River: A Bad Boy Romance (21 page)

“So what?” Maddy says. “Didn't it mean anything to you?”

“Maddy, it meant the world to me”, River says. “I just need you to be sure, that's all. For you and for me. I need you to know the rules of the game you are playing, and what it means for your life. This is a one way ticket, and there aren't any refunds.”

“I made my decision years ago”, Maddy says. “I just didn't take it until now.”

“You look sure”, River says.

“I've never been surer of anything in my life”, Maddy says. “This morning, when I woke up, it was like the mist had cleared and I could see the truth. I could see what it was all about.”

“That sounds pretty deep”, River says.

“Deep feels good”, Maddy says.

“Well then”, River says, smiling. “I know not to argue with a lady who's made up her mind. I guess that's us.”

“Really?” Maddy says.

“Really”, River says, and Maddy leaps towards him almost before the word has left his mouth, hugging him so tightly she squeezes the wind out of his lungs.

“What do we do?” Maddy says excitedly.

“The police don't have my name yet”, River says when he's got his breath back, “but as soon as they do, they'll have my picture. When they have my picture, it's game over for me. I can hide here in the US, but only for so long. If I get across the border to Mexico, It'll be much easier for me. I know people there who can help me start a new life. They can help you too.”

“Tequila and tacos?” Maddy says.

“Something like that”, River says, and smiles, “but we can't go together, not immediately. Your name will be like a flashing beacon in the night for them. If we cross together, we'll get burnt, no two ways about it. I'll have to go alone, and you'll have to come and meet me there. That's the only way it'll work.”

“And what do I do in the meantime?” Maddy says, a little deflated.

“In the meantime, you go back to your old life. You tell them what happened, apart from the bit about where I went and the plan we have about being together of course, and then you begin to wind it down. You tell people the experience has affected you, and you can't readjust. And then you take a holiday to Mexico City, we meet up, and like characters from a fairytale, we live happily ever after.”

“Just like that?” Maddy says.

River runs his fingers through her hair and then lifts her chin so he can see into her eyes.

“Just like that”, River says.

“Do you think it'll work?” Maddy says.

“Of course it'll work, Princess”, River says, confidently. “If it's meant to be, it'll work. If there's anything I believe in, it's that.”

“How much time do we have?” she says.

“Now, not much. The rest of today maybe, at the most. The quicker I get to the border, the sooner I know I'll be safe, and the sooner we can be together again. Afterwards, we'll have all the time in the world', River says. 'With you back safely, they'll soon forget about me.”

“And if you stay in the States, won't it be the same?” Maddy says, hoping for some kind of alternative that will keep them together for longer.

“There ain't nobody here that can help me”, River says. “Besides which, it's too risky to stay. When they get my name, it'll only be a matter of time before they find me. If I get across the border before then, I can have a new name and a whole new identity before the end of the week. You think the Mexican police give a shit about an American criminal? I can start a new life, away from this bullshit place. It was where I was always going anyway. It was always my plan.”

“Was it always your plan to take me with you?”

“No, Maddy, of course it wasn't”, River says. “It wasn't meant to happen that way, but you know what, I'm glad it did. I think you are too.”

“What if they have your name already?” Maddy says, her eyes looking sad again.

“If they did, it'd be all over the news, and they'd be here already”, River says.

“I've just got you, and now you're running away again”, Maddy says, disheartened.

“Don't be like that”, River says. “The way I see it, is that we can have all the time we want together now, but I'll be paying for it when they catch me. What would you prefer, a month or two apart now, and the rest of our lives together, or a month or two together now, and then ten years apart when the police catch up with us?”

There is a long silence, while Maddy thinks. It's a no brainer, but she doesn't want to admit it. Life has become so clear for her over the last day, she doesn't want it taken away, no matter if it's only temporarily.

“I know which I'd prefer”, River adds, lifting her chin up with his free hand again. Maddy's eyes sparkle.

“And today, if today is our last for a while?” she asks, wiping a tear away from her cheek, and trying to focus on what they definitely have.

“Then today we have fun, today we do what
you
want to do”, River says, wiping another one away for her with his thumb. “Come on, you ain't supposed to be sad.”

“I suppose I better release you then”, Maddy says, taking the key out of her handbag. She dangles it in front of him, only to snatch it away again, when he tries to reach for it. “Uhuh”, she says, shaking her head. “Are you going to behave first?”

Her lips are so close to his, he can feel her breath on him.

“Probably not”, River says, using his free hand to glide up her back and draw her even closer. Maddy puts her hands on his bare chest and kisses him passionately, biting his lower lip and twisting her tongue into his mouth to search for his. She feels tingles run up and down her spine that make her skin feel like it's being electrocuted, and remind her of the incredible night they shared only a handful of hours before.

“I work better with two hands”, River says.

“Is that right?” Maddy asks, kissing from his lips, down his neck, to his chest. She holds the key into the air above her and out of his reach, while she descends even further down his muscular body. River stretches up to take the key with his free hand, unlocks the handcuffs finally, and wastes no time in putting them both to good use.

Javier is not the only one who has arrived to work late, choosing to take the continued absence of their boss as an opportunity for a more relaxed start time. The shop below has been closed as a measure of respect for Madeleine, but work continues above, even if only in principle. Maddy has not been replaced, and neither has there been any direct contact from her father, beyond a circular email that has indicated his desire for the workforce to push on with what Maddy would have expected of them, whatever that might mean. Javier is hoping that what Maddy expects today, might be the last day he is obliged to provide it.

The TVs have been turned on and tuned in to one of the three twenty four hour news stations, focussing on the story of Madeleine's capture. Currently there is a police press conference taking place, and the two officers present, identified as Frank Giamatti and Indigo Garland by little plastic plaques on the desks in front of them, are answering questions from the assembled throng of journalists.

“Where is Madeleine Parker being held?” one of them asks.

“We have reason to believe she is being held here in the city. I'm afraid we can't tell you anymore than that”, Garland says.

“What
can
you tell us?” another journalist says.

“Very little”, someone else from the audience quips.

“Is she even still alive?”

“We are working very hard to find her”, Garland says. There are murmurs from the audience that indicate their disapproval.

“Who's paying the money for the ransom?” You are planning to pay it right?”

“If we have reason to believe the ransom demand is real, we'll pay it”, Frank says.

“If it's not real, who has it come from?”

Shivers creep up Javier's spine as he watches.

“We are in the process of trying to find that out, and will hopefully have some more answers by the end of the day”, Garland says.

There are more boos of disappointment from the crowd.

“Why did Maddy try and kill herself?” someone asks.

“That's a personal question that only Madeleine Parker can answer”, Garland says.

“Due to Madeleine's lack of popularity, and the amount of money that is being spent on pursuing her captor, is it worth it?” one of the journalists asks, attracting hateful looks from almost everyone else gathered, to which he shrugs in his defence.

“Next question”, Frank says, angrily.

“What solid leads do you have that will lead to the robber's capture?” another journalist says. It's someone both of the police officers recognise.

“Hello Sylvia”, Frank says.

“Hello Frank.”

“We are chasing up several possible avenues”, Garland says.

“What solid leads do you have inspector?” Sylvia asks again. “It sounds quite possible that you are being chased up avenues, and not the other way round.”

There is a ripple of laughter in the audience. Garland is about to speak but Frank covers his microphone to stop him.

“We are working with what we have”, he says flatly, answering the question himself.

“That would be a lot more, wouldn't it, if the pursuing officers hadn't attempted to apprehend the robber in some kind of replica of a scene from a computer game?” Silvia says, continuing to goad them.

“Those officers did not follow orders and have since been reprimanded”, Frank barks back, raising his voice a little. “I don't find the question at all relevant.”

“How did he get back into the city to dump the stolen Oldsmobile without police detection?” comes another question from the pack.

“What police detection?” someone else says, to more laughter.

“I had my entire police force at the bank where a greater danger was taking place. I had almost forty hostages to deal with.”

“Hadn't they already escaped by themselves when you got there?” Silvia asks.

“Isn't this another example of a police cock-up like Kinkade last year, and the Carter museum robbery the year before?” someone else says. “This kind of police incompetence seems to be happening much more regularly than you'd have us believe detective.”

The audience is getting rowdy and Frank is growing tired of the questions. “We are doing all we can to bring Maddy back home, and bring the perpetrator to justice. Thank you for your questions”, he says, indicating to Garland that it's time to go.

Frank and Garland get up, and make their way out of the room, to a wall of derision from the collected throng.

Javier heads back to his desk, his skin clammy.

“Not that I care”, Jane says to him. “I don't know the woman beyond what she said to me yesterday, but they've really got nothing. I don't reckon we'll be seeing Maddy again, unless she turns up in a suitcase, chopped up into little pieces.”

“What about the ransom demand?” Javier says, testing her.

“You think that's real?” Jane says. “Anybody could have put that together.”

“The police think it's real. They're going to go through with it. It's pretty clear that it's from her captor anyway, it's got that stuff about her trying to kill herself on it.”

“Yeah well, call me cynical, but I don't believe a word of it. She wasn't even supposed to be in the bank. I reckon that note is from someone who knows her, and the robber either doesn't give a shit, because he's already killed her, or he's wishing he did it himself. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw another note like it turn up in the next few hours or so, from the real criminal.”

“So why are the police going to pay the money?” Javier says, playing dumb to get her opinion.

“I don't think they are. They might say they are, but they won't, not unless there's undeniable proof it's from him. Her daddy's not going to pay up now is he?”

“I guess not.”

“What do you care anyway, I thought you hated her more than anyone else here?” Jane says.

“I do”, Javier says, “but it's probably not nice to think she's already dead.”

“You wouldn't be alone in thinking it”, Jane says, taking in the office floor with a look that says, “pick out one person who's praying for Maddy to come back, and prove me wrong.”

Javier pretends to look, casting his eyes out across the office that has become all too familiar to him over the years.

“It wouldn't surprise me if it was one of these lot”, Jane says, and Javier laughs in mock collusion.

“Maybe”, he says, his mind elsewhere.

“By the way, Javier”, Jane says. “You smell quite strongly of sick this morning, are you alright?”

Frank and Garland make their way back to the station from the press room. Frank has a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and it's not from this morning's coffee, or even last night's scotch.

“What do you think Garland?” he says, knowing exactly what Garland thinks, but happy to hear it again.

“I think we need a miracle”, Garland says. “I've got dead ends all around me, and nothing but bad light in the way.”

“That's very poetic”, Frank says. “What does it mean?”

“I need more men, Frank”, Garland says, plainly, “but even then, it could be too late. We haven't got a clue where he is, or even who he is.”

“Buck Tavern?”

“Nothing on him. We're working through his list of staff members and extended family, but it's slow progress. He's kept himself clean, even though he's surrounded himself by people who aren't.”

“What else have we got?”

“I don't know what else to tell you, Frank. A fingerprint that could be his. Other than that, a ransom note.”

“As false as my two front teeth”, Frank says, and flicks them with his thumb nail.

“Well, at least it'll be out of the way by the afternoon I suppose, after that we'll have someone in custody and we'll be able to get on with real police work”, Garland says.

Frank has arrived at his office door. “Keep me updated”, he says to Garland.

“Whenever the information comes in”, Garland says, tapping his temple, and heads back to his desk.

Warm water cascades over Maddy's shoulders. On the floor by the bed, his clothes and hers, run a Hansel and Gretel style trail to the bathroom. River kisses her smooth skin, and presses himself into her. She kisses his chest and rests her head there, tight against his skin. River holds her close, allowing his fingers to interlock with hers, just above her bum. They fit perfectly together. Like two tetras blocks, they tessellate.