I have a long weekend because of President's Day! I'll be updating a lot faster. Enjoy this chapter and have a great day!

Ben's POV

I pulled up the texts.

Me: Hey

Cynthia's response was so immediate that my phone almost glitched.

Omg ben where r u

What

Where's my brother

Why did you leave the party?

What in the world?

I sighed. It would be difficult to explain everything to her, so I sent off one quick text.

Can't talk now. I'll call you later.

"What did I say about texting her?" Erica hissed under her breath.

I opened my mouth to respond, but Jamie cut in. "Is that my sister you're texting?"

I nodded. "She doesn't know anything, though."

"It's best we don't tell her anything," Erica added. "Put your phone away, Ben."

I sighed and tucked my phone away. Riley took a sharp left turn and we skidded to a stop outside a large building with glass windows. It was about twenty stories tall.

"This is our spot," Riley announced as she parked the car, turning off the engine.

"This big building?" Mike asked. "Looks way too out in the open to me."

"Mike's right," Zoe agreed. "This doesn't look right."

"SPYDER is always one step ahead of us," Erica reminded everyone. "We need to think ahead of them."

Alexander nodded. "I like where you're headed with this. What if they have something underground?"

Riley broke into a sprint. "Then we check the building."

Alexander and Riley ran to one corner, while Mike and Zoe ran the other way. With no other option, I followed Erica.

"Look," Erica said. "This manhole doesn't look like it's screwed in properly. Here, help me lift it up."

I followed Erica's lead and we heaved the manhole open. Sure enough, there was no water in it. Now that we had a clearer view, the manhole was larger than the standard size. There was a distant light coming from somewhere down there.

Erica's hand went to her earpiece. "Dad, we found an entrance."

Alexander and Riley were by our side in thirty seconds, followed by Mike and Zoe.

"Great. Now we enter this," Alexander said. "Let's go."

Mike hopped in first, followed by Zoe, Jamie and Riley. I hopped in next and Erica and Alexander were right behind me.

The ladder was slippery, and I lost my balance, almost tumbling to the floor, only to be saved by Erica.

I turned beet red, but thankfully no one saw it.

"We're sixty feet below the surface," Alexander observed. "This place is hidden well."

"Somehow there's service too," Zoe said, pulling out her phone. "Which way do we go?"

"This way," Erica said. "There's voices coming from that side of the lair."

Everyone started walking down the hallway, but I started walking in the opposite direction. No one noticed, but I crept away from them and ducked into a room.

It was empty, save for a few empty cardboard boxes. I pulled up the texts from Cynthia again. I needed to tell her what was going on.

Everyone always relied on me for a plan, yet I hadn't figured anything out. I walked out of the room, my phone clenched tightly in my hands.

As I walked down the hallway, though, I heard a familiar voice.

I crept closer and closer to the room, pressing my ear against the door. I recognized the voice as Murray's.

"...no, we got the girl. Ripley and his friends won't succeed," he was saying.

I froze. Which girl?

Murray was silent for a moment, listening to the other end. Then he spoke up. "Okay. Yes, Jamie's back at the house. No. Not really. Lucio can't seem to find his phone, though. He must've left it back at his house. Right. Later."

As Murray hung up, I heard him mumble something like "Said neighbor but he did" and "Seven big ones".

Then he swung the door open.

I flattened myself against the wall, praying he wouldn't turn my way.

Thankfully, he didn't, and started walking down the other end of the hallway, unmindful of me.

I exhaled and walked into the room Murray had just exited as soon as he disappeared around the corner.

Inside I found a piece of paper.

30 for seven big bucks

Bridge tomorrow at 10

I stared at the piece of paper in shock. Seven big ones meant...seven billion dollars.

"Ben," came a weak voice. A voice I knew all too well. I spun around, meeting a lovely pair of violet eyes.

Cynthia Mirgher.

"Cynthia?" I asked. She ran to me, falling into my arms. Her eyes welled up as she pulled me into a hug. I inhaled strawberry perfume as she shed tears into my shirt.

"Cynthia, what are you doing here?" I asked. That only made her hug me tighter. Her body was freezing cold.

I made her sit down and I sat next to her. A few moments later she wiped away her tears and stared at me.

"Ben, what in the world is going on?" she finally choked out. 'I'm pretty sure you're the only one who can explain what's going on."

"I'll tell you everything," I promised, "but first you have to follow my lead. Trust me when I say that this is for your good."

She looked doubtful, but then she wiped her tears an nodded. I pocketed the piece of paper and raced out of the room with Cynthia on my heels.

"I still need an explanation," Cynthia reminded me as we ran across the hallway. "Please."

"I will. Just stay in this room. Wait for me to come back," I said, pointing to a room. Cynthia obeyed, ducking into the room I had pointed to.

I raced back to where Erica and the rest of my team had gone.

I had just figured out the rest of SPYDER and Lucio's plan.

My mind was racing. I needed to find Erica, and fast. I couldn't leave Cynthia alone for long.

"Where is she?" came a booming voice from behind me. I flattened myself against the wall closest to me and peeked out to find Lucio and James walking down the hallway. I held my breath as they stopped in their tracks.

"The Hale girl. She's the only one we haven't found yet," Lucio continued.

"Ripley too," James replied. "Heck, those two are hard to find."

"But we got everyone else," Lucio said gruffly. "Ripley and his little girlfriend will be around here somewhere."

They walked into a different room, and a wave of relief washed over me. I headed into the room I saw the others walk into.

I ran smack into someone.

We both toppled over, crashing to the ground. I could smell lilacs and gunpowder.

"Erica."

Have a great day, everyone! The action stuff will be in the next chapter, or the chapter after that.