Read Online Blazing Obsession by Dai Henley - Free Book Online Page B

to have taken a vow of silence, stared down at the floor and shook her head.
    â€œOK. We’ll, we’ll start with the most common ones and work our way through. There may be clues from the data stored on the PC once the techies have hacked into it; otherwise, it’s a hell of a workload. Could take days.” He appeared resigned to this being the case.
    *
    I’d arranged an urgent meeting with a solicitor specialising in abduction cases and the next morning, after persuading Lynne to come with me, we were sitting opposite him in his office in Albemarle Street in Mayfair.
    On the way, Lynne maintained her icy silence. I tried unsuccessfully to make conversation, but gave up.
    William Groves, an urbane, bespectacled, fatherly figure confirmed that child abduction, even to a friendly country like the US, was a minefield of regulation and red tape. He told us that even if the procedures were followed meticulously, it could take the court at least three months to get a hearing and that could only happen after Georgie had been found.
    â€œA few of the cases I’ve been involved in are horribly complicated. And only a minority of the three hundred UK child abductions cases a year are sorted out amicably and swiftly. A high number of cases remain unresolved many years later.”
    Lynne stood, realising her hopes for a speedy reunion with Georgie had disappeared.
    â€œThat’s it! I’ve lost him. I’ve lost my little boy. I’ll never see him again. I know it!” She swept towards the door and flung it open so wide it rocked on its hinges.
    I mouthed an apology to the startled Mr Groves before following Lynne out of the office and onto the street, where I struggled to calm her, breathlessly assuring her the situation wasn’t as bad as she thought.
    *
    I called RP. I told him about the abduction and the meeting with police and that I’d admitted to them our plan to sort out Nick. I wanted to meet up later that day. He’d have an opinion, without doubt.
    His office on the second floor of a Regency building in St James’s Street, off Piccadilly, resembled a colonial home in Singapore rather than an office in Mayfair. A thick flowery oriental carpet covered the wooden floorboards. Bamboo shutters at the windows, two huge ceiling fans and walls, each painted red, yellow and ochre covered with black and white photos of big game hunters displaying their trophy kill, completed the illusion.
    I couldn’t take my eyes off a magnificent tiger’s head with snarling teeth adorning the wall behind RP’s huge, oval, mahogany desk. A large brown, leather, button-backed chesterfield and two matching chairs surrounded a low coffee table.
    I expected a dusky handmaiden wearing a sari to dispense the tea, but instead, an attractive thirty-something blonde secretary wearing a short skirt and high heels did the honours.
    Taking in the exotic surroundings, I said, “Wow! How do you get any work done here?”
    RP, as immaculately dressed as ever, grinned and said, “Are you referring to the decor or to Lucy?”
    â€œI think both.”
    â€œThey’re not too shabby, are they? Anyway, let’s get down to business, shall we?”
    As RP poured the tea, he said, “Since you told me about the abduction, I’ve come up with an idea to get Georgie back home as soon as possible
and
sort out Nick. It’ll cost a few pennies, but I don’t think that’s a problem is it?”
    â€œRoger, I don’t care what it costs. If this isn’t dealt with soon, I’m going to lose Lynne…
and
my new addition. What have you got in mind?”
    RP leant forward, his earlier frivolity replaced by a more serious tone. “Nick and the boy must be found quickly. I’m not sure the police are best placed to do this. Once they get the credit card usage data, they’ll know where he is, but they’ll always be a few days out of date. Then we’ve