Treasure Hunters: A National Treasure Fanfiction

Chapter Fifteen: Separate the Lock From the Key

Ben went first. The others waited a few minutes before heading off in their own direction, casually crossing the grounds. Abigail led the way, steering them into a thick crowd of people.

"Riley, Alex!" she suddenly cried. The friends turned to see Shaw and Viktor headed towards them, shoving people out of the way and shouting.

"Time to run," said Riley, and the three broke out into just that, a run.

They ran into a crowded indoor market, Riley and Alex taking off in one direction and Abigail another. Luckily Ian's men were easy to spot in their dark clothes.

Alex started to panic a little when they couldn't locate Abigail through the crowd. They couldn't just leave her here. Finally Riley spotted her hiding behind a flower booth. They came up behind her, startling her.

"Shhh!" they both hissed when she gave a startled cry.

"Where were you?!" she demanded.

"Hiding!" Riley cried.

"Come on, let's go," said Alex, and they fled from the market.

They tore down the street, Shaw and Powell in hot pursuit; they hadn't managed to lose them for long.

They rounded a corner sharply, Riley bumping into and getting caught in a group of people, the girls continuing on. Alex noticed him first, and slowed down, while Abigail kept running but threw a look over her shoulder at her companions. Having turned away for a moment Abigail couldn't see where she was going and crashed into a cyclist. He was alright and continued on but she crashed to the ground, the Declaration flying from her hand and rolling out into the street. As she was stunned, Alex continued running - right out into the street after the document. Right as she caught up to it a huge truck turned and came her way.

"Alex!" yelled Riley.

But she was pulled out of the way just in time, over to the opposite side of the street by none other than Ian.

"Hello Alex Love," he said, smiling down at her, plucking the Declaration from her hands. "Fancy seeing you here."

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Riley was about to sprint across the street towards her, when he heard shouting behind them: Viktor and Shaw still pursuing them. Abigail grabbed his wrist and dragged him away.

"Let them go," he heard Ian say to his men. "We have everything we need right here."

Riley really hated that guy.

He and Abigail ran for a few more blocks until they were sure they were far enough away. He was kind of angry with her for making them leave Alex. He'd told Ben he would look after her. He pulled out his cellphone and dialed Ben's number. Ben had said to call if there were any problems, and this was a big problem.

"They got it, the Declaration," he said as soon as Ben answered. "We lost it, Ian took it."

"What?!" cried Ben. Riley winced at the obvious disappointment in his friend's voice. Then Ben sighed. "Well you're all alright? You're not hurt?"

"Yeah yeah we're alright." Now it was Riley's turn to sigh. "But they got Alex too."

"What?!" cried Ben again, this time with more alarm. There was silence on his end of the line for a moment. "I-it's okay. We know Ian likes Alex, so she should be safe. He won't harm her."

"Ben, I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Ben assured him. He sighed again. "Okay meet me back at the car."

Riley and Abigail did so. But when they rounded the corner to where they had parked the car they found that their situation had only gotten worse: the FBI was there, arresting Ben. The two froze before Riley took her arm and they quickly turned around and headed back the way they'd come. Now both Ben and Alex were gone.

They soon reached a quiet park. Both collapsed onto a bench, still breathless from the chase. A few minutes later, once they had caught their breath and fully wrapped their heads around what had happened, Abigail stood and began pacing while Riley sat on a the bench, looking close to tears. Now both of his best friends were gone, one taken by the FBI and the other taken by their crazy ex-team member. He hoped Ben was right and that Ian wouldn't harm Alex.

Behind him, he heard Abigail sigh. "Riley, do you know how to get in touch with Ian?"

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Alex hoped the others were alright. She didn't blame them - better she be the only one who was captured while they could still decipher the clues and get to the treasure first.

She squirmed away from Ian's hand which was on the small of her back. In turn she was shoved forward by Shaw towards a black SUV. Powell opened the door and she found that the back seat was already occupied.

"Alex!"

"Dad?!" cried Alex, throwing her arms around her father. Was he really here? What was he doing here? Poor Patrick had his hands duct-taped together. She turned on Ian. "What did you do?!"

"I felt your brother needed a little persuading," Ian answered, getting into the passenger seat. "Maybe now he'll cooperate."

Ooo, so evil! Haha hope you enjoyed, thanks so much for reading :) And thanks so much for the over 300 reads!)