Part 11

Anne smiled and led the way in, coughing on the clearing dust. She rubbed her eyes to see…

Nothing.

"What?" she whispered.

"Looks like somebody got here first." Riley said.

"I'm sorry, Ben." Abigail consoled.

"It's gone." He said disappointed.

"Listen, Ben-" Their father began.

"It may have even been gone before Charles Carroll told the story to Thomas Gates."

"It doesn't matter."

"I know. 'Cause you were right." Ben said looking at his dad.

"No, I wasn't right. This room is real, Ben. And that means the treasure is real. You're in the company of some of the most brilliant minds in history because you found what they left behind for you to find and understood the meaning of it. You did it Ben. For all of us. Your grandfather, and all of us. And I've never been so happy to be proven wrong." He clapped a hand on his son's shoulder and smiled.

"I just really thought there would be treasure." He said.

"Okay then, we'll keep looking for it."

"I'm in." Abigail said. Anne stood in front of her brother and smiled.

"Templar Knights never stop looking."

Ben looked up at her and grinned.

"No we don't." he agreed.

"Not to be Johnny Rain Cloud here, but that's not gonna happen. Because as far as I can see, we're still trapped down here." Riley said.

"Way to be optimistic Riley." Anne snarked.

"Well, that's it. It doesn't make any sense, the first thing the builders would have done after getting down here was to cut a secondary shaft back out for air..." Mr. Gates began.

"...and in case of cave-ins." Ben finished.

Anne ran the light along the wall, looking for anything useful.

"Ben. Take a look at this."

He leaned over the markings. Pulling out the pipe he looked at it.

"Could it really be that simple?"

Placing the pipe in the slot, he turned it round. The wall fell inward. No one spoke as they entered the treasure room. Riley looked up at a statue with reverence.

"It's a big bluish-green man… with a strange looking goatee…I'm guessing that's significant." He hugged the statue.

Anne laughed, looking in a trunk. It was filled with dresses from all different cultures and times. She held up an Egyptian gown with slits running up and down the sides.

"Forget the blue man. I like what you found better." Riley said.

"Oh really? I might keep this one then." She said cocking an eyebrow. She put the gown back and walked over to where Ben was standing, watching the fire spread out around the room.

"Wow…" Anne said, grabbing blinding for Ben's hand. "We did it!" she cried, ecstatic.

"Are you crying, Riley?" Abigail asked.

"Look… stairs."


"Just like that?" Agent Sadusky asked as Ben handed him the Declaration.

"Just like that." Ben affirmed.

"You don't get the concept of a bargaining chip do you?"

"The Declaration of Independence is not a bargaining chip. Not to us." Ben said.

"Have a seat. You must be the youngest Gates. Explains why we couldn't find you."

"What can I say? It runs in the family."

"So, what's your offer?" Sadusky asked Ben.

"How about a bribe? Say, about 10 billion dollars?"

"I take it you found the treasure?"

"It's about 5 stories below your shoes."

"You know the Templars and the Free Masons believed that the treasure was too great for any one man to have, not even a king. That's why they went to such lengths to keep it hidden." Sadusky said, looking down at his ring. Anne grinned at the fellow knight.

"That's right."

"Okay, here's what I want," Ben began. "Dr. Chase gets off completely clean, not even a little post-it on her service record."

"Okay."

"I want the credit for the find to go to the entire Gates family with the assistance of Mr. Riley Poole." He said, looking over at

"And what about you?" Sadusky asked.

"I really would love not to go to prison. I can't even begin to describe how much I would love to not go to prison."

"Someone's got to go to prison, Ben." Sadusky said smiling.

"Well, if you've got a helicopter, I think I help with that." Anne replied smirking.


Anne leaned against the building, watching Ian get arrested. He looked up and met her eyes angry. She just smirked.