Blazing Obsession (7 page)

Alisha, who'd been quietly thoughtful throughout said, “I'm sorry to say it, Lynne, but I think the plan's OK. Definitely worth a try.”

Whatever Alisha or I said, Lynne continued being sceptical, negative and unconvinced. After an hour, I lost my patience.

Throwing down my pen on the coffee table, I said, “OK. So how else do you want to proceed? Do nothing? Let events take their course? Everything we've heard so far points to a long, drawn-out court case involving thousands of pounds in legal costs. And that can only start
after
Georgie's been found. I think our plan has a better chance of success… don't you?”

Lynne gazed into the far distance, ignoring us both.

We spent another two hours going over and over the same ground, sometimes shouting, sometimes with prolonged silences, before she finally screeched, “OK! OK! My head's spinning. God, I've never known
anyone
as persistent as you!”

She let out a long sigh, looked at both of us and said, “I suppose I've got nothing to lose. All right. Arrange the flights. I'm not happy with any of this, James. And what will the police say when they find out I've left the country?”

“I don't see how they can stop you. You're trying to find your son. I think as long as you're in contact if they want more information it's not a problem. I'll tell them if you like.”

Alisha said, “Well, I'm up for it. Lynne, you can't let Nick get away with this. When's it going to end with him?”

Lynne stroked her developing bump. “I'd better talk to the doctor about flying. I think I'm OK, but I need to check.”

Reaching for her hand, I gazed into her eyes and said, “I'm
sure
this is the correct thing to do. I know you're going through hell now and what you've got to do won't be easy. But, if the plan works, Georgie will be home with us before you know it.”

Lynne's doctor gave her the go-ahead to fly. He said she could travel between three and seven months into the pregnancy. At just over five months, this surely allowed plenty of time to get Georgie home.

Once I knew, I got Pat to sort out our first-class tickets for the flight to Orlando early the next day.

We landed mid-afternoon, Eastern Standard Time, and stayed in the Hyatt Regency Hotel within the airport terminal for the first couple of nights. Georgie had now been missing for four days. The plan we discussed endlessly on the flight included a visit to Disneyworld, showing pictures of Georgie to the front-line staff at the entrance to the most popular attractions.

Lynne thought the idea a complete waste of time.

“What's the point of that? Thousands of people visit there every day. No one's going to recognise him.”

Although secretly, I agreed with her, I said, “I know. But at least we're doing
something,
aren't we? Better than moping around at home. It's only until RP can get us more info from Nick's credit card.”

We spent the evening rehearsing what Lynne would say to Nick once we found him. “I don't know if I can do this,” she said on more than one occasion. Alisha and I spent hours convincing her she could. We even role-played the meeting. I played Nick, with Alisha advising Lynne what to say. Although surreal, it kept us focussed on the plan.

Having Alisha in the team proved to be a good idea.

She said, “Think what it means, Lynne. If you pull this off. Not only will you have Georgie back, you'll get that scum-bag of an ex-husband of yours put away for a while.”

We didn't have to go to Disneyworld. RP called early the next morning to say Nick had used his credit card at Orlando Airport to rent a car on the evening they landed. The amount paid suggested a month's hire.

He'd used the card again at a motel in Kissimee the following day and later at Disneyworld. The next day, he bought fuel from a petrol station on the outskirts of Miami, 250 miles south of Orlando.

“This is good isn't it?” I said.

“Well, yes, but by the time the credit card companies process the charges and my contact gets me the info, we're always going to be at least two days behind Burrows. We've got to hope he stays in one place for a while. But at least we're on his tail.”

“Why do you think he's headed for Miami?”

“Could be because two million people live there and it's renowned for high levels of drug dealing. Maybe he thinks he can make a living there under the radar.”

He said he'd call again as soon as he had more information.

*

We checked out of the hotel immediately, hired a Ford Explorer and headed down the Florida Turnpike taking us directly into Miami. We couldn't do anything more until we heard from RP.

DS Evans phoned me later that morning as we were booking into a small hotel in South Beach, Miami. I'd already told him about our plan to travel to Florida.

He appeared surprisingly sympathetic. He'd witnessed many abductions like ours and not many had a happy ending, he'd said. He actually wished us luck.

He told me the police had continued to carry out their own surveillance on Frankie Richards, Nick' s drug dealing partner, as a result of the video tape I'd left with the detective.

An undercover cop had caught Richards in possession of cocaine and caught him in the act of supplying two grams to a spotty-faced youth under one of the bridges spanning the Thames footpath near Greenwich Pier. Richards had already served time for a previous offence. He therefore faced a serious amount of time in custody.

He didn't take much persuading to ‘grass-up' Nick as his supplier in return for a more lenient sentence.

“The case against Burrows has built to the point where a prosecution now appears likely,” DS Evans said.

Another break proved even more significant. RP called an hour later to say that one of Nick's credit card charges paid for a one-star motel, Shona's, along the busy Tamiami Trail where it meets SW 57
^th
Avenue, four miles from downtown Miami.

Judging by the amount, even in this shabby part of town, it looked like he'd paid for a week's stay. The motel office manager had presumably insisted on payment upfront. RP had traced the address and given it to me.

If the Met had passed the same information to the Miami Police Department, they'd most likely be on their way there now.

I glanced at my watch. It read 3.30pm.

I told Lynne and Alisha the news. “Leave your bags in the car. We're not staying. We're going to the motel… now. We haven't got much time.”

Lynne's face turned pale at the immediate prospect of putting on her Oscar-winning performance, as RP had described it.

“Do I have to do this? Isn't there another way?”

Before I could react, Alisha hugged Lynne tightly and said, “Lynne, this is it. Come on… we're close now. Remember what it will be like to see Georgie again.”

“C'mon you two, the motel's only a few miles from here. Let's go,” I urged.

Lynne had phoned her mother every day whilst we'd been in the US, trying to allay her fears. The previous night, Margaret asked to speak to me.

She said, “You know, having a child taken away is the most traumatic thing to happen to a mother. And now my pregnant daughter and her boyfriend are chasing Nick and Georgie all over Florida. Perhaps it's best if Lynne and Nick do get back together. At least they won't have these problems with abductions, courts, contact orders and harassment. Surely Nick's learnt his lesson?”

I exploded. “That's ridiculous! You've forgotten what Nick was like to live with. And we've probably heard only half the story.”

I thought about telling her about Nick's drug dealing, but I didn't want to worry her any more than necessary.

She said, “You obviously love Lynne, James and I like you. I'm sure you'd be good for her and Georgie. But it's so
messy
, isn't it?”

“You could say that.”

I worried that deep in her heart Lynne felt the same way.

*

I thought about what we'd do once we located Nick. The plan had to be foolproof or I'd lose Lynne. And Nick couldn't possibly know about my involvement. But I needed to be around to make sure he didn't do anything silly.

I drove to a car rental site, hired another car, transferred my case and gave Alisha the keys to the Ford Explorer. I followed her to the motel, parked in a bay away from the office and pulled a baseball cap low over my face. I watched Alisha and Lynne go inside and a couple of minutes later they emerged and made for Room 14.

The door opened, marginally at first, and then wider. Nick's face registered utter surprise. I heard Georgie whoop with joy at seeing his mother. They hugged for a good minute before all four of them went inside. I'd have given anything to be with them. I hoped Lynne's nerve would hold.

An hour later, Alisha came out with Georgie. I slid further down in my seat. As planned, she took him to a McDonald's, leaving Nick and Lynne to have their chat.

I remained in my car, imagining the conversation taking place which would change my life. I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel in frustration. I tried listening to the radio but got angry at the strident ads exhorting me to join a health club at ‘never to be repeated' special rates, or take advantage of ‘
Twofers
' (two for one) dinners at a local diner.

Another hour passed before I saw Alisha's car return and draw up outside the motel room. She and Georgie knocked at the door and they entered. We'd earlier considered not returning Georgie to Nick but discounted the idea once I remembered he appeared on Nick's passport. They had to leave the US together.

A further half-hour dragged by. By now it was 6.30pm. I cheered internally as I saw Nick come out of the motel room carrying his case, followed by Alisha and Lynne, who held Georgie's hand. They made their way to their respective hire cars. If they headed for Miami airport, twenty minutes away, I'd know the plan was working.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief when they turned left out of the motel – heading in the right direction. I followed them.

My fallback plan if Nick didn't cooperate was to call the Miami Police Department and inform them of Nick's location. That wouldn't have been our perfect result by a long way and I was glad I didn't have to resort to it.

We'd planned for Alisha to return the hire car at the airport, go to the British Airways ticket office and get the return flights changed to one of the evening flights to Gatwick.

As I made my own way to the security check area, taking great care not to be seen by them, I spotted Alisha heading towards the ladies' rest room on her own. I was desperate to know how Lynne had managed to get this far.

As Alisha emerged, I pulled her to one side.

“How did it go?”

“James! You startled me!” She looked nervously around first and then spoke in a hushed voice. “I've never seen anyone so stunned to see us as Nick… he asked how the bloody hell we found him. We said we'd employed a hotshot private eye. We didn't go into details.”

“Good. How did he react once he got over the shock?”

“Actually, I think he'd got stressed out trying to handle Georgie. He'd been unhappy and tearful ever since they'd left Disneyworld. He hated staying in motels… ‘so boring', he said. And obviously, he's missing his mum, his grandma and his mates at school.”

“Poor little bugger.”

“I know. Anyway, we've changed the tickets. We're booked on BA 208 leaving Gate 21 at 21.45 and landing at 11am UK time.”

“Good. How's Lynne?”

“Very nervous. We haven't had much time to discuss the finer details. But looks like she's pulled it off.”

“Fantastic. Sounds like he's swallowed the possibility the police will drop any charges as long as Lynne's happy.”

“Yeah. It wasn't easy, though. Her biggest problem was getting Nick to accept she was pregnant with your child. She said she'd told him categorically she'd finished with you. He fell for it. Look, I'd better go. They'll be wondering where I am.” She ran towards the gates without a backward glance.

Half an hour later, I changed my ticket for a flight leaving later in the evening.

Before going through to security, I called DS Evans' landline even though I realised it was a few minutes after 2.30am in the UK. I left a message telling him about Nick's flight and urged him to be at Gatwick to arrest him. I hoped he'd pick up the message in time.

I called RP and left a message. I explained what had happened.

“Can you be there tomorrow to meet them, make sure everything goes according to plan? I'm worried that if DS Evans doesn't arrest Nick, it's going to be difficult for Lynne.”

I bridled at the fact that Lynne had told Nick emphatically we were finished. I fretted that she might have had a change of heart.

Finding it difficult to sleep on the flight, I twitched and turned, never getting comfortable. I continuously ran through every likely scenario that may take place in the morning. Finally, I fell into an alcohol-induced fitful doze.

My flight landed on time and I called RP the second I emerged from customs.

He said, “I'm sure you'll be delighted to know the plan worked perfectly. Lynne told me the police intercepted Burrows and took him to an interview room with his baggage. Customs waved Alisha, Lynne and Georgie through. Lynne's mother met them and I arranged a driver and car for them. I presume they're home by now.”

“Thank God! I'll call DS Evans later today. I'm assuming Nick'll be detained, won't he? I wouldn't like to meet him if he's back on the streets. He must be blowing a gasket.”

“He won't be granted bail, James. What's to stop him trying to abduct Georgie again? And the drugs charge is serious. Mind you, strange things happen. Let's hope your DS has done his stuff.”

I thanked him again, ended the call, and punched the air with excitement, yelling, “Yes!”

When I called DS Evans later, he confirmed that Nick had been arrested for abducting a child and for drug dealing. Police bail had been denied.

“Burrows realises he's been duped. If he could get hold of you two, he'd throttle you both to death. He's not a happy bunny.”

He confirmed that he wouldn't be taking any action over my blackmail attempt.

A good day all round.