Riley didn't sit comfortably. Nor was he still. Abigail shrieked each time he was hit for it, but eventually learned to deal with his whimpers of pain. She could tell that Ben had been in the library for a while just by using the sun. It was winter, so the sun went down quicker, letting her know it was about half-past three.

She noted upon arrival that there was no heat system other than fires in the old house, and they were as far away as possible from the fireplaces. Which was where the sentries sat playing cards and keeping an eye on them while punishing them for doing most of anything.

"Would you just stop moving?" One of the sentries said annoyedly, setting down his cards. He moved nearer them. He had already put a bandana around Riley's mouth, but nothing could keep Riley from moving around for some reason. Generally, he sat quite still while dinking around on his computer.

Riley made noises as to respond, which earned him another slap on the past-beet-red cheek. Riley whimpered while Abigail looked away, which caught the eye of the other guard.

"Don't like violence, princess?" he asked, getting up, too, and moving toward them. "I suspect you would consider who your husband is, Dr. Chase." Her face darkened, and the guard also took note of this. Riley was now paying attention rather than plotting how to get out of the situation; the guard crossed his arms and joined his buddy. "Oh, sorry, I forgot. Dr. Gates." He teased, laughing with a roaring laugh similar to a lion's.

After getting bored because Riley had returned to his normal glazed-look he had developed and Abigail had returned her head to its hung position, they heard footsteps on the stairs and Ben shortly emerged in front of Donny.

"Well, then, Mr. Gates, that wasn't so hard, was it?" asked Donny, shoving him into the chair where the guards could secure him. "All I needed was some information so that we can make travel plans. Oh, don't worry, we have a private jet where you can drink martinis and tell us all about how you met Riley and Dr. Chase. We will leave in the morning, and you will come with us. Dr. Chase, Mr. Poole, we are going to Germany to continue the search. This has nothing to do with treasure of your government, but I do need Mr. Gates's help to find it. And one of you might be of assistance.

"Try getting some sleep. The guards won't be present tonight because we trust that you will either sleep and won't run away or will try so hard to run away that you will set off one of the new alarms. We trust that you are going to plan, so we didn't bug this place. There is no place in the world that you cannot hide from me. I will eventually get you. Good night."

The three waited until the moon had cast its glow and the sentries had left.

"Was he lying to us?" Abigail asked, looking between Riley and Ben for answers.

"No. He wants us to escape for fun. And that's what we are going to do. There are some things that he got illegally that he showed me. There's no other way that he could have gotten those unless he was some sort of busty girl. Anyway, they couldn't have been stolen like we stole the Declaration."

"Did they have a fax number on them? If you remember it, we can trace it to see who gave it to them?" Riley got excited enough that he nearly talked in a regular voice.

"No, and Donny obviously wanted the study to be guarded more than us, so can't get the numbers. I do know that they were based out of Canada. Our next move is to go to Canada.

"But first, we need to get out of these bonds. Fortunately, I got a sharp object, and you are released, Riley." Ben turned to Abigail to free her. He motioned to the largest window, which had a guard strolling beneath it. The other windows appeared to have the same thing lurking below them. Ben checked the prep room through which he entered. He figured there would be some sort of way to get to the bottom through a laundry slide. He found it, and motioned for the others to follow him. Riley moved to question him, but Abigail gripped his shoulder to stop him. Ben got in first, then a reluctant Riley and finally, thankfully, Abigail. They slid right down, making some noise, but Ben figured it wasn't enough to wake the tenants who were sleeping. Ben caught Riley and Abigail before realizing they were in the basement.

"Isn't there generally a trash exit where the maids took out the trash?" offered Abigail, completely making a blind guess. "I mean, this is the maids' floor. Wouldn't there be several rooms down here for various dirty jobs. There should even be a kitchen down here."

"Hold your hunger until we're out of here, honey," Ben warned. "And keep quiet."

He led the way through a room and eventually found a doorway, and it led up through a couple of stairs and out into the fresh night air. He checked quickly for guards, and was extremely happy to find the cameras still hadn't been brought back online (though probably planned).

"Where's the van, Riley?"

"Still out on the street. The keys were still there."

"We can't take it, though. Starting it will start the whole neighborhood," Ben answered wittingly.

"We have to walk out of here?" Abigail asked with a quiet shriek. "How will we ever find our way back to the hotel?"

"We have to get Riley's things if they didn't take them, and we have to get our things quickly before they find out we're gone. Quickly."

They set off down the street after getting the laptop and through the subdivision until they found themselves in a new predicament; traffic. Ben saw (as if it were a miracle) a taxi and flagged it down. The taxi driver gave them odd looks as they climbed in the car, but said nothing. Ben gave him the address and sat back against the cushions with his mind in a bind.

"Ben, relax. They can't catch up to us now," Abigail said, twenty minutes later, trying to make some sort of talk. "Unless we alerted them."

"They wanted us to leave, but left guards out. They wanted my information, but let me go. They want their own national treasure, but they want my help even though I'm American. They tortured you both, but they left me alone. They aren't as conventional as we originally thought." Ben listed these off on his fingers. He was looking in the rearview to see when the driver would notice something was wrong with them physically.

"Ben, what does this mean to you? Why are you beating yourself up over this insanity? All they want is treasure. Remember Ian? He betrayed you for his fifteen minutes of glory. And then there was Mitch, who was only trying to prove his family's worth and destroy your own, a form of treasure in itself. All they could possibly want is the treasure or you. If the former, you're fine. If the latter, we're screwed."

"That's for sure," mumbled Riley.

"Thanks for the innuendo reference, Riley," Ben answered, rubbing his temples again. "We really need that right now."

The rest of the five minutes to the address were silent. Abigail waited in the car to make sure the driver didn't run off while Riley and Ben gathered their things. In a matter of minutes, they returned and put them in the trunk with the help of the cabbie.

"Aéroport," directed Ben, buckling back into his seat. He resumed rubbing his temples. Abigail reached up and took his hand to stop it. He smiled minutely before grasping it and waiting out the ride.

"I wish I could do that with someone," commented Riley.

"Shut up, Riley," Abigail and Ben chorused exasperatedly

They waited out the ride and emerged quickly into the airport after paying the cabbie and thanking him. As they arrived, they had a plane going to England that was going to leave in an hour, which was just enough time to get through security and customs and get over to the terminal.

-

Abigail rested against the seat, applauding herself for not having to use the restroom in over a day. She finally got to relieve herself after the seat belt light had flashed off. She was also applauding herself for impeccable timing in everything that had happened in the past three hours. It was stressful for her being pregnant, but she endured it well remembering that she had survived the water system in the City of Gold and the caverns under the church, not to mention Riley's perpetual whining. This had almost been nothing compared to those.

"Abigail, is there something you want to talk about?" Ben asked worriedly as he studied her face under the lights on the plane.

"Nope. I'm just fine. I've been through worse." Abigail plucked a magazine from the pouch and began flipping through it.

"You're really alright?" he ventured skeptically.

"I'm fine. I just really want to rest. I was hoping for some off time in France, but now that were wanted from fugitives, I really couldn't be even more relaxed."

"Thanks for the sarcasm. I'm so sorry that you couldn't be more relaxed during this trip. I was planning on not having to go treasure hunting."

"Well, when you're not treasure hunting, you are solving puzzles left and right."

"I thought you liked that about me."

"I do. I just really wanted some time away, and I knew that you wanted that, too. It's not that you find puzzles. It's that they find you. And you rub your temples and worry too much about me when you are trying to solve one that has little to no pieces."

"You have the same habit of rubbing your temples, Abigail."

"I know, but I'm avidly trying to work on it. That's not the point, anyway. I know there's a puzzle you're trying to find out, but you're trying to decide between me and the puzzles this time. You will either go back and try to solve the puzzle or keep me safe. It's an honor to find you this caring and loving, but don't let me hold you back from what you love to do. I don't mind being second."

"But I mind you being second, Abigail. You should always come first. That's why I ran away: for your safety."

"Thanks, Ben. Now can I get some rest?"

"Sure," Ben shrugged, turning back and nestling into the seat.

Abigail put the magazine back in the pouch and settled back into the uncomfortable seat to hope to get some rest.