Flynn felt as if someone had punched him straight in the face. He glared at Madison and couldn’t believe what he was hearing… In fact, he had stopped listening altogether. What was she doing?
“When they ask, I’ll say it was a diving accident,” Madison spoke quickly. “…And if you want, I can also blame Duncan Roth for Flynn’s death… I’ll tell your father how Duncan didn’t give us any proper instructions… How he sent us on all these dangerous late-night dives, in toxic waters with faulty equipment… that I nearly died too…”
“I love it!” Leo was now grinning from ear to ear. “That should get Roth in plenty of trouble with my dad.”
“Sure will,” Madison laughed and moved swiftly to the back of the Seeker. “But there’s more…” She knelt down by the net full of the provisions for the Ark.
“What’s that?” Leo craned his neck, his eyes never leaving Flynn. He could see that the Perry boy had gone very pale, even with the spotlight shining on him.
Flynn wanted to scream at Madison… She was going to tell Leo about the Ark? If only he could, he would have killed her right there on the spot… But Madison was now just too far for him to stop her.
“Just proof…,” Madison began to speak very slowly and clearly, “that Duncan was… involved with… all the Black Market profiteering going on behind the Government’s back.”
Flynn’s heart stopped in his mouth… Madison had not said a word about the Ark! And then as Madison’s words began to sink in, his heart soared like a bird… It took a second for him to realize what Madison had been doing from the very start. And doing it so brilliantly… She was playing the bastard! Giving Flynn a chance to get away… to save the Ark!
“Leo, come have a look at all this stuff,” Madison called out, still crouching by the net full of salvaged provisions. Now, she was trying to distract Leo Van Zandt, make him drop his guard.
But Leo didn’t move from the spot he was standing in. “It can wait,” he said and cocked his gun. “First, Perry boy has to go for a little swim… with the sharks.” Leo snickered and fired his gun.
Flynn felt the bullet whistle past his shoulder. He doubled over from the searing pain. Blood was gushing out of a small wound where the bullet had grazed his upper arm.
“What’re you doing, Leo!” cried Madison, her eyes wide with horror. “We said no shooting!”
“Just giving the great whites a head start,” Leo laughed. “If I wanted to shoot him properly, he’d be dead by now.” Leo motioned for Flynn to step forward and come to the edge of the raft. “Get in the water, scum boy!”
Flynn obeyed without protesting… This was where he wanted to be… In the water’s cold embrace… All his life, the ocean around the Archipelago had been his playground. He was in his full element here, surer of himself and more focused than when he was on dry land… For some reason, it made him feel invincible… And that was exactly how Flynn felt now, as he jumped off the raft and into the black water… Leo would be waiting for him to resurface and suspect nothing. He didn’t know of the air pocket inside the Power Plant, and that Flynn would be making his escape. He would head down and never come up for air. First stop would be the diving bell to catch his breath… then, another descent to the opening in the wall… This was what Madison wanted him to do… But Flynn wasn’t going to do that… He couldn’t leave her behind!
Luckily for Flynn, the light from Leo’s raft made it a lot easier to navigate as he swam back up toward the two vessels. His plan was to get underneath his own raft and to locate its hidden compartment. Inside, there was a tiny breathing space… and a much better weapon than the knife Flynn had lost… His harpoon!
He found the spot right under the starboard and squeezed in, glad that he could fill his screaming lungs with air again. With no source of light, Flynn had to feel his way around until his cold fingers unfastened the stash of the emergency gear. He had to stop the flow of blood from his arm immediately, or face the possibility of making Leo’s wish come true… There were sharks in these waters, so Flynn knew he was in real danger. A strip of duct tape served as a bandage, and Flynn quickly moved on to the next task at hand. He grabbed his harpoon… The weapon had served him well in the past. Flynn was a good shot and felt confident he would be able to take Leo out… Careful not to make any noise, he swam out to the back of the Seeker.
Seconds later, Flynn heard Madison’s voice above him and strained his ears to catch what she was saying.
“Leo, there’s no need to drop mines round the Power Plant… Trust me, there’s nothing here to worry about,” said Madison…. Flynn couldn’t make out what Leo’s response was, but Madison continued talking… “And I should know, right? Duncan was using the site to just stash away some of his Black Market booty… that’s all… Let’s go back home. It’s been such a long night.”
Flynn peeked over the side and saw Leo and Madison getting ready to leave. But he also saw half a dozen speed boats closing in! He knew he had precious little time to act. He aimed the harpoon at Leo, released the safety catch and watched the spear fly through the air… It struck Leo between the shoulder blades, knocking him down to the floor of the deck.
“Quick, Madison!” Flynn shouted. “Jump!”
But Madison remained where she was… A hand had gripped her arm in an iron hold… Leo was standing beside her again… He had been wearing his bulletproof vest under his jacket and the harpoon had merely taken the wind out of him. Now, holding Madison as a shield, Leo fired his gun at Flynn… and missed… The roar of the approaching motor boats had briefly taken his attention away from his target, but it had been enough for Flynn to disappear back underwater.
Within seconds, the shooting began again in earnest… and this time Leo wasn’t alone. Flynn knew there was nothing he could do anymore. He was outnumbered and with only a harpoon to defend himself and Madison… The security guards were emptying their rifles into the water, throwing nets around the perimeter… Flynn caught one final glimpse of Madison, filled his lungs with air and dived down.
He kicked his feet, going deeper fast… But someone had followed him. The beams of powerful flashlights told him that he was not alone. The entrance to the Power Plant was there, just feet away now, when… Flynn felt a hand grasp his foot. He swung his body around and was face to face with Leo, who was holding Flynn’s ankle with one hand… a knife in the other. He slashed with the knife and the sharp blade met with Flynn’s calf, making a deep cut. Flynn winced in pain, but held his breath and managed to grab Leo’s hand, twisting it away. For a moment, the two were lost in a cloud of blood, trashing around, fighting for their lives. The torchlight illuminated Leo’s face. There was madness in his eyes as he reached for Flynn’s throat. But, there was also something else which Flynn recognized immediately… Leo was about to run out of air! He was still holding on to Flynn, but he was struggling now, getting weaker. There was movement around them as a few shadows swam past Flynn. He glanced back, and saw two of Leo’s guards spreading a net, ready to throw it on top of him. With one swift move, Flynn swung Leo around and kicked him hard in the face, sending him straight into the net. It closed over Leo, trapping him inside. The guards scrambled, frantically trying to untangle the net and free their boss. The last thing Flynn saw before he swam away, were Leo’s eyes. They were bulging for lack of air and full of sheer terror! It was the look of a drowning man… and Flynn knew that Leo would never make it to the top alive.