Captive Hearts

by Natasha West

  ‘It’s all my idea, sure, yeah of course,’ Ashley quickly agreed.

  Gina didn’t like it put that way, and she was quick to say so. ‘Look, it’s not about blame or whose idea it was. I couldn’t care less. But I’m just not invested enough in this to debate what we’re doing. If I lose this job, I won’t lose any sleep over it. There’s always another job. Just don’t expect that I’m in the foxhole with you on this. I’m gonna point my camera at whatever the hell this is for a few hours and hope it was worth it. But that’s all I’m doing. OK?’

  Ashley nodded, unmoved. ‘Yeah, that’s fine.’ What she said next, Gina could have sworn was said with a tinge of sadness. ‘Trust me, no one is ever in the foxhole with me. I didn’t expect you to be.’ Gina wasn’t sure what to say to that. She’d only known Ashley a couple of hours, and in that time, there had been nothing to indicate that she even knew the meaning of the word, ‘vulnerability.’ But look at that. A little humanity had popped up. Gina didn’t have time to process the surprise, however, because Ashley had already shaken it off and was back to being the same hungry little shark she’d been all morning. Ready to sniff out blood in the water. ‘But I appreciate you staying. I’m sure this is going to be something.’

  ‘So… What now?’ Gina asked.

  Ashley gazed out of the window, watching officers sealing a cordon around the car park. ‘I think, for now, we just wait.’

  Gina nodded. ‘OK. How long, you think?’

  Ashley shrugged. ‘How long’s a piece of string?’

  So they sat, and they watched. They watched the restaurant. They watched the police officers, DI Conway in particular. But everyone was staying in their vehicles. Other than that, about half an hour passed with absolutely nothing to shoot.

  Gina started to feel a bit disappointed. Ashley had promised her action. So where the hell was it?

  KNOCK KNOCK!

  Gina and Ashley both gave one shriek of shock apiece and spun around to see a police officer knocking on the window. ‘You’ve got to move back.’

  Ashley wound her window down. ‘What?’

  ‘You need to move back down the road. We need to clear the street.’

  Ashley turned and looked up the street. ‘I don’t think we can.’

  The officer’s hackles went straight up. ‘And why is that, then, Madam?’

  ‘Because… we’re press. We’re covering this,’ Ashley said.

  The officer slapped his forehead. ‘Well, why didn’t you say so? That changes everything.’

  Gina could tell he was taking the piss, but she wasn’t so sure Ashley did. ‘Does it?’ Ashley asked hesitantly.

  ‘No, of course it doesn’t. Move your vehicle, or I’ll move you into a cell.’

  Ashley’s lip curled in anger. ‘You know, there’s really no need to be such a pri-’

  Gina jumped in, raising her voice over the last part of that word. ‘PRINCE! You’re a real prince, officer. I’ll move the van.’

  The officer raised an eyebrow. ‘You do that. Right to the end of the road.’ He gave Ashley one last hard stare and moved back from the van, chest puffed, hand resting on his truncheon. Gina wondered if he knew much about Freud.

  Ashley folded her arms across her chest angrily as Gina drove down the street, where a policewoman waved her through a barrier that was being set up. They were not far off an intersection, all traffic behind them being diverted around the road.

  Gina pulled up to the pavement and peeked out of the window, back the way they’d come. They were now completely outside the line of sight of the restaurant, the only part of it still visible was the big ugly neon sign. ‘Well, that’s that.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Ashley said.

  ‘We can’t see. Which means we can’t shoot,’ Gina explained, though she was pretty sure Ashley knew that.

  Ashley let out an angry little snort. ‘For now.’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘Just give me a sec, alright? Let me think.’

  Gina didn’t know what there was to think about. ‘Look, I think we should just go. We got the bullhorn conversation, and that’s something to take back to the station.’ She checked her watch. ‘If we hurry, we might just about catch the end of the bring-and-buy.’

  Ashley gaped. ‘You’re not seriously suggesting I leave this to report on someone winning a really big teddy bear, are you?’

  ‘Grand prize is a spa day,’ Gina reminded her.

  Ashley gave her a dry look. ‘You said you’d stick around.’

  ‘Yeah, but that was when there might have been something to actually shoot. But since my camera doesn’t have an x-ray feature, I’m not sure what more I can do. I mean, if you want me to shoot you reporting next to the barricade on what we’ve seen so far, by all means, let’s do it. But other than that, I think we’re done here.’

  Gina watched Ashley thinking about it, and she was sure the woman was going to put up a fight. But after a moment, her shoulders dropped. ‘Yeah, I guess you’re right. Fine, we’ll shoot a to-camera piece, and then we’ll head off.’

  Gina nodded, and they both got out of the van. Ashley got out a compact from her bag and touched up her makeup. Gina, setting up the camera on a tripod, found herself watching Ashley applying fresh lipstick. She really was a good-looking woman, Gina had to admit. Shame she was a bit type A. That wasn’t Gina’s cup of tea at all. She went for the more chill types, like herself. Someone who could relax. Ashley seemed like someone who white-knuckled their way through every moment.

  Ashley finished her touch up as Gina peered through her viewfinder, framing up the barrier with attendant officers and the police cars farther up the street in the shot. ‘OK, got a good background for you,’ Gina told Ashley. ‘You got your lines?’

  Ashley nodded. She stepped in front of the camera. ‘Here?’

  ‘Perfect.’

  ‘You ready?’

  Gina checked her mic levels. ‘Yep.’ She hit record. ‘Rolling.’

  Ashley cleared her throat, and she was off. ‘I’m reporting here from the scene of a…’ Ashley trailed off. Gina didn’t know why initially, wondering if Ashley had forgotten what she was going to say, but then she heard it. Shouting. Distant, unintelligible, male, angry.

  ‘Can you hear what he’s saying?’ Ashley said to Gina, still behind the camera.

  ‘Can’t make it out. Step out of frame, if I blast the levels on my mic, we might catch it.’

  Ashley jumped out of frame, standing next to Gina, whacking up the volume on the microphone, listening through her headset to see if she could hear actual words. She was able to catch only one sentence before everything went silent again. Gina slipped her headphones off.

  ‘Well, anything?’ Ashley asked her.

  Gina turned. ‘I heard him. Just a bit.’

  ‘What did he say?’

  Gina hesitated. It was a very nasty thing to have to repeat. ‘All I heard him say was, “You come in here, I’ll kill everyone.”

  Ashley was shocked. ‘Jesus.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Gina agreed.

  Ashley nodded. ‘So obviously, we can’t leave now.’

  It was Gina’s turned to be shocked. ‘What?!’

  Seven

  Ashley couldn’t believe she’d almost left. Just when things were getting, well, she didn’t want to say exciting, because people’s lives were on the line, but she couldn’t change that, nor was it her job to. Her job was to report the news. And news was still happening. She had to stay.

  Only Gina seemed less keen.

  ‘You said you’d stay,’ Ashley reminded her.

  ‘You said we were going to leave.’

  ‘I’ve changed my mind.’

  ‘Then maybe I’ll change mine,’ Gina shrugged.

  Ashley waited to see if that was an idle threat. ‘So are you leaving?’

  Gina looked uncertain. ‘Will you come with me?’

  ‘No. I’ll stay here,’ Ashley said obstinately.

  �
�What’s the point without a camera?’

  ‘I’ll just have to shoot on my phone,’ Ashley said with resignation.

  Gina looked longingly at the van. But then she sighed. ‘For fuck’s sake.’

  Ashley was surprised into a small smile. ‘You’re gonna stay?’

  ‘If you are, I guess I have to.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because like you said, I agreed to. And you seem… This seems to be quite important. To you,’ Gina said simply.

  Ashley felt slightly overwhelmed. What did Gina care about what mattered to her? ‘I guess,’ she said, feeling oddly shy. Odd because she had never felt shy in her life.

  ‘So are you finishing your piece to the camera or what?’ Gina asked.

  Ashley thought it over. ‘I think I’ll wait, see if we get anything more to report on.’

  ‘Back in the van, then?’ Gina suggested.

  ‘Yeah, alright. But maybe keep the window down, poke your mic through, in case we get more audio.’

  ‘Kay,’ Gina said, and they climbed into the van.

  Some time passed, and they heard nothing. Ashley was happy to simply sit in silence, but apparently, Gina wasn’t. ‘So, seems like maybe you want to go a bit bigger than local news?’

  Ashley grimaced. ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘I’m making conversation.’

  ‘What for?’ Ashley asked, peeved.

  Gina rolled her eyes. ‘Because we work together. I know you’re not a small talk type, but perhaps you’ve seen people doing this on TV? Trying to get to know someone you’re gonna be spending time with?’

  Ashley gave a dry little smile. ‘You won’t last.’

  Gina laughed. ‘No?’

  ‘No. This isn’t going to be for you, not long-term. This is a pitstop.’

  ‘Wow, you’ve got my number then?’

  ‘You said yourself, this isn’t your thing. One way or another, you’ll move on soon enough,’ Ashley told her.

  ‘One way or another? That kind of sounds like a threat,’ Gina said, mouth hitched up at one corner.

  Ashley glanced at her. ‘You’re my fourth cameraperson. I’m under no illusions that I’m easy to work with.’

  ‘Maybe I like a challenge,’ Gina suggested.

  ‘Do you?’

  Gina considered. ‘No, not especially. I tend to go where the tide takes me.’

  Ashley, still watching the barrier and the street beyond it, said, ‘Well, I’m a salmon swimming against the current. So this could never work as a pairing, could it?’

  Ashley thought that would be the end of the conversation. But Gina replied, ‘That sounds tiring.’

  Ashley was getting annoyed now. Why wasn’t Gina getting the hint? There was no point trying to be chummy. It wouldn’t be the start of a friendship. If anything, it would push Gina out that much sooner. As soon as Ashley let people in, they tended to get confused, annoyed, downright angry. ‘Really, you don’t need to do this.’

  Gina tutted and sighed. ‘OK, I officially quit trying to get to know you as a human being. Happy?’

  ‘Ecstatic,’ Ashley said, though she wasn’t at all. Because she was starting to wonder about the carefree camera operator who drifted wherever the wind blew her and filled out a pair of jeans like nobody’s business. But Ashley knew how these things went. If Ashley started talking, really talking, Gina would be turned off by her utter inability to dress up the ugly truth as something prettier. Just like everyone else.

  That’s why she was terminally single. The last date she’d been on pretty much summed it up. Ninety minutes in and it was going alright. Only her date had consumed four glasses of red in that brief time. Ashley didn’t understand why she was going quite so hard. So she’d attempted to clarify. ‘Hey, are you getting sloshed because you’re nervous or because you’re going to try to have sex with me later and you’re one of those people who can only do it hammered?’ The date hadn’t answered. She’d just muttered, ‘Bloody dating apps,’ picked up her bag and waltzed out.

  So here she was, under no illusions that she was good at the whole ‘personal relationships’ thing. It was sort of nice that Gina had tried with her. But Ashley thought it better that she learned not to bother.

  ‘Hey, is that… Is that the copper with the bullhorn?’ Gina suddenly asked.

  And here she came, DI Conway, walking toward the barrier. Right through it, actually, headed for the van. Ashley watched her gesture to her to get out. She jumped out quickly, smelling something. Opportunity.

  ‘Hi. DI Conway, is it?’

  ‘Yes, and you’re…’

  ‘Ashley. Ashley Quick.’

  ‘Right. Er, can we talk for a minute?’ she asked, far more polite than their last interaction. In fact, she had a look of contrition that suggested to Ashley that she was about to ask for a favour.

  ‘Of course,’ Ashley said. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘Did I imagine it earlier or did you mention working for local news?’

  Ashley nodded. ‘Yes, I’m from KTN. Did you want to give us an interview?’ she asked hopefully. Though the timing seemed odd. Right in the middle of whatever the hell was going on. Probably not. But Ashley was Ashley, and she had to ask.

  ‘No,’ DI Conway said plainly. ‘But I do need… I do need you to interview someone.’

  Ashley raised an eyebrow. ‘Who?’

  DI Conway coughed into her hand, and then said, ‘Erm, well… the gunman.’

  Eight

  Gina wasn’t sure whether to get out of the van to join in the little chat with the copper. But she hadn’t been asked for, only Ashley, so she opted to stay where she was. Though she did have her ear strategically turned to the conversation.

  But when she heard the detective mention something about interviewing the gunman, she found herself getting out of the van and jogging over in time to hear Ashley sputter, ‘What?’

  ‘I realise this is a rather big ask, but the gunman, he saw your van, with the logo. And he asked… He’ll only talk to me if you’re there.’

  Ashley’s jaw was still on the floor. But Gina knew without a doubt that when Ashley collected herself, she was going to be up for this. ‘Ashley,’ Gina began, trying to nip the whole thing in the bud as quickly as she could, ‘That’s a seriously bad idea. We can’t.’

  Ashley held up a hand. ‘Hang on, I’m not saying yes. I just want to… hear the officer out.’

  Gina thought, Yeah, right. But she closed her mouth.

  ‘Look, we’d make sure you were safe, you could shoot from behind the cordon,’ DI Conway said.

  ‘Bulletproof, is it, this cordon?’ Gina asked.

  ‘There’ll be twenty officers standing between you and this man.’

  ‘Gunman was the word you used a second ago,’ Gina corrected.

  ‘Gina, just shut up a second, let the woman talk,’ Ashley said sharply.

  Gina nearly walked off right then. But despite Ashley’s rudeness, she was worried about what would happen if she left. She worried that Ashley would do something extremely dumb. So she mimed zipping her lips, throwing the imaginary key in Ashley’s face. Ashley didn’t notice, she was already asking, ‘He’s just going to walk out and talk to you?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘That’s not… That doesn’t seem very smart. I mean, the only reason you’re not going in there now is because he’s got some civilians in there, correct? So if he walks out, he loses any protection.’

  ‘He’s bringing someone out with him. He’s gonna talk from behind them.’

  ‘Wow, nice guy,’ Gina said.

  ‘I thought you’d zipped,’ Ashley reminded her. She turned back to the police officer. ‘Why does he want us there?’

  ‘He didn’t say. It wasn’t exactly a long conversation. He said, “Get me the news people and I’ll come out and talk.”

  ‘And you really think you can guarantee our safety?’

  Gina was now thoroughly disturbed by this conversation. ‘If anyone cares, I’m
not doing this. And you shouldn’t either,’ she told Ashley.

  DI Conway turned her attention to Gina. ‘I need both of you. He wants to see a proper camera and a real reporter.’