part of the whole search. And she didn't even want to talk about his henchmen.
She knew that Ben and Riley were trying to talk to the FBI but she didn't believe that they would believe those two. She had experience with the agency and she knew they didn't buy things easily. Especially with something that was so safe in National Archives. The same thing was with the museum.

When Charlotte walked past her bookshelf, she glanced at the photographs in their frames. Pictures with Ben, with her friends and with her parents. She stared at her mother who seemed to stare back. Her mother's name was also Charlotte. Like her grandmother's and great grandmother's and so on. Every eldest girl in the family was named Charlotte. The rest could be whatever.
Now, she heard her mother nagging in her head.
You might have given the greatest treasure of all time to the hands of a greedy man. You want the history to be forgotten? I didn't raise you for this!
Her mother was always interested in history and she tried to protect it. Sometimes she felt like the government betrayed her by letting everything to hands of politicians. She also taught her daughter to respect history and tell it to the people. That's probably why Charlotte got a degree in history and worked for the museum. And of course why she started the search for the treasure of Knights Templar.

Charlotte's thoughts were distracted by a ringing phone. She walked to it and answered.
"Hallo?"
"Charlotte, you need to meet us. Ben has gone insane!" she heard Riley saying.
"Okay, where?" she asked.
"In the Library of Congress, I'm trying to convince Ben that he really is mad," Riley answered.
"I'll be there in 20 minutes."

In 20 minutes, Charlotte was walking two steps at time to the Library of Congress. She was afraid what Ben might have got into his mind.
When she finally got to Riley and Ben, Riley was reading a book. As she came close, Riley turned his head.
"His not insane after all. This could really work."
Charlotte's face was marked with a question mark and she turned to Ben.
"We're going to steal the declaration so that Ian won't," Ben informed.
Charlotte's jaw dropped. She just kept staring him.
"No, you're not. And first of all, you can't! It's not possible!"
"Actually it is. We're going to do it during the Anniversary Gala when all the guards are focused on the VIP guests. They won't worry about the declaration," Ben said.
Charlotte still stared at Ben but sat down next to him.
"Explain."