Chapter 7

When Ben arrived at the Lincoln Memorial, he saw Ian and Riley by the SUV. Riley looked a little better, but not that much. Ben got out of his car and went over to Riley.

"Are you okay?" Ben asked his voice filled with concern.

"Yeah Ben I'm okay," said Riley, "but it still hurts to breathe."

"Enough chick flick moments," said Ian, "Now Ben lead me to the treasure and I might let you and your friend live."

Ben lead them to the back of the Lincoln Memorial.

"Where is the secret entrance Ben?" asked Ian who was starting to get annoyed.

"Give me a minute," said Ben.

Ben looked on the wall for a sign or something. He couldn't find anything.

"I can't find anything that might lead to a secret entrance," said Ben.

Riley walked over to Ben.

"Did you check for a hollow spot?" he asked starting to knock on the wall.

As he started to move along, the sidewalk suddenly went out from under him. He felt himself falling. A strong pair of arms grabbing him. He looked up to see Ben gripping his arms.

"You okay Riley?" Ben asked.

"Yeah," said Riley.

Riley looked below him. It looked to be a secret entrance. He was about two feet from the bottom. He figured if Ben let go, he would have a softer landing than the one he would have had if Ben didn't catch him.

"Ben I'm about two feet from the bottom. Go ahead and let go," said Riley.

"If your sure then okay," said Ben.

Ben slowly let go of Riley. Riley landed on both of his feet. He took out a pocket flashlight. From what he could tell the shaft lead somewhere.

"It's alright. Come on down!" Riley yelled to Ben and Ian.

Ben and Ian eased themselves down. Ben saw a torch on the wall.

"Got a light?" Ben asked Ian.

Ian took out a lighter and lit the torch. Ben took it out of it's holder. They started walking down the long dark dusty tunnel. The whole time Ian had a gun trained on Riley. They walked for what seemed like forever, when they came upon a winding staircase.

"Do we go down?" asked Riley.

"Looks like it's the only choice we have," said Ben.

They made their way down the long staircase. When they got to the end of it, there was a door. Ben examined it.

"It looks like it needs some sort of key," said Ben.

The door had an inscription on it. It was a little circle. Ben then remembered the ring his father gave him when he heard about the engagement. It was a ring that Benjamin Franklin received as his wedding band. It was legend it was the key to another treasure.

"Could it really be that simple?" Ben asked himself.

Ben took the ring of his finger and slipped it into the hole. The ring turned and the door opened. They walked inside and there was the Free Mason Treasure! It had to be bigger than the Knights Templar. So many ancient artifacts and documents from around the world.

"Unbelievable," said Riley.

Ian made a move for it, when he heard a gun clock behind him.

"Hold it right there Mr. Howe," said a voice.

Ian turned around and saw Agent Sandusky and more FBI agents holding guns on him.

"You are under arrest for kidnapping and escaping custody," said Agent Sandusky.

As people started moving towards Ian, he fought them off one by one. He pulled out his gun and aimed at Ben.

"I told you what would happen Gates!" yelled Ian.

Ian shot a bullet towards Ben. Everything went in slow motion. Riley saw the bullet heading towards Ben. Despite the fact he had trouble breathing he ran towards Ben. He threw Ben out of the way just as the bullet struck Riley in the side of the stomach.

"Riley!" yelled Ben.

The FBI tackled Ian to the ground and cuffed him. Ben turned Riley over.

"Hurts," whimpered Riley.

Ben took off his jacket and pressed it against the wound. Riley's eyes started fluttering closed.

"Stay awake Riley. Please stay with me," pleaded Ben.

"An ambulance is on it's way," said Agent Sandusky.

Ben nodded. As Ian was hauled off, he yelled to Ben, "This isn't over Gates. I will get you one of these days!"

Ben ignored him. He kept talking softly to Riley to keep him awake. The ambulance came and took Riley off to the hospital. Ben followed in his car.