Chapter Five
"So, how'd it go?" Riley asked as soon as Tanya walked into the living room of Ben's mansion.
"Alright, I guess," she replied absently.
"Just alright?"
She shrugged on her jacket and finally turned to face him. "Obviously your friends don't trust you enough."
"Whaddaya mean?" She told him everything she'd heard and seen in Ben's study, carefully watching his typical blank expression morph into one of awe and confusion as she spoke. "So, is it a government conspiracy or what?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out. I want to know if this is a set-up before it's too late and something unimaginably horrible happens to us."
"So what happens when something does happen to us?"
"I don't know, but I'm really hoping that doesn't happen."
They could hear Ian thanking Ben for the help, and immediately, they slipped out of the mansion and into the back seat of the sportscar. Within minutes, Ian was in the driver's seat, starting the car.
"So...so whaddawe do now?" Riley asked as the car backed out of the drive and pulled onto the street.
"What do you mean 'what do we do now', Riley?" Ian asked, more than a couple notes of annoyance detectable in his voice. "We figure out what that bloody clue means and follow it."
"Have you ever stopped to think that this could be a set-up?" Tanya asked, equalling her brother's tone with ease.
"And why the hell would someone want to do that?"
She sighed and laid out everything she thought might've been going on which caused them to get to this point, her every misgiving, for both Riley and Ian to get an earful of, finally concluding with, "Do you see my dilemma?"
"Actually, yes, I do," Ian said, "but quite frankly, if we were being set up, then surely there'd be a reason for it."
"That's the problem. Haven't you been paying attention? I don't know the reason yet."
"Assuming this is an elaborate practical joke."
"And if it isn't, how do we know what we're looking for, if anything?"
Everyone in the car lapsed into something of an awkward silence, and no one was willing to break it. Several minutes later, the car pulled into Ian's walkway, and he parked it where he normally did before climbing out. Even though Riley and Tanya were close seconds with regard to proximity, not one of them was certain of exactly what the others were thinking of or planning, besides what had already been expressed verbally.
Viktor, Powell, and Phil noticed this odd silence between the threesome that walked through the door almost instantly and most certainly simultaneously, but none of the three dared to say anything.
NTNT
"That went well," Ben muttered to himself, rubbing his eyes. He and Abigail had gone over every detail of what had happened that day, struggling to figure out where it'd gone wrong, why Ian and Tanya seemed as if they were holding something back. Ian was right, they were back in the position they'd been in when Ben and Riley first met Ian, one single clue in tow: 'The secret lies with Charlotte'.
Now the clue was longer and more enigmatic. 'Protector' and 'Truth's Light' had been the only capitalized phrases, and typically, those words weren't. They had to be important somehow. His mind drifted to when Ian and Powell abandoned him, Abigail, Patrick, and Riley at the bottom of the shaft under Trinity Church, and he struggled to remember his father's words, ultimately deciding to pull his phone out of his pocket and call his father.
"Yeah?" Patrick asked on the other end of the line.
"Dad, do you remember what you said at the bottom of the shaft under Trinity Church that got Ian to go to Boston? About the lantern?"
"I told him to go to Old North Church."
"I mean before that."
"About the wood?"
"No, it was something about a lantern and winding staircase-"
"Oh, yeah, I remember. I made it all up, about the staircase being part of Freemason teachings as symbolic of the journey one had to go through to reach the light of truth."
"Dad, I think at least part of it's true." He laid out everything he knew up to that point right then and there over the phone for his father.
It was a moment after Ben finished before Patrick responded. "I thought this was classified and all that."
"Well, I'm no longer officially involved. Riley is, though."
"How is Riley?"
"Oh, he's fine."
"Good. So, you think my fake story has something to do with this Page Forty-seven deal?"
"A theory, one of many that we have. I just wanted to see if you remembered that."
"Of course. So, how's Abi?"
"She's, she's fine."
"Good."
Ben engaged in small talk with his father for several more minutes before hanging up. He sighed as he pocketed his phone and rubbed his eyes.
"Ben, I've got a feeling it's only a coincidence," Abigail said, giving Ben a sidelong look.
"Well, it doesn't hurt to try."
She just sighed and rolled her eyes.
NTNT
Riley sat at his computer, typing in search queries relating to Freemasons and myths, but so far, he'd come up mostly empty handed, save one seemingly relevant result. Instantly, he fished out his phone and dialled a number. When Tanya answered, he said, "I think I found something. It's about Hiram Abiff."
"Who?" she asked.
"Says here he was a master stonemason and architect of King Solomon's temple. He had three jealous apprentices who wanted his secrets, but he wasn't talking, so they decided to kill him. One hit him with a rock, and he lived. Another stabbed him with a daggar and he lived, and finally, he got hit in the head with a square and compass, and he died."
"Some story, but of what relevence is this to the matter at hand?"
"'The voice of the true Protector, silenced after three blows'."
"And you think this 'true Protector' is Hiram Abiff?"
"Worth a shot."
"This is some story, right?"
"Yes," he admitted, bowing his head. He was certain he was blushing, too. "But what if it helps answer the riddle?"
"Oh, good point, but just another in an army of potential solutions."
"Just like with the Charlotte."
"So we're pretty much screwed, as the Americanism goes. Riley, I need you to meet with the President. Ian will do a lot of the arranging-"
"Wait, what are you talking about?"
"You'll meet with the President about Page Forty-seven, and it will be arranged so that we'll see everything. I want to know what the President knows, verbatim, and I want to know what, if anything, he's hiding."
"Are you sure about this?"
"Positive."
He gulped. "It's not like Ian's not gonna get caught for having me bugged with a video camera."
"Riley, let us handle everything. That requires some trust in us, you know."
"What? You trust your brother?"
"With my life."
Riley quit the joking business and lowered his gaze to the keyboard. Tanya's tone had been so serious it couldn't possibly have been a joking matter, at least, not to her. "If you're absolutely positive, then okay."