And we're back! For...

Chapter Thirteen

Putting the Plan into Action

The next morning Alice stood with Ian on a busy New York street, just as they had arranged for their plan with Abi. Ian had said she would remain with him throughout their plan, much to Shaw's dismay. At his side was safest here, he'd said, and Alice smiled knowing that he wanted to keep her safe.

It had been arranged for Shaw, Phil, and Powell to help Gates escape from the FBI, not Ian directly. They would first interfere with the FBI's radio system, during which they would explain the plan to Gates: for him to jump off the side of the ship and into the river, where Phil, in scuba-diving gear, would be waiting for him with an oxygen tank.

Standing there beside her, Ian looked tense, no doubt a result of the message and discussion with Shaw the night before. She followed his gaze to the SUV they had been driving around in. He'd sent Viktor off to do something else to help further their plan, but he had returned now with whatever it was.

"You don't think one of your guys would betray you to him, do you?" she asked. They all seemed more than willing to follow Ian to her.

"Not willingly no, but it's possible. It's shocking what one will do if they are threatened in any way." He looked at the ground.

It was all just one big loop, she realized. Ian was being threatened, not directly but still nonetheless, which had led him to going to huge measures to ensure nothing happened against him, and this might persuade one of his companions to do the same, even betray him, their leader and friend who they looked up to.

"He even suspects my betrayal and that will only lead him to threatening her further, so I can't risk it. I have to make it look as though I'm even willing to destroy the Declaration of Independence."

She found herself nodding slowly. There was a pause between them before she asked, "What's her name?"

He stared at her for a moment before cluing in. "Harriet." He smiled.

She reached out and placed a hand on his arm, and gave what she hoped was a supportive squeeze. Then, to her surprise, he reached up and placed his hand over hers on his arm.

Their moment didn't last long and was interrupted then when they noticed Gates.

"Ben." Ian approached him. "Are you alright? A jump like that could kill a man."

"Naw, it was cool," sneered Gates. "You should try it sometime." Then he turned to Alice, appearing more than happy for the excuse to ignore Ian. "Doctor Chase? Hi, nice to finally meet you, your sister's told me all about you. Ben Gates." He extended his hand.

She shook it. "Hello Mr. Gates, nice to finally meet you too. Alice Chase."

Ian chuckled. "The Declaration of Independence, and the meerschaum pipe. All yours," he said to Gates. "And, of course, lovely Doctor Chase here." He placed a hand on the small of her back.

Ben regarded him. "That's it?"

"That's it." Ian nodded. "I knew you'd keep your promise. Ben Gates is always reliable. Now where is it, where's the treasure?"

"It's right here," replied Gates. "The map said 'Heere at the wall,'" 'Heere' spelled with two E's. Wall Street follows the path of an actual wall that the original Dutch settlers built as a defence against the British. The main gate was located at a street called De Heere, also spelled with two E's. Later, De Heere Street was renamed Broadway after the British came so, 'Heere at the wall', Broadway, Wall Street." He pointed to the street signs. Then he grabbed the pipe and Declaration. "Cheerio." He motioned for Alice to follow him.

It suddenly struck her then that this was it, she was actually leaving Ian and crew. For a brief moment she felt slightly disappointed at this, a little sad. She wanted time to say goodbye.

However, Ian took her arm before she could follow Gates. He seemed protective of her. "Just a moment Ben-"

"Ian, if you break our deal the FBI will only be a few minutes behind you. You might get away, you might not."

There was a pause. Alice felt Ian's grip on her arm tighten. "Is that all the map said?" He sounded - desperate.

Gates stared at him completely straight-faced. "Every word."

He's lying, she thought.

Ian sensed this too. He grinned. "Oh Ben. You know the key to running a convincing bluff? Every once in a while, you've got to be holding all the cards."

He nodded to across the street where the SUV was parked. Then he nodded to Viktor who opened the back door to reveal an older man whose hands were duct-taped together.

Now Gates looked horror-struck. "Dad."

Alice gasped and the disappointment at leaving Ian so suddenly was quickly replaced by anger. So that had been what Ian had sent Viktor to retrieve, a who, Gates's own father to try and persuade him to continue with the plan. How could Ian do this? The poor man. This obviously was very serious.

"Now," continued Ian as Viktor shut the door, once again concealing the man. "Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

Gates sighed, defeated. "Trinity church. We have to go inside Trinity Church."

"Good, excellent. Well why don't you ask the other Doctor Chase and Riley to join us? I'm sure they're around here somewhere."

Oh no, not Abi too. Now even more angered, Alice yanked her arm from Ian's grasp and stalked off after Gates towards the church.

"Hey-" Ian caught her arm again, this time less tightly, and turned her around to face him.

"You said you wouldn't harm the others." She spoke accusingly.

"And we won't," he assured her. "Gates needed the push."

She sighed, her anger simmering down, though just a little. "Why don't you just tell him what this is all about?"

Now he sighed. "The fewer people who know, the better."

Thanks so much for reading! :)