Chapter 21

It had beentwo hours since Lennox was last seen in the venue. The clock was ticking. We were no closer to finding him.

The call from the police station had been a hoax. No one at the station had even heard of the name the sergeant had given and there was no one who had been brought in on a speeding incident. In fact, the only person they had in custody at all was merely the first drunk of the night, a woman in her fifties who had gotten a bit lairy with a bouncer.

The second I realised that it was a ruse to lure me away, I understood exactly what was going to happen. I knew what Levi was going to tell me the instant his name appeared on my car's display. Natasha had got him.

The CCTV around the venue confirmed that Natasha had been driving. What surprised me was that her ex-husband had been the one to hustle Lennox into the car with her. Aiding and abetting a kidnap was not something I had pegged for him, though he had been very clear that he was still in love with her. Maybe he thought this was his way back into her good graces. His reassurances that he didn't think she was capable of being violent with Lennox suddenly paled into insignificance considering this new knowledge.

"Levi, find me everything you know on Trevor Gibson, and get Eric on the phone."

He nodded and got to work in the mobile operations centre that we had temporarily set up in my hotel room. A few moments later, Levi handed me his phone.

"Eric? I hope we didn't wake you."

"Not at all, what can I do to help?"

"Did you find anything else out about Trevor Gibson?" I asked, trying to remain calm, but knowing full well the stress was beginning to show in my voice.

"Nothing more than the basics of what I told you. I'll send you the updated documents now."

I thanked him and ended the call. There was a knock at my door and Levi went to answer it.

"Mr Thatcher?"

Levi pointed in my direction.

"We just wanted to keep you informed that we have a lead into Mr Love's disappearance and are looking into who owned the car he was last seen getting into."

I nodded. This wasn't news to me. I had already figured out who it was that owned the car. I knew that as soon as I saw the CCTV. I also knew that because this was an open investigation to them, they wouldn't tell me who it was anyway.

"If we find out anything further, I will keep you updated," he finished.

I shook his hand and thanked him for his time, closing the door behind him as he left.

"The buggers don't get anymore helpful with this, do they?" Levi laughed to himself.

"Not one fucking bit," I agreed. "Any word on where the car went after driving away?"

Levi shook his head. "Nah, boss. Looks like they had at least some knowledge on being followed. Aside from the odd traffic camera in the direction of the M8, they seem to have just disappeared from sight."

Fuck. I knew what that meant. They had been even more clear in their goals and how to achieve them. They understood they would need to avoid being seen.

"This has been planned."

Levi agreed, "Too fucking planned for my liking. The call you had was just to get you out of the way long enough to get Lennox. And now these fuckers have it in place to stay away from view and just disappear." Just as he spoke his phone pinged with a text message. "Well, my mate has just confirmed that the car is indeed registered to Trevor Gibson." He showed me the screen.

Anger bubbled up within me. "He lied to my fucking face." I made a vow that if I saw him again I was going to punch his lights out. "Now what?" I growled.

"Relax, boss. We're going to keep looking. Something will turn up and we'll get him back."

"Levi, call in some of the tech guys. Tell them they have an hour to take apart her social media, her emails, her bank accounts, and the same for Trevor Gibson. There has to be something—other cars, property, credit cards, cash withdrawals. Anything. There has to be a tie to something, somewhere that we have overlooked."

Levi lifted his phone and was dialling before I had even finished what I was saying. I really hoped that we could find some clues to be able to get Lennox back, but the more time went on, the more worried I got.