Chapter III: Ending Shot To The Crotch
Ben raced around a corner and stopped short, pressing his back against a brick wall as he caught his breath. He didn't think he was being followed anymore, at least not now that he had given up the fact that his canister was a decoy. The moment Ian's henchmen realized this meant that Abigail was in more danger than before. He had to find her, find her and hold onto the glasses before Ian realized he needed them…
His phone buzzed in his pocket. It was Abigail. He sighed with relief. She was okay, and probably already at the car waiting for him.
"Yeah?" he answered between panting breaths.
"Ben! I lost it," she yelled before he'd even finished his brief greeting. "I lost the Declaration. Ben…I'm so sorry, Ben."
Ben had to pull the phone away from him for a minute so she wouldn't hear his disappointed groan. "What about you? Are you okay?"
"Yes, but Ben…Ian's got the Declaration. He's—"
"It's…it'll be okay. I still have the glasses. Ian won't be able to find anything without them."
"I'm so sorry, Ben," she whimpered.
"Really, it's alright," he said, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. "We…we'll work something out. I'll meet you by the car, okay?"
She hesitated for a long moment before finally responding with, "okay." Then she hung up.
Ben groaned again. Sure Ian didn't have the glasses, but he had the Declaration, which was all he thought he needed. If he was convinced he didn't need Ben's help anymore then God knows where that left Riley. All Ben could do now was get back to Abigail so they could contact Ian before the British man did anything drastic.
Ben spun on his heel and started heading down a thankfully quiet back road, ducking in and out of dark alleyways to remain out of sight. He dashed down a particularly empty alley into a small and dumpster ridden parking lot squished between two old buildings. He had to stop short and catch his breath again to believe what he was seeing barely ten feet away—Ian Howe was strolling toward a black SUV that was parked in the nearly vacant lot, talking very quickly into his cell phone. Ben ducked behind a dumpster and listened intently to Ian's conversation
"…No, I've got the document…we're done here. I need you to head back to the other car. Powell is already on his way. Meet me back at the rendezvous point… Yes…yes…don't worry about that. I will see you there."
Ian snapped his phone shut and placed it gingerly in his pocket. He grasped the Declaration tightly in his fist and gazed down at his prize with a wide, triumphant grin. Ben watched as Ian approached the back of the dark SUV while his free hand slipped into his jacket. There was a glint of metal now in Ian's hand as he fumbled with the door of the trunk, setting the canister to lean against the side of the SUV as he did so.
Ben's breath caught in his throat when he saw the gun. He practically stopped breathing altogether when it dawned on him what Ian was doing. With the Declaration in his grasp, Ian didn't think he needed anything else and he was free of his dependence on Ben. Now all he needed to do was tie up some loose ends.
Ben's fears were confirmed as Ian threw open the trunk and pointed the gun inside where a small figure sat curled up with his knees to his chest in the tight space. Ben could see Riley's pale face from where he stood and his blood boiled with anger. The kid was bound and gagged with duct tape, and Ben could clearly see the vivid shiner on his cheek as well as the terror in his barely focused eyes when he looked up at the gun that was suddenly pointed at him.
"Looks like there's one less piece of baggage I'll have to worry about," Ian said menacingly as he pressed the silencer of his pistol against Riley's forehead. Riley tried to turn away, but all he could do in the small trunk was curl further in on himself and shiver while muffled whimpers escaped his taped lips.
Ben didn't think. He didn't even breathe. He stepped out of the shadows and took quick strides towards Ian just as the British man started to squeeze the trigger.
"Stop, Ian, don't do this."
Ian, who had been initially surprised by Ben's appearance, grinned menacingly at his once business partner, never relenting his weapon from Riley's head. "And why not, Ben? I'd be doing us all a favor by blowing little Riley's brains out."
Ben briefly made eye contact with his young friend. Riley's wide, terrified blue eyes convinced Ben what he had to do. Screw the treasure. "Because, Ian. I have another clue that you need."
"Oh really, Ben? Another clue?"
He fished the glasses out of his pocket and held them up for Ian to see. "You need these to see the back of the Declaration. Without them, you won't be able to find the treasure."
"I'm surprised at you, Ben," Ian said, putting all his attention on Ben as he slowly eased his gun away from Riley. "You would give up the treasure you've been searching for all of your life to save…this?"
Ben didn't know how to respond, but thankfully he didn't need to. As soon as the gun was away from his head and Ian was focused on Ben, Riley spastically kicked out one of his stiff legs. His Chuck Taylor made contact with Ian's groin and Ian doubled over with a gasp.
Ben used the opportunity to rush at the villain, wrench the gun out of his hands, and send a punch to the side of his head. The blow wasn't very powerful but it was enough to send Ian hard to the side where his temple bashed into the bumper of his SUV. His eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped down face first onto the pavement at Ben's feet.
Neither Ben nor Riley moved for almost a full minute as they stared down at the limp form before them in awe over what they'd collectively done. They looked up at the same time and stared at each other for another moment. Then Riley made a muffled sound that could have translated to "hey, Ben."
Ben was in front of his friend in an instant, reaching around to the back of his head to pull off the tape. Riley squeezed his eyes shut and made little pained noises as Ben tore the stuff slowly off his cheek. Once his lips were free, Riley's muffled whimpers turned into a steady "owie, owie, owie" until the strip was pulled completely off his other cheek and around his head.
Riley spent the next few moments moving around his stiff jaw and wincing at the pain in his stinging skin. Ben kept a protective hand on his friend's shoulder while he looked Riley over. He was ghostly pale and drenched in cold sweat as he took deep, chest heaving breaths. Ben briefly examined the bruise on Riley's cheek and noticed a bit of dried blood along his hair line. He moved to brush back Riley's bangs to see the wound, only to have Riley flinch away.
"Ahh…ow, Ben just…ow. No…touchie." He said this breathlessly, never opening his squeezed shut eyes.
Ben actually smirked at his friend and pulled his hand away. It didn't look like a lot of blood—there probably wasn't much more than a scratch on his head. Besides, as long as Riley was conscious and whiny like his usual self, the head injury he sustained couldn't be that bad.
He eased Riley forward a little so the young man was sitting on the edge of the trunk with his feet dangling over Ian's body. Now Ben could reach down to where Riley's wrists were tightly bound with duct tape. He picked at it, looking for an end to pull off, while Riley hissed at him.
"Geez, Ben," he gasped. "You're hands are cold."
"No, actually it's your hands that are cold," Ben mumbled with a frown. Riley's hands, or at least what could be seen around the tape, were chalk white and freezing. Ben wasn't sure if he should be worried or not. He pulled his pocket knife out and carefully slipped it between Riley's wrists to cut off the sticky substance.
"Ahh," Riley moaned as his stiff arms were freed. A pained tingling ran up and down his limbs as he moved his hands to his lap where he clumsily rubbed his palms together, hoping to get some feeling back in his finger tips. He cleared his throat and coughed. "Ah, that's…much better. Thanks Ben."
Ben kept his steady grip on Riley's shoulder, fearing that the young man was going to fall out of the trunk. "You okay?"
"Oh yeah…I'm good…fine…I'm fine…" he mumbled, his voice a little hoarse as he looked down at where Ian was lying beneath his feet.
"That was a pretty good move you used back there."
Riley smirked. "I actually had…no intention of…kicking him in the crotch."
"Oh no?"
He shook his head while a grin grew on his pale face and he cleared his scratchy throat again. "No it was gonna be…so cool. I was aiming for the gun…and you were gonna catch it…and shoot Ian in the…kneecaps or something." Riley stopped to catch his breath while he grinned up at Ben.
Ben clapped his young friend on the back. "Yeah that would have been pretty cool, too."
Riley nodded. "Yeah."
The pair was silent for a minute and Ben feared that Riley was going to pass out where he sat.
"Riley, buddy…you sure you're okay?"
He nodded again. "I'm good…totally fine…" Riley said, coughing lightly. "Yeah. What about you? Did you…find the treasure?"
Ben smiled at the bright eagerness that shone in Riley's eyes. He knew that feeling all too well. The excitement of finding treasure did that to most people. "Almost. We got the next clue."
Riley's smile faltered. "Oh boy, more clues," he muttered with false enthusiasm.
"It said 'Heere at the Wall.'"
"Okay…"
"We need to go to New York," Ben said simply, seeing that Riley's eyes were glazing over and he was definitely not ready for any kind of detailed explanation.
"Sounds good, but I'd…kind of like to get something…to drink first…and food. I'm like starving…haven't eaten since we were at your dad's house."
"Sure," Ben chuckled. "Whatever you need."
Riley nodded, then seemed a little hesitant about something. "But, uh, Ben…what about him?"
Ben followed Riley's gaze down to where Ian was still out cold. "I'm not sure. I should probably call Abigail, she's waiting by my car…"
Riley groaned.
"What?"
"I knew you liked her. And now…treasure hunting is just an excuse to…get some hot girl's number."
Ben laughed at that. "That's exactly what I was going for."
"I knew it. Girls never…see me doing cool stuff like…kicking Ian in the crotch."
"Someday, Riley. Someday."
Riley sighed and laid his head against the side of the trunk, the smile never leaving his lips even as his eyelids fell shut.
Ben fished his cell phone back out of his pocket and called Abigail.
"Abigail," he exclaimed before she could even finish her 'hello.' "It's okay! I found Ian, the Declaration's safe and Riley's here, too. He's okay!"
"Th-that's great, Ben," she said grimly.
Ben frowned. "What is it? What happened? Are you okay?"
"Oh, I'm fine, it's just…" she sighed heavily. "Ben, the FBI agents were waiting by your car when I got there."
Ben paled. "Oh no…"
"I told them you didn't have the Declaration and that Ian took it."
"Okay," Ben said taking a deep breath. He thought hard. "Listen—I'm going to tell you where I am, come with the FBI guys and we'll have this whole thing sorted out."
"Really?"
"Really."
Ben rattled off some address and told them he was in an alleyway parking lot. One of the agents scrawled the information down as he heard it coming out of her cell phone and radioed the other patrol car that had been with them to meet them there. Abigail sighed and gave the phone back to the FBI agent in charge, a man by the name of Peter Sadusky who was sitting next to her in the back seat.
"You heard the man," he called to the driver. "Let's turn back and see what Mr. Gates has to say."
Abigail couldn't help but be as curious as Sadusky over what Ben was going to tell them.
"So Ben saved the Declaration from this Ian fellow, who was stealing it in the first place?"
Abigail nodded.
"You work with the Archives, correct?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Hmm," he muttered thoughtfully as he looked out the window. "If I were in your position, I don't think I'd be so eager to help the man that stole the Declaration of Independence, even if it was to protect it."
"Well, he was right, wasn't he? Everything he said has been true."
He gave her a sideways glance. "We'll see about that."
In minutes the car had pulled into the alley where Ben said he would be. Sadusky emerged from the car, gun at his side as a precaution. Abigail followed and couldn't help but gasp at the scene before her.
Ben stood with a smug grin on his face as he watched the FBI agents form a perimeter around him and the dark SUV he was standing next to. The trunk of the vehicle was open and Abigail let out a relieved sigh when she saw Riley sitting inside with a look that mirrored Ben's even through the bruises and red marks that marred his pale face. She gasped again in disbelief when she saw that Ian Howe, criminal mastermind, was slumped face down and apparently unconscious on the ground at Ben's feet.
She made eye contact with Ben and couldn't help but smile when he winked at her.
"Mr. Gates," Sadusky said as he looked over the scene before him. "I trust there's an interesting story behind this?"
"Ask for the abridged version…or we'll be here all night," Riley rasped.
Sadusky raised an eyebrow. "And who might you be?"
Abigail frowned. She hadn't had time to tell the FBI agent the entire treasure hunting story and hadn't even thought of telling them about Riley being kidnapped.
Riley, though, appeared unfazed by this. In fact he looked like he was barely conscious—he was hunched over slightly, leaning heavily against the side of the trunk and he was terribly pale. He grinned weakly and held out his pasty hand to the agent. "Riley Poole. Computer prodigy, treasure hunter, and hostage extraordinaire." He nodded his head up to where Ben stood protectively over him. "I work with him."
Abigail cringed when she saw the same bright red mark that striped Riley's face was encircling the young man's wrists. Sadusky noticed this too and politely declined the handshake. Riley's hand fell heavily back to his lap.
"And the story just got even more interesting," Sadusky muttered, his voice light with amusement. He turned to an officer behind him. "Call the paramedics. I believe Mr. Poole may be in need of some medical assistance."
"Naw," Riley slurred, clearing his throat and wincing as he did so. "I'm okay."
"Well if you don't need it I'm sure he will," Sadusky said, nodding to Ian's unconscious form. "I take it this is the infamous Ian Howe?"
Ben nodded.
"Very interesting." He actually smiled at Abigail. "I knew I would like this case."
"That is quite a story, Mr. Gates."
"And it's all true. So far everything, every little clue, has been right."
"You really believe the treasure is in New York City?" Sadusky said, though he didn't look too convinced.
Ben nodded. "I'm sure of it."
They stared at each other in a moment of tense silence before the FBI agent sighed and leaned back in his seat. "We still need to interview this Ian person, but as far as I know he's still unconscious." Ben grinned triumphantly. "Then we'll decide exactly what to do with you. You are still being charged with stealing the Declaration. That alone will get you a good long sentence."
Ben paled, his grin fading as quickly as it had appeared. "I really, really don't want to go to prison."
Sadusky smiled. "So you've said at least three times."
"I've counted five," Abigail said. She'd managed to stay quiet for the most part during the lengthy explanation, but there were some parts that she just had to interject and correct something or further embellish Ben's story.
"Mr. Howe will indefinitely be charged with most of the criminal activities. Even until he's conscious and we can hear him out, he's being charged with the kidnapping and attempted murder of your friend there." Sadusky nodded to Riley, who was sitting next to Ben with his head resting on the treasure hunter's shoulder and a slight trail of drool falling from the corner of his slack mouth.
"I'm sure Riley'll be glad to hear that when he wakes up," Ben said with a smile directed at his sleeping friend.
It hadn't taken long for Riley to finally fall pass out. After refusing to go to a hospital and letting the paramedics only check him out at the scene, Riley begged to accompany Ben and Abigail to the police station where Agent Sadusky would be hearing their stories. He was fed on the way, which made the young man extremely happy and ceased his raspy talking for a little bit. It seemed that even a dry, sore throat couldn't keep Riley from voicing every little sarcastic remark that popped into his head.
Though Ben was worried about his friend, Riley shrugged him off, saying he was perfectly fine whenever he caught Ben looking at him. But once they'd made it to FBI headquarters and Ben had begun his story, weariness finally caught up with the younger man. There were a couple of times when he started to nod off and it looked like he was going to fall right out of his seat. Ben heard no complaints when he pulled Riley's chair closer to his and let the sleepy head drop against his shoulder as he continued his story nonchalantly.
"I still can't ignore the fact that you stole the Declaration in the first place."
Ben's face hardened as he said very seriously to the FBI agent, "will you accept a bribe? Say…ten billion dollars?"
Sadusky raised an eyebrow, apparently very amused by the idea. "I'll believe that when I see it, Mr. Gates…"
"…I honestly can't believe what I'm seeing, Mr. Gates," Peter Sadusky muttered, as he stared in awe at the scene before him.
"Me either," Riley said, his wide blue eyes shining in the glowing firelight.
Ben couldn't say anything. He held tight to Abigail's hand, feeling somewhat grounded by her close presence. This was real. Everything he'd hoped for, and then some…it was all real…
Agent Sadusky had actually indulged in Ben's request to go to New York City and just a day after the encounter in Philadelphia, Ben, Riley, Abigail, Sadusky, and a handful of FBI agents and professional spelunkers found themselves five stories beneath the Trinity Church standing in a vast room of historical treasures.
"Look Ben," Abigail gasped as she leaned down to one shelf in particular. "Scrolls from the library at Alexandria…"
She wasn't the only to find something that interested her. Riley had become very attracted to one particular Egyptian statue of a large, jade figure. When Ben looked over to his young friend, he couldn't help but grin as Riley wrapped his arms around the statue with a contented smile on his face.
It was actually because of Riley that it had taken another whole day to get to the treasure. With the FBI's help, they could have taken a helicopter and been in New York before nightfall. But Riley was still exhausted from his kidnapping and was feeling a little more under the weather than he had initially let on. He definitely wasn't up for an extensive treasure hunt, and Ben couldn't just leave him behind, not after everything he'd done to help find the Templar treasure.
So, per Ben's request, Sadusky got them a place to stay for the night, under FBI supervision of course. He was still a little wary of Ben and wasn't going to give the treasure hunter even a chance to get away. Ian Howe had confirmed Ben's story after he'd awoken from his minor concussion. He was charged and taken into custody, but that still didn't mean that Ben was completely innocent.
"Does this mean you accept my bribe?" Ben said to the FBI agent with a content grin on his face.
"You know," Sadusky said as he ran his hand absentmindedly over an ancient looking medallion. "The Templers and the Masons believed that the treasure was too great for just one man, not even a king." He brushed away the dirt, revealing the pyramid and all seeing eye motif carved into it. Ben also noticed for the first time the unique ring Sadusky wore on his right hand. "That's why they went to such lengths to keep it hidden."
"That's right…the treasure belongs to the world, and everybody in it."
Sadusky nodded and turned to Ben with a smile. "And what do you want, Mr. Gates?"
"Well…I want Dr. Chase's records to be wiped clean after this, and I want the find to be credited to the entire Gates family, with the help of Mr. Riley Poole, of course…and I really, really don't want to go to prison."
"I suppose," Sadusky said as he set the medallion he'd been staring at back where he'd found it. "Someone is already going to jail…I think your achievements for this country outweigh the laws you've broken, so I'm sure we can let you off this one time."
Ben nearly melted with relief. "Thank you Sadusky," he said breathlessly as he resisted the urge to hug the man right there and then. "Thank you so much."
Abigail and Riley were approaching the pair with wide smiles on their faces after what they'd over heard.
"Ben," Riley teased. "Are you crying?"
Ben wiped his hand across his eyes and realized that they had gotten very watery. "I don't have to go to prison," he said with an emotional smile. "I don't have to go to prison!"
Abigail rolled her eyes but smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "That's great, Ben," she said with a kiss to his cheek. He responded by pulling her into his arms and kissing her passionately.
Riley made an exaggerated retching sound from somewhere behind them. Sadusky raised an eyebrow at the young man and Riley figured, while he had the FBI agent's attention, he might as well ask the question that had been on his mind since they'd found the treasure.
"So," he said. "Riley needs a new car…how much exactly will we be getting for a finder's fee?"
END.
…of version 1! There are four more coming, all of which begin with the same first chapter as this one, so stay tuned!
And thank you all so very very very much for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and being overall awesome :)
