[00:00.00]The next day,
[00:02.07]as the morning wore on,
[00:03.93]Lesley became more and more agitated,
[00:07.10]and her mood became apprehensive,
[00:09.62]when Jeff did not appear.
[00:11.26]When noon hour arrived
[00:14.32]and he still had not appeared,
[00:16.19]she started making some phone calls.
[00:19.14]None of their mutual friends
[00:22.20]had either seen or talked
[00:24.17]with Jeff that day. Until today,
[00:27.89]Jeff had always been very punctual
[00:30.51]about returning the boy
[00:32.15]at the appointed time.
[00:35.10]Lesley felt a knot
[00:36.85]forming in her stomach
[00:38.27]as a crazy thought persisted
[00:39.92]at the back of her mind.
[00:42.00]She was absolutely sure
[00:44.51]something was wrong.
[00:46.15]Jeff sat with his head bowed.
[00:50.09]He was undecided what to do.
[00:53.48]The domestic arrangement with his former
[00:56.77]wife was proving to be awkward.
[00:58.96]He was frustrated at being
[01:01.69]able to see his son
[01:03.33]only on weekends and felt
[01:05.52]he was always making concessions
[01:07.93]to accommodate Lesley’s work schedule.
[01:10.55]Every meeting was turning
[01:13.95]into a competition for the boy’s affection.
[01:16.90]His one desire was
[01:19.09]to take Zac away for good.
[01:21.06]The enormous decision to undertake
[01:24.77]this plan appeared to be presenting itself.
[01:27.40]Today he would depart
[01:29.81]for a conference in California.
[01:32.33]This appeared to be a marvelous opportunity
[01:36.04]to take the boy and leave the country
[01:38.34]for good. He bet that
[01:41.19]he could pack sufficient baggage
[01:42.72]into his vehicle and
[01:44.36]then disappear across the border,
[01:46.22]gaining entry the U.S.A.
[01:49.61]He gave little thought to
[01:53.55]whatsoever of the fact that
[01:55.74]this act could lead to his conviction
[01:58.14]if he was tracked down by the cops.
[02:01.43]Meanwhile, for Lesley
[02:04.60]the nightmare continued to unfold
[02:07.23]as the reality of the situation deepened.
[02:10.28]After 48 hours, the spokesman
[02:14.22]for the district policedepartment assured her
[02:17.40]they would investigate Zac’s disappearance.
[02:20.57]Her faith that
[02:22.87]justice would be realized was faint.
[02:25.16]The shock of the past two days’ events
[02:28.67]made her realize that
[02:30.31]possibly her son would become
[02:32.39]One more statistic in the missing children file.
[02:36.33]The police completed a preliminary survey
[02:39.61]after asking hundreds of detailed questions.
[02:43.55]Hot lines proved fruitless |