Part 10
Anne came into the room.
"Great job Riley!" Anne said, hugging him. She turned back just in time to see Ian's dark look.
"Parkington Lane." Ben read aloud. "He was a third degree master mason of the blue light…Hey!" He was cut off when Victor smashed the grave open. The pulled the coffin open. Too bad 200 year of rotting wood doesn't hold up well. The corpse fell out at their feet.
"Careful no one steps in him." Powell said, half serious.
"Who wants to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first?" Riley asked.
"I'm good really."
"Alright, McGregor, Victor, you stay here. And if anyone should come out without me… Well, use your imagination."
Anne turned to glare as him as people filed in.
"What happened to the Ian I knew?" she asked softly after Riley went into the tunnel.
"Nothing. This is who I am. You used to like it."
"If I had known, I never would have looked your way Ian." She said, coldly, crawling into the tunnel.
Up ahead, she saw Ben and Abigail kissing.
"Finally!" she said.
"Why does that never happen to me?" Powell muttered.
"What's this?" Ian asked pointing out a wooden structure.
"It's a chandelier." Ben said. "Here." With Riley's help, he lit it and swung it out to the middle of the room.
"Wow…" Anne breathed.
"Look at the elevators." Ben motioned to them.
"How did a bunch of guys with hand tools build all this?" Shaw asked.
"The same way they built the pyramids, and the Great Wall of China." Ben said.
"Yeah," Riley nodded. "The aliens helped them."
"Yeah cause that's totally logical."
"Alright. What are we waiting for?" Ian asked.
"I'm not going out on that thing." Patrick Gates protested. "200 years of termite damage and rot."
"Dad, do what he says." Ben said sternly.
"Watch your step." he warned, although everyone already was. A loud rumbled rattled the structure.
"Subway." Anne said.
Suddenly there was a scream as Shaw plummeted into the darkness below. The entire structure began to fall apart beneath them. Riley grabbed onto Anne hand.
"We jump on three. One, two," Riley began.
"THREE!" Anne shouted as the boards gave way.
They landed on the platform with a thud.
"You okay?"
"Uh-huh but… Where's Ben?" Anne shouted to her father. Her pointed and she saw Ben holding onto Abigail, the Declaration sliding away.
"Do you trust me?" Ben asked.
"Yes." She said.
Ben dropped Abigail, who landed on the walkway below. Anne closed her eyes tight, silently praying.
"Anne." Riley said. "He's okay." Looking up she smiled.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I dropped you. I had to save the Declaration." Ben explained.
"No, don't be. I would have done exactly the same thing to you." Abigail said.
"Really?" Ben asked.
"I would've dropped you both. Freaks." Riley called.
Anne laughed and ran over to Ben, hugging him tight.
"Don't ever scare me like that again, Benny."
"I won't. I promise." He said. "Ian, it's not worth it." Ben shouted.
"Do you imagine any one of your lives is more valuable to me than Shaw's?" Ian asked. "We go on."
"The status quo. Keep the status quo." Their father said, ushering them onto the elevator.
"This is it." Anne whispered. They went into the room.
Empty.
"So, where is the treasure?" Powell asked.
"Well?" Ian urged.
"This is it? We came all this way for a dead end?" Riley asked incredulously.
"Yes." Ben said, defeated.
"There has got to be something more." Riley said.
"No, there are no more clues! That's it! It's over! End of the road! The treasure's gone, moved, taken somewhere else." Ben yelled.
"You're not playing games with me Ben? You know where it is?" Ian asked.
"No." Ben replied.
"OK. Go." Shipped began to raise the elevator.
"Wait a minute!" Ben called.
"Wait, Ian, you can't just leave us here." Anne said.
"Yes I can. Unless Ben tells me the next clue."
"There's not another clue." Ben repeated.
"Ian, wait. Listen, why don't you come back down here and we can talk through this together." Riley suggested. Ian drew his gun and pointed at Riley.
"Don't speak again." Ian warned.
"Ian!" Anne said, stepping up next to Riley.
"You know, I got you something." He said, pulling a box from his back pocket. He flipped open the lid and revealed a glittering diamond ring. Anne was stunned speechless. "You can still have if you want."
"Is that a-" she stopped. No, not again, not this time. "Keep it."
"You'll regret it."
"I don't think I will."
"So, the clue?" Ian reminded Ben, still looking angry from the rejection. "Where's the treasure? Ben?"
"The lantern." Their father began.
"Dad." Ben said.
"The status quo has changed son."
"Don't." Anne protested.
"It's part of freemason teachings." He said. "In King's Solomon's temple, there was a winding staircase. It signified the journey that had to be made to find the light of truth. The lantern is the clue."
"And what does it mean?" Ian insisted.
"Boston." Ben replied. "It's Boston."
"The Old North Church in Boston, where Thomas Newton hung a lantern in the steeple to signal to Paul Revere that British were coming. One if by land, two if by sea. One lantern under the winding staircase of the steeple. That's where you have to look." Anne finished.
"Thank you." Ian went to start the elevator again.
"Wait! Aren't you gonna take us with you?" the eldest Gates asked.
"So you can escape in Boston? Besides, with all of you out of the picture, there's less baggage to carry." Ian said.
"What if we lied?" their father asked.
"Did you?" Ian pointed the gun at him.
"What if there's another clue?" Ben asked.
"Then I know right where to find you. See you Ben." The elevator pulled up again.
"No!" Ben shouted.
"There's no other way out!" Riley yelled. "We're all gonna die." He groaned.
"Alright guys, what's going on? The British came by sea with two lanterns. Not one." Abigail stated.
"Ian needed another clue, so we gave it to him."
"It was a fake. It was a fake clue." Riley realized.
"Yeah. So, now what?"
"By the time Ian figures it out, we'll still be trapped down here. And he'll… shoot us then." Riley said. "Either way, we're going to die."
"Nobody's going to die. There's another way out." Anne said.
"Where?" Riley asked.
"Through the treasure room." Ben finished, opening the wall.