A/N - As always, thank you for reading and for your kind and encouraging reviews! And just to show my sincere appreciation, I shall give you an entire chapter featuring Riley (and Abigail).

Flight number 2187 touched down on the runway at O'Hare Airport about fifteen minutes later than expected. The bright orange sun was just beginning to break through the thick blanket of fog that was wrapped around the city that morning, warm glowing rays unveiling the spring of a picture-perfect day. As the plane crawled toward the jetway, Abigail gently shook Riley, who had somehow managed to fall asleep again after he ate his—and her—breakfast.

"Riley, time to go," Abigail said firmly, pulling his arm toward her. His head was still resting against the window and he muttered something in a low tone, trying to resist her attempts to disturb his nap.

The Boeing 737 came to a stop and passengers began scrambling to get their baggage from the overhead compartments.

"Riley!"

"What now Abby?" Riley whined, his eyes still closed as he made a weak attempt to lift his head and look in her direction.

"We're at the airport," Abigail told him. "The plane just landed. Now let's go!"

Riley's eyes suddenly snapped wide open and he turned to Abigail. "Well why didn't you say that in the first place?" He asked with a sense of urgency, fiddling with the seatbelt that had gotten twisted with all of his moving around. Once he freed himself from the seatbelt, he quickly stood up and banged his head on the overhead compartment.

"Oww," Riley moaned, rubbing the top of his head.

Abigail tried to hide her giggling. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," he grumbled.

The pair finally made it off the plane and through the gate into the crowded airport. People were rushing by in every direction, running to catch a connecting flight, trying to make their way to baggage claim, or hurrying to greet loved ones returning from a trip. Abigail had stopped at one of the airline counters to ask where the customer service desk was and was promptly told of three separate locations in the airport for customer service.

Naturally.

Riley and Abigail made their way through the airport to the customer service area that was most centrally located, figuring that would be the most logical place to keep items that had been lost and found. Riley, who still seemed a bit tired, was content to let Abigail lead the way while he followed along—that is, until he noticed the young woman at the service counter.

"Can I help you?" She cheerfully addressed Abigail, a warm and inviting smile playing on her lips.

"Yes, we spoke to someone yesterday. My—" Abigail began to explain but suddenly sensed some urgent movement behind her, which interrupted her thoughts.

Riley abruptly surged forward and gently, but firmly, pushed Abigail to the side. Now very much wide awake and alert, he flashed a smile at the pretty, long-haired brunette with bright green eyes, and leaned in toward her, casually resting his elbow on the counter.

"Hi," Riley said, glancing down at her nametag, "Alicia. Pretty name for a pretty girl."

Abigail rolled her eyes and laughed softly.

"Thank you," Alicia said, giggling at his flirting. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes, actually there is," Riley replied, about to continue where Abigail had paused, but something about the girl was absolutely captivating and his thoughts took an entirely different direction. "Are you from this area?"

In his mind, Riley gave himself a slap upside the head, wishing he'd come up with something a little more clever. Are you from this area? Of course she is. Why would she be working here?

She looked at him curiously, but not as though she thought the question was completely absurd. "Yes…why?"

"Hmm," Riley considered. "Maybe I should fly in to Chicago more often..."

"We're looking for a lost phone," Abigail interjected impatiently, and Alicia reluctantly turned her attention away from Riley.

"When did you lose it?" She asked.

"Friday. We spoke to someone yesterday and they were putting it aside for us until we got here—"

"Name?" Alicia asked with a knowing smile.

"Ben Gates," Riley replied.

Alicia looked up at him with raised eyebrows. "No you're not."

Riley's jaw dropped. "Actually, I am—"

"Actually, you're not," Alicia told him pointedly. She smiled flirtatiously at him as she leaned closer. "I'm a fan."

"Oh…" Riley said, slightly disappointed that the cute girl was yet another fan of famed treasure hunter Benjamin Gates.

"We have your book in a couple of the stores here, Riley," she explained, winking subtly at him. She glanced at Abigail, then looked back at Riley and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Besides, you're much cuter than he is."

Riley grinned, suddenly losing sight of why they were even there in the first place. He even managed to block out the stern look he was getting from Abigail, who had her hands on her hips and was tapping her foot on the floor with annoyance. It wasn't until she loudly cleared her throat that Riley came back down to earth and looked over at her.

"The phone?" She reminded him.

"Oh, right…ok," Riley replied, his mind still a bit flustered. He turned back to Alicia and smiled again. "Ben lost his phone. He's a little embarrassed to admit that, so he sent us to retrieve it for him. When we called, they said it was here at the desk."

Alicia nodded. "Let me go check for you."

When she disappeared, Riley turned to Abigail with an irritated scowl.

"Abigail! Couldn't that have waited a couple minutes?"

"I'm sorry, Riley, but in case you've forgotten, your best friend Ben is in trouble. I'm sure she'll be here when we get back and you can flirt all you want then."

Riley breathed an exasperated sigh and crossed his arms over his chest. "You know, Abigail, it's not every day that I run into a cute girl who knows about my book, recognizes me as opposed to only Ben, and thinks I'm the better looking one—even though I think that's fairly obvious…"

Abigail rolled her eyes. "I understand that, Riley, but under the circumstances—"

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered. "Ben's in trouble."

Abigail narrowed her eyes and glowered at him, a look that Riley had come to associate with getting a scolding. "Riley Poole, you know if the situation were reversed, Ben would not be hanging around an airport flirting with women while you were stuck God knows where with God knows who being put through God knows what!"

"No, he'd just bring her along for the ride," Riley replied with amusement, thinking back to how Abigail had gotten sucked into their little Declaration dilemma. "That way, he could flirt with her the whole time while still achieving his ultimate goal, and of course, she'd be on hand through the entire thing to see his amazing heroics."

Abigail shook her head. "You are impossible."

Riley and Abigail were interrupted by a subtle cough from behind the counter. Alicia had returned, holding Ben's phone out toward them.

"Here's his phone," Alicia said.

Riley reached forward and took it, then handed it to Abigail so she could occupy herself for a few minutes while he thanked Alicia.

"So, you've read my book?" Riley asked her.

"Not entirely," she admitted. "But I do have it, and I'm a little more than half way through it."

"Well that's better than some people," Riley remarked, glancing out the corner of his eye at Abigail, who was too consumed with looking through Ben's phone to even hear his comment. "So…do you ever come out to the D.C. area?"

"Occasionally," she told Riley. "I have a brother who lives there."

Riley's eyes lit up. "Really!?"

Alicia laughed. "Yes. He works for the government."

"No wonder you know about us," Riley said under his breath, then grabbed a business card from the desk. He quickly jotted his cell phone number down and handed it to her. "Next time you're in the area, give me a call…maybe we can get some dinner and discuss my book—" Riley winced, wondering if that sounded a little too arrogant. "Or whatever else might interest you…"

Alicia giggled, nervously twirling a lock of her hair around her finger. She met his gaze and smiled. "Ok."

Riley felt like jumping up and down with excitement, but thought that might make him look a little too desperate. A few other people had started to line up at the customer service desk anyway, so Riley decided it was a good note to depart on. Abigail thanked her again for her help and grabbed Riley's wrist, briskly pulling him away so they could look at Ben's phone together.

"Did you find anything?" Riley asked as Abigail handed him the phone.

She shook her head. "Nothing suspicious in the call history."

Riley scrolled through the menus to take a look at the call log himself. He went back to the call that supposedly Riley placed to Ben the other night.

"That was a restricted call," Riley told Abigail. "If it was me, my number would have popped up. See?" He showed her the screen and she nodded. "Here, write this down."

Abigail got into her purse and pulled out a small notebook and pen, waiting for Riley to tell her what to write.

"Thursday night 3:48 a.m.," Riley said. "Restricted."

"So you really mean Friday morning?" Abigail clarified.

Riley looked at Abigail with annoyance. "I guess, if you're gonna get that technical." He pushed down a few clicks on the scroll button. "9:15 a.m. Friday, Ben placed a call to me."

"He did?"

"Write it."

Abigail wrote it down and waited for Riley as he looked suspiciously at the call log.

"11:17 a.m., Restricted call. 11:19 a.m., Restricted call."

"Two in a row?"

"Yeah," Riley said, thinking back to the drive he took with Ben that morning. "Ben was acting weird about that phone call, now that I think about it. We were driving, and his phone was ringing and he seemed to not want to answer it."

"Why not?" Abigail asked. "What if it was me?"

Riley smirked. "Maybe that's what he thought too."

"Riley!" Abigail exclaimed and playfully slapped him on the arm.

"Haha, sorry," he said, still chuckling to himself. "Eventually the phone stopped ringing, and Ben was really relieved. But then it rang again right away. And he did answer it this time."

"Who was it?"

Riley shook his head. "He claimed it was a wrong number…someone looking for George Washington."

Abigail arched an eyebrow and looked at him in disbelief. "Come on."

"I'm serious!" Riley told her. "That's what he said at least."

"Well obviously that isn't who it was. Whoever it was, he didn't want you to know about it," Abigail reasoned, pausing for a moment in thought. "And that worries me too, Riley. If he was aware of some sort of dangerous situation he was getting into, it would be very much like Ben to try to keep it from me—not that I'd be happy about it, but that's just Ben—but for him to also keep it from you…?"

Riley looked at her solemnly and nodded. "You're right. Ben usually tells me everything."

Abigail suddenly started feeling panicky and sick to her stomach. She began pacing in front of the large airport window they were standing near, muttering to herself with a look of pure dread on her face.

"Abigail," Riley said, trying to get her to refocus.

"Riley, what if something really horrible is happening to him? Why would he do something like this? Why wouldn't he at least tell you?" She started biting her fingernails, and her eyes were beginning to fill with tears. "He would have told you if it was something that he didn't think he could handle himself, and now he's in the middle of some crazy mess that he probably realizes now he couldn't handle himself, and Riley, how are we going to—"

"Abigail!" Riley stated firmly, grasping her by the shoulders. She looked into his eyes fearfully. "I know you're worried, but you need to pull it together. We'll find him."

"How?" She asked softly.

Riley sighed heavily, but the sad, desperate look in her eyes made him all the more determined. "I don't know, yet. Let's finish looking at this phone, ok?"

Abigail looked unsure. She was starting to feel even sicker and her head started to spin.

"Here, sit down for a minute," Riley instructed, guiding her over to a chair and pushed her shoulders down until she was seated. "You don't look so good. Are you hungry? You haven't eaten anything in awhile."

She shook her head adamantly. "No, I just want to find him!"

Riley nodded with understanding. "I know. Me too."

He finished scrolling through the call log, making note that the last restricted phone call came in to Ben's phone at 5:52 p.m. on Friday. Abigail told Riley that was right after he'd left for the airport.

"Now," Riley said, pressing a key to check Ben's voicemail, "Let's see if we have any messages from our restricted caller."

"He has 14 new messages," Riley repeated what the automated voice said as it connected Riley to Ben's voicemail. He made a disgusted face while listening to the first one that Abigail left him, full of suggestive innuendos that Riley was sure she meant for Ben's ears only.

"What the heck Abigail?"

Abigail looked up at his wide-eyed expression and knew almost immediately what he was listening to. "Skip that one!" She ordered him, her cheeks turning bright red in embarrassment.

"Is it safe to keep listening?" Riley asked after skipping the rest of the first one.

"Yes," Abigail replied. "And stop looking at me like that!"

Riley continued listening to the messages, most of which were from Abigail wondering where he was and why he wasn't calling her. There was one from him instructing Ben to call Abigail. Then there were a few from people at the conference Ben was supposed to be speaking at.

"Ok, so none of these were checked," Riley explained. "So his phone was definitely gone prior to this first message coming in."

"Riley, did he call a cab?" Abigail suddenly asked, watching as Riley quickly searched through the call history again. "He told me he wasn't renting a car because he'd be at the university all weekend and wouldn't need one. But he would have needed a ride from the airport to the school."

Abigail bounced up from her seat and began pacing again.

Riley shook his head. "No calls were made from his phone between that final restricted call prior to his flight leaving Washington, and your first message left that night."

"So someone must have come to pick him up, right?"

Riley shrugged. "That would seem logical."

"Someone that didn't take him to his conference."

"Someone that threw out his phone?" Riley wondered.

"Well Ben wouldn't have thrown out his phone," Abigail said pointedly. "And it doesn't even make sense that if he had dropped it accidentally, that whoever found it would have thrown it away."

"Right," Riley agreed. "Either they would have kept it, tried to contact Ben to return it, or hand it in to customer service here."

Both of them silently thought to themselves for several minutes. Abigail was doing her best to stay rational and try to keep emotion out of her thoughts, but it was almost impossible. This wasn't just any mystery or treasure hunt they were trying to figure out—this was her Ben, the man she couldn't imagine life without.

"Riley, we need more help."

Riley looked at Abigail with uncertainty. "I don't know Abigail. What if…"

Abigail threw her hands in the air dramatically. "We can't play 'what if,' Riley! Because unless you know what to do next, we're kind of stuck! There were no clues in his phone to help us out, so for all we know, he really did die in that cab explosion on Sunday."

"Ok, ok, calm down, Abby," Riley soothed, guiding her back to the chair to sit down. "Do you want to call the police and see if they'll give us any information about that explosion?"

"Maybe we should call Sadusky," Abigail suggested. "He would have the inside track to all of this. If it really was Ben in that cab, he could find out, don't you think?"

Riley nodded. "That might not be a bad idea."

Abigail rummaged around through her purse and pulled out her own cell phone, scrolling through her list of contacts to find Sadusky. Ben had made her store his direct number just in case she ever needed immediate help; that way, she could bypass the automated menus, receptionists, and questions determining whether she really needed to talk to Sadusky or not.

Before she had finished dialing, Riley announced that he was hungry and would be right back. Abigail watched as he walked off in the opposite direction, wondering if he was really going to find something to eat or if he was going over to talk to Alicia again.

In fact, she never did get her answer, seeing that Riley was only a few steps away before Sadusky had answered the phone. As soon as he did, Abigail was only focused on that phone call and what he might know about the cab explosion.

"Ah Dr. Abigail Chase, how are you, dear?" Sadusky greeted, far too cheerfully for the situation at hand.

"Not so good, I'm afraid," Abigail replied, taking a deep breath to try to hold back threatening tears.

"Is it Ben?" Sadusky asked. "Is he treasure hunting again?"

"No, no," Abigail answered. "He's…well, he's…actually I'm calling to see if you might have some information about an accident that happened in Chicago."

"Chicago? Was Ben in an accident?" Sadusky suddenly seemed very concerned.

"I don't know…I mean, I think so. But I don't know for sure. The police called me—there was an explosion at the airport and Ben was in the cab—"

"Wait, wait, wait, Abigail," Sadusky interrupted. "The cab explosion that happened on Sunday?"

"Yes," Abigail replied, relieved that he knew what she was referring to.

"I didn't realize anyone was injured in that accident," he contemplated with just a hint of suspiciousness in his tone. "Who told you Ben was hurt?"

"The officer who called. She said they weren't absolutely sure it was Ben, but they had found his wallet among the debris that had been scattered as a result of the explosion."

"Hmm," Sadusky sighed, mulling over Abigail's words. "And you haven't heard from Ben since he left on Friday?"

"No," Abigail confirmed.

"Let me see what I can find out for you, Abigail," Sadusky told her. "I know a number of officers in Chicago." He paused, and Abigail could tell he was hesitating, trying to decide if he wanted to tell her what was really on his mind. She waited silently for him to continue. Finally, after a few more seconds, he exhaled a heavy, drawn-out breath he'd been holding. "I will tell you this…I'm a little wary of the fact that the officer who called you was so quick to tell you of his death, rather than an injured or missing status. It's not customary protocol to assume death with as little evidence as a wallet belonging to the person in question…it's certainly even more unusual to actually alert the family without something more substantial, for obvious reasons as you're finding out."

"So what are you saying?" Abigail pressed.

"Let me see what I can find out for you. Do you remember the name of the officer who called?"

"Yes," Abigail replied, thinking back to the conversation she had with the officer. "Kelly Sullivan. She had a long title that I don't remember, but that was her name."

There was a silent pause on the other end and Abigail wondered if she'd lost her connection.

"Kelly Sullivan," Sadusky repeated after a minute or so.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

Abigail wished she could see the expression on his face, because the tentativeness in his voice left her feeling very unsettled.

"I'm positive," Abigail assured. "She was all business."

"That's interesting…because I do know Officer Sullivan," Sadusky remarked.

Abigail perked up. "You do?"

"I do…" He told her. "Except…well, let me ask you this. When Officer Sullivan called you, the title that you can't remember-was it 'assistant deputy superintendent of investigative services'?"

"Yes!" Abigail exclaimed, recalling the title as soon as Sadusky said it. "That was it!"

Riley had returned right at that moment, holding up a bag from a coffee stand as he sat back down across from her. He placed a cup of coffee at her side and she whispered a thank-you to him.

"Abigail?" Sadusky asked after he'd momentarily put her on hold. "Keep your phone on, ok? I have a few calls to make and I'll get back to you. Is Riley with you too?"

"Yes, he is," Abigail confirmed, glancing at him as he removed the wrapping from some sort of breakfast sandwich.

"Tell him to keep his phone on too. If we can't get a hold of you, I'll try him next. Something isn't adding up here."

Abigail felt her face pale. "What do you mean?"

He sighed. "Officer Sullivan has been in the business a very long time…over the years we've consulted on a number of cases together," Sadusky explained. "I can assure you that Officer Sullivan is no woman."

"Well she did seem pretty harsh and insensitive…"

"No, Abigail," Sadusky clarified. "I mean biologically, Officer Kelly Sullivan is not a woman."

"What…?"

"Whoever called you isn't who she said she is," Sadusky told her straightforwardly. "I know Officer Sullivan. He's about 6'6, 265 pounds, as Irish as it gets—you know the classic image of a leprechaun, with the red hair and beard? That's him. Only he's a lot bigger—and wears a police uniform, not a green suit with elf shoes."

"This is…I don't understand…" Abigail muttered, her mind reeling as she tried to process what Sadusky was telling her.

"I'm gonna see what I can find out. I'll call you back."

The line went dead and Abigail slowly flipped her phone closed. She looked up at Riley with a shocked expression. He swallowed the bite of sandwich he'd just taken and looked back at her with concern.

"What's wrong Abby?"

"I don't understand," She started. "I don't know who that could have been then, and why…"

"Slow down Abigail," Riley told her. "I don't know what you're talking about. What did Sadusky say?"

"Someone wants us to think Ben is dead…"

Riley gave her a funny look. "That's what he told you?"

"No, but…why else would someone say they were…"

"Abby, just breathe for a minute," Riley instructed, noticing the grip she had on the sides of the chair. He reached inside the bag he'd brought and pulled out another sandwich. "Eat this. I don't need you passing out on me."

"Riley, I can't eat now—"

"You have to, Abigail. Otherwise you're gonna get sick, and that'll prevent us from finding Ben sooner." He shoved the sandwich at Abigail and reluctantly she took it. "Do it for Ben, ok? He wouldn't want you to starve."

Abigail slowly unwrapped the sandwich, still thinking about the conversation she just had with Sadusky.

"Oh," she remembered. "You need to keep your phone on, just in case he tries to call."

"Ben?"

"No, Sadusky. He's trying to find out what's going on with the officer who called…well, who supposedly called…anyway, just make sure it's on."

"Well of course it's on," Riley said, digging around in his pocket and pulling out his phone. "It's always on, see?" He looked down at it and realized it actually wasn't on. He'd forgotten to turn it back on after the plane landed. "Oops."

Abigail had just started to eat her sandwich, which actually did make her feel a little better, physically at least, when a soft beep could be heard coming from Riley's phone. His text message alert. She looked up at him while he pressed a few keys on his phone. When he finally looked up and met her gaze, his face had turned white and his eyes were wide in disbelief and confusion.

"What is it?" Abigail asked, her stomach suddenly twisting into knots again.

"It's…" Riley started, glancing back down at the screen in front of him to make sure he was really seeing what he thought he was. "It's…"

"What, Riley?" Abigail urged.

Riley lifted his eyes back to hers, which were now also wide with fear as she waited for him to say something.

"It's from Ben…"