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 3 ─ High Treason ▌
━━━━━ IT WAS THE night that they would steal the Declaration of Independence. Clara was nervous to say the least. Especially after being informed of who the enemy was, but she knew she was doing the right thing and she was glad Ben came back into her life. She was in a black dress that fit perfectly to her curse, her hair was wavy, and some was pulled back into a little bun. Clara was waiting outside the building, her invitation in her hands.
"Riley, can you hear me?" Ben asked over the com that rested in his ear as well as Clara's so she knew what was going on.
"Unfortunately, yeah. We're all set in here." Riley replied, Clara placed a small smile on her face.
Taking a deep breath, she started walking towards the front door. Once in she handed her invitation and ID over to the woman who sat in the front. After getting those back she placed them in her purse, and then proceeded to place it on the table.
She walked through the metal detector, and received nothing and then she was stopped by one of the guards to be scanned by a small metal detector just to be on the safe side. Once finished she picked her purse back up and moved forward.
"I'm in." Clara breathed out, loud enough for both Riley and Ben to hear her.
"How do you look?" Riley questioned Ben, while Clara walked around the building searching for Abigail.
"Not bad." Ben replied, Clara smirked.
"I'll be the judge of that." She replied not realizing what she had said until after it had been said. Clara had finally caught sight of Abigail and went up to meet with her.
"You made it." Abigail said with excitement evident in her voice.
"You know I wouldn't miss a chance to come to this gala." Clara said, mentioning past gala's that Abigail had invited her too.
Clara took a sip of the champagne that rested in her hand. Abigail turned around for a brief moment, while Clara watched as Ben came up to both of them.
"For you." Ben spoke, holding the glass out towards her.
"Oh, Mr. Brown." Clara looked at Ben knowing that identity all too well.
He briefly looked at her, "Dr. Chase." Ben said, then proceeded to act like he didn't know who Clara was.
"This is my good friend, Clara Bass. She comes out periodically to help look at the documents." Abigail said, a bright smile on her face as she looked over at Clara.
The blonde held her hand out to Ben, like it was their first time meeting. Ben took her hand in his and placed a kiss on her hand. Ben moved back, looking at both Abigail and Clara.
"Dr. Chase, Ms. Bass." Ben spoke.
"What are you doing here?" Abigail proceeded to ask.
"Is that that hot girl? How does she look?" Riley asked over the com, and of course Ben watched as Clara rolled her eyes.
"I made a last-minute donation. A pretty big one." Ben informed the two women.
"Well, on that subject, thank you for your wonderful gift." Abigail said, a bright smile resting on her lips.
"Oh, you did get it? Good." Ben replied.
"Yes, thank you." She replied, Clara couldn't take her eyes off of Ben.
She missed him more than anything and doing this with him and Riley seemed to be what she had been missing. Slowly but surely she had regretted the choice she made, and wished that she never left Ben.
"You know, I really couldn't accept something like that normally, but... I really want it." She said, still staring at Ben.
"Well, you needed it." Ben mentioned.
"Come on, Romeo, get outta there." Once again Clara rolled her eyes, and this time Ben didn't seem to notice.
"I have been wondering, though, what the engraving indicated on the pipe that Big Foot took." She said.
"Hi. Here you go." Clara looked at Ben, who looked at Dr. Herbert and then at Clara. She gave a visible nod, but Abigail didn't seem to pick up on it.
"Oh, Dr. Herbert, this is Mr. Brown." Abigail said, introducing the two. Clara already knew the man, but she didn't like him that much.
"Hi." He said, then he looked over at Clara.
"Hi there." Ben said, seeing the tension between both him and Clara.
"Who's the stiff?" Riley asked.
"Here, why don't you let me take that so you can take that off his hands?" Ben questioned removing the glass from her hands, she took the other glass from the hands of Dr. Herbert. Clara moved to the other side, standing near Ben.
"A toast, yeah? To high treason." Ben said, the four of them lifting their glasses in the air. "That's what these men were committing when they signed the Declaration. Had we lost the war, they would have been hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, and ─ Oh! Oh, my personal favorite - had their entrails cut out and burned!" Ben said with a laugh at the end, Clara couldn't help but smile at him. "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."
Clara took another sip of her champagne. Then she watched Ben chug down the glass of champagne, and once again she was smiling.
"Well, good night." Ben said, he then looked over at Clara. "It was nice meeting you, Ms. Bass." Ben added, turning around and walking away.
"You too." Clara replied, a smile still resting on her face.
After Ben had walked away Clara turned to face Abigail and Herbert. "I'm going to go to the restroom and then I'm going to head back home, thank you again for inviting me Abigail." She said, pulling the women into a tight hug.
"You're welcome." Abigail replied, hugging her back. Clara turned away, placing the glass on a tray. Once finished she walked to catch up to Ben, so she could help.
