Chapter Fourteen
elvenrarehunter-Witty saying are the best! Yay! More cookies! (hoards cookies) You gat a whole cake for reviewing!
Kes- Hah, it's ok, i love you being my pseudo-beta. I changed all that stuff you said was wrong. I KNEW you were going to catch that inebriated line, butI really wanted to use the word inebriated:) It makes me sound smart, or maybe that's just me. It has the opposite effect when I use it the wrong way. Damn.
SongofNature-Yay! Someone actually enjoys my cliffies! I made another one in this chapter just for you! Dont' worry, I'll defend you from the flying objects!
Crazy Little Emily-Yay! New Reviewer! Thank you for reviewing and i'm glad you like the story!
Disclaimer-I don't own anything
-----------------------------------
Chapter Fourteen
Claire rummaged through her suitcase, frowning. She hadn't packed a lot of dark clothing, mostly just pastels and whites. Ben had instructed them to wear dark or black colored clothing in order to "blend in" when they broke into Blackbeard's Headquaters.
The trouble was, she had packed thinking that they would be partaking in legal, non-sneaky activities.
Abbie strolled into her room, already set in a black jeans and a black tee-shirt. "Are you ready? Ben said we should leave in five minutes." She surveyed the clothes-strewn state of Claire's room. "I guess not."
"I don't have any clothes!" Claire groaned, and for a moment Abbie smiled, thinking that Claire, for once, sounded like a normal 24 year old.
"Come on, you go to Harvard! I thought they despised color there! You must have a whole shelf of black clothes!"
"Yes but I didn't pack them to go to the Caribbean!" Claire answered. Ben and Riley filed into her room, both swathed in black. She looked from person to person incredulously. "Am I the only one who didn't know we were supposed to bring raiding clothes on this trip?"
All three looked rather uncomfortable. "Well…." Ben explained. "Of course we were planning to keep this venture strictly legal, but…."
"……Illegal stuff just sort of comes to us." Riley finished
Claire rolled her eyes "Like I haven't heard that excuse a billion times." she sighed. "Oh well. Abbie, do you have a shirt I can borrow?"
Abbie nodded and walked back to her room, returning with a black button-down, which Claire put on, now completely dressed in black. She looked down at herself and groaned. "I feel like I'm in the mafia."
Riley grinned. "Welcome to the History Squad."
Claire burst out laughing "You guys have a name?"
Ben looked a little hurt "I thought it was cool."
Claire smiled "No, it's good. I like it." Her eyes sparkled with restrained laughter and, she couldn't help but let out another jibe. "Do we have codenames too?"
Ben snorted and pointed to Riley "Ask Genius007 over here."
Claire didn't even try to cover up her laughter.
--------------------------------------------------
Martin Lander was hideously uncomfortable. He was pretty sure that he was going to be digging splinters out of his ass for the next week. That guide chick had taken forever to close up, and scrunched up behind a large desk is not the most accommodating place for a 6'3, two hundred pound man.
His radio let out a burst of static and he pulled it, with some difficulty, out of his pants pocket. That would be Deachat, snug as a bug in a rug in his car a mile from here, waiting until he was done to enter the house. Something about not letting the Gates party see him, but Lander figured that he didn't want to get involved in the brief violence that was going to take place in this study.
"Lander." his radio squawked "Lander, are you in position?"
"Affermative" he answered softy. "I'm waiting for the Gates and company to arrive."
"Good. You know what to do. Don't screw anything up."
His radio signal died, signaling that Deachat had hung up.
Tucking the radio back in his pants, Lander unconsciously patted the gun in his other pocket. He had his orders. Two of the Gate's party would be joining Deachat in the hunt for Blackbeard's treasure, whether they liked it or not. His boss had claimed that he needed them.
The other two…….well, lets just say that the tour guide would get a nasty surprise when she opened the Headquarters tomorrow morning.
Riley's gut twisted as they crept up to the back door of the Headquarters. It wasn't, of course, his first break and enter or trespassing on private property, but he had never done it in the dead of night. The darkness just added a whole new level of creepiness.
Ben pulled out a laser cutter, a handy little tool that he had borrowed from Ian.
"Riley, are sure that the security alarm is off?" he asked, pausing before cutting through the door lock.
Riley nodded. "We're clear, Dogood369" On the way to the Headquarters, he had worked some of his computer magic and dissolved the security system of the building. It had been a joke, really. Obviously the government didn't think anyone was going to break into some old museum.
Ben chuckled at his Riley-appointed codename (Which was chosen both because of his obsession with the Silence Dogood letters and Riley's opinion of him as a do-gooder) and began to slowly laser through the door lock.
Claire nudged him from behind. "What's my code name?" she whispered curiously.
Riley snickered, earning a glare from Ben.
"Leper451" he answered, delighting at the look of indignation on Claire's face.
She opened her mouth for a retort that Riley was already prepared to rebut when a small click silenced them. Abbie smiled triumphantly.
"We're in"
-----------------------------------------
Lander tensed as he heard a faint creak and a shadow swung across the study floor as a door down the hall slowly opened. Hushed voices floated closer as his targets crept towards the study. He noiselessly eased his gun from his pants.
He would wait until they found the next clue, what his boss was looking for.
Then he would strike.
----------------------------------------
Riley held his breath as Ben swung the door open.
Nothing happened.
He sighed in relief and Claire gave him a thumbs up.
"Let's go." Ben said softly, motioning. "Don't turn your flashlights on until I've closed the door behind us."
One by one they filed through into the Headquarters. The deserted old hallway leading to the study looked like a haunted mansion, with the moonlight from the door making the spider webs hanging in the corners shine.
As Ben shut the door, they were plunged into almost absolute darkness. Riley felt a shiver run down his spine at the disturbing quietness. He had at least expecting there to be some crickets chirping noisily in the background. He had forgotten that there were no crickets in the Caribbean.
Four flashlights clicked on simultaneously. Riley felt a tad better seeing the nervous look on Claire's face.
"Uh, guys?" he whispered, "Can we not split up this time?"
"We should stay together." Ben agreed. "Nobody wander off-"
He stopped and noticed that Claire and Abbie were already halfway down the hallway. He and Riley shot each other sympathizing looks and hurried after them.
"Keep an eye on Claire, okay?" Ben said under his breath. "I need to look out for Abbie, so she's your responsibility."
Riley nodded, trying not to think of what Claire would do to Ben if she found out he had assigned him to her. Pepper Spray would probably be involved.
Looking back on that moment much later, Riley realized how much that responsibility he accepted so lightly would affect his next few days.
However, as they followed the girls into the study, Riley's main thought was on getting the clue and hightailing it out of there. The silence was starting to get pretty unpleasant.
Claire and Abbie were congregated around the bookshelf, examining the sign burned into the wood.
"Is it some kind of weird code thing again?" Riley whispered, edging up next to Claire to examine the sign.
She turned her head and grinned at him, and Riley took a surprised step back, not realizing how close they were. It was strange-most girls today were prettier from far away, and close up they were disconcerting-too much makeup, Riley thought. But illuminated in flashlight, Claire was actually prettier.
"It's actually much simpler than that." Claire responded, breaking him out of his reverie. "See, the arrow should be pointing at the heart, but it's pointing down at the floor instead."
Abbie crouched down and knocked on the floor. "It's not hollow." she said, disappointed.
Claire chuckled. "Of course not. That would be way too easy. Over the years, people would notice a hollow floor. Does anyone have a crowbar?"
"Yes, of course," Riley deadpanned. "I've got one right here in my pocket. Would you like the four or five footer?"
Claire studiously ignored him and accepted the small crowbar Ben handed her. Wedging it between the floorboards, she began to push it down. They could see a small glimpse of metal beneath the floor.
Claire continued to push, but it really wasn't getting anywhere.
"Here" Riley offered, kneeling down to help her. Together they managed to pry the floorboard loose enough to see that it was attached to a few others, making a small square that popped loose with a little more effort.
"Thanks." Claire panted, and Abbie smiled to herself.
Underneath the floor was a metal hatch, a handle laying flat on the side. Giving Claire a break, Ben tugged it, and it creaked open, rusty from disuse.
The foursome peered inside, and a simultaneous gasp was let out as their flashlights shone down a tight spiral staircase leading downward under the headquarters.
"So……" Riley started "Who wants to go down the creepy pirate tunnel first?"
Claire had already hoisted herself into the hole and started down the stairs, taking her flashlight from Riley with an excited smile. Riley thought that he never saw someone look so thrilled about descending down under an ancient decaying building during which they could possibly be killed.
Oh, no, wait…..he had.
I guess it runs in the family, He mused, chuckling to himself.
Lander crouched, waiting for a signal that showed they had found something. Berating himself for not finding a hiding place where he could see, he strained his ears. They were pulling up floorboards, and then there was a distinct sound of creaking metal.
"So….." One of the men said quietly. "Who wants to down the creepy pirate tunnel first?"
Lander recognized the voice as the man who he had pummeled in that alley. He scowled. Apparently he hadn't hit him hard enough. He would fix that this time.
There was a thudding sound and he realized that one of them had begun to descend the tunnel they found. Now was the time to act.
Cocking his gun, he lept up behind the desk and started to shoot.
Riley's only warning was the click of a gun before a giant figure exploded behind him and placed a bullet neatly into the bookshelf next to him.
The man didn't stop at one, however. Apparently he had enough cartridges to last him through both World Wars and then some, and bullets started to rain down upon all four of them. Luckily, in the dark his aim was off by a mile, or they would all be full of holes.
Yelling in surprise and fear, Riley ducked behind the heavy desk chair. With his abandoned flashlight pointing in the man's face, he could see though the gaps in the chair that it was the man who had attacked him and Claire in the alley yesterday.
Searching to the side, he saw that Ben was shielding Abbie behind a bookcase, and most of the bullets were falling a foot shy into the opposite wall.
Claire was ducking inside of the hatch, the shots zooming over the floor.
And then the fire ceased.
"Alright" the man drawled, still pointing his gun. "Now that I have your attention…."
Riley and Claire shot a frightened glance.
"Who the hell are you?" Ben demanded from behind the bookcase.
"You could have gotten someone killed!"
"That was the point." The man replied. "And you can call me Lander. I'm working for a fellow named Deachat. I believe you already know about him."
All four tensed. It was official. This was the lackey of the man who was after them.
"Now, I need Claire Howe and Benjamin Gates to step over here, please. You're going to have to come with me."
Shaking, Claire slowly climbed out of the hatch, her hands in the air. Riley saw Ben start to step forward, and shook his head at him. Ben had a wife and kid. The last thing he wanted to do was go with Lander, but it was time that he took one for his best friend.
"I'm Ben Gates." he stated shakily, standing from behind his chair.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Ahhh! Cliffie! I might review a little slower this weekbecause I'm taking finals. But I could probably squeeze one in if you guys reviewed! (smiles innocently) Oh dear, I'm such a review slut.
Er, shameless self advertising here, but I just wrote a National Treasure Oneshot that isn't related to this story called In Another Life about our favorite charecter ever, Ian. If you R&R'd I'd be much obliged!