▌Chapter 12 ─ I Did Mean It ▌

      ━━━━━ CLARA HELD ONTO Ben's hand as they continued to walk through D.C. trying to get away from Ian's men. They passed two state cops that had been talking to each other. They walked down the steps, heading onto the street to the other side. Ben looked behind them, as a van blocked them from the other men.

"Run." Ben said, looking at her.

Without question Clara let go of Ben's hand, the two took off running through the park. They ran out of the park, heading back onto the street running past driving cars. They came to a small stop, Ben pushed the gate open and they continued to run. They were now in the cemetery, they ran to the other side of the cemetery.

Clara ran past the gates, Ben closed them behind her soon following after her. Clara looked back watching him pull out his gun. He aimed it at the two and started shooting at them. Both Ben and Clara jumped over the stones, as a bullet almost hit them. Clara picked herself up moving back towards one of the grave stones.

"We have to separate." Ben said, as the man continued to shoot at them.

"Just promise me you'll be okay." Clara said, looking at him.

Ben could see the terrified look on her face, he had never seen it before. "I promise. Go, now!" Clara gave one final look to Ben.

She turned around and walked through the gates heading to the other side and running down the alley leaving Ben behind. She continued running, hoping that none of Ian's men had followed her. She hoped that Ben was okay, and that Riley and Abigail were fine. Clara looked back and saw that no one was following her. She sighed heavily while catching her breath. Seconds later her phone rang, causing her to jump.

"Hello." Clara answered, after pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"Are you okay?" Ben asked from the other end.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What about you, are you okay?"

"Yeah, Riley informed me that Ian got the document."

"No. What do we do now?"

"Meet me back at the car, Riley and Abigail are heading back there now."

"Okay, I'm on my way. I love you."

Without realizing the words she had just said, she hung up the phone and took off running. It wasn't until she had started running that she realized what she had said. She stopped running and started walking.

"Clara." Abigail called out, causing the blonde to turn around.

"Are you guys okay?" Clara asked them.

"I'm great." Riley replied.

Abigail nodded her head in response, the three turned the corner. Clara's eyes fell onto Ben who was being arrested by the police. He looked at her and then at Riley and Abigail. Clara attempted to go towards them however Riley grabbed her pulling her back. They all turned around going back the way they had come. They made it to a park, Riley and Clara sat down on the bench while Abigail paced back and forth behind them.

"Riley, do you know how to get in touch with Ian?" Clara asked, causing Abigail and Riley to turn and look at her.

"Excuse me?" Riley questioned.

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It was the next day, Clara paced around in the small coffee shop that they were in. Clara opened her phone and dialed the number while Abigail sat next to Riley.

"Yeah, hello."

"Can I please talk to Ben." Clara said, looking out the window.

"Hello." Ben said, as soon as he got the phone.

"Hi, sweetie. How's your day going?"

"Uh, interesting dear. So, what, you working with Ian now?"

"It turns out helping someone escape from FBI custody is a criminal act. And he's the only criminal we knew. So we called him and made a deal."

"Well, you're... You're all right, yeah? I mean you're safe?"

"Yeah, we are. Riley's right here, doing something clever with a computer. Abigail is next to him." Clara walked over to Riley.

"I'm tracking him through the..." Clara pulled the phone away from her ear, moving it over to Riley. "Hey! I'm tracking you through the GPS in Shaw's phone. They take a turn anywhere we don't want, we'll know it."

Clara pulled the phone away and placed it back to her ear walking away from him and Abigail. "If Ian tries to double-cross us, we can call the FBI and tell them right where you are. And where to find Ian."

"And where is that?"

"Right across the street from where we're hiding, at the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway."

"Well, you figured out the clue."

"Simple. 'Heere at the wall.' Wall Street and Broadway. Ben, there is a catch. We made Ian believe he could have the treasure. It was the only way we could get this far. And one more thing."

"What's that?"

"It's about what I said yesterday."

"I know, you didn't mean it."

"No, that's the thing Ben. I did mean it."

"He's here." Riley said, pulled her away from their conversation.

Clara closed the phone ending the conversation, Riley and Abigail came up next to her. They watched out the window as the car pulled up to where Ian was. They all watched Ben climb out of the car.

"Here we go."