Disclaimer: Okay, guys. Ben, Riley, Abigail, and anyone else that you recognize from the movie(s) are not mine. Everyone else and the idea are. Oh, and I don't own Avril Lavigne, either.
Author's Note: Ugh, I'm sorry that I haven't been able to update too quickly lately. I've been sick with the flu and haven't been able to get to a computer. But the upside to that is I have I think the next four chapters completely written, so the plot is really moving along on my end. So if all goes well and I'm not too busy to get to a computer, updates should be coming a little more quickly. Thank you sooooo much to Miss Fenway, daisyduke80, momiji'sunusedhalo, Harm Marie, Mischieftheblackwolf, unorthodox yo-yo, Jedi'Pirate Jaeh, Save the Elmo, and Halo for your wonderful reviews. Also special thanks to Halo for helping me out with some plot stuff and to daisyduke80 for giving me a song to use for this chapter. You're awesome! So, without further ado, I bring you the next chapter!
Chapter 15
In the state's federal prison, things are run like any other facility for criminals. Organized meals a couple times a day, sometimes getting out to the courtyard for a little while if the weather cooperates, or some down time in the work-out room or library depending on good behavior. But at night when they are not always checked on, it is the perfect time for someone who had outside help to escape.
Thursday morning wake-up call was different than other mornings before it. Two new guards who didn't quite know which prisoner belonged with which cell yet were in charge of the morning check. They walked past each prisoner and did a quick scan of the cell to make sure that everything was in order. But the door at the end of the row remained closed, and no one stepped out when they called. They shared a quick glance before knocking on the heavy metal door, surprised when it slowly swung open with an eerie creek. The two guards placed their hands on their weapons on their belts as they cautiously leaned into the strangely unlocked cell, horrified to see that it was empty save for one of the guards that had been on night duty lying dead on the floor with a small slip of paper lying on his still chest.
"Alert the warden," the guard who seemed to have more authority said quickly, pushing the other down the hall. "This building is going on lockdown."
As his partner hurried away to do as he was instructed, the guard slowly entered the dark cell and carefully picked up the paper left behind, reading over the three words that were written neatly on it.
Ha. Nice try.
xxx
Ben's face darkened when he heard the agent's statement. "What do you mean bad news?" he asked quietly.
"As I told you, we tracked down Dustin's home, but it was abandoned," Sadusky answered. "We then went to Nick Baron's residence, which was also empty. The reason I didn't call you like I said I would was because we found evidence of phone tapping from both of their landlines. After what you told me about what happened yesterday between Dustin and Riley, I didn't want to take the chance that it was your phone being monitored."
"Smart decision," Ben muttered, thinking this new development over.
Sadusky's eyes softened with sorrow. "We also found traces of left-over containers of arsenic scattered around Dustin's home, so he must have left in a hurry," he told him. "I'm confident that's what he used on Riley, but there were enough containers where he could have poisoned someone over a long period of time. I know that's your suspicion about what happened to Riley's father, Ben, and it's starting to appear that way."
Ben sighed, running his hand through his hair. With the evidence that was being compiled, it truly seemed to appear that Dustin had murdered his own father... And the fact that he was running was another strike against him.
Then, he looked behind him when he heard heavy footsteps on the stairs, and he saw that Abigail was slowly coming down the steps, awkwardly supporting a weak Riley. Ben rushed over to them and took the techie from his wife, able to bring him quickly down the rest of the way and gently lower him to be able to stretch out on the couch.
"Thanks, Ben," Riley muttered, making himself comfortable on the cushions. His face was a bit paler from the effort of getting out of bed and coming all the way down the stairs.
Sadusky smiled sadly when he saw Riley, but he was stopped before he could say anything when his cell phone rang. Sighing with irritation, he quickly took it out. "Sadusky."
"So, what did he say, Ben?" Abigail asked while the agent listened to whoever had called him, taking her husband's hand.
"Dustin wasn't at his house, nor was Nick," Ben answered her, recapping what the head of the FBI had told him. "He also thinks that they may have been tapping phone lines, most likely ours and Riley's. At Dustin's place, they found empty arsenic containers that could have been used to poison someone over a long period of time, probably Jeremy Poole."
Abigail covered her mouth in horror at the report, and Ben saw that a thin line of tears had formed in Riley's eyes. Seeing those tears made Ben all the more determined to make Dustin pay for what he had done.
"What?" Sadusky suddenly demanded, outraged as he startled the three friends. "What do you mean one of the prisoners has escaped? You just noticed this now?!" Ben's face paled at the questions.
"Who is it?" the agent continued heatedly. There was a moment of silence where he listened intently, and then his face got, if possible, even angrier. "Well, find out immediately and don't call me back until you do!" Then, he snapped his phone shut.
"What was that all about?" Riley asked curiously, able to feel the extent of Sadusky's anger and relieved that he wasn't the poor officer on the other end of the phone.
"One of the higher security prisoners has escaped," Sadusky explained with a growl. "They put the building on lockdown, but it was too late. The guards are certain it happened sometime in the night, and that whoever it was must have had outside help."
Probably sometime around the time the museum was broken into... Ben thought, but before he could say it aloud, Sadusky's phone rang again.
The FBI agent quickly answered it. "Yes?" There was another silence. "Now you're saying that two have escaped?! Have you found out who the first one you called me about is yet?"
Ben watched the agent carefully, seeing the flicker of concern or fear, not sure of which, that flashed through his eyes. "All right. Put out an alert immediately. Direct anyone who sights him to my number." Then, he ended the call.
"Who is it, Sadusky?" Ben muttered, almost hesitant to know the answer.
Sadusky sighed. "Well, it would probably be best if you lie low for a while..."
"Who is it, Sadusky?" Ben repeated with a little more force, annoyed by his beating around the bush.
The agent met Ben's gaze and sighed, the name almost force from his mouth.
"Ian Howe."
xxx
Ben looked around him anxiously, finding that he was strangely alone. That was odd. Hadn't Abigail and Riley just been with him as he moved through the house. Now, they were gone...
"Abigail? Riley?" he shouted, hoping that he would get some sort of response. But he didn't. "Riley! Abigail!"
Suddenly, his own house dissolved around him and was replaced with a smaller living room. Ben quickly looked around, his eyes landing on a strangely crooked picture hanging on the wall. He slowly approached it, reaching out a shaking hand to straighten it out.
"Don't move, Ben."
Ben froze at the sound of the familiar voice, and then he slowly turned around and found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. He raised his eyes from the weapon and looked directly into the eyes of the man behind it.
"Ian."
"Hello, Ben," Ian said with an almost cold smile. "How about you give me that next clue, and we'll continue on?"
Ben was instantly confused but on alert. "I don't know what you're talking about, Ian," he told him. "I don't have it. I don't even know where we are!"
Ian's smirk widened. "Wrong answer, Ben." Then, he lowered his gun and moved to the side, revealing Dustin and Nick standing behind him, each having a weapon in their hands. Kneeling on the floor before the older Poole and his best friend were Riley and Abigail. Ian nodded to them, and Dustin loaded the weapon and placed his gun against the side of Riley's head while Nick did the same with Abigail, both of their fingers resting dangerously over the triggers.
"No!" Ben cried, taking a step toward them. "Don't hurt them. I'll do whatever you want! Please!"
"Give me the clue, Ben," Ian said icily. "That's all I ask. Just give me the clue, and no one will get hurt."
Ben's heart nearly stopped. The one thing that his former friend wanted, he didn't have...
"I have it!" Riley suddenly snapped angrily from his position on the floor, wincing a little when Dustin pressed the gun harder against his head. "Why doesn't anyone believe me when I saw that I have the clue?!"
"Riley, don't speak again," Ian told him, giving him a dangerous look. Then, he turned back to the treasure hunter. "Now. Give me the clue, Ben."
Ben only stared back at him, fear blossoming in his chest.
For the first time, he didn't know what to do.
xxx
Ben's eyes quickly shot open as he woke with a start, taking a deep sigh of relief when he realized it had just been a bad dream. He was in his own house, Abigail was sleeping peacefully beside him, Riley was safe in the room across the hall, and Ian was locked up in prison.
Wait.
The treasure hunter suddenly remembered the earlier conversation that they had had with Sadusky, learning that Ian had escaped from prison and was likely out in the city somewhere, which is what probably brought the dream on. The thought making his mind feel even more anxious after the dream he had just had, Ben carefully got out of bed and wandered into the hallway to get something to drink from the kitchen downstairs.
He stopped with confusion when he saw a light coming from Riley's room, the soft sound of a song he didn't recognize but had a beautiful tune reaching his ears. He slowly entered the room, seeing that Riley was on his laptop, just when the chorus began to play.
"Keep holding on,
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Just stay strong,
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you
There's nothin' you can say,
There's nothin' you can do,
There's no other way when it comes to the truth
So keep holding on,
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through..."
Riley suddenly looked up from the laptop and saw that his best friend was standing in the doorway. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ben. Did I wake you?" he asked, immediately stopping the song.
"No, Riley," Ben answered quietly as he sat down in the chair beside the bed, seeing that Riley had pulled up a bunch of pictures of the two of them. "I just had a bad dream. What are you doing?"
"I'm compiling pictures of us to send to my aunt who just recently moved to New Delhi, India, because she's always asking me if I'm really friends with the great Benjamin Gates. This is my proof," Riley told him casually. "I also told her that you would sign some of them for her." Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the look of confusion that Ben was giving him, so he quickly added, "I would print them out first, of course."
Ben smiled and laughed a little. Riley was one of the strangest people he had ever met, but he was also one of the best friends he had ever had. If not the best. He was definitely starting to feel like his little brother, especially since he could always tell when the younger man was making something up because he didn't want to talk. Then, his eyes narrowed when he noticed that something was around Riley's neck, hovering very close to his heart. "I've never seen that before, Riley. What is it?"
Riley glanced away from the screen at the sound of the question. "What?" Then, he noticed what the other man was looking at, and he grabbed the pendant as he moved to put it under his shirt. "Oh, this? Nothing..."
But Ben stopped his arm, and Riley reluctantly opened his hand to let his best friend view what was resting in it. It was a cross made of jade with silver lining its edges and intertwining to make ribbon-like patterns over the shape. It was beautiful.
"This is just something that my dad gave me before I moved out of the house," RIley explained once Ben was done looking at it. "He told me to always wear it close to my heart, so I have. You guys have just never seen it. Now, Ben, what's this about a nightmare you had?"
Ben sighed, almost having forgotten about it and would have if the techie wouldn't have brought it up. "It was about Ian..." he finally told him.
RIley looked at his best friend for a long minute, sighing as he set his laptop on the bed beside him. "You think that Ian is working with Dustin... don't you?" he asked. "I can read you like a book."
"He's an expert at breaking in... and out... of places and tracking down treasure. Plus, he's determined," Ben answered, his anxieties rising once more. "He could be working with your brother to–!"
"Ben, consider this for a moment," Riley interrupted, using hand motions to emphasize his point. "If Ian were to break out of prison, which he has, would he really waste his time meddling in some messed up family affairs? I don't think so. He would be coming after you and your family, not mine."
You are my family... Ben wanted to say, but he held the comment in. Riley was right, of course, but he was forgetting about the treasure. That would be enough for Ian to forget about Ben and concentrate on the Poole family... at least for the time being.
Putting these thoughts aside, Ben returned to more important matters at hand. "Why don't you get some sleep, RIley?" he suggested, able to tell from the techie's face that he was exhausted. "Charlie even said that you would get better faster with the more rest you got."
"Yeah, I guess," Riley muttered with the air of a pouting child that didn't want to go to bed as he took off his glasses and closed his laptop. "My eyes are getting tired, anyway."
Ben smiled slightly as he watched his best friend lay down beneath the covers and snuggle comfortably into his pillow, his eyes closing almost immediately. "Good night, Riley."
"Good night, Ben."
After making sure that he wouldn't disturb Riley, Ben got to his feet and moved his friend's laptop off his bed before he went into the hall, stopping with surprise when he saw Abigail standing in the doorway of their room, a glass of water in her hand. "Feeling better now?" she asked.
"How did you know?" Ben muttered, winding his arm around her waist as he took the glass.
Abigail smiled up at him. "I woke up when you did," she told him. "You think I didn't notice when you had your nightmare?"
Ben smiled in return. "Abigail, you're amazing," he said quietly. Then, he leaned forward and kissed her. "I love you."
"I love you, too," Abigail returned. Then, she took his hand and pulled him back into their room. "Come on. You need to get some sleep. I just think you're being paranoid about Ian, Ben."
"Maybe..."
Ben finished off his water, and then the couple lay down together, Abigail in her husband's arms in an almost protective way. Ben placed his head closer to his wife, his face nearly in her golden hair, his thoughts moving away from Ian as he smelled its sweet scent. Hearing his wife's calming breathing, the treasure hunter finally allowed his anxious mind to rest as he slipped back into sleep.
Author's Note: Once again, thank you, Halo, for helping me sort some things out with Ian. That has been very, very helpful! Thank you to everyone that has been reading, and I'm just warning you (well, not really warning, but...) that there were some very important things in this chapter that you have to keep in mind as the story moves further. Also, this is just kinda funny, but I noticed that up until this point, I haven't had Abigail and Ben say "I love you" to each other, even though they were married. So, I threw it in there finally! Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading. Your reviews are much appreciated. Thanks!