by Natasha West
‘Go Fish. I was eight.’
Rick loved that. ‘What an absolute twat.’
‘That’s a copper,’ Gina agreed.
‘Hey, shall we watch some telly?’ Rick said. ‘I wanna see if they’ve got any more to say about me.’
Gina scanned the bar until she found the remote. She put the telly on and switched it to Channel Seven. Kara Malone was talking about Rick, just repeating things she’d been saying for hours, but slightly reworded. Rick was immediately rapt. He went to sit a bit closer to the screen.
Ashley came over to the bar. ‘Wow,’ she said quietly. ‘You really calmed him down. Thank god for that uncle.’
Gina glanced at Rick, who was utterly absorbed. She turned back to Ashley with a light grin. ‘Both my parents are only children,’ she whispered, taking a sip of beer.
Ashley’s mouth fell clean open. She looked impressed and surprised, and Gina enjoyed that look very much.
But it was the calm before the storm. ‘Hey, what’s she doing back at the end of the road?’ Rick asked. ‘She’s supposed to stay in the car park until the plane comes,’ he complained.
Gina couldn’t think why she’d swapped locations, and she turned to Ashley. Maybe she’d know?
But before Ashley could posit an answer, it became unnecessary. Kara Malone produced an interviewee to her left, a civilian who wouldn’t be let past the barrier, hence the relocation. He was a boy of about fourteen, deep into an awkward bit of puberty, speckled with acne, a honker of a nose on him. At the sight of him, Rick dropped his beer, smashing his third in five minutes. ‘Liam!’ he exclaimed. ‘What the fuck…’
Oh shit, thought Gina. This can’t be good.
‘I have with me, Liam Ennis. The gunman is your father, is that correct?’
Liam nodded nervously, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he spoke. ‘Yeah. He gave the police the name Rick, but he’s actually called Pete. Pete Ennis.’
‘Oh, fuck me! Fuck me in every hole!’ Rick said, standing up, the blood draining from his face. He rushed to the window and reached for the blind. But then he dropped his hand. ‘Oh yeah, that’s exactly what you’re fucking hoping I’ll do, aren’t you?’ he screamed at the blinds.
‘Err… Pete?’ Ashley began.
Rick, aka Pete, rounded on Ashley, his eyes ablaze.
‘Are you alright?’ she asked. Gina was astonished. She wouldn’t have dared to speak to him in this state. He’d been pissed a few minutes ago, sure, but his mood was now at eleven.
Pete shook his head. ‘No, I’m not! Where the bastard fuck did they find him?’
‘I’m not sure. I guess it’s possible your son called them?’
‘Why would he do that? Just to narc me out?’ Pete asked.
‘He’s still on TV, maybe we could find out?’ Ashley suggested, nodding at the TV brusquely.
Pete took the hint to shut his mouth and spun back to the TV. Everyone else in the room did the same. Kara Malone was mid-sentence. ‘…seen him recently?’
‘No, I haven’t,’ Liam said nervously. He didn’t look like he was enjoying his fifteen minutes of fame very much. ‘I went to see him about a year ago, in prison. I didn’t know he’d gotten out until I saw him on the news, talking about... everything.’
‘Have you spoken to the police?’
‘No, I came straight to you instead,’ Liam said. ‘Because I can’t call my dad, I don’t know his number, but he might be watching this.’
‘So you’d like to give your dad a message? Is that correct?’ Kara prompted.
Liam nodded. ‘Yeah.’
‘You can talk to the camera directly, if you’d like?’ Kara suggested.
Liam didn’t exactly look thrilled at the prospect, but he pointed his little face at the camera and took a deep breath. ‘Dad-’
Before he could get his next word out, two police officers ran into frame. ‘Sorry, we’ve got to stop this interview!’ one of them shouted. Ashley recognised him as the officious arsehole that had kicked her off the street earlier in the day. ‘This is a witness, we’ve got to… commandeer him,’ he said, turning to the camera with his most serious and imposing face on.
‘Commandeer?’ Kara repeated with the slightest tinge of mockery in her voice.
The officer looked thrown. ‘I mean, he’s going to go… I mean, he’s got to speak to the… we can’t have him on telly, alright?’ he garbled, grabbing a slightly scared Liam Ennis and dragging him off up the street while the camera stayed on him until the moment he was yanked into a big police van.
The camera switched back to an excited Kara Malone. ‘Well, you saw it live. The gunman’s son, Peter Ennis - that’s the gunman, not the son, the son is called Liam…’
‘Jesus, get it together,’ Ashley muttered. ‘I could speak better than that with a gun in my face.’
‘…Liam Ennis, the gunman’s son, has been seized by officers and taken for what I can only assume is an urgent debriefing on the subject of his father, currently holding people hostage in a pizza restaurant, the hostage situation now in its ninth hour.’
‘Wow, super cool run-on sentence,’ Ashley said with an ironic thumbs-up at Kara as she signed off. Gina gave her a little nudge in the ribs, drawing her attention to Pete, sitting on the literal edge of his seat, gripping the gun in both hands as though it were a stress ball that could massage his cares away. He looked more wound up than he had all day. Gina’s stomach was knotting itself up just watching him.
‘Pete?’ Ashley asked.
Pete turned to her. ‘What was he gonna say?’
Ashley shook her head. ‘He’s your son. What do you think he was gonna say?’
Pete tutted. ‘I’m not a mind reader!’ He turned to the group, to Lily. ‘Oi.’ Lily’s eyes widened at the abrupt spotlight. ‘You’re a teenager. What do you think he was gonna say?’
Lily arched an eyebrow. ‘Fuck should I know?’
‘Language,’ her dad said sharply.
‘Seriously?’ Lily spat at him.
‘I know you don’t know. Just take a guess?!’ Pete told her.
Lily rolled her eyes and thought for a moment. ‘I suppose…’
‘Yeah?’ Pete said, on a knife-edge.
‘Look, if my dad did something like this…’
Lily’s dad was staggered. ‘I don’t think this is really my style.’
Pete shot him a glare. ‘Oh no? Better than me, are you?’
‘Dad, Christ, button it, would you?’ Lily told him. And for once, he listened to his daughter.
Once Lily was sure she had her father’s silence, she turned back to Pete. ‘So if I was your kid, I’d probably… I guess I’d want you to let everyone go.’
Pete’s mouth pursed. ‘Is that right?’
Gina peeked at Ashley, and she could tell they were of one mind. Should they intervene in this poor attempt at manipulation before Lily made a big mistake?
But Lily didn’t need help. She sighed and rolled her eyes. ‘Look. Dude. I’m not trying to Derren Brown you into letting everyone go. I’m being honest. If my dad was in this kind of situation, I’d want him to do the right thing. That’s all I’m saying. Because if he didn’t, he’d just get himself into a bigger and bigger mess. And who knows where it would end? I mean, fuck, they might send the SAS in or something. And then that’s my dad gone, in like a hail of bullets. I mean, he’s a dickhead, but I wouldn’t want that.’ She sat back and folded her arms, done.
Everyone looked at Pete. He was stroking his chin thoughtfully. But before he could speak, a sob broke the silence. Everyone turned to the source, Lily’s dad. His face was wet with tears, and Lily pressed a hand to her temple, mortified. ‘Just be cool. Just once, Dad.’
‘I can’t,’ Lily’s dad said. ‘I didn’t know… What with the divorce and everything, I know you hate me. But you don’t want me dead, so that’s… that’s nice.’
Lily looked at her dad, aghast. ‘I don’t hate you, dummy. I know you had to leave. You and m
um have been miserable for ages. I’m just... I was just angry because I’ve got to live with mum.’
‘You wanted to live with me?’ he asked, crying all the harder. Lily’s eyes rolled so hard they were pure white for a second.
‘Well, this is fucking touching, but can we get back to me?!’ Pete said.
Gina had forgotten Pete in the middle of the small drama that had broken out. He was running his hands through his sweaty hair, making it stand up, large stains growing out from his armpits, gun held tightly. He needed to chill out. But she was all out of fake uncle stories.
Ashley was on it though. ‘Look, I’ll get on the phone now, alright?’ she told him. ‘We can get your son on. We’ll find out what he wanted to say.’
‘What, like, as a demand?’ Pete said. ‘How many hostages will that cost?’
Gina didn’t think Ashley had been thinking of that, but she immediately shrugged and said, ‘Four?’
‘Fine. Daddy and daughter can go for a kickoff. I’ve had quite enough of this Kramer versus Kramer bollocks.’
‘Sweet,’ said Lily, trying not to seem as happy as she clearly felt about getting a release. Her dad patted her hand. ‘Don’t crow yet.’
‘Who else?’ Ashley asked.
The remaining hostages, Greg and Sam, the chefs, Tina and Leanne; they were all hopeful.
‘The cooks,’ Pete decided. ‘That was good pizza.’
Both chefs looked at each other in relief. ‘We cooked our way out,’ one of them whispered deliriously.
Ashley got straight on the phone, putting it on speaker. Gina went for her camera, instinctively, but Pete shook his head. ‘No. Not for this.’
Gina nodded, putting it down. ‘As you wish.’
‘Detective? I’ve got four hostages available for you right now if you can get Liam Ennis on the phone immediately,’ Ashley told her urgently.
The policewoman’s voice crackled out of the speaker, eager. ‘Fine. I’ll get him now.’
Gina and Ashley stared at each other, and they both knew exactly what the other was thinking. This better not backfire.
Twenty-Two
Ashley waited for the detective to fetch the kid. Pete was gnawing his fingernails down to the nub, a mess. At long last, the detective came back on. ‘OK, I’ve got Liam Ennis with me.’
‘So put him on,’ Ashley told her.
‘I want the hostages first.’
Pete shook his head. ‘No, I wanna talk to Liam first.’
Ashley was quick to put together a compromise. ‘Detective? I need you to put Liam on the line to say hello. Once he does that, we’ll send four people out.’ She hadn’t run any of this past Pete, but he didn’t seem angry. In fact, he looked grateful that someone was running the show for him. He was too big of a wreck to manage it.
‘Fine. He’ll just say hello, and then I’m taking the phone until I see four people walking down those steps.’
Pete nodded and Ashley said, ‘OK, give Liam the phone.’
‘Hello?’ said a tremulous teenaged voice.
‘Liam?’ Pete replied.
‘Yeah, Dad. It’s me.’
Before Pete could say anything to his son, DI Conway came back on. ‘OK, I’m keeping the phone until you fulfil your end.’
‘Got it,’ Ashley said and turned back to Pete. ‘With your permission, we’ll send them out now, then?’ Pete nodded and Gina, stood by the door with the selected four, unlocked the door and with no messing about, the two chefs ran out. Then Lily’s dad grabbed his daughter’s hand, and they fled quickly. Ashley was relieved there was no big production made of the release this time. Pete wasn’t bothered about this one, his head was on the phone call he was about to take.
As soon as Lily was out, Gina went to shut the door. But just before she did, Ashley heard Lily mutter from outside, ‘Oh my god, you know what I just realised? Rick’s real name is P. Ennis!’
Pete glowered at the door. ‘For fuck’s sake, why are people so fascinated by that?!’
The door closed, and Gina locked it. Pete collected himself. ‘Liam? You there?’
There was the clunky sound of the phone being handed back, and Liam was back on the line. ‘Yeah, I’m here.’
There was a very long pause. Ashley realised that now Pete had his son on, he didn’t know what else to say. But whatever it was, he decided it was going to be private. He turned the speaker off. ‘Go over there now, with the rest of them,’ Pete told her dismissively, putting the handset to his ear, turning away from everyone.
Ashley nodded and went over to sit with the remaining hostages at a large table. They were dwindling, Ashley realised. She’d gotten half the people out. Now they were a group of six, including herself and Gina, who sat down next to her.
Everyone was focused on the other end of the room, where Pete was hunched over the phone, speaking quietly, his back to everyone. Ashley couldn’t make out a word.
‘So… what do you think?’ Gina asked.
‘About what?’ Ashley replied.
‘Was this a good idea?’ Gina asked. ‘Getting him on the blower to his son?’
‘God, I don’t know,’ Ashley replied. ‘But we got more people out for it. I’m just focusing on that.’
‘Oh fucking great,’ Leanne interjected. ‘That’s super comforting to the people still trapped with that mad bastard.’
‘Back off, man. Ashley’s doing her best,’ Sam interjected. Greg nodded in agreement.
‘Yeah, come on, Leanne. She’s gonna get us out,’ Tina implored.
‘I’m only being honest,’ Leanne said irritably. ‘Anyone else getting out doesn’t mean we will. Especially if it’s dependant on the coppers getting a private plane and a hundred grand.’
‘You think they won’t?’ Sam asked.
‘Are you slow?’ Leanne asked. ‘Of course they won’t.’
‘Don’t call him slow. Uncool,’ Greg said.
‘And I’m not anyway,’ Sam added. ‘I always come up bang on average in intelligence tests.’
Leanne rolled her eyes. ‘Whatever. But you’re all fucking stupid if you think this is just gonna end with him flying off into the sunset and us all waving him off.’
Privately, Ashley concurred. But she didn’t think it did any good talking about it. People needed to keep their spirits up, if possible. ‘Look, it’s not over ‘til it’s over. Maybe his son can talk some sense into him.’
Leanne laughed sceptically, a bit too loudly. Pete turned around and scowled at her. Her cynical smile dropped away. Pete turned back to his call; his low mumbling resumed.
But as soon as Leanne was sure his attention was on his son, she was off again. ‘Look, I’ve been thinking. I don’t think we should wait.’
Gina beat Ashley to her next question. ‘What the hell choice do you think we have?’
‘Look, it’s one guy with a little gun. We could just… I mean, these guys,’ she nodded at Greg and Sam, ‘They could just rush him. Right now wouldn’t be a bad time. He’s never going to be more occupied than this.’
Ashley looked at Greg and Sam, both wearing identical expressions of horror at the suggestion. She turned back to Leanne. ‘First off, your little plan would get these two killed. Second, if that’s your big idea, why don’t you do it yourself?’
‘Because these two are big, muscly guys,’ Leanne said. Greg tutted. Sam checked out his biceps, flexing them subtly. ‘They could take him,’ Leanne went on. ‘I couldn’t. I’m only a hundred and twenty pounds.’
Tina snorted. Leanne shot her a face-melting glare. Tina’s smile dropped quickly, replaced with contrition. Once Leanne was sure Tina knew her place, she turned back to the guys. ‘So, you up for it?’ she whispered, flicking a look to Pete. He was still talking. ‘Because it’s now or never.’
Before Greg could open his mouth to tell her to piss off, Sam asked him quietly, ‘What do you reckon?’
‘You’re not considering this, are you?’ Greg whispered incredulously. ‘We’ll die.’<
br />
‘We might not,’ Sam said weakly. ‘And she’s right. We’re both bigger than him.’
‘Are we faster than a bullet, though? No. So shut up.’
‘Come on, Greg. We could do it,’ Sam said, warming to the idea more with every passing second.
Ashley had to shut this down quickly. ‘Sam. You’ll get shot if you do it, I can promise you. You will bleed out on this very floor.’ She gestured at the dirty, scuffed linoleum. ‘You’ll be lying there, blood pouring out of your body, and your last thought will be, “Why didn’t I listen to my friend?”
