Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink

head. Benjamin Speakes was lying face down on the floor next to them, his eyes glazed over with death. Blood trickled out from his body, widening the pool already on the floor.
    “Drop your weapon and let the woman go.” Peter Devon’s command was calm, almost monotone.
    Taber stared at Peter Devon. “All I want to do is leave. My work here is done.” His words were just as calm as Peter Devon’s. But with his British accent, the man sounded even more composed.
    Danny studied Sydney. She looked oddly peaceful for a woman with a gun to her head.
    Something isn’t right here.
    “You heard Agent Devon. Drop your weapon. There’s nowhere to go.” The words came from behind Danny. He turned and saw that the president had made his way into the bedroom.
    With the four agents corralled around him, Danny could only see the president’s face.
    Taber lowered his weapon. “You are the president of the United States,” he said. The president stood still, neither affirming nor denying the man’s statement. Taber dropped his gun to the floor. Peter Devon took a step forward to collect it when Taber shoved Sydney at him. From his viewpoint, Danny saw the gleam of black metal behind Sydney’s back.
    “Gun! Gun!” Danny yelled.
    Taber ducked behind Sydney, using her as a shield, as he fired at the most important target in the room. The agents piled on top of the president. Peter Devon pivoted to his right, putting his body in the direct line of fire. Danny aimed his gun, but he couldn’t pull the trigger. Sydney was still standing in the way.
    Taber ducked behind the doorway and into the sitting room. Danny fired three rounds into the wall, hoping at least one of them would find its way through the drywall and into Taber’s body.
    “Sydney!” Danny yelled. “Over here!”
    Sydney looked at him but didn’t move from the doorway. Danny scurried over and shoved her behind an antique club chair in the corner of the room. He turned back and crept to the edge of the doorway. He sucked in and ushered the standard police ultimatum.
    “There’s nowhere to go, Taber! You’re surrounded! Drop your weapon and come out with your hands on top of your head!”
    Danny heard nothing. He sensed no movement. From the corner of his eye, he saw Peter Devon squirming on the floor, still trying to get to his president to make sure he was okay. He remained a target out in the open. Danny ran over to him, firing three cover shots into the sitting room along the way. He grabbed Devon and pulled him to safety behind the bed.
    “The president?” Devon uttered out of breath. He ripped open his shirt and clawed at his bulletproof vest. Danny saw two bullet holes in it, just below Devon’s sternum.
    The amoeba of bodies around the president had carried him to the far side of the bedroom. They disappeared back down the hallway toward the parlor.
    “He’s okay. He’s out of harm’s way,” Danny said as he helped Devon loosen his vest, allowing his lungs to expand.
    “Get … that … son of a bitch.”
    Danny nodded and got ready to move. Devon wobbled to his knees. Danny crept toward the sitting room, making sure to hug the wall. Devon nodded and readied himself to cover Danny. Danny lunged out into the doorway, his weapon covering the entire sitting room in a split second. He ducked back against the wall. He thought about his ultimatum as he visualized what he just saw.
    There’s nowhere to go!
    But there was. Beyond the sitting area next to the bathroom was a short hallway with a closed door at the end. Hanging on it at eye level was the familiar hotel rate sheet underneath a sheet of plastic, similar to those sheets he had noticed on every exit door of every hotel room in which he had ever stayed.
    Danny rushed through the doorway and through the sitting room. He flew through the exit door and was back in the main hallway of the fifth floor. He pointed his gun in every direction. No one.
    To his left was the end of the hallway and the main entrance to the Oval Suite, the one Peter Devon had shattered only moments ago. Danny took off to his right, sprinting down the hallway. He burst through the stairwell door and shuffled down the stairs until he reached the ground floor. He threw open the door and sped out into the empty hallway. He ran past the storage closet, came to another door, and opened it. He was now in a darkened corner of the front lobby. He moved through an alcove and past the restrooms. Restrooms really were dead