Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink

better place to be one?”
    “And after Butcher’s done with you?”
    Sydney’s coy smile vanished. “They want to put me in protective custody until they can figure out just how far the Bilderbergers’ reach extends.”
    Danny reacted. “That will take months, maybe years, Sydney. Are you prepared to put your life on hold for that long?”
“I don’t see it as putting it on hold, Danny. I’ve finally brought justice to my family.”
    Danny could only imagine what the various agents interrogating her had used as part of their sales pitch for Sydney to agree to be their snitch. She said her life wasn’t about revenge, but Danny could see it in her face. She would do anything to avenge her parents’ death, including existing in the purgatory that is protective custody. Well, so be it.
    “How’s your swim treating you?” he asked.
    Sydney looked behind her at the perfect, Olympic-sized White House swimming pool. The space held a sense of privacy within the eighteen acres where there was none.
    “I was just finishing up.” She pulled off her cap, along with her goggles. The clear water danced around her amazing eyes, making them sparkle even more brilliantly in the late morning sunlight. “I can’t believe I’m swimming at the White House. This will definitely be a story for my petits-enfants , my grandchildren.”
    “Where’d you get the suit?”
    Sydney eyed the sleek one-piece that covered her body. “President Butcher. He said they keep a complete wardrobe of all clothing options in a range of sizes for visitors.”
    “That’s gotta be one hell of a closet.”
    Sydney giggled. “Care to join me?”
    “I do have some time to kill until the State of the Union.”
    “You’re going to the State of the Union speech?”
    “As a special guest of the president.”
    Sydney clapped. “Congratulations. Even more of a reason to take a few victory laps.”
    “I don’t have a suit.”
    Sydney looked behind her again. Then out to each side. “You don’t need one.” Her lips curled, creating a wicked smile. “In fact, neither do I.”
    She pulled down one shoulder strap, then the other. She began cinching her swimsuit down slowly, teasing Danny. Her eyes never left his. “I’ll make sure to keep this next part out of the story to my petits-enfants.”
    Danny was glad he wasn’t armed. For if he was, he could shoot himself for what he was about to say.
    “It’s easier for you to bare your skin than your soul, isn’t it Sydney?”
    Danny’s words wiped the mischievous look off Sydney’s face. She quickly yanked her swimsuit back up, securing her tanned cleavage behind the wall of spandex.
    “What are you talking about, Danny?”
    “The lying never stops, does it?”
    She didn’t answer him. She lunged for the pool steps. Danny met her as she leaped out.
    “I never lied to you, Danny,” she declared and then began drying herself with a towel.
    “You knew Benjamin Speakes worked in the White House, and you never told me.”
    Sydney glared at him. “Do you know how long I’ve waited to confront Speakes? My whole life, Danny. I didn’t play by your rules, but I’m not sorry. I had to do it my way.”
    Sydney pulled on a white robe emblazoned with the White House seal and tied it around her waist. She slipped her feet into slippers also bearing the seal and began walking away.
    Danny followed her. “Is that why you helped Stefan Taber get away?” Sydney stopped in her tracks, but she didn’t turn around. Danny continued. “Back in the hotel suite, when Taber escaped, you stood between him and anyone getting a clean shot. At first, I thought you were frozen in fear. But then I saw it in your face. You weren’t scared; you did it on purpose.”
    Sydney turned and faced Danny. Her eyes were wet with tears. She moved toward him. Danny grabbed her forearms to stop her.
    “Tell me, Sydney. No bullshit.”
    “He saved my life.”
    Danny shook her. “I said no bullshit.”
    Sydney gazed deep into Danny’s eyes. “He knew Knobby.”
    “He knew Colin Tanner?”
    Sydney nodded. “He was working undercover and infiltrated the Bilderbergers. He knew Knobby was trying to leave them.”
    “Who was he working for?”
    Sydney’s eyes instantly cleared. “For the president.”
    “Hold on. Stefan Taber, the ICJ guard, the one who chased us across the country and who tried killing us at every turn, was working for Jack Butcher?”
    “At the Potomac, after we jumped off the plane and