National Treasure (Sanders Sides)

Chapter Five

Instantly he got to work, unscrewing the frame. There were screws across all four sides and getting all of them undone quickly would be nearly impossible, but time wasn't a luxury he had.

"Hey, Roman."

He froze. He turned around, tightening his grip on the Declaration, still fairly secure in the case. "Remus."

Remus smirked. "Nice job getting in, I'm guessing this was Logan's plan. You couldn't think of it and Patton would be too afraid of getting caught."

"I'm not letting you have this," Roman said fiercely.

"Alright..." Remus moved his jacket and brought a pistol into view. Roman gasped.

Through the earpiece, Logan asked what was happening, but he didn't get a response. Not right away, anyway. Roman took off running down the hall, dragging the entire case with him.

Remus took off after him, but Roman had gotten a head start. He'd reached the elevator and started closing the doors before Remus could get there.

A gunshot rang through the hallway and Roman looked down to see a large crack in the bullet proof glass holding the Declaration of Independence. Thankfully the elevator doors closed and he quickly started unscrewing the rest of the screws to get the document out.

"Logan, we have a problem. I need you to be ready to go as soon as I get there, okay?"

"Yeah, I got it. Did you ditch Remus?"

"For the time being." He rolled up the page and tucked it under his suit coat just as the elevator opened. The quickest route out of the Archives would be through the gift shop.

He was almost out the door when the cashier called after him. "You have to pay for that," she said, rolling her eyes. Roman noticed that the barrel he stood next to housed replica Declarations for eight bucks each and he instantly headed up to the counter.

"Roman, hurry up," Logan hissed into his ear while Roman pulled out several single dollar bills trying to add up to eight. He internally cursed when he didn't have enough cash and instead pulled out a credit card, but the lady at the counter rang him up and he turned back to the door.

Just before he left the building, someone over the intercom announced an emergency and several codes for the employees. That would be the cue for Roman to leave.

The back door of the van was partially open, with Patton standing outside. He waved to Roman as soon as he saw him, but suddenly his expression changed. Roman glanced behind him to see Virgil.

"You." The historian ran up to Ro. "I've felt off about you this whole time, and I checked, there's no Paul Brown on the guest list. Who are you?"

"I'm keeping my friends waiting," Ro said with a weak laugh. "Nice meeting you again."

Before he could get in the van, Virgil grabbed his arm and pulled him back. The movement shifted Roman's jacket and exposed the document tucked inside.

Virgil's eyes widened. "You stole that, didn't you?"

"Okay, possibly, but it's a long story—" Ro was cut off by someone calling his name. He looked up to see Remus, still holding the gun. "Shit, we have to go. Now. You can come if you want, but I'm not sticking around." He jerked free of Virgil's hold and made a break for the van, the historian on his heels.

Logan turned around as soon as Roman hopped into the van. "About time—" he stopped, noticing Virgil. "Why'd you bring him?"

Patton reached for another Chips Ahoy and sighed when he realized that the package was empty. "That's not the biggest problem, Logan. We need to get going."

"About that," Roman said quietly, "we can't go to the apartment."

"Why not?" Logan mumbled impatiently, swerving onto the road. "We need to get away from Remus first, but—"

"I used a credit card."

Logan glared at him in the rear view mirror. "Why the hell would you do that?"

Ro rolled his eyes. "It was an emergency, okay?"

Virgil interrupted. "Can anyone explain why the hell I'm in a van with three strangers who just stole the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE? Or why we're being chased by a guy with a gun?"

Suddenly Patton smacked Roman in the arm, leading to a squeak of surprise from the latter. "You dragged him into this without explaining anything?"

"I didn't have time, Patton! I was kinda preoccupied!"

Logan sighed. "Well I can't keep driving in circles or we will all be in prison by tomorrow morning. Where should we go."

Patton started. "Well—"

"No," Roman bluntly stated. "I won't. You just know how he's gonna react."

"Who?" Virgil whispered to Patton.

"His dad," Patton whispered back.