"So, here's to the men who did what was considered wrong in order to do what they knew was right. What they knew was right." I heard Ben add. I heard him gulp down whatever fancy drink they had been toasting with and wondered if he would be able to walk in a straight line afterwards.
"Well, good night." He said. He sounded okay. I heard him moving around and assumed he was working on his fingerprint experiment.
"This better work." I said, fingering my pencil and listening intensely for the results.
"How does it look?" I asked, when I didn't hear anything. I was impatient, but only because I was worried that at any moment something could go wrong.
"It's working, It's working." Ben even sounded relieved.
"Unbelievable." I muttered. I just hoped it kept working.
"We're in the elevator." Ben said.
"Okay, I'm going to turn off the surveillance cameras. Ready?" I counted down from five, just to make it interesting. "Ben Gates," I said around the pencil in my mouth. I removed it once my hand was free. "You are now the Invisible Man."
I watched him come out of the elevator; glad he had made it this far. Now if he could make it the rest of the way.
"I'm here." He said.
"Give me the letters for her password." I said. I waited while he found them. "What do you got for me?" I brought up a word unscramble program.
"Hit me with it." I said, wondering why it was taking so long.
"A-E-F-G-L-O-R-V-Y" He said. I typed the letters into the program and waited for the results.
"Anagrams being listed. Okay…" I said, sighing when I noticed the long list of results. "Top results: A glove fry, a very golf, fargo levy, gravy floe, valey frog, also argo fly rev, uh… grove fly a, are fly gov, era fly gov, elf gov ray-"
"It's Valley Forge." Ben said.
"Valley Forge, I don't have that on my computer." I was slightly frustrated.
"It's Valley Forge, she pressed the E and L twice." Ben said.
He might have told me sooner…
"We're in." He said as he stepped into the preservation room on my camera.
"Hello." I said as he pointed at the camera.
He went into the glass chamber and took off the sheet covering the decoration.
"Ben you're doing great." I said. I was beginning to think we might get out of this alive. The I realized this was taking way too long.
"Ben, pick it up." I said. He had hardly started on the screws.
"You got about one…" Suddenly my camera turned to static. I became seriously worried. The guards could be seeing Ben right now. His cover might be blown! "I lost my feed." I said, trying several tricked to attempt to recover it.
"What?" Ben asked, sounding concerned and surprised.
"I lost my feed, Ben." I repeated, checking the cords.
"I don't know where anyone is. I have nothing." I felt and sounded panicked. How could this happen? "Ben I have no… Ben I have nothing." I kept repeating it, trying to make it make sense. "Get out of there. Get out of there now." What I meant was, abort the entire mission and get out.
To my horror, he had another plan. "I'm taking the whole thing. I'll get it out in the elevator."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, but then I realized it was pointless to argue. "Is it heavy?" I wished I was there, able to help him.
It was so frustrating to be helpless, on the other side of the street in a van, trying to find out why my feed went dead.
Suddenly, I heard shooting and a bang. I glanced around wildly, but then realized it was coming from the radio.
"What was that?" I asked, willing Ben to be alive and well. Please don't let him be caught.
"Who's shooting?" I asked. Answer me Ben!
"Are you still there?" I was beginning to get frantic. "Ben?" I jumped in a ball pit for you Ben, you'd better be okay!
"I'm in the elevator." I heard him say. I let out a breath of relief. He was safe, thank God.
"Ian's here. There was, uh, shooting." Ben said.
"I hate that guy." I growled. I heard Ben shuffling paper and the rattle of a paper bag.
He may still just make it. His cover wasn't blown; he just had a minor setback. He would get out of the elevator, come outside and we would drive away before anyone know what had happened. It would work out.
"Are you trying to steal that?" A loud feminine voice asked.
"Oh, uh…" Ben sounded surprised. Oh God, he was going to get in so much trouble. This was such a bad idea! Why hadn't I been more serious when I had been telling him not to do it?
"It's $35." The voice added.
Wait, they were selling him the Declaration? I was confused for a moment, and then remembered the gift shop. Oh.
"For this?" Pay up Ben. You owe me for a near heart-attack as well. I thought.
"Yeah."
"That's a lot."
"Hey I don't make the prices."
I heard him shuffling bills. "It's um…. I have $32…" I heard coins jingle. "…57?"
"We take Visa." The lady informed him. I rolled my eyes. Great timing lady, now hurry up!
I got in the drivers seat, hoping Ben would be out soon. Now that he was done paying for the Declaration (which might make an interesting argument in court), he should be coming out.
"Where are you Ben." I sang, taping the steering wheel and shuffling nervously.
"Where are you?" I asked again.
"Stop talking." He said quickly. I didn't know he could still hear me. "Start the van." He ordered. I did so. Then I looked out the window to see him approaching and realized he was being followed.
"Ben, the… the mean Declaration lady's behind you." I stuttered as she hurried to approach.
"Hey." She called.
"Oh, it's you. Hello."
"Mr. Brown, what's going on? What's that?"
"It's a souvenir." Ben said.
"Really?" She didn't sound convinced.
"Stop chatting and get in the van." I said, clenching my teeth. We had to go now! Someone was eventually going to find out that the Declaration was missing and –
The alarms went off, blaring the news to the world that something was wrong.
"Oh my God." I said, putting my fist on my head. Maybe I missed my cubicle a tiny bit in that instant when I realized we were so dead.
"Oh my God, you did not!" She yelled, looking at Ben.
"No…" Ben's protest went unheard.
"Security! Over here!" She called. "Give me that!" I saw her yank the Declaration from Ben in the rear view mirror.
"It's yours. Take it." Ben said. Maybe we would get off with 40 years in prison instead of life if we just gave it back.
She continued to yell for security as Ben jumped into the passenger seat. "Go!" He yelled.
I couldn't believe I was saying it, but I looked at him in astonishment. "We can't just let her go!"
"We can. Go!"
Had our lives suddenly became more meaningful to Ben then the treasure hunt? Was he finally being reasonable? I went to drive and then he stopped me again.
"No, hold it! Hold it!" I saw him pointing at a van heading straight for the one with the Declaration. I didn't need him to tell me it was Ian. In an instant they had grabbed her, and the Declaration with her.
"Oh bad!" Ben said. "Bad, bad, bad!" He jumped out of the car, only to have the driver fire at him several times. I heard him cry out and for a terrible heart-stopping second thought he had been killed. Then I didn't have time to worry, because the driver was firing at me.
Ben, looking unharmed, jumped back into the passengers seat as I dusted glass from my hair. "Go! Go!" He shouted. I just drove, deciding to trust the crazy treasure hunter.
He was my friend, after all.
Clue two: Review!
If you want me to continue, let me know. I was considering doing the car chase as well.