by Natasha West
‘Fine, we’ll slow down,’ Gina said between gritted teeth. Not that she was in any hurry to get down to that plane.
‘No, we fucking won’t,’ Pete growled. ‘We’re nearly at the bottom of the steps. We get there soon, or I’ll be the one to break your neck, alright?’
‘Leanne, just keep going, it’ll be fine,’ Ashley said with a patience that blew Gina’s mind. After all she’d done, Ashley was still trying to help that silly mare. Gina’s admiration for Ashley soared even higher. She was quick to tuck it aside, however. She needed to focus. ‘One! Two!’ They were moving again, shuffling down the stairs.
But then Leanne’s prophecy came true. She fell. ‘Shit!’ she cried as the circle was broken. Gina wasn’t holding onto Leanne, she was linking arms with Ashley and Sam, but she felt the circle break. ‘Freeze!’ she cried. The group locked into statues immediately.
Gina looked out at the police line to see if this was going to have consequences. But no one moved a muscle. Leanne was at the side of the circle, and Pete was still fairly protected from the police for the time being. But he wasn’t pleased. ‘Get up, you stupid bitch!’ Pete hissed. Gina felt the gun removed from her back, and she had a pretty good idea where it was pointing now. ‘I’m trying!’ Leanne said, ‘But I hurt my ankle.’
‘I don’t care if your foot’s fallen off,’ Pete said. ‘Move.’
‘Leanne, it’s alright, I’ve got you,’ said Tina, and Gina listened to the sound of Leanne being pulled to her feet. ‘Lean on me,’ Tina told her. Gina was deeply thankful for Tina. But Leanne wasn’t. ‘Fine,’ she said sulkily. ‘But don’t think this means you’re forgiven.’
‘But I’m helping you!’ Tina said, shocked.
‘Don’t care. You’re a backstabbing bitch, and I’ll never forget it.’
‘Leanne, please, can’t you just…’
‘Stop it!’ Sam hissed from somewhere at the back. ‘Let’s just go.’
‘I am,’ Leanne said. ‘I’m just saying-’
‘Jesus,’ Pete screamed. ‘If I hear one more fucking word out of you lot, I’m gonna start firing. Have you got that?!’
It was the first part of this debate that hadn’t been whispered, and DI Conway called over, ‘Is everything OK?’
‘Shut up! I’m busy!’ Pete yelled at her behind Gina.
DI Conway didn’t say anything further. No one did for a few seconds, so Gina decided that someone needed to move things forward. ‘Is everyone ready to go?’
There were several mumbled yeses. ‘Right. One, two,’ she said, and they were moving down the steps as gradually as Gina could manage.
Eventually, they reached the final stair. Gina thought it had been the most dramatic ten steps of her life, but she had a feeling the record was about to be broken because now they were headed for the plane, a few metres away. Destiny awaited.
Twenty-Six
Ashley wasn’t remotely surprised that Pete hadn’t considered that the move to the plane would need to be at least somewhat coordinated. He was almost entirely incapable of thinking about the future in any detailed way. He lived on hope and luck.
Thank god for Gina, taking charge of the situation, walking the group forward with some semblance of formation. Ashley supposed that was Pete’s luck. That he had Gina at the front. Ashley wasn’t sure she herself would have thought to count them in like that, tense as she was. But there was Gina, a gun in her back, making this whole thing work, never panicking, even when Leanne cocked the whole thing up.
Ashley wished dearly that Leanne had been released at the start of the day; things would have been so much easier. But they had no choice but to drag this dead weight to the plane. So that’s what they did, Tina picking up her frenemy’s slack.
At the foot of the stairs, Ashley’s heart was in her throat. They were going to be at the plane soon and then what? There was no doubt going to be a tricky moment when the handover occurred. Pete might be unprotected for at least a few seconds. The plane door was right in the line of sight of half a dozen armed officers. Would Pete really be allowed to step onto that plane without any interference whatsoever? Because they didn’t know about Gina. They had no idea that she was going to be dragged onto that plane. Pete thought it was clever to keep the police unaware of that. But was it? If he tried anything funny, the police would have to react quickly, without full information. It couldn’t go well.
‘Keep going, nearly there,’ Pete informed the group as they shuffled in the direction of the plane. He must have been peeking between Gina’s and Ashley’s bodies to see his way forward.
For some reason, Ashley decided she was going to close that gap. She pushed her body in tighter to Gina. Gina glanced at her as though to ask, ‘What are you doing?’ But then she seemed to understand that Ashley was trying to place Pete in the dark. She pushed back, sealing Pete off from his view.
‘Wait, stop that,’ Pete whispered as they budged in. ‘I can’t… I can’t see… I need to see…’
Ashley pretended not to hear him, moving forward, continuing to lock Pete out. ‘Nearly there,’ she told him.
He sighed. ‘Fine, just keep going,’ he acquiesced. But now he’d have to trust the circle, rather than his own eyes. If they were going to do something, now was their chance. Ashley took it. She started to veer, ever so subtly, away from the plane. She was trying to give the police a chance to intervene, some leeway to do something. Gina picked up on it quickly and began to steer away from the plane.
‘Oi, idiots!’ Leanne suddenly piped up. ‘Wrong direction!’
Ashley thought that if she had access to Leanne right now, murder would have been a real possibility. She’d never hated a human being more than in that moment. Not even Pete.
‘Hey, is that right?’ Pete asked. ‘We going the wrong way?’
‘No,’ Ashley said. ‘Or yes, but…’
‘It’s actually her, her stupid foot throwing us off course,’ Greg jumped in.
Pete bought it. ‘Leanne, you’re not gonna fuck this up, OK? Gina, sort it. And shift, because I can’t see.’
‘Unbelievable,’ Leanne muttered to herself. ‘I’m saving us!’
Gina let out an almost imperceptible sigh. ‘Yeah, of course, Pete. We’ll be at the plane shortly. Everyone let’s move again. One, two!’
And off they went, back toward the plane. Ashley felt like she was walking to her doom. Worse, she might be walking to Gina’s.
And then there was a small bump as the group smacked softly into the plane. Everyone stopped. ‘Is that it? Are we there?’ Pete said, shuffling around in his little circle.
‘We’re there,’ Ashley said. Pete was gonna drag Gina on that plane now, and she didn’t trust him to let her back off, even if everything went to plan. He was a lying snake.
Ashley knew what she had to do.
Twenty-Seven
‘Sam, you’re closest. Get the door open,’ Pete instructed.
Gina listened as the door was clunked open. ‘You’re gonna have to step back a bit if I’m gonna get it open wide,’ Sam said.
‘You heard him. Shuffle left!’ Pete demanded. Everyone shuffled awkwardly back away from the plane. Gina could now see the police line more clearly for being a bit closer to it. A bunch of officers hiding behind gun sights. Kara Malone, way off to the left, watching through her shield. She could see a camera lens watching too, Kara’s op. Gina had been in that person’s position not that long ago. Watching the news happen. And look at where she was now. In the story. What a day.
‘Sam, you got space now, don’t ya? Get the fucking door open, knobhead!’ Pete instructed.
Gina heard the door swing open.
‘Get back,’ Pete said, and they shuffled back up against the plane. Pete’s breath was suddenly in Gina’s ear. ‘Ready for your close up?’
‘How do you want me to move around to the door?’ Gina asked.
‘I don’t know, figure it out. If this goes wrong now, I’m putting it on you.’
Gina felt fear shoot down her spine as she tried to figure out precisely how to explain to everyone what she needed them to do. Because they had to do it in tight formation. Her mouth opened, and nothing came out.
But then Ashley leaned in. ‘It’s alright. I got it.’ She raised her voice to the rest of the group and said, ‘OK, everyone. Remember when you were a kid, and you’d do, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush?’
Everyone assured her they did. Except Leanne, who mumbled, ‘Fucking what?’
‘That’s what we need to do now while Leanne shuts the fuck up for once. The whole circle needs to revolve right, get Gina and me to the door. Got it?’
‘You?’ Gina asked, suspiciously.
‘Yeah, we got it,’ Sam said.
‘Leanne? You on board?’ Ashley asked. ‘Because if one of us does this wrong, we’re gonna be in trouble.’
‘I think I can manage it,’ Leanne said snarkily.
‘OK, ready? Count of three. One, two, three, go!’
Gina began to move around the circle, singing the rhyme in her head, not because she needed to, but because her mind was grabbing onto any small thing that would keep her calm.
But the kid’s game was a good technique, and all too soon she found herself facing an open cockpit, a four-seater. The door opened into a gap between the front and back row, and she could see the pilot sitting in the front, silently leaning round in her seat to watch what was happening with amused curiosity. She seemed rather unfazed by all this, as though she were swinging by fast-food restaurants and picking up gunmen for international flights of freedom every day of the week. ‘Taxi for Pete?’ she said.
‘I’m here. And my knees are fucking killing me,’ Pete called from the circle, still crouched deep.
The pilot gawked at Gina. ‘So… is he getting in or what?’
‘Pete? You getting in?’ Gina asked.
‘Don’t rush me. I gotta crawl through your legs,’ Pete said. Gina felt him shoving her knees apart and scuttling through, placing himself between her and the lip of the plane. Gina glanced down, and there he was, looking up at her. Then he began to inch up until he was right in front of her, eyeball to eyeball.
Gina thought that if the police sniper was going to do their thing, this would be the moment. They were standing very close to each other though. How easy it would be to miss Pete by a few centimetres and… Gina closed her eyes, just in case.
Nothing happened.
Gina opened her eyes to see that Pete had poked the gun up between them in the small gap. ‘Come on, get in with me.’
Gina nodded. But before they moved, she found herself turning to get a view of Ashley. Not for any reason, not this time. She wasn’t trying to tell her anything except maybe goodbye. But when she locked eyes with Ashley, she saw something she didn’t want to see. Ashley looked pent up, full of… something.
Oh no. It was a plan.
She felt a hand on the scruff of her t-shirt, and she turned around, pulled forward as Pete slipped backwards into the plane, flopping to the floor. A second later, she was lying right on top of him, in the footwell. His gun was trapped between them. At least, she hoped that’s what it was.
But then someone else was getting in and shutting the door. ‘Pete, we’re in,’ Ashley said.
‘Fuck are you doing in here?!’ Pete said.
‘I’m just… You needed the door shut, didn’t you?’ Gina turned to see Ashley sliding into a seat, hunching her knees up on the chair. There was nowhere for her feet to go; the footwell was full of people. ‘Gina couldn’t do it, not quickly anyway, without exposing you. So I just… took the initiative. Hope you don’t mind.’
Pete huffed. ‘For fuck’s sake. You never do as you’re fucking told, do you?’
‘I was just trying to get this done safely, Pete. You needed the door shut.’
‘So why not do it with you on the other side?’
‘I didn’t think of that,’ Ashley said. Gina didn’t buy that at all. Nor did Pete. ‘You don’t think I know you did this on purpose?’
‘I wasn’t thinking,’ Ashley assured him. ‘That’s all. Anyway, we’ll be going now, shall we? Leave you to crack on.’
Pete went quiet for a second. ‘Look, I’m safe. I can’t risk the door opening again now.’
‘What do you mean?’ Gina said into Pete’s shoulder.
‘I mean, I… You’re gonna have to come with me.’
Gina couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen this coming. You couldn’t trust Pete as far as you could throw him.
‘So you were just gonna take Gina? After what you promised?’ Ashley said. Gina could hear in her voice that she’d known he was gonna do this.
‘Gina, can you do me a favour and get the fuck off me? My leg’s going numb.’
Gina was happy to oblige, and she clambered gingerly up into the seat, sitting next to Ashley. She peered down at the floor where Pete was awkwardly stuffed, out of the view of the windows, cuddling his gun like a teddy. Gina glanced around the vehicle. The interior was about the size of a hatchback, quite tatty looking.
Gina eyed Ashley. ‘You shouldn’t have done this.’
Ashley shrugged. ‘I told you at the start of the day. I go where the story is.’
Gina shook her head at Ashley. ‘Bullshit.’
Ashley turned away. ‘Look, you’re my camerawoman. I’m not much good without you, am I? So if you’re in the plane, I’m in the plane.’
Gina swallowed, deeply touched. ‘Ashley, you’ve done the stupidest thing you could possibly have done. But… I do appreciate it.’
‘Just matching your stupid gesture,’ she shrugged, acting like it was no big. But it was. It really was.
Gina glanced out of the window to see what was happening, hoping for some last-minute cavalry to appear. But no. Not a single police officer had moved a muscle, still in their holding pattern. The hostages were nowhere to be seen, though. They’d clearly legged it the second that door closed. It was reassuring to Gina. There was a point to this. They were safe—even fucking Leanne.
‘So, we going?’ the pilot asked, glancing down at Pete over her chair.
‘Yes.’
‘No,’ Ashley said. ‘We’re getting out. Like we said.’ Clearly, she wasn’t quite ready to go to Egypt. She was the cavalry.
‘You’re really fucking not,’ Pete told her sternly.
Ashley’s eyes went round. ‘But you said.’
‘Well, I changed my mind. I don’t have to explain myself, anyway. I say, you do. So, here’s what happens next. This plane takes off, and we all fly to Egypt.’
‘Via Malta,’ the pilot said.
‘Yeah, fine, whatever,’ Pete said grumpily. ‘Malta, then Egypt.’
‘But what then, Pete?’ Ashley asked. ‘You’re just gonna let us fly home, is that right?’
‘Yeah, of course.’
‘I don’t know about that, Pete. I really don’t,’ Ashley said.
Pete didn’t bother replying. He had other things on his mind. ‘Hey, pilot, where’s my money?’
‘I got it back here,’ the pilot said.
‘Show me then!’ Pete demanded.
The pilot tutted. ‘Fine, hang on, it’s under the front passenger seat in this little zip-up bag thing they gave me.’ She started shuffling about in the front.
‘Did you look in it?’ Pete asked.
‘No, should I have?’ the pilot asked, still searching.
‘Just checking you didn’t help yourself.’
The pilot laughed. ‘Fuck with your cash? Not worth it, buddy. Anyway, the police are paying through the nose for this, the mugs.’
‘Look, Pete, you seem like you’ve got things sorted here,’ Ashley began. ‘I really think it would be comfier if we got out of your way.’
‘Yeah. We’re just gonna slide out,’ Gina said, trying to sound uber casual.
The gun came up. ‘Don’t even think about it.’ Once he was sure they weren’t going to open the door, his attention was ba
ck on his money. ‘Let’s see this bag then,’ he said angrily in the direction of the front. ‘I haven’t got all day.’
The pilot was messing about under the seat. ‘I’m sure it’s here somewhere,’ she said, pulling out bits of crap as she rummaged for the bag. Gina was glad of the bumbling. Waiting to see his money was all that was keeping Pete on terra firma right now. This was the very last chance for Gina and Ashley to get themselves off this plane. God knows, the man couldn’t keep a promise, and Gina and Ashley had pissed Pete off one way or another all day. She didn’t trust him to let them go in Egypt any more than Ashley did.