Part 9

When they landed in New York, the remaining adventurers filed into a café, after, of course, dragging Abby off the Broadway streets.

"I mean it, if I stand there long enough the greatness of all the actors and actresses in the world will be absorbed in my being." Abby sighed.

"I told you we shouldn't have let her watch Moulin Rouge on the flight." Erica muttered.

"Quiet, you two." Abigail said as she dialed the number again. In a few short moments she was talking to Ben. "Hi sweetie, how's your day going?"

"So much love in the room." Abby said.

"Turns out helping someone escape from FBI custody is a criminal act. He's the only criminal we knew. So we called him and made a deal.

"Riley's over here doing something clever with a computer."

"Which I still don't understand." Katie said.

"It's simple, Katie. I'm tracking him through the-Hey! I'm tracking you through the GPS in Shaw's phone. They take a turn anywhere we don't want, we'll know it, so-"

"If Ian tries to double cross us, we can call the FBI and tell them right where you are. And where to find Ian."

"I'll tell you one thing, as soon as we find him I swear I'll whoop his sorry-" Etta was cut off mid sentence.

"Right across the street from where we're hiding. At the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway."

"I mean it you guys. Greatness will just radiate from the street." Abby said, nodding.

"Simple. 'Heere at the Wall'. Wall Street and Broadway. Ben, there is a catch. We made Ian believe that he could have the treasure. It was the only way we could get this far."

"I spy with my little eye a treasure hunter." Erica said.

Etta watched as Ben negotiated with Ian. Part of her wished she had a gun or something she could use as defense against the looming attack. She was sure that as soon as Ian didn't need them…

"C'mon." Abigail said, breaking her chain of thought.

"What wrong?" Katie asked when Ben reached them.

"They've got my dad." He said, looking a little more nervous than usual.

"Dang it." Etta muttered.

"Let's go." Abigail sighed.


"You know," Katie said as they sat in the pews watching Ben and Ian. "I never thought I'd be thrown into the arctic, dragged all over New England, assist in the theft of the Declaration of Independence, shot at multiple times, and finally held hostage with the threat of never escaping this church alive."

"Trust me, Katie, it's normal to not expect that." Abby laughed.

"But I couldn't have picked better people to do it with."

"Awww, we luvershu too girl." Erica said.

"Hate to break up this feel good moment of the year but Ben's trying to get our attention." Riley said.

"Ok girls; let's go see what happens next." Etta grinned.

As they searched, Etta, Erica, Katie, and Abby walked a bit away from the group. They had important matters to discuss.

"Etta this is a very simple mechanism. You point and shoot." Abby said holding out the gun. She had snagged it from Ben's father's house. What he was doing with a gun hidden in his bathroom, she'll never know. "My aim's the best but you know I can't shoot at people. Now they're sure to have guns, every one of them, so you better make sure it's a last resort."

Etta nodded, tucking the gun in the back of her jeans, careful to make sure her jacket was covering it.

"The rest of you are clear on what to do, right?" Erica asked. "Abby? You got that knife right?"

"Yeah. And you two are good?" she asked Erica and Katie.

"Yeah we're good." Katie agreed.

"I found it!" the heard Riley call. "Parkington Lane… it's a person!"

Erica and Katie started off for tomb but Abby grabbed Etta's arm.

"Etta, don't let me down. You shoot that gun, you shoot to kill." Abby said gravely.

Etta nodded and walked towards the rest of the group as Riley came over to Abby.

"What was that about?" he asked.

"Just discussing Plan B."


"Parkington Lane." Ben read aloud. "He was a third degree master mason of the blue light…Hey!"

One of Ian's henchman began hacking away at the tomb. Riley moved forward to help lift the coffin out but, unfortunately for everyone there, the wood didn't hold and Mr. Lane's body went crashing to the floor.

"Ack." Abby said.

"Careful no one steps in him." Powell said.

"Who wants to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first?" Riley asked.

"After you, Erica."

"Alright, McGregor, Victor, you stay here. And if anyone should come out without me… Well, use your imagination."

"I'm imagining some pretty bad things." Abby said, somewhat nervously.

The girls edged into the tomb, Abby freaking out about bugs.

"Will you shut up?!" Shaw growled.

"Fine jeez. See you get bit by and unidentifiable species of spider."

"Spiderman returns!" Erica cried.

"Women…" he muttered.