Read Online Blazing Obsession by Dai Henley - Free Book Online

ground and placing his hands behind his head, he said, “I don’t think there’s much more we can achieve tonight.” He stood and offered his hand to each of us. “We’ll do all we possibly can to get your boy back safely, Ms Burrows.”
    Lynne broke down again, crying uncontrollably. I tried pulling her close to me to comfort her as we stood to leave, but she brushed me off.
    As we walked to the car, holding our coats above our heads to protect us from the rain, I said I’d stay at her place so if any news came in overnight I’d be on hand. She nodded.
    As soon as we arrived, she disappeared to the bedroom without saying a word. Later I found her curled in the foetal position, fully clothed, her eyes shut. Her erratic and shallow breathing betrayed her concern. I lay on my back on a sofa bed in the sitting room, my mind racing, thinking about anything else that I could do to get Georgie back home.
    I concluded it must have been the combination of my blackmail attempt and Lynne’s pregnancy which drove Nick to abduct Georgie. On both counts, I pleaded guilty.
    It concerned me, too, that I hadn’t told the police or, more importantly, Lynne about employing a private investigator to spy on Nick and using the information to get him to back off hassling her. I decided to tell them both the next morning.
    I woke to the sound of a coffee grinder whirring in the kitchen. By the time I got there, I saw Lynne, wearing a blue dressing gown and a towel tied in a turban around the top of her head sitting on a breakfast stool, clutching a coffee mug. She barely acknowledged me. I poured myself a cup.
    I asked, “Do you want me to fix toast and scrambled eggs with your coffee?”
    She shook her head. “Coffee’s fine.”
    â€œLynne, you’ve got to eat something. It’ll only take a few minutes. ”
    She glared at me and said, “Do you think me being pregnant made Nick do this? Or maybe
you’d
said something to upset him?”
    It wasn’t quite an accusation, but was implied in the tone of her voice.
    â€œI don’t think so. Maybe it’s just the pregnancy. To be honest, telling Georgie first wasn’t a good idea. I’m certain he’d have told Nick. You should have let me tell him, or you could have told him yourself.”
    â€œOh, so you think it’s
my
fault do you?” Some of the anger she’d displayed last night at the police station returned in her voice.
    I topped up her coffee and said, “No, of course not. You know Nick’s unpredictable. He needs careful handling. You said Georgie was excited about having a brother or sister and if he told Nick, that would have got right up his nose.”
    â€œNone of this would have happened if I hadn’t met you.” Her voice shot up an octave or two.
    â€œWhat’s that supposed to mean?”
    She yelled, “You, a big shot businessman, you thought you could handle Nick. You totally underestimated him. He’s capable of anything. Because of you he’s taken my son to… God knows where!”
    â€œLook, I know you’re a bit stressed but −”
    â€œA bit stressed! Of course, I’m a bit bloody stressed. My son’s been taken away from me… I may never see him again!”
    Sobbing, she banged the coffee mug down hard on the granite worktop and stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind her.
    I’d lost my appetite. I sipped my coffee whilst staring out of the apartment window down towards Limehouse Basin. Last night’s rain had given way to a bright, sunny spring Tuesday morning. From this vantage point, the slowly moving traffic and the even slower moving barges and ferries on the river appeared normal and ordered – such a difference from the drama unfolding before me.
    I called Pat and explained that Lynne and I wouldn’t be in for the rest of the week. I told her I had to deal with a family