Chapter Thirteen

Ben and Sadusky walked from the airport down one of the streets of London. "Better find out where we go next," Sadusky said to Ben. "We can't get lost right now."

Ben nodded and fished out his phone, dialling Riley's number. "Yeah?" Riley said when he answered.

"Riley, where are you? What happened?"

"To start with, the President killed a guy. Look, I can't talk much, but I'm at Ian's old place. Remember where that is?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah, sort of. Yeah, I think I can get there."

Sadusky shot him a look that said, 'I sure as hell hope you're right'. He nodded, and he heard Riley say, "Ian's holding the President off, and Tanya's doing...I don't know what she's doing, but I think she has a plan. I hope she has a plan."

"You know how Howes are. They're smart, they have unlimited resources, and they think quickly."

"Yeah."

"Anyway, I'll get right over."

"Okay."

The line went dead, and Ben pocketed his phone. "Ian's old place," he said, turning down a side street. Sadusky followed closely.

NTNT

Riley snapped his phone shut and paced across the length of the foyer until he returned to the doorframe. He couldn't find Tanya, but Ian and the President were in the exact same spots as before. Okay, he thought, Ben and the FBI are on their way, everything's going to be okay.

"You don't realize what you're getting into. I can ruin you," the President said.

"It doesn't matter. Your term as President is ending, and there's no way it can continue. You know that as well as I do, and you're becoming a desperate man because of it. You think what you find because of this hunt will change all that, and you'll be somebody for the rest of your life. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that. I thought pretty much the same thing."

"You know what's at the end of this, and you're stalling."

"We're more alike than you realize or are willing to admit."

The President lunged for Ian and grabbed the gun before Ian had time to react. He turned the gun on Ian and cocked it. At that moment, Tanya could be spotted leaning out from behind a stack of boxes, a look of terror on her face, and Riley swallowed.

Ian stared the President down, waiting for what seemed to be the inevitable pull of the trigger. To Riley, he didn't look at all afraid, but he had no way of knowing whether or not this was the case.

The President moved to squeeze the trigger, and Tanya shouted, "Ian!" Both Ian and the President turned to face her, but after a moment, the President returned his attention to Ian, pointing the gun level with his heart. He prepared to squeeze the trigger again, and Tanya jumped. "Run," she shouted again, doing her best to wrap her arm around the President's throat. He threw her off, and she tumbled into the chest she'd opened some time before. She did her best to keep her consciousness as Ian ran up the stairs, and she could see Riley pull away almost instinctively.

NTNT

Ben was about to try the door when it flew half-way off its hinges. "I'll explain later, but my sister's down there," Ian said, pushing his way past Ben and Sadusky, who exchanged glances. They walked into the castle foyer to find the basement door wide open, also half-way off its hinges.

"So, who's running and who's pursuing?" Sadusky asked in a low voice as he studied the damage done to the door. Ben was already halfway down the stairwell as Sadusky spoke. Riley was supporting Tanya and on his way up the stairwell when he met up with Ben.

"Long story," Riley said. "We'll talk about it later." With that, he proceeded up the stairwell.

NTNT

Ian walked, without any really good reason and not entirely sure where he was going. Sadusky and Ben were preoccupied, and he couldn't help but wonder if anyone else had come with them on the flight over here. He was fairly certain not, given what he'd heard floating around the mansion a few days prior to his ending up stuck in this mess, but the question had occupied his mind for a moment.

Then another question occurred to him, one which made him turn a full one hundred eighty degrees and retrace his steps. The question tugged at him until he was running full speed back toward the castle.

He found Ben, Riley, and Tanya in the sitting room answering questions for Sadusky, but as he scanned the foyer and basement, he found no sign of the President.

"Mr. Howe," Sadusky said, causing Ian to turn around, "got a few questions for you."

"Not now. We need to get into that tunnel," Ian replied, descending the stairwell before Sadusky had a chance to reply. Eventually, he heard a second set of footsteps behind him, and he led Sadusky into the tunnel which brought him and a few others into his old basement.

"So, what's in this tunnel, Mr. Howe?" Sadusky asked after some time.

"Somewhere in the middle is a-" He tripped and, had he not caught himself, would've fallen flat on his face. "Body," he finished, struggling to his feet around the mass he'd tripped over in the darkness.

Sadusky flicked on a small lighter and knelt down next to the mass, which seemed to be hunched over an obvious border between smooth stone and what was basically a cave. There was a knife handle sticking out of the thing's neck. "Know who this is?" Sadusky asked.

"Gregory O'Malley, killed only a few hours ago by, believe it or not, the President of the United States," Ian replied evenly.

"You do realize I have questions, don't you?"

"I don't expect you to believe me."

Sadusky got to his feet and turned to face Ian. "Do you know where this tunnel starts?"

"Is this a rhetorical question?"

"No."

"Oh, good." Ian pointed off down the tunnel and added, "I can't be entirely sure, but somewhere in Freemasons' Hall."

"Sounds about right."

"You know about this?"

"Yes." Sadusky snapped the lid over his lighter, pocketed it, and turned back the way they had come. Ian followed close behind. "So where is he?"

"Who?"

"The President."

"I don't know. That's why I came back here. If he disappeared down the tunnel and found a way out onto the street, then we might never find him."

"Don't you worry, we'll find him. We found Ben."

"Yes, but finding Ben was relatively easy, and he let you find him. Don't expect the same results from the President."

"We don't."