“Damn you, Madison!” Flynn said, slamming his fist on the seat. There was no way he would ever catch up with them. The Fury was now a small dot, far out of his reach. It made a quick turn into one of the side canals and disappeared out of sight. Flynn lifted his feet from the pedals, letting the Seeker drift and buried his head in his hands. Betrayed! That’s how he felt… Betrayed and tossed away, like the useless piece of garbage that he was! He knew Madison had seen him, and she had turned her back on him! She had made her choice, he thought… She had picked Leo Van Zandt over him, and it was as simple as that.
The loud blowing of horns and angry shouting made Flynn jump out of his seat. His raft had floated into the middle of Park Avenue Canal, causing a small traffic jam. A red-faced water bike cop was pedaling toward him with one hand on his gun holster. Flynn took his badge out of the pouch and lifted it up over his head. Instantly, the cop made room for the Seeker to maneuver away from all the vessels… Duncan’s Gold had worked its magic again, but Flynn now felt little comfort in knowing that. Slowly, he made a wide U-turn and headed back in the direction of Midtown Bay. Flynn needed to get away from the Upper Side… Seeing Duncan Roth was the last thing he wanted to do… and getting the key to his new home was no longer on his mind. All he could think about was what Madison had just done to him…
She had broken his heart.
Madison flinched and looked away, trying to hide her worried face from Leo. His arm was still around her shoulders, his hand playing with her ear. The Fury was going at top speed, and it was an incredibly bumpy ride. Boats, rafts and all kinds of water vessels moved to either side of the canal, clearing a path for them. They knew whose boat it was and instantly got out of its way. Madison glanced back. To her great relief, there was no sign of Flynn… “Can we stop now?” she cried over the roar of the powerful engine. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Really?” Leo sounded genuinely surprised. He pushed back the throttle, and the boat slowed down. “You said you wanted to go fast, didn’t you?”
“I’m just… not used to it,” said Madison. Her face had turned green. It was true… she had never been on a speed boat before, never traveled in anything faster than a raft. As thrilling as it was, this first taste of high speed had made her stomach turn… But was it the speed that made her feel this way, or was she just worried sick about Flynn? Madison had seen him coming after them… she had seen the mad look in his eyes… and realized that Flynn was going to ram his raft into Leo’s boat. She had acted on the spur of the moment… The only way she could protect Flynn from the terrible consequences of what he was about to do was to get away from him… So, Madison had asked Leo to show her how fast his boat could go… and he had done just that… Well, it had worked! They had lost Flynn, with Leo none the wiser…
Madison leaned overboard and threw up. She fell back on the seat, her chest heaving. There were black spots swimming in front of her eyes and a funny ringing sound in her ears.
“Feeling better?”
Leo’s voice sounded muffled, distant. Slowly, the spots cleared and she could make out the shape of his face, leaning over her, his lips curled into a smile. Madison fought the urge to slap him away. “Yeah, I think so,” she said.
“Well, you better get used to it, beautiful.” Leo stretched back on his seat, tapped the steering wheel and grinned. “This’ll be part of your new life… If you keep your end of the bargain, that is!”
Madison said nothing. She pressed her mouth shut, trying not to choke on the bile rising up her throat again. Her end of the bargain! Leo didn’t need to remind her again. She knew the Departure List was going out that evening and that her parents had been spared. Madison was already playing her part… Sitting here, next to him, letting him touch her… Yes, she had accepted his offer. What else could she do? Refuse him? Fight him, drive him insane with rage and give Leo even a bigger reason to harm everybody she loved? No, she wasn’t going to fight, not now anyway. She would fight later, Madison thought. For now, she was going to play along, act normal and try to stay a few steps ahead of Leo.
But Madison knew Leo wasn’t stupid… He could smell a rat from a mile away. If she was faking it, he would sense it immediately and turn the game around. Madison would have to convince Leo that she was with him not out of fear, but because she really liked him… It was going to be hard! Luckily for Madison, she was good at acting and hiding her feelings… And right now, Leo was staring at her, studying her face, attempting to read her mind. Madison could feel his eyes burning holes in her skin, trying to peel off the false mask she was wearing… With the wave of sea sickness gone, she managed a coy smile. “It’s not a bargain, Leo!” she said, her hand finding his. “I think I can get used to this!”
“Really?”
Madison could feel his warm breath on her face.
“Give us a kiss then,” Leo said.
Madison leaned into him and pecked him on the cheek. Leo frowned, then tried to find her lips.
“Be patient, please!” whispered Madison, pulling away. “I… I need some time!”
The corners of Leo’s mouth dropped. He hesitated for a moment before relaxing back in his seat. “Fine,” he said dryly, “I can wait.”
They sat in silence for a moment, Leo drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, the engine purring gently as boats and rafts passed them by. “So…,” he finally said, “what would you like to see next?”
“The greenhouses… the rooftop gardens I’ve heard so much about.”
“Very well.” Leo pushed the throttle and the boat lurched forward.
“Not too fast, please!”
“OK, beautiful,” said Leo, turning his boat into Seventh Avenue Canal.
They were now moving slowly enough for Madison to really look at the Upper Side. Of course, the buildings were all weather beaten, with long vertical streaks of grime running down their sides. But they all had proper glass windows. Also, she could see their original facades. The buildings were free from any shack-like extensions so typical on the Lower Side. Yes, there was the occasional add-on structure, sticking out like a giant bird’s nest, and she did notice several outdoor pulley elevators and platforms… But here, the buildings had been left untouched, their silhouettes a lot more streamlined. There were no apartment towers rising from the rooftops… One thing that the Upper Side had in common with the Lower was the suspension bridges connecting the buildings and the cable cars crisscrossing the sky above.
The Fury exited the canal, and the vast space of Central Park Bay opened up before them. Leo took a leisurely left turn into Fifty Ninth Street Canal. On their right, the entire length of the waterway was fenced off, check-points at every block or so. The traffic here was heavy and there were armed guards everywhere.
“What’s that?” asked Madison, craning her neck to get a better view over the fence. She could see a number of giant water wheels turning slowly, pumping sea water into a web of pipe installations, mounted on large floating platforms. There was a flurry of activity going on around them. Huge rafts and barges, loaded with barrels, were moving back and forth between the floating docks.
“This…,” said Leo, “…is your life support! The one thing you can’t live without!”
“Which is what?” Madison turned back to look at the fenced area they had now left behind. There was a wry smile on her face. The one thing that Madison couldn’t live without was Flynn Perry… but she wasn’t going to tell Leo that…