AN: Another chapter! And it's longer! Now, what on Earth is the next clue? Time to find out!!!


Ben sat in front of his computer screen, staring at an enlarged picture of page 47 on his computer. "There has to be a key," he muttered. Anything that would help him unlock the code on the paper inside the metal tube from the shipwreck. "There has to be!" Ben took a sip of coffee. He hadn't slept since he had gotten the text message. He had, of course, called Ian almost immediately. Ian wanted the treasure. He had given Ben 48 hours. Since then, 12 hours and 23 minutes had passed. Not that Ben was counting. Ben sighed deeply. He needed to talk to Riley. Talking to the younger man always cheered him up, calmed him down, and might even help him figure out the clue. Plus he really wanted to make sure his friend was okay. Ben reached for his cell phone, which had never been further than three feet away for the entire time since the first message. He flipped it open, pressed one, and hit send. He could only hope that Ian was in a good mood. It rang twice then Ben heard Ian's voice.

"Hello, Ben. Got the clue already, have you?" Ian sounded quite pleased with himself.

"I need to talk to Riley

"Not even a please?" Ian tsked like a mother correcting a small child. "That's not very polite, Ben."

"I want to talk to Riley, please" said Ben through gritted teeth.

"I'll see if he's come around yet."

"Come around? Ian what have you done to him?" Ben demanded. This was followed by a torrent of curse words. "Ian, I swear, if you do anything to either of them, I swear I am going to…"

"Are you sure it's wise to threaten someone who determines weather or not your wife and friend have a future?" asked Ian. On the other end, Ben maintained a stony silence. Ian opened a door. Riley was sitting up. He had been conscious for hours now, and Ian knew that, he just loved annoying Ben. Riley blinked. One of his eyes was surrounded by a bluish-purple ring. A souvenir of his last talk with Ian. He put a protective hand over his arm where Ian had kicked him earlier. Ian shook his head and handed Riley the phone. "It's for you," he stated.

"Hello?" said Riley hesitantly.

"Riley! Are you okay?" Ben asked.

Riley's face cracked into a weak smile. "Yeah, I'm fine," he lied. "Don't worry about me. There's nothing Ian can do to me. How are you coming with the clue? Have you figured it out yet?" Riley noted Ian's expression change to curiosity.

"Riley, I have no lead, I've tried every complicated cipher in the book, nothing!"

"Then try an easy one," suggested Riley.

"Maybe…" Ben muttered. He sketched out a plan on the paper in front of him, a key for the Caesar Cipher, one of the least complicated ciphers he knew of.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C

"Well, Ben?"

"Hang on, Riley." Ben started decoding. He got the first word. Beneath. He kept going, and soon, the whole thing was clear.

"Riley, you're a total genius!"

"Oh, I see, it didn't work." Riley said. Trying to telepathically tell Ben that Ian was there, listening in on the conversation.

"Okay, I got it, Ian's listening," Ben observed.

"Yeah, I understand," Riley tried to sound crestfallen.

"Okay, here goes, Beneath Virginia's House of Law. Through the door. Same Key. That's all there is, just three lines. Think on it will you?"

"I will, Ben."

"And Riley," said Ben. "I'm getting you out of there Riley. No matter what it takes, if it's the last thing I ever do, I will not leave you and Abigail in Ian's clutches. Now, give Ian the phone, I need to talk to Abigail."

"Okay, Ben." Riley pulled the phone away. He handed it to Ian. "Ben wants to talk to you." Ian took the phone and left. Riley sat back against the wall, working his brain. It was after all, one of the things he did best.

---------------------

Ian opened the next door. Abigail was relatively unhurt,mostly from being agreeable, though she did have a black eye to match Riley's and her hair was tangled and knotted from sleeping on the rough concrete floor. "It's Ben," said Ian and handed her the phone.

"Ben! Ben! Thank goodness!" she gasped.

"Abigail, are you okay?" Ben asked.

"Not really, Ben, I'm a hostage."

"Sorry about that, you were right Abigail, you're always right. I'm going to get you out. Don't worry," he promised.

"So, any leads?" she said carefully. Ben repeated the riddle to her.

"Oh. Okay. Bye, Ben. Good luck. Don't waste those 36 hours." She closed the phone and handed it to Ian.

"Well?"

"He can't find a key anywhere. He says he's going to keep trying," said Abigail. "But if I know Ben, he'll find a way to find the treasure, and get you back in jail."

"Because that worked so well last time," sneered Ian.

"I trust him," she said.

Ian kicked her in the shin. Then he turned and left. 'Ben better find that treasure,' he thought. 'I can't wait much longer.'


AN: I'm going to be mean toaday. You guys don't get an update until I hit 50 reviews! So click the button!