by Natasha West
‘Boyfriend,’ Greg corrected, though he didn’t look happy to have the title.
‘Oh. Sorry,’ Ashley said, re-evaluating the pair. It actually made a lot of sense when you considered their dynamic. All that bickering. ‘Then you’ll be asking yourself why you didn’t listen to your partner.’
‘Whoa, I only said boyfriend. Don’t upgrade us to partners,’ Greg said quickly.
Sam looked at Greg, hurt. ‘You don’t think I’m husband material?’
Greg rolled his eyes. ‘Jesus, is it really the time for that talk?’
Sam folded his arms and slunk down in his chair. ‘If that’s how it is, maybe I don’t have anything to lose by tackling Pete. Maybe you’d be glad to see me shot. Save you the trouble of breaking up with me,’ Sam sulked.
Greg sighed. ‘Oh my god, Sam, please… I love you, OK? So don’t be a prick.’
Sam didn’t say anything for a second. Leanne chanced her arm again. ‘If you were my boyfriend, I’d feel lucky. You’re clearly ripped, and you’re crazy handsome.’
Sam eyed her, chewing the inside of his mouth for a moment. ‘I’ve changed my mind. I’m not rushing him.’
Greg sighed, relieved. ‘Thank fuck for that.’
‘What? Why?’ Leanne asked.
‘You should have stuck to complimenting his biceps,’ Gina said with a small chuckle.
‘Yeah,’ Ashley said, picking up where Gina left off. ‘Next time you’re trying to appeal to someone’s ego to get them to risk their bloody life for you, probably a silly idea to move up to outright flirting with a gay guy. Overplayed your hand.’
Gina raised an eyebrow. ‘I reckon she was hoping he was bisexual.’
‘He’s really not,’ Greg told her.
Leanne was livid. ‘Fuck off, all of you!’
Sam shook his head. ‘I can’t believe I nearly went with your dumbass plan. Thank god you tried to shag me, or I might have done it!’
Leanne huffed. ‘Coward,’ she hissed at Sam.
‘I don’t care if you think I’m a wimp,’ Sam said. ‘You’re not a very nice person. You’d have let me die.’
Greg beamed him, eyes shining. ‘Oh my god. I think that was personal growth.’
Sam was confused. ‘Eh? Growth? Do you mean my lats? Because I’ve been working on them.’
Greg kissed him on the cheek. ‘Sure. Your lats.’
The coup was defused, Ashley was relieved to see. Though she thought they shouldn’t take their eye off Leanne too soon. She was a rogue element.
Ashley felt someone gently take her hand under the table. Gina. She squeezed it back, though she didn’t look at her.
The phone abruptly banged down across the room, and everyone turned to stare at Pete, or rather his back. He wasn’t moving, and Ashley couldn’t read him at all. But then he straightened and turned around with a smile. He slapped his hands together. ‘Right, I need a fucking beer. I never did finish that last one.’ He went to the bar. ‘Who’s joining me?’
Ashley looked around at everyone, trying to shoot an instruction through her eyes. If he thinks we’re his buddies, he’ll be much happier. Everyone seemed to catch her drift, and Gina was the first to say. ‘You know I’ll have one.’ ‘I’ll have a beer, thank you,’ Ashley said. ‘Mm, yeah. I’d go for one,’ Sam said. ‘Me too,’ Greg added. ‘I suppose it might be nice,’ Tina said. Leanne was the last to respond. ‘Yeah. Fine.’
Soon enough, everyone gathered around the bar while Pete played barman. As Ashley was handed her drink, she tried to think of some way to gauge what the son, Liam, had said to his dad. A lot might depend on it. But it might be a bit delicate, she was gonna have to be subtle. But it wasn’t really her forte. So she just went for it. ‘So, Pete… what did Liam say? If you don’t mind me asking.’
Everyone tensed. Pete paused, beer to his lips. ‘You really wanna know?’
‘Of course she does,’ Gina jumped in. ‘We all do.’
Everyone nodded. Luckily, Pete thought it was simply concern for him rather than everybody trying to glean if the kid had made a case for letting them all out. He seemed touched by their care. ‘Well, I’m sure you can guess a lot of it. Predictable shit. He loves me and all that.’
‘Does he?’ Leanne asked, a bit too sceptically.
Pete blinked. ‘Yeah. He said so.’
‘Did you say it back?’
Pete shrugged. ‘He knows. Anyway, then he said he wanted me to put the gun down and come out. But I told him what would happen, that they’d…’ He made a gun shape with his hand - the hand that wasn’t actually holding a real gun - and aimed it at his head. ‘And then he said that fucking copper promised she wouldn’t shoot me. She’d obviously fed him all that before we even talked.’
‘But if she promised Liam, maybe it’s true,’ Ashley tried.
‘You think she cares about keeping promises to kids that their dads won’t get their brains blown out? Does she fuck.’
‘So you don’t believe him?’
‘He’s a puppet. He might not know it, but he is. No, that bitch can do what she said and get me my plane and my money.’
Ashley internalised a sigh. Liam had tried, but it was no good. Pete was clinging to his fantasy and clinging hard. Ashley had to try and pick up where Liam left off though. ‘But you do realise… if you get on that plane, you might never see Liam again.’
Pete frowned. ‘He can come visit me.’
‘I don’t know if he’ll be allowed. I mean, they know where you’ll be going, the pilot can tell them. They might ban him from visiting your new country.’
‘Can they do that?’ Pete asked, frowning.
Ashley wasn’t sure, but she ran with it. ‘Pete, come on. I mean, even if this all goes off without a hitch, they won’t just forget about you. They’ll have to see you punished somehow. Even if it’s only making sure your son never sees you again.’
Pete took a chug of his beer. ‘He never got to see me when I was in prison, anyway,’ he said, trying to sound careless. ‘Wouldn’t be no different if I go in for this.’
Ashley felt a weak spot open up. ‘You could do it better this time. You could ask him to see you every week, good, regular, quality time. You’d know him, see how he grows up. You haven’t run out of chances, Pete. Not yet. But if you go ahead with your plan, this could be it for you and your son. For the rest of your life. The best you’d get is seeing his social media, maybe see a few photos a year. Is that enough?’
Pete’s frown deepened. ‘But he doesn’t like social media. He’s not on anything.’
That was an unexpected gift. ‘Then that’s even worse,’ Ashley told him. ‘You’d never know anything. You’d never know what job he gets when he grows up, whether he has a family. Nothing. You might as well be dead as far as Liam’s concerned.’
‘Don’t say that,’ Pete said, an edge of threat in his voice.
But Ashley had an in. And just like she always did, she had to go for it. She knew she was taking a chance. A very large one. But she could get him. Get to his heart, if there was any of it left. ‘Pete, I’m just being honest. You carry your plan out, everyone you know and care about in this country will be locked off from you. Forever.’
‘Shut it, would you!’ Pete snapped.
‘Truth hurts,’ Ashley said, betting everything.
Pete raised his gun, pointing it directly at Ashley’s forehead, mere inches away. She froze. ‘I told you to shut up,’ Pete said, his voice dripping with quiet fury.
Ashley decided to simply do as she was told now. She’d gotten too comfy in the situation, gotten cocky. She’d made exactly the same mistake she’d warned Leanne about. She’d overplayed her hand.
‘Pete,’ Gina said quickly. ‘It’s alright. You don’t have to do anything like that.’
Ashley felt the gun pressed directly against her skull. It was hard, cold. ‘Who the fuck do you think you are?’ Pete asked her. She was sure this was it—the end.
She chanced one last look at G
ina, her mind scrabbling for one good thing to have in her eyeline in the last moments of her life as the metal pressed to her forehead. But as she studied Gina, taking one last drink of her wholesome beauty, she saw something in Gina’s eyes. Something Ashley wouldn’t have thought Gina had in her. Anger. More than that, it was cast iron rage. Quite a sight. The next thing Gina said was a lot less pleading. ‘I said, put the gun down.’
Ashley’s heart was thumping like a broken clock now. She was terrified for herself, certainly. But she was just as scared for Gina, who was taking too big a risk to save her. She chanced a look at Pete to see how he was taking Gina’s order. He didn’t seem so angry anymore. He looked more surprised than anything. ‘Well, well, would you look at that? Camera girl’s grown a pair,’ he said, trying to sound amused.
‘Pete,’ Gina said again. Just one syllable, but no one in the room could have missed the command in Gina’s voice. She looked immovable, furious. Ashley stared at Pete, watching him trying to figure out what to do next. He was starting to look ever so slightly nervous. This was the first time anyone had truly challenged his authority all day. Ashley would never have bet that the one to do it would be easy-going Gina. Which was exactly what was probably foxing Pete. He didn’t know what she’d do.
And then the gun was removed from her head. ‘OK, let’s not lose our shit, shall we?’ Pete said with a fake laugh. ‘I was only messing.’
Gina still seemed livid. Ashley took a step back, taking a deep, ragged breath, trying to calm her heartbeat. But she managed to spit out, ‘Yeah. It’s all fine. Isn’t it?’ She nudged Gina. Her expression broke at last, and she looked like Gina again. ‘Yeah. OK.’
Pete glanced around at everyone, none too happy about what had just gone down. He’d thrown a wobbly that might have extended to murder, and Gina had backed him down with nothing more than a few words and a hard stare. Ashley hoped he wouldn’t feel the need to reinforce his authority.
But Pete was trying to play it off as a big joke, chuckling to himself as he went around the bar, headed for the TV. ‘Right, enough silly buggers. Let’s see what Kara Malone’s got to say, eh?’ He picked up the remote off the bar and flicked the news on. Kara appeared back in the car park, the shield at her back. She was talking about the fact that nothing had happened in a while, though she was trying to make it sound dramatic using words like, ‘Tense wait,’ and, ‘Silent standoff.’ Everyone’s attention was on the screen now, and Pete seemed happier for that. Ashley and Gina were left alone at the bar.
‘Gina…’ She began quietly. But she couldn’t find the words. What could she really say? How could you thank someone for what Gina had just done?
Gina shook her head. ‘Don’t,’ she muttered.
Ashley’s heart thudded as she gazed at Gina. ‘What you just did…’
‘I had to, that’s all. I just had to.’
‘But it was… Weren’t you scared? I mean, he could have…’
‘But he didn’t. That’s all we need to think about. We’re fine. You’re fine. I’m fine.’
‘OK, but you need to know that what you did? It was fucking incredible.’
Gina looked away, embarrassed. ‘I don’t know what happened. I just… I was scared at first when he pointed the gun at you. But then I felt all hot, and something happened, I don’t know… I don’t think I’ve ever been that mad in my life.’
Ashley shook her head in absolute wonderment. Gina Tucker. Ashley thought she had her number the moment she met her, but she hadn’t even been close.
Twenty-Three
Gina was still trying to recover from her brief personality transplant. But it was a tough ask. She didn’t know who she’d been there for a minute.
All her life, she’d bumbled along, staying out of it, maintaining a lovely distance from the world. But what had happened to her when Pete had pressed his nasty little gun to Ashley’s lovely forehead had dragged her right into the moment, to the dead centre of the universe, it seemed. Rage unknown had filled her whole being. She’d wanted to kill Pete where he stood.
But despite her wrath, she knew that if she made a wrong move, she might further induce him to pull that trigger. She’d never felt the urgency of a moment so keenly. Moreover, she’d never felt her own power to direct it—until now. Her rage channelled itself into cold focus, passing through her lips in a tone she’d never heard from herself. One of total forcefulness and utter dynamism. The crazy thing was that when she told Pete to put that gun down, she fully expected him to do it. And he did.
Then the moment passed, and she wasn’t really certain what had happened, only that Pete was trying to pass the whole thing off as a joke gotten out of hand, not a genuine threat to Ashley’s life. It was probably the best outcome. Gina felt sweat drip down her spine when she realised what she’d done. Told an unpredictable sociopath with a gun what to do. When she had a moment later, she might have a small breakdown about it. But for now, she was just trying to catch her breath and feel grateful that no one had gotten hurt.
But Ashley wanted to tell her she was incredible. Gina didn’t know what to do with that. ‘I don’t know what happened. I just… I was scared at first when he pointed the gun at you. But then I felt all hot, and something happened, I don’t know… I don’t think I’ve ever been that mad in my life,’ she finished honestly.
‘My god,’ Ashley breathed, looking at her with such stupefaction that Gina suddenly knew how it must feel to be a waterfall or a pyramid. Bringing admiration and wonder into the eyes of her beholder. ‘This is the first time all day I’ve actually wanted to be thrown into that cupboard with you,’ Ashley finished.
Gina hoicked an eyebrow halfway off her face. She wondered if anyone had ever blushed to death before. If not, she could be the first.
But before she could respond, the phone went. Pete spun anxiously to face it. His eyes went straight to Ashley. ‘Ash, you’re on,’ he said in a friendly tone. Apparently, she was supposed to forget what he’d just done.
Of course, Ashley didn’t have a lot of choice in that, and Gina watched her take a deep breath, forcing a wobbly smile. ‘Sure.’
‘Gina?’ he said next. ‘Get your cam. I want this on tape. And then you’re gonna send this footage… Actually, can you send it to everyone? Like, all the channels?’
Gina nodded. Though she couldn’t quite bring herself to speak to him. It wasn’t five minutes ago she’d gotten into a standoff with him.
‘Probably better if she passes it on to KTN with instructions to send out to everyone. It would be quicker than trying to send it to all the stations from the cam direct,’ Ashley said for her.
‘Whatever. First thing’s first. Everyone get in the booth.’ Gina grabbed her camera and slid into her usual position. Ashley slid in across from her, Pete next. ‘You on?’ Pete asked. Gina still couldn’t speak to him, so she simply stuck a thumb up from behind the cam. Pete picked up the phone, hit the speaker button, and nodded at Ashley.
‘Hi,’ Ashley said.
‘Good evening, Ashley. And Pete. OK if I call you… call him Pete?’ DI Conway asked.
‘Bit fucking late for that,’ Pete mumbled.
Ashley took that as an affirmative. ‘Yeah. Pete. So, Detective, how’s it going with Pete’s… requests?’
The officer sounded happy as she said, ‘Look, it’s taken a lot of convincing, but I’ve got what he needs. It’s going to be here in an hour.’
Pete punched the air silently.
‘Great, so that’s a plane and the money?’ Ashley clarified.
‘That’s correct. We’re going to start clearing the car park soon to give the plane room to land. The money will be on the plane. One hundred thousand pounds. But we have one thing we do need to ask.’
‘Yes?’ Ashley asked.
‘We need a destination airport. Otherwise, the plane can’t go anywhere. It’s the law.’
Pete laughed. ‘The law?’
‘It’s international law,’ Conway clarified. ‘We c
an’t break it. If you try to land somewhere you shouldn’t, you’ll be arrested when you touch down. Which I presume wouldn’t be ideal.’
‘But it’s only gonna be little, isn’t it, this plane? What’s the fuss?’ Pete asked Ashley.
The detective answered for her. ‘There’s no distinction between light aircraft and heavy aircraft as far as air traffic controllers are concerned. So… Can we have your destination?’
Ashley looked at him. ‘Should I just tell her-’
‘I haven’t decided yet,’ Pete admitted, somewhat abashed.
