Disclaimer: Everything that you recognize from the movies, I disclaim. Everyone that you now recognize but are my characters, I claim.

A/N: Hey, everyone! I'm glad you liked that last chapter. Nothing really exciting happened recently except for what I've already told you, so, yeah. For all who asked, the movie I auditioned for is called "Public Enemies", which is about the bandit John Dillinger and a couple of other famous ones during the Great Depression. But thank you so much to Miss Hermione Jane Granger, daisyduke80, Dreams of Leilani, unorthodox yo-yo, Halo, L.R. Meriadoc, Random1, and Jedi'Pirate Jaeh for your wonderful reviews! This is now my top-rated story! Yay! Okay, anyway, on to the next chapter, shall we?

Note: Again, there is no slash between Riley and Ben. Just brotherly love!

Chapter 19

"Missouri?" Abigail asked with a disbelieved sigh as she took a spoonful of the cereal that she was hurriedly eating before she had to leave for work. "You do realize that I do have a job and I will be missing said job if we fly south?"

Riley pretended to look hurt. "Abigail, are you saying that your boring old job at the National Archives Building is more important than going with your very own husband and best friend on a treasure hunt?" he said pathetically, using her full name to make his point hit home.

Abigail gave him her typical woman glare. "Who said that you were my best friend?" she retorted. "You don't know my other friends at work."

"Ha. What other friends?" Riley countered.

Ben nervously looked at his wife, knowing that Riley was somehow going to pay for that three word question. "We're just telling you that we're going to be leaving this evening…" he began.

"This evening?" Abigail said, alarmed. "Ben, why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Well, we knew that you would probably back out of it if we mentioned it, so we just went ahead and bought three tickets, conveniently for right when you get home from work," Riley explained for the older man. "Now you kinda' can't get out if it."

Abigail rolled her eyes. "You two are impossible," she muttered, putting her now empty bowl in the sink and walking out the door without even saying goodbye.

"Don't worry! We'll pack for you!" Riley shouted out the door after her.

"Um, Riley. I think she really is mad at us," Ben muttered.

Riley shrugged. "Ah, don't worry, Ben. She'll get over it soon, especially when she sees the fake, realistic looking spider that I plan to put in her suitcase."

"Riley!" Ben scolded, but he couldn't hide the smile that had crept on to his face at the thought of his wife's reaction. She hated spiders…

"I'm just kidding. I don't even have a fake, realistic looking spider," Riley replied. "But she really will get over it when she sees how beautiful Missouri is."

"Have you been to Missouri before?" Ben asked, surprised.

"No. I just looked up some pictures on the internet."

Ben laughed a little. Riley sure was something else…

Then, the house phone suddenly rang. The treasure hunter gave his best friend a nervous look and then hesitantly got to his feet to answer the phone. With the possibility of it still being tapped, he didn't want to use it much. "Hello?"

"Oh, thank God you answered, Ben!"

"Charlie, is that you?" Ben asked, startled by the retired doctor's urgency. "What's going on?" Riley glanced at his best friend when he heard the anxious tone of his voice.

"He has her. He has Amy!" Charlie continued frantically.

"Slow down," Ben said, hopefully in a calming manner. "Who has Amy?"

The treasure hunter's stomach clenched tightly when he heard the doctor's answer.

"Ian. Ian Howe."

"Did… did he give you a number to call?" he asked slowly.

"Yes," Charlie told him shakily. "He said for you to call him as soon as I told you."

"All right," Ben muttered, grabbing a pencil and paper off the counter. "What is it?" He wrote down the number that Charlie read off, and he was disappointed to see that it was a landline phone. That meant that they couldn't track him down personally through his cell… Then again, Ian was always smart.

"Relax, Charlie. Amy will be fine," Ben assured the older man. "I'll make sure of it."

"Thank you so much, Ben."

"You're welcome," Ben said. "Bye." Then, he hung up the phone.

"What's going on?" Riley asked nervously, seeing how grave his best friend's expression was.

"Ian," Ben answered quietly and simply, picking up the phone again and beginning to dial the number that Charlie had given him to contact the English man. "He has Amy, Charlie's daughter."

"That librarian we talked to at the Library of Congress yesterday?"

"Yeah, that's her," Ben muttered, pushing the last number. "I'm sure that Ian wants the clue, which is why he's doing this. Now, I'm going to put the phone on speaker so we can both hear what he has to say."

"Well that's not good…" Riley felt his heartbeat begin to quicken. This was the first time that he had spoken to Ian since he had been in jail, and it was a very nerve-racking thing.

Suddenly, the phone on the other end picked up. "Hello, Ben. Riley."

"Ian," Riley snapped in automatic response despite Ben's warning glance, but he couldn't help it. The man's cold voice and the fact that he knew that they were on speaker sent a chill down his spine.

"Snappy as ever, are we, Riley?" Ian asked with a laugh.

"Go to he-!" Riley began irritably, but was cut off by Ben.

"What do you want with Amy, Ian?" Ben interrupted, giving his younger friend another warning look.

"Ah, so you did get my message then. Excellent," Ian said. "But you must understand that I don't want this girl, Ben. I want the next clue."

"What if we don't have it?" Ben asked. Maybe, just maybe he could bluff his way through this.

But Ian only laughed at the question. "You know, you never have been able to bluff. I can just see the look on your face right now, Ben," he taunted. "You have to learn that you have to be holding all of the cards to run a convincing bluff. Besides having Amy at my disposal, Powell is keeping a close watch on a certain Doctor Abigail Chase."

That was the last straw for Ben, though he was thankful that Ian didn't know that Abigail was married to him. "You lay one hand on her, Ian, and I'll-!" he started his threat heatedly, but Riley jumped up from the table and grabbed on to the older man's arm to hold him back.

"Ben!" he shouted, alarmed when he saw that his friend was actually going to lunge at the phone as though it was Ian himself if he wasn't restrained. "Calm down! That's not going to help!"

"Listen to Riley, Ben. After all, he knows best," Ian laughed, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "But now you listen to me. If you just give me the clue, Doctor Chase will not be harmed. She will not even know that she is being watched. And you will also get Amy back safe and sound. We just have to make an exchange."

"Where?" Ben asked without emotion, though he was noticeably outraged. "Somewhere public."

"All right then. Go to the National Archives Building at eleven," Ian answered. "Dustin will be there to make the exchange. I'm sure you'll be glad to see him, Riley. He's looking forward to seeing you."

Riley glared angrily at the phone, but Ben held him back. "We'll be there," the treasure hunter confirmed.

"Good. We'll keep in touch." Then, Ian hung up.

"That was scary, Ben," Riley said, trying to make light of the situation as his friend also hung up the phone. "Remind me to never get you a phone for your birthday…" But his joke trailed off when he got an angry glare from Ben.

"Write down the clue to bring to Ian," the treasure hunter told him. "We're not going to risk bringing the book." Then, he stormed into the living room.

Riley sighed as he sat down at the kitchen table with a sigh, making a mental note to himself to never make Ben angry… or to ever buy him a phone.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Ben was completely silent as he drove toward the Archives Building, his face an angry mask as his eyes stayed glued to the road. Riley kept looking at him nervously out of the corner of his eye from the passenger seat, not even wanting to turn on the radio in fear that the older man would bite his head off if it was a song that he didn't like or it was one of those annoying commercials that he hated so much. Joy. This was going to be a fun car ride.

Riley sighed and turned away from the treasure hunter, placing his forehead against the warm window. He knew that Ben was angry because Ian had threatened Abigail and she was in possible danger, and for a minute, he wondered what would happen if the situation was just a little bit different. What if he was the one that Ian had threatened and was using against Ben to get the clue? What if he was the one that was being watched, and if Ben didn't agree to do exactly what Ian said, he would be harmed? Would Ben still be so angry? Riley sighed again. Probably not. He was only the treasure hunter's friend, and he couldn't compare to the woman that Ben loved…

They walked down the sidewalk in silence after Ben parked a block away from the National Archives Building, Riley trailing a little behind the older man. The techie wasn't surprised that he didn't notice. He bet himself thirteen cents, it would have been more if he had more loose change in his pocket, that Ben would only acknowledge him for the clue and that was all since Abigail was in danger.

The looming building soon came into sight, and Ben and Riley came to a stop in front of it, the older man sighing with frustration when he saw that Dustin wasn't there yet.

"Ben, relax," Riley muttered, watching his friend begin to pace before checking his watch. "It's only a minute before eleven. We're here. Dustin will be here. I'm sure that Abigail will be just fine."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

If one thing could go wrong, this was it. Riley quickly turned around and found himself face to face with Abigail. "Oh, hey, Abi. Fancy seeing you here."

Abigail crossed her arms and looked at the younger man curiously. "I work here," she told him. "Riley, what's going on?"

"Nothing at all."

"Oh, really?" Abigail raised her eyebrow suspiciously. Then, she looked behind him at her anxious husband. "Ben, what's going on?"

Ben looked genuinely uncomfortable as he walked over to the two of them. "Well… you see…"

"Riley. Ben. It's good to see you two came on time."

That voice- Riley now dreaded that voice because of the man who it belonged to. He slowly turned around and found himself facing his older brother. A pale Amy stood behind him, shaking as silent tears rolled down her cheeks.

"You look a little scrawny there, Riley," Dustin commented with a smirk. "How about another one of those cookies that you love so much?"

Riley glared at him angrily, but before he could say anything, Ben stepped forward. "Let's just make this exchange as fast as possible," he said.

Dustin shrugged. "All right. Give me the clue."

Ben turned back to look at Riley, glancing for only a brief second at his very confused wife. "Riley. The clue."

Yep, he knew it. Riley fished the clue he had copied from the book out of his pocket and handed it to the older man, knowing that this was going to be the only time he would talk to him until Abigail was out of danger. All he really needed him for was the clue. But then, the good thing in this situation was that he was now thirteen cents richer… figuratively speaking, of course.

"Here," Ben said, handing the older Poole the clue.

Dustin unfolded the paper that he had been given and looked it over, looking back at Amy and nodding. She then ran out from behind him and past Ben, anxious to get as far away from Dustin as possible, but Riley gently grabbing her arms stopped her.

"Are you all right?" he asked quietly. "Ian or Dustin didn't hurt you, did they?"

"No, I'm fine," Amy answered shakily, tears still falling from her green eyes as she ignored the look of confusion that she was getting from Abigail. "I just… want to go home now…"

Riley nodded, pulling Amy into his arms to try to calm her down. "Don't worry. We'll bring you home," he told her in an assuring way. Amy smiled at him gratefully as she started to wipe her tears away, feeling somewhat calmed from being in his comforting embrace.

"What does it mean?" Dustin muttered after he read the clue again.

"It's talking about Jesse James," Ben explained quietly, unsure of what they had gotten from the clue that Nick had brought them but wanting to tell him as little as possible. "The place where he met his tragic end was in St. Joseph, Missouri. We believe that the treasure is there somewhere."

Dustin nodded. "Thank you," he said, folding up the paper and putting it in his pocket. "I'll have Ian keep in contact with you. See you later."

But Ben roughly grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving. "Call off Powell," he hissed in a whisper.

The older Poole smirked. "Don't worry, Ben. Since this exchange went the way that Ian wanted, Powell will leave when I do."

Ben instantly released Dustin's arm, anxious for him to leave. Dustin's grin widened. "See you later, Ben." Then, he disappeared into the crowed of people.

"We have to bring Amy home, Ben," Riley said once the treasure hunter rejoined them.

"I know. That's fine," Ben muttered, turning his attention to his wife and gently taking her arms. "Abigail, are you all right?"

"Perfectly all right," Abigail replied as she looked into Ben's eyes suspiciously, confused about his behavior. "Why are you asking?"

But Ben sighed with relief as he let go of her arms. "We'll catch you up later," he promised her. "Just… just go back to work. Your lunch break is over."

Xxxxxxxxxx

Riley sighed as he finished packing his bag, zipping it shut before placing his laptop on top of it. Ben was now in his normal, somewhat cheerful mood since Abigail was out of danger and was going to be returning home soon, but the younger man couldn't help but feel as though he had been tossed to the side, that if he and Abigail were teetering on a big, golden slab and would fall to certain doom, Ben would save Abigail. He sighed again, trying to push these thoughts aside. Instead, he thought about how they were soon going to be flying to Missouri to find his family's treasure. But his mood was dampened again when he realized that Ian, Nick, Dustin, and Powell would be going also…

"Hey, Riley," Ben said as he suddenly entered the room. "I have all mine and Abigail's things packed. Are you ready so we can leave when she gets home?"

"Yeah," Riley muttered, standing up to stretch. "Yeah, I'm ready…"

Ben's eyes narrowed in concern. "Riley, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," Riley answered, turning his back on the older man so that he couldn't tell that he was lying. "I'm fine, Ben."

"No, you're not," Ben observed, walking forward and placing his hand on the techie's shoulder. "You've been awful quiet since this morning. What's going on?"

Riley sighed and hung his head, still not looking at his friend. "Would you have done the same if it would have been me, Ben?"

Ben blinked with surprise at the sudden question. "What do you mean?" he said, though he had a pretty good idea what he was talking about.

"I mean, would you still be so… I don't know… angry if I was the one that Ian was using against you and not Abi?" Riley explained, finally turning to face the older man.

The treasure hunter sighed. "Riley, listen to me," Ben told him, sitting down on the bed. "Abigail is my wife. You are my best friend. I would even go as far as to say that I'm beginning to consider you my little brother. But it doesn't matter if it was you or Abigail that Ian threatened. I would react the same way because I care about you both, and I don't know what I would do if something happened to either one of you."

Riley considered his statement as he slowly sat down on the bed beside the older man. "Really?" he asked.

Ben nodded. "Really," he answered.

"What if Abi and I were on a teetering golden slab and would fall to our deaths?"

"I would try to save both of you."

Riley smiled, satisfied with that answer. He had been worried about Abigail too when he had heard Ian say that he was watching her, but he just hadn't acted upon it like Ben had. No matter how annoying Abigail could be at times, she was still his sister just like Ben was his brother; not blood related of course since that would be weird.

But as he shook Ben's hand as a form of truce, Riley realized that he had the two best friends in the world.

A/N: All right, that's it for this chapter! In the next one, they're flying to Missouri! Thanks for reading! Your reviews are much appreciated. Thank you!