by Natasha West
‘Ashley?’ DI Conway said.
‘I’m here,’ Ashley replied.
‘I’ve been talking to my superiors, and we’ve decided it’s possible to let a news crew in here. One team of two people. Any more would be a problem. Will that work for Rick?’
Ashley gave Rick a questioning look. He didn’t immediately answer.
‘Hang on, Detective,’ Ashley said, and she put her hand over the receiver. ‘I think it’s a decent deal,’ she advised Rick.
‘We said circus. One news crew isn’t a circus.’
Ashley shook her head. ‘It’s really all you need. The second they put this footage up, it’ll be shared all over the place. That’s the thing about the internet. You’re probably famous worldwide already, actually.’
Rick’s eyes widened. ‘Ya think?’
‘Yeah. Google yourself.’
Rick took his phone out and did a quick search of Jimmy’s Pizza. ‘OK, there it is, the interview. But, like, on Twitter and stuff,’ he said disdainfully. ‘Anyone can do that. I could have shit myself and smeared it on my wall and gone viral. I wanted… I want proper, real news. I want to be taken seriously. That copper needs to know I matter.’
Gina watched tensely while Ashley processed Rick’s request. ‘You want them to take you seriously?’ she repeated. ‘OK, then I have a suggestion. We take the one news crew…’ Rick looked unhappy. ‘But!’ Ashley said quickly, ‘We get to choose which one. Because that’s how you get taken seriously. You go to the biggest network. We need Channel Seven or HTR News, they’re the big guns. Conway will agree to that, no reason not to.’
‘You think that’ll make a difference?’ Rick said, scratching his chin.
‘Yeah. Because if they’ve got Sandy Jakes or Kara Malone out there? That’s a lot better than the piss ant they sent from my channel. Much better than me, too,’ Ashley said matter-of-factly.
‘Kara Malone?’ Rick said, a leer appearing on his mug. ‘You think she’s out there.’
‘Bound to be,’ Ashley assured him.
‘Find out,’ he told her.
Ashley put her ear back to the phone. ‘Detective, can I just confirm you have Kara Malone out at the end of the street?’
‘Err, let me think... Yes, I believe I saw Kara Malone.’
Ashley gave Rick a questioning look. He nodded.
‘Then we’ve got a deal. One crew allowed into the car park, but it has to be Kara and her camera op.’
‘I can’t see that being a problem,’ DI Conway said.
‘Call me when they’re in place and ready to shoot, we’ll let the three go.’
‘OK, but I need a promise that he’s not going to try and get any more hostages in with him again. I got burned like that last time, and I need him to understand… it would make future negotiations rather difficult if we can’t trust each other.’
Ashley raised an eyebrow at Rick. ‘You’re not planning anything like that, are you?’
Rick shrugged. ‘Nah. Bit risky to try that one again. And I think we’ve got a good thing going, Ash.’
Ashley smiled and nodded, but Gina could tell that she didn’t remotely like his little term of endearment. ‘He’s going to stick to what we’ve agreed this time. You have his – and my – word,’ she told the detective.
‘I’ll take that, Rick. I don’t have a lot of choice. But just know that I’ll be able to keep my word better in the future if you can prove you’ll do the same. I’ll call you when we’re ready,’ the detective said. She hung up.
Rick was left with those words as Ashley put the handset down. He didn’t mull them over too long, though. ‘Hey, do you think… Do you think I might get a private interview with Kara Malone later? Maybe she might want to come on the plane with me?’ he asked, glancing between Ashley and Gina.
‘Well…’ Ashley began. She looked like she was trying to find a delicate way to tell him there was a better chance that Santa Clause would get on the plane with him.
Gina considered telling him it could happen, but on balance, decided it would seem too obvious of a lie. ‘You might be pushing your luck there,’ she told him from behind the camera.
Rick eyed the camera. ‘You think? I wouldn’t hurt her or nothing. Just a chat to pass the hours on the way to Azerbaijan.’
‘I dunno, man. I guess you can dream,’ Gina said.
Rick frowned. Then he shook off his gloom and shrugged. ‘Let’s see how this next bit goes. If it comes off alright, I might be in a better position to cut a deal. Oh, yeah, and you can stop filming now until the next call, Gina.’
Gina dropped the camera, catching a look from Ashley. She could read it without effort. Rick’s delusions about how this whole thing was going to play out had started off ridiculous and were growing more preposterous by the minute. He thought he was going to snag Kara Malone in the middle of his flight from a pizza restaurant car park that would take him to his new life in a non-extradition country. Doubtless, the hot reporter would fall in love with the handsome outlaw in the process.
He was losing it.
The phone rang.
‘Get the camera back on,’ Rick said, and Gina swung it back, framing up Rick and Ashley in a two-shot. Ashley picked up the phone, hitting speaker again.
‘Kara Malone has agreed,’ the detective was excited to tell them. ‘We’re setting them up now. Can we agree that at seven forty-five, the doors will open, and people will come out?’
Another look to Rick, another nod of agreement. ‘Yes, that’s agreed.’
‘Then we can talk more afterwards,’ the detective said and hung up.
‘Gina, cut it there, for now,’ Rick said. Gina thought the fact he’d started talking in industry language was quite interesting. She stopped shooting. ‘But keep your finger on the trigger for quarter to eight. I need you to be ready for the release. A game. Get it all,’ Rick said.
‘Why?’ Gina asked, dropping the camera. ‘I mean, Channel Seven is going to catch it from the other side.’
‘But they won’t see the way my hostages go out,’ Rick said mysteriously. Then he started laughing. Gina thought it had a demented quality to it.
***
Gina and Ashley were sat in the booth, alone. The other hostages were spread across several other tables near them. Everyone was watching the other side of the room, where Rick was having a little chat with the three people he was going to release, out of earshot. He had Gina’s camera next to his foot, taken from her a few minutes ago. Gina didn’t like him touching her camera with his big, meaty hands. He was manhandling her baby, after all. But whatever he was saying, he clearly didn’t want it shot.
‘He’s gone completely non compos mentis, you realise that?’ Gina whispered to Ashley out of the corner of her mouth.
Ashley nodded. ‘He’s had a taste of power, and it’s gone to his head. Classic.’
‘But what’s he going to do when he doesn’t get what he wants? I mean, it’s fucking stupid. He’s not flying anywhere.’
Ashley chewed the inside of her mouth. ‘I think we just have to cross that bridge when we come to it.’
Gina looked at Ashley. ‘How well this turns out, is gonna come down to you. You realise that, don’t you?’
Ashley’s eyes popped in horror. ‘What?’
‘You’re like his… lieutenant.’
‘I know. Not really sure how the hell that happened.’
‘But it did happen. You got his trust. He likes you. He thinks you understand him.’
Ashley shook her head. ‘It can’t last. I’m not… I’m gonna screw up.’
‘You haven’t so far,’ Gina assured her.
‘Luck.’
Gina wasn’t having that. Because somehow, in the middle of all this, Ashley, who Gina had been warned could piss off Gandhi, had worked this guy. Whatever everyone had believed about Ashley’s bulldog tendencies, it wasn’t the complete truth. There was more to Ashley than even she knew. But she was about to. ‘Not luck. You got us to thi
s point. Three people are going to walk out, four including that first lady, and it’s completely down to you. You kept him calm, reasoned with him, appealed to him using logic he’d understand,’ Gina told Ashley.
Ashley looked at Gina. ‘I’m making it all up as I go along. I don’t have a fucking clue what I’m doing.’
‘Of course you don’t know what you’re doing. But you’re doing it anyway. You just gotta keep doing it.’
‘You really think I can keep him calm? Get more people out?’ Ashley asked with deep uncertainty.
Gina nodded. ‘I really fucking do.’
Ashley’s mouth turned up ever so slightly at the corners. ‘I really don’t know if you mean that. But it’s good to hear it.’
Gina frowned. ‘Why wouldn’t I mean it?’
‘Because I’m hard work. You said so. Many, many have said so. And someone who’s that rubbish at talking to people-’
Gina shook her head, smiling. ‘But you’re not rubbish. Not at all. If anything, you’re too good at it. You see into the heart of people, you showed me that in the cupboard. You knew right away about my stepmum. I’ve never even really been able to admit that to myself. And you just,’ Gina clicked her fingers, ‘Saw it. Easy. The only difference is that what you’re trying to do now is not expose him. He’s doing that for himself, all the time. No, what you’ve got to do, what you have been doing, is using that skill to convince him to give us what we want. And I know you can because I’ve watched you. You’ve made him think every compromise he’s made has been his own idea.’
Ashley frowned, taking in Gina’s words. Gina could see she was turning them over, trying them on, feeling their fit. Gina hoped she’d see the truth in them. Ashley could get them all out of this, if she only believed in herself.
Seventeen
Ashley was processing. What Gina had said… It sounded to Ashley’s sceptical ears that her problem wasn’t really being socially defective. Her brain simply worked differently.
She saw things. It was true. She always had. People had always despised her for it. But now? Now she saw Rick, saw him with crystal clarity. What he hoped for, how he saw himself, what he knew, what he pretended not to know. It was how Ashley had been able to talk to him. She knew that all he wanted today was all he’d ever wanted. Everything.
Like a toddler, he had no sense of restriction, no sense that any rule applied to him or that any authority had a right to govern him. But that was only on the surface. Underneath, somewhere dark that Rick never went, where the ugly truth sat, he knew how this would end today. He knew he wasn’t getting away. But he was living his fantasy, for as long as it would sustain: That he was some underappreciated antihero who was due respect that would finally be given, that he had the world in the palm of his hand at last. Even the woman of his dreams would come to him today.
But when it ended, when Rick was forced to confront the truth, that he was just a shitty little man with a gun and some scared people stuck in a building with him, well, that’s when he’d be at his most dangerous. So that was Ashley’s job. To keep that moment at bay. To stretch out his fantasy without snapping it. It was the only way to get everyone out of here without blood spilt. It was a lot to handle, and it scared Ashley to death.
There was one thing, though. One thing she had that made her think she maybe, possibly, had a shot of getting through this.
Gina believed in her.
‘Right!’ Rick shouted, making the room jump, standing from his mysterious private meeting with his chosen three. ‘I think that’s everything ready.’ He looked at his watch. ‘Time to get this show on the road. Ashley, first things first. Check the car park, see if Kara, err, Channel Seven is out there.’
Ashley was still terrified to pop her head into the sights of a sniper’s scope, but she’d done it once before and nothing had happened. She slid up a blind and had a look, feeling bolder by the second. She spotted a big shield thing with a window in it that hadn’t been there last time—probably bulletproof. Just visible through the window was a camera and the famous eyes of Kara Malone. ‘Where the bloody hell was that thing when we were in the car park?’ Ashley muttered to herself bitterly. And then aloud to Rick, ‘They’re here.’
‘Kara Malone and everything?’ he clarified.
‘Yep, she’s here in the flesh,’ Ashley assured him.
Rick’s teeth flashed for a second before he turned his attention back to business. ‘Gina?’
Gina stood, and he handed her camera back. ‘Get every second of this.’ He turned to Ashley. ‘After that, I want this sent to your station. Just in time for the nine o’clock news.’
‘I’m sure Bernie will be thrilled about that,’ Ashley assured him. He probably would be too.
‘OK, you three,’ Rick ordered. ‘Line up at the door, like we discussed.’
Bum Fluff Waiter and the middle-aged patron - whose real names had been revealed to be Jack and Lenny - trooped over. Polly paused before she joined them, looking at Tina and Leanne. Tina grabbed her in a hug. Leanne stood back from it. When the hug broke, Polly turned to Leanne. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Go fuck yourself,’ Leanne told her plainly.
Polly shrugged and walked away.
‘A beautiful moment,’ Rick said as Polly joined the men at the door. ‘Gina, you shooting yet?’
‘Rolling,’ she said from behind her camera.
‘Right then.’ He walked over to the front of the queue, putting his hand on the lock. ‘Jack, you go first,’ Rick said with an odd eyebrow waggle. He slid the lock across and cracked the door ajar, kicking it the rest of the way open and jumping back out of the way of it. Jack stepped forward, took a deep breath… and then turned to Rick. He put out his hand. Rick took it with his non-gun hand. ‘Good luck, Rick,’ Jack said.
Ashley’s mouth dropped open. What the hell was this?
‘Thanks, mate,’ Rick said with a grin, a quick glimpse at the camera.
Jack stepped out into the night. ‘Sir, could you please walk calmly down the steps and across the car park,’ DI Conway called from beyond the door through her bullhorn.
Everyone heard Jack ignore her completely, his loud, quick footsteps slamming down the concrete and fading away.
Lenny came next. He also put his hand out to Rick. ‘I really hope you get out of this alright,’ Lenny said. Rick took his hand, holding it in place a bit tightly. Lenny added quickly. ‘You’re a good bloke in a tight spot,’
So this was what the little meeting had been about. He was giving them their lines, to be spoken in exchange for freedom. Ashley was appalled. She found herself glancing over at Gina, though she couldn’t see her through the camera. But the camera briefly swung to her, and somehow, she sensed that Gina was thinking exactly what she was. This fucking guy.
Lenny was released through the door. The DI made another attempt to get a hostage not to run from the restaurant and failed utterly. His pace was double that of Jack’s.
Last came Polly. At the door, she turned to Rick and took a deep, fortifying breath. And then she hugged him. Ashley shook her head, horrified for Polly that she was having to do this. As they parted, Polly said through gritted teeth, ‘If only we’d met under different circumstances, Rick.’
Rick smiled and said, ‘Maybe in another life, honey.’
It took every ounce of will Ashley had to not physically gag.
But then Polly was through the door, and the sound of her footsteps was like Usain Bolt compared to the other two. Rick slammed the door shut and slid the lock back in place. He turned to the camera. ‘I’m sorry I ever had to keep them here, but I think they understood it. And cut there!’
Gina dropped the camera. Rick turned to Ashley. ‘How do you think that went? Looked good, right?’
Ashley nodded voraciously. ‘Oh, yeah. Couldn’t have gone better.’ She could tell he wanted a bit more than that, so she summoned further bullshit. ‘I think when the public see that, they’ll come down here to support you.’
> Rick nodded. ‘That’s exactly what I was thinking. I mean, the “law” is only supposed to make people do right. So if people support me, the police are more likely to see that it’s right to give me what I want, don’t you think?’ he asked, a slight note of desperation in his voice.
Ashley was close to going right along with it. But then she realised that to really sell this, she needed to inject a bit of reality into it. ‘Well, Rick, it’s going to be a close-run thing. But you never know,’ she told him.
