Page 32 of Captive Hearts
Fourteen
Gina and Ashley were watching an advert for carpet cleaner, along with the rest of the hostages in the main part of the restaurant, on a TV bolted to the wall. Gina really hoped that Bernie had the good sense to cut it with a favourable view of Rick. Because if he hadn’t, Gina didn’t know how he’d react, what he’d do.
But then the news started up, and straight away, it was the Jimmy’s Pizza story. It became clear that nothing else was going to be covered. The man in the studio, Graham Naismith, led the story by saying two of their staff members had become involved in a siege, led by a lone gunman. They cut to the footage, starting with the exterior shot taken from the van of DI Conway trying to talk to Rick, getting quickly shut down. Then it cut to the second negotiation, with Rick hiding behind the woman, who was sensitive about her age, Sandra. Because Gina hadn’t stopped shooting until they were in the restaurant, the whole thing became her point of view as they traipsed across the car park and up to Rick at the top of the steps. The whole hostage swap had been caught. Gina had to admit, it was bloody good footage. Ashley had that right. It was the most exciting thing she’d ever captured.
Next came the interview with Rick. They showed it start to finish with no cuts. Gina found herself watching Rick’s reaction from the corner of her eye. She couldn’t quite read him.
Then it cut to Ashley’s sign off. Gina thought she looked astonishingly brave. Head held high, back straight, the professional to the end. She didn’t look quite as put-together as she had at the start of the day, her clothes untidy, her hair a bit tousled, but that only added to her intrepid vibe. If Gina was being strictly honest with herself, Ashley was rather tasty on-screen.
But there was no time to linger on that, because then Graham in the studio said, ‘We go now to the scene, live.’
‘What?’ Ashley muttered.
Another journalist sprang up on the screen, mic in hand, talking to DI Conway behind the barrier at the end of the road. ‘This is James Harding reporting live from the hostage situation at Jimmy’s Pizza, where our own reporter is currently trapped with the gunman.’
‘I told them I was covering it!’ Ashley complained loudly. ‘James is crap!’
‘Did he forget I’m in here too?!’ Gina added.
‘Shhh!’ Rick commanded. ‘I wanna hear this.’
‘DI Conway is in charge of negotiations,’ James said, turning to the officer. ‘What’s the current status of the situation?’
‘Well, we’ve been in talks with the gunman, and we’re hoping that he’ll keep talking to us until we can find a non-violent resolution to the situation.’
‘Non-violent my arse,’ Rick said. ‘That woman would like nothing better than to personally put a bullet in my head.’
‘Have you secured the release of any hostages yet?’ James asked.
‘Yes, we’ve managed to get one person out,’ DI Conway declared proudly.
James Harding signed off, and it cut back to the studio where the anchor then tossed, with grave solemnity, to an advert for cat food that was supposed to cure your feline of the shits.
‘Did you hear her? She didn’t secure shit,’ Rick complained. ‘Idecided to let that old bird go. Me. She’s not in charge of anything. I am.’ He turned to Ashley. ‘Aren’t I?’
Ashley nodded. ‘Sure, yeah.’
‘How did you think it went?’ he asked the room. ‘The interview, I mean?’
No one said anything. ‘Answer the question!’ he barked, placing his hand on the gun on the table.
‘Good!’ squeaked the office worker with the birthday badge.
‘Yeah?’ Rick asked.
‘Yeah, man. You looked tough,’ one of the bros said shakily.
‘Who said I wanna look tough?’ Rick asked.
The bro couldn’t seem to find an answer. But then his friend said, ‘Don’t listen to him. His dad gave him a serious case of toxic masculinity.’
Bro One’s head whipped around. ‘What?’
‘You know it’s true,’ Bro Two said. ‘You’re way too macho.’
‘Greg, you’re just saying that because I beat you in that arm wrestle.’
‘You’re just proving my point, Sam,’ Greg sighed.
