like that.’
Ashley felt the gun pressed directly against her skull. It was hard, cold. ‘Who the fuck do you think you are?’ Pete asked her. She was sure this was it—the end.
She chanced one last look at Gina, her mind scrabbling for one good thing to have in her eyeline in the last moments of her life as the metal pressed to her forehead. But as she studied Gina, taking one last drink of her wholesome beauty, she saw something in Gina’s eyes. Something Ashley wouldn’t have thought Gina had in her. Anger. More than that, it was cast iron rage. Quite a sight. The next thing Gina said was a lot less pleading. ‘I said, put the gun down.’
Ashley’s heart was thumping like a broken clock now. She was terrified for herself, certainly. But she was just as scared for Gina, who was taking too big a risk to save her. She chanced a look at Pete to see how he was taking Gina’s order. He didn’t seem so angry anymore. He looked more surprised than anything. ‘Well, well, would you look at that? Camera girl’s grown a pair,’ he said, trying to sound amused.
‘Pete,’ Gina said again. Just one syllable, but no one in the room could have missed the command in Gina’s voice. She looked immovable, furious. Ashley stared at Pete, watching him trying to figure out what to do next. He was starting to look ever so slightly nervous. This was the first time anyone had truly challenged his authority all day. Ashley would never have bet that the one to do it would be easy-going Gina. Which was exactly what was probably foxing Pete. He didn’t know what she’d do.
And then the gun was removed from her head. ‘OK, let’s not lose our shit, shall we?’ Pete said with a fake laugh. ‘I was only messing.’
Gina still seemed livid. Ashley took a step back, taking a deep, ragged breath, trying to calm her heartbeat. But she managed to spit out, ‘Yeah. It’s all fine. Isn’t it?’ She nudged Gina. Her expression broke at last, and she looked like Gina again. ‘Yeah. OK.’
Pete glanced around at everyone, none too happy about what had just gone down. He’d thrown a wobbly that might have extended to murder, and Gina had backed him down with nothing more than a few words and a hard stare. Ashley hoped he wouldn’t feel the need to reinforce his authority.
But Pete was trying to play it off as a big joke, chuckling to himself as he went around the bar, headed for the TV. ‘Right, enough silly buggers. Let’s see what Kara Malone’s got to say, eh?’ He picked up the remote off the bar and flicked the news on. Kara appeared back in the car park, the shield at her back. She was talking about the fact that nothing had happened in a while, though she was trying to make it sound dramatic using words like, ‘Tense wait,’ and, ‘Silent standoff.’ Everyone’s attention was on the screen now, and Pete seemed happier for that. Ashley and Gina were left alone at the bar.
‘Gina…’ She began quietly. But she couldn’t find the words. What could she really say? How could you thank someone for what Gina had just done?
Gina shook her head. ‘Don’t,’ she muttered.
Ashley’s heart thudded as she gazed at Gina. ‘What you just did…’
‘I had to, that’s all. I just had to.’
‘But it was… Weren’t you scared? I mean, he could have…’
‘But he didn’t. That’s all we need to think about. We’re fine. You’re fine. I’m fine.’
‘OK, but you need to know that what you did? It was fucking incredible.’
Gina looked away, embarrassed. ‘I don’t know what happened. I just… I was scared at first when he pointed the gun at you. But then I felt all hot, and something happened, I don’t know… I don’t think I’ve ever been that mad in my life.’
Ashley shook her head in absolute wonderment. Gina Tucker. Ashley thought she had her number the moment she met her, but she hadn’t even been close.
Twenty-Three
Gina was still trying to recover from her brief personality transplant. But it was a tough ask. She didn’t know who she’d been there for a minute.
All her life, she’d bumbled along, staying out of it, maintaining a lovely distance from the world. But what had happened to her when Pete had pressed his nasty little gun to Ashley’s lovely forehead had dragged her right into the moment, to the dead