LOVE AND TREASURE | ❝I still love you, Ben after all this time apart.❞
━ IN WHICH Clara Bass is pulled back into the world of treasure hunting through her ex-boyfriend and this a new love grows between them.
| Clara Bass' Standalone Book
| Clara Bas...
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▌Chapter 2 ─ On Display ▌
━━━━━ BEN HAD INTRODUCED Clara to Riley, they were currently in the library of Congress. Clara sat next to Ben looking down at one of the books she had been given.
"Ok, Ben, Clara, pay attention. I've brought you both to the Library of Congress. Why? Because it's the biggest library in the world. Over 20 million books. And they're all saying the same exact thing: listen to Riley."
Ben lifted his gaze from the book while Clara rolled her eyes, a part of her wanted to believe that Ben was right and that was why she went with him.
"What we have here, my friends, is an entire layout of the archives, short of builders' blueprints. You've got construction orders, phone lines, water and sewage. It's all here." Riley continued to explain to them. "Now, when the Delectation is on display, ok, it is surrounded by guards and video monitors and a little family from Iowa and little kids on their eighth-grade field trip. And beneath an inch of bulletproof glass is an army of sensors and heat monitors that will go off if someone gets too close with a high fever."
Both Clara and Ben exchanged looks, trying to secretly communicate with each other while Riley had been talking to them. Their secret communication was something they had set up the first year they had started dating. Riley flipped the page to the next one to show them another picture.
"Now, when it's not on display, it is lowered into a 4-foot-thick concrete, steel-plated vault that happens to be equipped with an electronic combination lock and biometric access-denial systems."
Clara had known most of that simply because there were times where a friend of hers would call her in to take a closer look at the document. It was basically to see if there was anything missed, because Clara had an eye for those kinds of things.
"You know, Thomas Edison tried and failed nearly 2,000 times to develop the carbonized cotton-thread filament for the incandescent light bulb." Ben informed Riley.
"Edison?" Riley questioned tilting his head slightly. Clara shook her head, staring at Riley she then turned her head looking back at Ben.
"When asked about it, he said, "I didn't fail. I found out 2,000 ways how not to make a light bulb." But he only needed to find one way to make it work." Ben said, he lifted the book from the table up so Riley could take a look at it. "The Preservation Room. Enjoy. Go ahead." Ben said, while Riley took the book to look at it.
"Do you know what the Preservation Room is for?" Clara questioned, staring at Riley. He sat down in the chair across from Ben to get a better look at the book.
"Delicious jams and jellies." Riley answered, lifting his gaze slightly to look between Ben and Clara.
Ben leaned forward, while Clara followed behind him. "No. That's where they clean, repair and maintain all the documents and the storage housings when they're not on display or in the vault." Ben explained, soon looking over at Clara who placed a small smile on her face.
"Now, when the case needs work, they take it out of the vault, directly across the hall and into the Preservation Room." Clara continued to explain to Riley.
"The best time for us, or Ian, to steal it would be during the gala this weekend when the guards are distracted by the VIPs upstairs." Ben said, looking over at Clara.
"But we'll make our way to the Preservation Room, where there's much less security." Ben added, sitting back in his chair. "Huh. Well, if Ian... Uh... Preservation... Hmm." Ben turned to look at Clara, the two smiled at each other.
"The gala... This might be possible." Riley said, lifting his head to look between Ben and Clara.
"It might." Ben said, shaking his head.
Both Ben and Clara stood up heading out of the Library of Congress while Riley went to start his part of the job.
"You're going to need a way into the Gala." Ben said, causing Clara to stop in her tracks. She turned around to face Ben, a smile made its way onto her lips.
"Oh, you don't need to worry about that Ben." Clara said almost like she had been filtering with him.
"And why not?" Ben questioned tilting his head slightly.
"You see I have this friend, she calls me from time to time to check up on the documents to see if there was anything that she missed. Not that she would but it's just a precaution. Anyway, I have an invitation to the Gala." Clara explained shoving her hand into her pocket and pulling out a lollipop.
"Oh, okay." Ben said with a smile.
"So, I guess I should go pick up a dress. I'll see you later Ben." Clara said, she walked up to him and placed a kiss on his check. Within seconds she turned away and walked down the stairs disappearing into the crowd.
