Sorry I haven't updated in so long! I've had band/colorguard camp the last two weeks and it gave me writer's block! I had to completely rewatch National Treasure to get rid of it! But it worked, and I've written my best chapter so far! So please, enjoy! A/N: I live in Aledo, and I don't visit Dallas often, so if I get any of the facts wrong, blame my lack of a driver's license.

Chapter 6:

Library of Congress

Abigail drove in silence, with Riley sitting next to her in the passenger seat and Alexis in the back.

Alexis stared out the window. She didn't notice Riley watching her in the rear-view mirror. He sighed, lost in thought.

"Alexis," Abigail said, breaking into the silence and interrupting Riley's daydream about a certain blonde and a cabin in the mountains. "You're accent. You're from Texas?"

Alexis was surprised. "Yea, but I thought I had lost the accent. Most of my friends can't tell. They're all surprised to find out I grew up in Dallas."

"I grew up in Germany." Abigail said. "My accent is much more noticeable than yours. But most people mistake it for Pennsylvania Dutch."

"People like Ben." Riley said.

Abigail laughed, remembering Ben's first comment when they met.

"What kind of clue do you think we'll find at the Library of Congress?" Alexis asked.

"It could be another riddle." Riley said.

"Or a code." Abigail suggested. "Like on the back of the Declaration."

Since she had no prior experience in situations like this, Alexis could not add her own opinion.

Abigail parked the car into the employee parking lot. She walked to the back door and showed her ID to the security guard.

Alexis followed Abigail's lead, showing her ID as well.

The guard stopped Riley. "Hey!" Riley said. "I'm with them!"

Alexis turned to the guard. "It's okay, Frank. He is with us."

Riley grinned at the officer and pretended to straighten an invisible jacket as he walked inside.

"There go the others. Where's Gates?" Ian's new associate asked.

"Not here." Ian said. "He went the other direction, no doubt trying to lure me away." He put something in his jacket pocket.

"What's that for?" The other man asked.

"Just a little something that should ensure our success." Ian said.

Ben looked in his mirrors. "No sign of Ian." He said to himself, becoming increasingly worried. He found a place to make a U-turn and headed back in the direction of the Library of Congress.

Abigail, Riley, and Alexis approached the display case of the National Anthem.

Abigail pulled the spectacles out of her purse and put them on. She handed Riley a pad of paper and a pen. Riley put on his own reading glasses.

Abigail stared at the document.

"What do you see?" Riley asked excitedly.

Abigail paused, then took the glasses off. "Nothing."

Riley was stunned. "Could Ben have been wrong?" He thought.

"I don't understand." Abigail said. "Why would this be the most well preserved copy if it didn't serve another purpose?"

Riley was silent. Alexis appeared to be in deep thought.

A teenage boy accidentally bumped into Riley, dropping a twenty. Riley picked it up, held it to the light, then handed it back to the kid.

"Thanks." He said and continued on his way.

"What was that?" Alexis asked.

"Nothing." Riley replied. "I just like looking at watermarks. It's so cool hoe they make them. Did you know that they…"

Alexis didn't hear any more of Riley's comment. "Forever unseen between a song's moving script."

Riley stopped. "What?"

"The clue's there, it's a watermark! Riley, you're a genius!" Alexis exclaimed.

"O-kay." Riley said, still confused.

Abigail smiled. "Come on! Let's see if we can take a closer look at this."

After much persuading, the head librarian agreed to let the three examine the document. He took the case to a back room, much akin to the Archives' Preservation Room, and, wearing rubber gloves, pulled the document out.

Abigail, also wearing a pair of gloves, took the document and held it to the light.

Riley waited intently for Abigail to tell them what she saw.

"The symbol of the Masons is underneath certain letters." Abigail said.

Riley, who was familiar with messages like this, asked Abigail to read the letters.

She spoke slowly and deliberately. "T-W-O-L."

Riley wrote down the first four letters.

"A-N-T-E."

Riley continued writing.

"R-N-S-L."

Alexis read the letters over Riley's shoulder.

"I-T-T-O."

Their minds raced as they tried to piece together the puzzle.

"S-E-N-D."

The librarian couldn't believe they were right.

"A-M-E-S."

Ben was trying his best to get to the Library as fast as he could. He could sense that something was terribly amiss and that his friends might be in danger.

"S-A-G-E."

Alexis was intrigued.

"A-N-D-S."

Abigail wished she hadn't promised the librarian that only she would handle the document.

"E-T-F-O."

Riley wanted the message to end so he could find the words.

"R-A-L-L."

Riley kept writing.

"T-O-S-E."

Abigail paused, then continued.

"E-I-N-T."

Riley sighed as the letters kept coming.

"H-E-W-I."

Alexis leaned against the wall.

"N-D-O-W."

Abigail lowered the document to give her arms a break, the raise it again.

"O-F-B-O."

Alexis watched Riley write.

"S-T-O-N."

Abigail looked relieved. She could see the last marks coming closer.

"S-S-A-C."

Riley sighed.

"R-E-D-P."

Abigail lowered the document as she read the last four letters.

"L-A-C-E."

Abigail and the librarian put the document bock in its case. She thanked him, then turned to Riley and Alexis. "We need to hurry and get back home!"

As the three walked out, a sign on a bulletin board grabbed Riley's attention. Alexis stopped, too.

"What's this?" She asked.

"Apparently, the Smithsonian is looking for a new curator for their Early American History exhibit." Riley said.

"Can I borrow that pad of paper?" Alexis asked.

Riley, realizing that he had forgotten to give it back to Abigail, hesitated, but then handed it to her. Abigail wouldn't mind.

The first thing Abigail noticed was the absence of any security guards. She looked around the parking lot, but saw no one. She crossed the pavement to her car. As she did so, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Expecting it to be Riley, she turned around asking, "What now?"

But the man in front of her was not Riley.

Alexis finished writing down the information. She put her pen and the pad of paper in her purse for safekeeping.

"C'mon." Riley said.

"Hello, Dr. Chase." Ian said.

Abigail tried to turn and run, but in grabbed her roughly by the arm and plunged a needle into her shoulder.

Riley stepped out in to the parking lot just as this happened. "Abigail!" He exclaimed. In the absence of Ben, he felt it his job to protect her. He charged at Ian, who was now putting the unconscious Abigail in the back seat of a black sedan.

Ian turned and saw the younger man racing toward him. "Oh, Riley." He said. He grabbed the brunette and threw him to the ground. "You were always the weak one." Riley found himself staring up at a drawn handgun.

Alexis was rushing to Riley's side. Ian turned to point the gun at her. She froze, halfway to Riley.

Ian jumped in the car and ordered the driver to go, leaving Riley and Alexis alone and confused in the parking lot.

Literally a minute later, Ben drove into the paring lot. He saw Alexis trying to help a shaking Riley off the ground. He stopped the car and got out. "What happened? Where's Abigail?"

Riley's voice was barely above a whisper. "Ian…kidnapped her."

Ben helped his friend to the car. Alexis opted to sit with him in the back.

"Alexis, can you tell me what happened?" Ben asked once they had left the Library of Congress.

"It was so fast." She began and told Ben the entire story.

Riley finally calmed down and said, "What does he want with Abigail?"

"I don't know, Riley, but…" He was cut short by the sound of his cell phone ringing. He answered it. "Gates."

"Hello, Ben." Ian's voice startled him.

"Ian! What did you do with Abigail?" He demanded.

"She's fine. For now. If you ever want to see her again, give me a call when you figure out that clue from the Library. Then we'll talk." He hung up.

He looked gravely into his rear-view mirror. "He wants to know the next clue."

They reached the gate of Ben's estate and saw a man in a Cadillac De Vile arguing with one of the FBI agents. "What do you mean? I can't visit my own son?"

Ben was relived to see someone who could help. He rolled down the window. "It's fine, let him in."

"Okay, Mr. Gates." The agent said. Both cars drove down the driveway.

When the occupants of both cars got out, they went to meet one another.

Seeing the solemn expression on Ben's face, Patrick Gates asked, "What's wrong?"

Ben explained what had happened. "Now, the only way to get her back is to figure out the next clue."

"Well," Patrick said. "Let's get started."