“Carolyn,” she said, finally looking at Mr. Sadusky. “I’m the housekeeper for the Gates family and their dog.” It wasn’t so hard to lie about her identity, so she added a kind smile. Riley looked over at her.

“We don’t have a dog,” he said.

Carolyn flashed a large smile at him, and he frowned in frustration at her little comment. She had just called him a dog! Wanting revenge but deciding to wait until after he ate, Riley returned to his food moodily as she and Sadusky, who believed there really was a dog, continued their conversation.

“My name is Peter Sadusky,” he said. “I’m the chief agent of the FBI here in the District of Columbia and surrounding region.”

Carolyn remained sitting up straight as if that didn’t bother her when it really did. The head of the FBI was here on the night she was to rob someone, and she had just told her who she was. He smile faded a little, and from beside her Riley’s managed to grow some in amusement. She wanted to kick him again, but she just smiled up at Sadusky and kept on talking.

“That’s impressive,” she said, not looking back up at him right away. “And you chose to come to this little party instead of protecting the commonwealth this evening?”

Sadusky laughed as she took the first bite of her food. “Mr. Gates has been a personal friend of mine since the Templar’s treasure was rediscovered in New York six years ago, so I decided to come tonight. He and his family have become quite the party hosts of the neighborhood along with one of the most famous. I haven’t passed up an invitation yet considering I have arrested him before. I want to make sure he’s still behaving,” he added with a wink.

Riley kept getting entertainment out of the conversation and how Carolyn was trying to keep her temper down. He gave her five minutes or less to totally freak out and be arrested. He had to admit that it’d be totally fine with him. She was crazy, and he would finally get to prove Ben wrong. She was not innocent. She was a troublemaker. Of course, Ben goes and believes the pretty new maid instead of his seven-year-old friend. Riley blamed her looks. She should be made to wear a caution sign or something.

Carolyn’s face fell, however, at the millionth mention of the stupid treasure. It was getting so old. It had been six years! If anyone had known what had really happened, they would say she was just jealous because Ian got no credit at all, but it was anger. But she held that anger down for the time being. After tonight, they would be on their way to the bigger part of the treasure, and that’s all that mattered.

“I’ve heard how you’ve teamed up with him,” she said. “It’s very exciting to meet you.” So that’s where she recognized his name…

Sadusky smiled, and Riley rolled his eyes.

“And a pleasure to meet you,” Sadusky said. “You live nearby I assume?”

“I live here in the manor while I work,” she said calmly.

“Is this your profession or just a temporary thing?”

“Temporary,” Riley suddenly burst out. Carolyn and Sadusky looked at him, but he just kept his eyes on his food with a shrug and kept eating. He didn’t care. He was counting down the seconds til she was gone. Carolyn stared him down a moment before clearing her throat.

“Temporary,” she repeated tolerantly before leaving a burning mark from her glare in Riley’s shoulder. “I’m here making some money so that I can continue to go to the Massachusetts College of Art in the fall.” Mr. Sadusky nodded as if he were impressed.

“Well, I wish you good luck with that,” he said, rising from his chair. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go make a phone call. And if you ever need another job, the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building could use an extra pair of hands around the lobbies and offices to tidy up some.”

Carolyn smiled at his offer but wanted to hit him. She hated being a housekeeper no matter how good everyone told her she was.

“Good evening, Carolyn, Riley.”

Riley’s head left his hand as he waved Mr. Sadusky off who was walking away. Carolyn kept smiling until he was gone, and then she herself got up to leave. Riley looked around in confusion. Where was she going? If anything, he should get up and make a dramatic exit. He had just been called a dog anyway…

That was it. He was going to settle this once and for all.

Riley dropped his fork and got up quickly, scanning the crowd of people for Carolyn. She was over chatting it up with Ben, Abigail, and Ben’s father Patrick with a smile he knew she couldn’t even sell to a pawnshop, but it was good enough to win over Ben’s dad obviously. The devil on his shoulder was suddenly forcing a mischievous streak into him that made him smile, and he walked over to his circle of friends just to agitate Carolyn.

“And that’s when they lost my reservation,” Patrick stated miserably. “I didn’t have time to argue with them; I just hurried over here.”

“You know you’re welcome to stay here, Dad,” Ben said as Riley slipped into the premises. “I could’ve picked you up from the airport and everything this morning. The kids are thrilled that you’re here.”

“Yes, I know. Maybe I’ll take you up on that offer after all.”

Riley had just joined the conversation, but he looked genuinely interested with everyone else until Carolyn looked over at him. He was standing next to her, which she considered a sin. Riley took a drink from his champagne glass while looking sideways at her and raising his eyebrows with a somewhat suggestive smile. Carolyn looked at him in disgust as Ben spoke up.

“Hey, Riley,” he said. “You just got here.”

“Well spotted,” Riley said after guzzling half of his champagne. “You all enjoying yourselves?” Everyone replied in the positive. Ben and Abigail smiled at Riley while Carolyn looked away in annoyance. Patrick looked at him skeptically.

“Well I can see that you haven’t changed much,” he commented.

“That’s great, great,” Riley said, brushing his friend’s father off for the time being. “But um, I was wondering if I could borrow Carolyn for minute?” He turned towards her with a look bordering the puppy-dog eyes and the pressing matter expression, but Carolyn just leaned away.

“I’m busy, Riley,” she said, muting her frustration as much as possible.

“But it’s important,” he urged, lowering his voice. Naturally, their circle of onlookers listened carefully. Carolyn stared at him wondering what in the world he was talking about.

“It can wait,” she said impatiently, trying to turn back to the hosts and their guest.

“No, it can’t,” Riley, said, grabbing her elbow now.

Carolyn was about to smack him as he tried to drag her off. “Get off of me!” she instructed harshly.

“We’ll be two minutes, guys,” Riley said, smiling kindly at them as he pulled Carolyn aside. Ben and Abigail didn’t know what to say while Patrick just rolled his eyes.

“He’s an idiot,” he muttered. “And you let that stay in your home?”

Ben didn’t really answer him save for a shrug as he watched Riley pull Carolyn across the yard to the pool.

Over at the pool, Carolyn hit Riley hard on shoulder, but he caught her hand with a curt smile and lowered her hand to her side.

“You keep that there, and I think we’ll be okay,” he said.

“What are you doing?” she asked angrily. “What is so important?”

“I just wanted to tell you something.”

“You’ve made that apparent; what is it?”

“It’s one word that will drive you crazy.”

Carolyn looked at him unsurely. “What are you talking about?” she asked carefully.

Riley simply smiled and leaned closer to her ear a little. Brief as it was, the little nervousness in Carolyn tingled in her shoulder and around her ear where he was standing. She held her breath, getting ready to push him in the pool if he was going to say what she thought he would, but the word that came out of his mouth in a singsong voice sent her over the edge.

“Bar-bie…”

The monster came out of her again suddenly. She threw champagne in his face and on his suit as he scrunched up a tight, twisted face of surprise, and then she pushed him back until he lost his balance and began to fall backwards into the pool.

“Later,” he said calmly before a sound splash engulfed him.

x x x

An hour had passed, and Carolyn had successfully managed to avoid Riley after pushing him into the pool in front of about fifteen people. She hadn’t seen him since, so she figured he ran up to his room to cry or something. Maybe play on his computer. You could never tell with Super Geek.

She stood beside Riley’s DJ table where the crowd was thin and where she could keep her eye on the time. She would glance down at Riley’s computer every so often to make sure she would arrive promptly at the fireplace to meet Walt about five minutes before the fireworks went off, that way they could get out with a lesser risk of getting caught.

And finally, the little clock in the corner of Riley’s computer read five til ten.

She took a deep breath to calm herself and sat her glass down on the table before walking away casually. Her stride was long and quick, and she made no eye contact as she crept inside of the manor unnoticed by the jubilant partygoers as they began to get excited for the coming of a spectacular show of fireworks.

She slid open the glass door silently and closed it behind her. When she turned around, the huge darkness before her was blinding, but eventually her eyes adjusted enough for her to walk. Quietly, she walked over into the library / living room on her right to the fireplace. Above it hung the large painting that was George Washington at Princeton. As an artist, she admired it, but as a crook, she hungered for its secret to the treasure.

Carolyn touched the delicate frame of the painting, running her fingers over the defined grooves while she waited for her accomplice to come. It had been cleaned, perhaps restored a little. George Washington had a set of eyes that looked at you no matter which angle you looked at him, and it made Carolyn a little uneasy. She took a step back, but a hand fell onto her shoulder.

Wanting to shriek in surprise, Carolyn whirled around thinking she had been caught, but it was only Walt. The big oaf had shown up after all.

In a tuxedo?

“Oh, another disguise,” Carolyn, said understandably. “You came as a guest and didn’t say a word to me all night. Where were you?” she asked the tall overshadowed man impatiently.

“Getting last instructions from Ian,” he said in a heavy accent as they each took hold of a bottom corner on the portrait frame.

“Now what?” Carolyn asked as they tried to lift it from the wall. “Yet another change to our plans?” The painting that had been hung up by three strong hooks was now only hanging by two. It was more difficult than it looked.

“Yes,” Walt said. He suddenly let go of the painting that only had one hook left to be free, and Carolyn looked over at him quizzically. He stood facing her as he reached inside of his suit and retrieved a gun. Carolyn didn’t know what to think at first as her face expressed shock and her mouth opened to complete the look.

“What the hell are you doing?” she said nervously, her hands leaving the painting. Walt held the gun up even to her face, and she stared at with anger now pulsing through her.

Ian had double-crossed her. He was never going to need her after she had located the painting. Her shock turned to hate.

“Ian had a little thank you present he wanted me to give to you,” Walt said, “for being so kind and cooperative.” He readied the gun to fire signaled with a sharp click, and Carolyn continued to stare him down until out of nowhere, a voice echoed in the hollow darkness of the room.

“Hey, what are you doing in here? The party’s out…side…”

Carolyn and Walt looked over at the bottom of the staircase after thinking for a brief second that the walls were speaking to them. Carolyn could make out the messy hair and the distinct voice in the poor lighting, though; it was Riley. She silently thanked God for his perfect timing.

Not that he was really doing anything, though; he was just standing beside the bottom of the stairs cautiously until he slowly began to walk around to get a better view. Riley saw two figures in the dim light shining through the patio door, but it was enough for him to make out that some guy in black was pointing a gun at a girl in a sparkling dress and that he was after the painting above the fireplace, judging by how badly it was tilted.

He hadn’t been in this situation in a while.

Then, the light of fireworks now being sent high into the sky outside caught the face of the woman the gun was targeted on, and Riley’s eyes widened. It was Carolyn who stood there in the sparkling navy dress with a stubborn and afraid look on her face as she stared him down for help. Riley would have loved to walk away and not be involved, but he had to help her. Even after she threw champagne all over him and pushed him in the pool.

And then, to both Riley and Carolyn’s surprise, Walt pulled Carolyn next to him with a strong arm and pushed the gun up into her throat. Riley’s heartbeat quickened; now things were bad.

“Hey! Hey, put the gun down!” Riley forced out in a firm tone. “Let her go!”

“Leave,” her captor said simply. “Leave now.”

Riley babbled for a moment and backed up until he hit the countertop in the kitchen. He felt the handle of something prod his back, and he came to realize that it was the knife Abigail had used to cut the finger sandwiches with earlier. He looked back up at Carolyn and the man as he discreetly let his hand slip behind his back to grab it. It wasn’t like he would use it; it would just scare the guy away.

Hopefully…

“Look,” Riley said, “can’t we talk about this?” He carefully gripped the knife handle and stood straighter off of the counter so that the knife was even with his back. “What do want?” he continued as he walked to the edge of the crimson carpet of the library and the white tile of the kitchen shaking. “I’ll let you have it. Just put the gun down.”

“I said leave,” the man said dangerously. He pushed the gun into Carolyn’s neck harder as she struggled to stay in the uncomfortable position, and then Riley revealed the knife, hoping it would work. From what Carolyn could see from Riley’s knife, it was pretty big. The gun Walt held to her throat shook a little.

“Drop it,” Riley said with confidence in his weapon now.

“Leave! Leave now!”

“Let her go!”

“Leave!”

“Don’t make me throw it,” Riley threatened, drawing the knife back behind him for some reason unknown even to him.

“I’ll shoot,” the man said, countering Riley. He clicked the gun again and looked at Carolyn ready to fire, and Riley panicked. He didn’t know what else to do. The knife was supposed to scare him off! It wasn’t working!

Finally, the muscles in his arm sent the knife flying forwards, and he stood in shock as it went towards them, closing his eyes tightly since a bad outcome was favored. Carolyn’s captor stepped aside however, and the knife went and stuck perfectly into the wall next to the dangling portrait. Riley opened an eye and looked for a close call, but he looked in disappointment briefly at how bad his aim was. Well, he couldn’t be blamed for an on-the-spot rescue, now could he?

Suddenly, the painting above the fireplace fell to the floor behind the man and Carolyn with a loud crack. Then, the man holding the gun to Carolyn panicked and pushed her towards Riley forcibly, and they collided, Riley catching her with one arm, but they landed hard on the tile floor. The man fled from the library immediately afterwards and headed out the back patio door.

Carolyn laid next Riley dazed and confused with an aching spot in her neck. From beside her, Riley opened his eyes, shaking his head after having it hit off of the floor. He sat up slowly to make sure Carolyn was all right. She rose up with him, his arm still around her back to help her sit up.

“Carolyn?”

His arm left her back gently. She felt the dampness of Riley’s suit from when she had pushed him in the pool not even an hour ago. The side of her dress was moist as well, but it was the least of her worries now. She looked at the floor, avoiding Riley’s face entirely even though he was sitting right next to her still getting her dress wet.

Ian had planned to have her killed.

That’s why he had insisted Walt come.

“Carolyn? Are you okay?”

Riley looked at her as he sat next to her on the floor to make sure she wasn’t hurt. She wouldn’t look at him right away, but he didn’t blame her; having your life threatened with gun was never any fun for him either.

“Are you hurt?” he tried quietly.

She looked at him as if she was about to cry, and for once Riley looked at her differently. He couldn’t tell what was different, but it was something that made him feel sorry for her. His mind cautioned him that it could be another ploy, but people just don’t plan that kind of trauma. He wanted to tell her that he could relate, but it didn’t seem the right time to do it. He frowned, getting to his feet unsteadily after what he had just gone through.

“Here.” He bent down and took her hand, and Carolyn didn’t care to refuse after he had just… saved her life (as much as she didn’t want to admit it). She sniffed and put her other hand in his as he helped her to her feet carefully.

Then, after two days of treating him like dirt, Carolyn couldn’t look Riley in the eye as he stood in front of her like that. She felt terrible for it, but Riley didn’t dwell on it.

“Let me see you neck,” he said. He was granted permission instantly as she tilted her head back somewhat painfully. Riley made a face, but it relaxed away. “It’s not so bad,” he diagnosed as she lowered her head. “Just an impression. It’ll fade away.”

Carolyn rubbed the spot self-consciously. Riley laughed a bit.

“Don’t worry; I don’t think you’ll suffer socially,” he said. “Just keep your head down for a day or two.” Carolyn looked away, and his smile faded to slight concern again.

“Maybe you should call it a night,” he said.

Carolyn was about to nod when gunfire and screams of terror beyond anything either of them had ever heard came flooding into the house from the backyard. Scared for his friends, Riley ran for the door with Carolyn following close behind. He stopped suddenly on the porch catching Carolyn behind him before she could hit into the back of him, and he watched the crowd of guests react to something in the grass near the pool. Some drew back in repulsion and hid their faces while others leaned forward in horror.

Riley couldn’t bear it. He pushed his way through the crowd of guests until he found his way to the front. He stopped suddenly with Carolyn having to brace herself on his shoulder to stop, and when she looked, he knew why he had. Both of them stared in disbelief as the world ceased to turn momentarily.

Lying face down on the ground was the motionless body of Peter Sadusky.

Riley was trying to comprehend that Sadusky had just been shot and killed moments before he had gotten there. He saw no blood, but he saw the two holes in the back of his suit. He staggered backwards in panic pushing Carolyn with him even though it seemed impossible to tear his eyes away from the horrific sight. Ben suddenly appeared beside them with Abigail and Patrick, and Ben fled forward to the fallen man, his father and a few others now stepping forward to help.

“What happened?” Abigail asked breathlessly.

“I don’t know,” Riley said. “We heard gunshots and then we came here and he was-“

A pair of small piercing screams amidst the larger ones of the guests suddenly filled the air, and Riley looked at Ben, hoping this nightmare was not getting any worse.

But it was. Ben looked up, terrified, and Abigail began to shout for the twins frantically. She battled to get back through the crowd, and Riley followed her practically sprinting. Once they were out of the thick of the crowd, Abigail and Riley shouted more and more, their eyes moving faster than their minds could see what they were looking at.

“Charlie! Sally!”

“SARAH!”

Another small scream came, this time from a little girl. Abigail, Riley, and Carolyn turned their heads sharply to see Sally being pulled over the stone wall at the side of the house by Walt, the man Riley recognized as the tuxedoed guy with the gun. Within a second they were gone from sight as they disappeared behind the wall, and Abigail and Riley went racing forward; Riley screaming for Sally, Abigail screaming for Ben.

“BEN! BEN!”

Instantly, Ben had passed them up and climbed the wall, jumping over to the other side to get his children back. But then, Abigail and Riley heard the loud sound of a car’s wheels spinning and speeding away. Abigail collapsed in Riley’s arms crying. Riley absentmindedly held her close to comfort her as he stared at the wall in a stupor.

The twins were gone.

Sadusky was just murdered.

And the murderer had escaped.

He felt like breaking down himself until the moans and shouts of the guests brought him back to the horrible reality. He looked down at Abigail and ran his hand over her back soothingly before turning to Carolyn. She looked pale and sick.

“Call the police,” he said. “Don’t let anyone touch Sadusky’s body.”

Carolyn barely nodded as she swallowed hard and her stomach began to hurt from the knots. This wasn’t supposed to happen. It was supposed to be get the portrait and get out. No one was meant to get hurt in the process, save maybe Carolyn at the last minute. Before she walked away to do what was asked of her, though, Patrick Gates came running over to them staring at the wall as Riley had been.

“The FBI agents here are calling for backup,” he informed them. “They’re setting up a perimeter around Sadusky. They told us to calm everyone down and that after a quick search of everyone they’ll let them go and talk to us.”

Riley nodded uncomfortably.

“Should I still call the police?” Carolyn inquired quietly.

“No,” Riley said as Abigail finally lifted her head from Riley’s chest. “Just help Ben’s dad here keep everyone under control and don’t let anyone go in the house near the fireplace in the library.”

“Why? What happened in there?” Patrick asked.

“That man was trying to steal the painting above the fireplace and had a gun to her,” Riley said, nodding towards Carolyn. Patrick looked at her incredulously as Riley continued. “I scared him away, but then he came out here and…” Riley let the statement open and looked away, not having the voice to continue naming the culprit’s crimes. Patrick nodded, understanding.

“Carolyn, are you alright?” Abigail asked, standing up off of Riley now.

“I’m fine,” Carolyn said as Abigail wiped her eyes. “Thanks to Riley,” she added, looking over at him. Riley returned a brief but grim smile after finally receiving thanks from Carolyn on his heroism. He didn’t even expect her to say anything, but he guessed he was wrong.

“I’m gonna go talk to the guests and see if they saw anything,” Patrick said. “Let me know if Ben comes back.”

Riley and Abigail nodded while Carolyn stayed silent as he walked away. Then, she walked over to them to find out what the next plan of action was, but a figure was suddenly pushing through the bushes beside the stone wall, and they saw a tired but determined Ben stumble into the backyard. Abigail, Riley, and Carolyn ran over to him.

“Ben? Ben, what happened?” Abigail pleaded.

“They got away,” he said with an apparent undertone of anger and worry battling to dominate the comment. “One of them punched me before the car took off. It was headed for the city.”

Abigail embraced her husband as more tears came, and he did the same with a painful expression on his face of having the twins slip away like that. Riley brought his trembling hand to his face and rubbed his forehead with his eyes shut.

“I can’t believe this,” he said quietly. He finally let out a deep breath and looked at his friends. “What do we do?” he asked.

“We find them,” Ben said after a moment.

“What about Sadusky?” Riley asked. “We can’t just leave right now. The man was murdered on our property, Ben. The FBI is not going to let us just leave. And we don’t even know where to look or who to look for.”

Abigail looked up at Ben in concern for his answer at Riley’s obvious points they had failed to acknowledge until now, and he sighed.

“We’ll think of something.”