Page 42 of Captive Hearts
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 whenwewere 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 shehuggedhim. 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.’
