A/N: I am not dead, just unbelievably busy. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has read/reviewed this story so far. Your feedback means so much to me!

A/N 2: Two things about this chapter: 1) I have only driven through Arizona once, so forgive me if my descriptions are inaccurate. I grew up in Colorado, so I am mostly basing the scenery in this chapter on that. 2) I have never written in Abigail's perspective before, so be sure to let me know whether you like it or not!

Disclaimer: If Disney feels like giving me National Treasure, I'll take it. Otherwise, the characters and events of the movies definitely don't belong to me.

CHAPTER FOUR

Riley

Not for the first time, I wondered if Ben and I were the unluckiest people in the world. It was the only explanation I could think of—I mean, who else continually has guns pulled on them, or participates in deadly high-speed car chases, or is always on the run from the police and the bad guys? Besides mobsters, I mean.

Oh, right. Just Ben and me.

And all we had done this time was walk into a cave.

Eating breakfast was probably even hazardous now.

I could hear Ben crawling through the hole, which I realized now was probably more like a little tunnel. It didn't sound pleasant, from some of the sounds he was making. His leg was probably hurting him.

I was scared—really scared—that Ben was badly hurt. I knew that he would never lie to me, but he might even have convinced himself that he was fine. He was almost stubborn enough to pull that off—I had no doubt that his leg would heal itself and the rocks blocking the passageway would fly back up and attach themselves to the ceiling if only will were involved.

The scraping and struggling sounds stopped, and I could hear Ben breathing hard on the other side. "Okay, Riley," he called back. "Send the gear through."

I turned and hefted his soggy backpack into the tunnel. I had to put my knees on the very lip of the hole and stick my head and shoulders in to push the bag to Ben. Feeling even more claustrophobic than I had for the last . . . however long we'd been in here, I was relieved when I felt him take it and pull it out. I passed him my stuff next, and then sat still for a moment, trying to control my breathing.

"You next, kid," Ben called. "It's not so bad."

Wishing I could believe that, I forced myself to stick my head and shoulders back into the hole, and then used my elbows to crawl forward. The tunnel was really tight, and I could feel the walls touching me on all sides. I started breathing harder, trying not to think that I was going to get stuck. Ben kept talking, and I struggled towards his voice.

"You're almost out, Riley. Come on."

Twisting to climb out, I bumped my head on the ceiling, where a chunk of rock protruded. I had to stop for a minute as the world spun dizzily and I lost any sense of which way I was going. Panic set in, and I gasped ineffectually, which hurt my head even more.

Ben must have heard my dilemma, because his hand groped around until it found my elbow. His other hand grabbed me and then he pulled me out, still gasping and shaking, onto the floor on the other side.

"You okay, Riley?" Ben asked.

"Yeah," I lied. My tongue felt really thick, and my voice hurt my head. "You?"

"Yeah." His answer was firm, but he sounded tired. "It's drier in here, at least. We should be okay for a while."

"How l-long until Abby gets back?" I asked. The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and my head felt really heavy.

"I don't know. What's your guess?"

Instead of answering, I leaned up against a wall and closed my eyes, feeling suddenly exhausted. I started to drift off almost immediately, which probably should have worried me, but didn't.

It worried Ben, though. "Riley? You're not going to sleep, are you?" I distantly heard him ask. "Hey, kid! Stay awake, Riley!"

The panic in his voice made me fight unconsciousness for a moment, but I couldn't prevent it from coming. The last thing I felt was his hand on my shoulder, and then everything slipped away.

NTNTNTNTNTNTNTNTNTNTNTNTNT

Abigail

The speed limit on Highway 85 was 75.

I was going 90, and it still wasn't fast enough.

With one hand, I gripped the steering wheel; with the other, I held my cell phone. My eyes darted back and forth from the road to the tiny screen.

"Come on!" I said aloud, frustrated. The Arizona landscape flashed by me in a red-brown blur, but there was still no reception. Once I got over the last ridge of the mountains, I'd probably be able to connect with the cell phone tower in Ajo. But there were still five more miles between me and a satellite signal. I pressed harder on the gas.

My thoughts were in a jumble. Ben. Riley. Trapped. Dead, maybe. Angry tears burned in my eyes. I'd called to them for ten minutes. My voice was nearly gone. And there had been no answer.

Why was it that disaster followed us wherever we went? This was supposed to have been a relatively relaxing trip. Instead of going straight to California for our vacation, we'd made a detour to check something for Emily. She had recently translated portions of a map that implied the existence of Pueblo Indian ruins in the mountains near Ajo, and as we were already going out west, Ben had promised to look into it. We'd gone up to the old copper mines just to scout out the area, and, not two minutes after we'd poked our heads into the first of the natural caves, the ceiling had fallen in.

That was just our luck. Or Ben and Riley's luck, anyway.

Even if they were both just fine physically, Riley was sure to be panicking. Oh, Ben, I thought, keep the both of you safe until I get there.

The thought that either one of them was . . .

It was unbearable.

I rounded a bend, hating that I had to brake and waste time. I came out of the curve accelerating like mad, and then I saw the flash of lights in my rearview mirror.

Thank God! I thought, and slammed on the brakes, pulling off onto the narrow dirt shoulder. The police car pulled up slowly behind me, and a white-haired officer stepped out into the road, flipping open his notepad. I wished he would hurry. I rolled down my window as he came up to my car.

"Do you have any idea how fast you were going, young lady?" he reprimanded, taking off his sunglasses and scribbling something down.

"As fast as my car would go," I answered honestly. The white head snapped up in surprise, and I hurried to add, "I'm so glad you're here. My husband and our . . . friend, Riley . . . they're trapped up in the mountains. There's no cell reception there. I had to get near enough to Ajo to call . . . I don't know if they're even . . ." I trailed off.

The officer's face, which had been frozen in shock, instantly melted into an expression of concern. I must have looked completely distraught.

"Okay, I'll radio into town for help. Wait here, okay, hon?"

"Of course. Thank you!"

Hurry, I begged him silently. Hurryhurryhurry . . .

As though he heard me, he returned quickly. "Okay. I've got backup coming. Where exactly did you leave them?"

"It's really remote," I told him.

"I know the area really well, young lady. Been a cop here for thirty-nine years, and lived here before that besides. I just need a place name."

"It was up by the old copper mine. I can show you where," I said quickly.

"All right. You can ride with me."

"Thank you!" I exclaimed, climbing out of the car. We walked back to his police car and I buckled myself into the passenger's seat.

"First time in a cop car?" he asked, turning on the siren and executing a U-turn. We sped up the road at almost the same pace I'd taken on the way down.

"I wish," I told him. Again, he looked totally shocked. "My husband's Ben Gates," I said, like that explained everything.

Which it did.

A/N: No cliffies =D Oh, wait . . . there was that one in the middle . . . Good? Bad? Please review!