“…going to be late, if we don’t head back soon.”
Flynn only caught the last part of Madison’s sentence. He was by the side of the raft in two powerful strokes. Ignoring her extended hand, he pulled himself up on the platform and crouched down by his sack. With his back to Madison, he started emptying its contents and adding them to the pile of scavenged hardware from his previous dives.
“Flynn!” She stood right behind him. “Look at me!”
He didn’t. Instead, he continued to fuss over his sack.
“Stop acting like I don’t exist!” she yelled at him. “Why won’t you talk to me?”
“Tell me…” he said without turning.
“What do you want to hear, Flynn?”
“Tell me, Miss Ray…”
“Stop calling me that!”
“Now, don’t get me wrong,” Flynn tried to keep his voice steady, “I’m very grateful for all your help… and the plan to save Tony and my dad…”
“But something’s been bothering you, right?” Madison interrupted him.
“I wouldn’t call it that,” Flynn continued to stack the next hoard of scavenged goods. “But I’m a little curious… ”
“You want to know if I and Leo have… you know…”
“Well, if you haven’t… I’m sure you will soon.”
A silent beat. Flynn turned slowly, just in time to see Madison step forward, her eyes full of hurt. And then, the girl raised her hand and slapped him hard on the face. Flynn almost lost his balance. Somehow he was back on his feet, grabbing her hand as Madison swung at him again. Immobilized, she kicked him in the shin instead. Ignoring the pain in his leg, Flynn rammed her with his shoulder. Snatching a handful of his hair, Madison stumbled backwards and dragged him down with her. They hit the deck with a loud thud, and Flynn finally pinned her down with the weight of his own body. Madison was twisting like an eel underneath him, trying to get free. She struggled furiously against him, stopping only when she had no more strength left in her. They lay still for a moment, their heavy breathing slowing down, until Flynn realized he was holding Madison in a tight embrace. Immediately, memories of their first kiss flooded in. He tried to break away, but she pulled him back down… Their faces were inches apart, their eyes locked. Her lips were dangerously close to his.
“Flynn,” she whispered fiercely, “grow up, will you!”
He held her gaze for a moment. The corner of his mouth twitched and curled up ever so slightly. Then, he pulled away, sat on the car seat and put his feet on the pedals. “Let’s go, Miss Ray,” he said dryly. “We’re done here.”
Madison bit her lip and looked away as the raft lurched forward.
TWENTY ONE
WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION!
YOUR HARD WORK WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN!
FOR THE GREATER GOOD!
The Lower Side had woken up to a swathe of huge hand-written banners, announcing that the annual Departure Ceremony was around the corner. Hanging from the facades of buildings, bridges and walkways, these slogans had seemingly appeared over-night.
“I hate this!” Madison said.
Flynn glanced at Madison then followed her gaze. Up above them, workers were draping more banners at regular intervals between the buildings along the canal. They were getting that stretch of the waterway ready for the big parade. This was where the Departure raft would pass on its last journey through the Archipelago. Such was the tradition… Flynn had never paid much attention to those signs before, but now he felt sick to his stomach! “Let’s get out of here!” Flynn said, his eyes flashing.
Madison nodded, gripping the back of the car seat to steady herself for the ride.
Flynn took a sharp left onto Murray Street Canal and headed towards Midtown Bay. Duncan Roth had given them yet another bizarre task to perform. He and Madison were to gather enough supplies and build two diving bells, then leave them submerged at the same spot they had been ferrying stuff to for the past few days… They had dumped two dozen Ethanol barrels there, and so had Pharrell and Clay… Duncan Roth had instructed them to take everything to an area across the Hudson Bay, which Flynn knew was officially out of bounds.
No one ever went in these waters, because they were considered toxic. There was an abandoned Power Plant at the bottom and whatever had leaked out of it had poisoned a large parameter of ocean around the facility… But Duncan Roth, apparently, didn’t care what was in the water… Exposing his Free Scavengers to danger meant nothing to the man… Flynn had stopped questioning the Rottweiler’s strange requests… He was simply counting the days and hours to the Departure Ceremony… until the moment Flynn was going to finally kill the bastard!
“Let’s see what you’re up to now, Perry boy!” Leo Van Zandt lowered his binoculars, rubbed his bloodshot eyes and glued them back to the viewfinder.
He had spent the last few days in his apartment, at the top of his father’s building, tracking every move Madison and Flynn Perry made. Leo had sworn to himself he would catch the cocky son-of-a-bitch doing something illegal… and this time, Leo wasn’t going to let Flynn get away… Leo couldn’t wait for that moment when he would deliver the scum boy to his father! Yes, he was going to prove to the great Marcus Van Zandt that he had been right all along… That he was capable of taking matters into his own hands!
He wasn’t alone in his mission. He and Madison had cooked up the plan together. In fact, she was the one who had suggested going back on Flynn Perry’s raft as bait. A decoy that would lead Flynn into a trap! And she was the one who had suggested they go after Duncan Roth, too… Madison had been so perceptive. She had picked up on Leo’s resentment toward Duncan right away… What if she could find some dirt on the Rottweiler himself? Working for Duncan she would be Leo’s eyes and ears on the ground… According to Madison, there were rumors circulating on the Lower Side about the man… People were saying that he was stealing from the scavenged supplies… that he allegedly had a small network of buddies who did all the dirty work for him… Madison would let him know if Duncan was lining his own pockets through his ring of Black Market profiteers.
Madison had also convinced Leo to stay away from her until the pairing… to keep his distance and leave everything in her hands. And so far, she was doing her job really well. No one suspected their little game…. But Leo had some reservations… Madison was now in close contact with the Perry boy… She had been very concerned about Flynn’s fate in the Trials… Perhaps a little bit too concerned, and Leo had noted that… Of course, Madison had reassured him, in more ways than one, that there was nothing to worry about… In fact, Leo had witnessed something the day before which had put his mind at rest. As usual, he had been spying on the pair and seen Madison throw punches at the Perry boy… Unfortunately, at that precise moment, Leo’s father had stormed into his apartment, wanting to discuss some trivial matters concerning the Departure Ceremony… and Leo had put away his binoculars… Later, when he found Madison and Perry, they were sitting far apart from each other, the Seeker heading back towards the Archipelago.