Page 45 of Captive Hearts
Gina shuffled away, and Ashley found the switch on the wall. She looked at Gina in the bright light. ‘Sorry.’
‘Easily done,’ Gina said with an embarrassed smile.
Ashley scanned the room until she spotted it. Her half-finished bag of chocolate chips. She didn’t bother picking out a handful this time. She poured the bag directly into her mouth.
‘Stressed?’ Gina asked.
‘Mmm,’ Ashley replied with a mouth jam-packed full of melting chocolate. ‘Berry shtressed.’
Gina sighed. ‘He didn’t like it, did he? Seeing you give me that look.’
Ashley shook her head as she managed to swallow the large mouthful.
‘It’ll be ok,’ Gina said weakly.
Ashley barely heard her. ‘I should never have… Why the fuck didn’t they edit that out, the idiots?’ Ashley cried. ‘If they’d just thought about it for a second, they’d have seen how thick it was to leave that in. But ofcoursethey didn’t. And now they’ve buggered me, completely buggered me. They’ve bent me over and just rammed it in!’
Gina’s eyes widened. ‘You really know how to paint a word picture.’
Ashley leaned - or perhaps it was more accurate to say collapsed - against a wall, spent. Because the truth was, it wasn’t down to anyone else. She was the fool. ‘I was going to… I was trying… I mean, he waslisteningto me, wasn’t he? Like you said, he trusted me. Trustedus. And now it’s fucked.Ifucked it because I couldn’t keep a poker face during his little play.’ Once her rant was over, there was nothing else to say. She just stood there, propped against the wall, loose grip on her bag of chips, staring at the floor, waiting for god knows what came next.
Ashley didn’t dare look at Gina. She’d made it clear what she expected of Ashley. To save the day. But she’d wrecked her shot. Her rapport with him was ruined. Because Ashley had shown him in one ill-advised second that she found his charade pathetic.
‘I’m sorry,’ Gina said.
Ashley looked up in surprise. ‘What on earth areyousorry about?’
‘I put too much pressure on you. I mean, you’re not a bloody superhero, are you?’ Gina said miserably.
Ashley shook her head. ‘You had it right, though. If I could have just kept it up, I might have had everyone out soon. But now Rick’s gonna do what he wants. And he’s so mean andsostupid. Worse, he absolutely believes he’s clever and right. It’s the worst combination. I don’t know what will happen now. To them out there, to us.’
Gina sighed. ‘Look at us in here, blaming ourselves. But you know whose fault this is?’
‘DI Conway?’
Gina tutted. ‘Rick.’
‘I know, I know,’ Ashley nodded. ‘But the thing is, he’s just the bomb. The job of diffusing him became mine.’
‘Despite having no training in bomb disposal whatsoever,’ Gina reminded her. ‘And there’s me saying, “Go on, cut one of the wires. Take a guess which one won’t blow us the fuck up.”
Ashley wanted to accept Gina’s comfort, but it was impossible. She was so bloody angry with herself. ‘Well, he’s gonna go off on his own timetable now.’
Gina nodded. ‘Look, that detective is the one in charge of negotiating with him. Maybe she’ll get everyone out.’
‘Yeah, and maybe she’ll find the Loch Ness Monster when she’s done. Ride him right into that car park,’ Ashley said. Gina’s face fell. ‘Sorry, I just… I don’t know what to do now.’
‘Not a lot we can do,’ Gina told her.
Ashley sighed and settled herself cross-legged on the floor. Gina walked over and sat down next to her, asking, ‘Can I have some of those chips?’ Ashley tossed her the bag. ‘Knock yourself out.’
They sat in silence for a while on the floor of the cupboard, passing the chocolate back and forth.
‘What time is it?’ Gina asked.
‘About half nine,’ Ashley answered.
‘God, I was supposed to go on a date tonight!’ Gina remembered.
