Page 8 of Captive Hearts
Ashley ran back to the front of the van and jumped in. Gina turned to the vicar with an apologetic look. ‘Sorry about the blasphemy.’
‘Oh, I’m not bothered by that,’ he said casually. ‘You should hear Mrs Simpkins at Tuesday night bingo. Absolutelyfoulstuff when she misses the full house. But I’m not happy about this messing about!’ He went back into the church.
Gina got back in the driver’s seat of the van. ‘So, where are we going?’
‘It’s a restaurant. Jimmy’s Pizza.’
‘Alright, then. What’s the-’
‘Just start the van. I’ll give you directions,’ she said, pulling up a map app on her phone.
Gina shrugged and started the engine, pulling away from the church.
‘Left up there,’ Ashley said.
‘Right,’ Gina said.
‘No, left,’ Ashley said.
‘No, I know, I was just… Maybe I’ll just say yes next time.’ She turned off where Ashley had indicated. ‘Where now?’
‘Keep going, I’ll let you know when the next turn-off is coming,’ Ashley said. Gina couldn’t help but note her posture. She was leaning toward the windshield like she was gonna jump out of the window and fly to her destination any second now.
‘Is this normal, then?’ Gina asked.
‘What’s that?’ Ashley said, eyes flicking from her phone to the road, squinting ahead to the next turn.
‘Listening in on police frequency for stories?’ Gina clarified. ‘That scanner thing, do all journos have one?’
‘It’s not standard issue, no. I bought it on eBay. Just in case.’
‘In case of what?’
‘Look, I… I’m going where the story is, alright? That’s what we do. You just point the camera where I say, and we’ll be fine.’
Gina didn’t like the sound of that. ‘Why wouldn’t we be fine?’
‘Wewillbe fine, that’s what I’m saying. It’s right at the lights.’
Gina took the turn. But she wasn’t at all sure she should. None of this seemed right. She wondered what Bernie would say. Gina wasn’t much for narcing, but she had this feeling that at the end of this day, she was going to end up in Bernie’s office, her and Ashley like naughty schoolgirls called up to the head’s office for an uncomfortable conversation about professional protocol. Gina wasn’t really worried about her own arse, though. After all, she hadn’t had this job this morning, so she wouldn’t really lose much if she got sacked. By that logic, if she went along with Ashley’s instructions, what was the worst that could possibly happen?
The answer to that question came some hours later, and it was worse than an arse smacking from the boss. Quite a bit worse.
