Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink

nudged Danny out of his dazed state. A little boy strapped in a wheelchair was being lowered step by step by two Capitol policemen. They shuttled him down to the end of the aisle in front of the balcony. A female page ushered a woman over to the empty chair at his side. The woman was in her mid-thirties. She had bottle blond hair cropped short and an easy smile, which she sported as she made eye contact with Danny.
    “Will this spot do, son?” the one policeman asked.
    The boy strained to lift his head off the headrest. He peered down over the balcony through a pair of chunky eyeglasses. His reddened face lit up. Noise from a ventilator machine squeezed air into a tube fixed in the side of his neck.
    “Yes, sir,” the boy croaked. He pulled his left hand over to his right and began lifting it up in the air to shake hands. The policeman knew what he was trying to do. He grabbed the boy’s trembling hand and shook it.
    “Thank you,” the boy uttered. The other policeman leaned around the wheelchair and shook the boy’s hand as well.
    “You’re welcome,” they said simultaneously. Danny saw the one cop’s lower lip trembling as he walked back up the steps. Danny noticed he was wearing a wedding ring. He was probably a father as well. He could only imagine what the cop was thinking.
    Thank God that’s not my son.
    The mother noticed Danny’s eyes on her son. “Good evening,” she said to him.
    “Evening, ma’am,” Danny replied.
    She extended her right hand over her son’s lap. “I’m Elisha Goodnight, and this is my son, Ethan.”
    Danny shook her hand. He noticed that the ring finger on her left hand was naked. “Sergeant Danny Cavanaugh.” Ethan moved to pull up his right arm again. Danny went to scoop Ethan’s hand out of his lap but stopped himself. Ethan had the look of a determined young man. Danny waited until he raised his right hand up in the air to embrace it. “Nice to meet you, Ethan.”
    The machine pushed air into Ethan’s body. His fixed smile grew. “Like … wise.”
    “Sergeant? Does that mean you’re a police officer?” Elisha asked.
    Danny nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I’m with the Texas Rangers.”
    “Oh, how exciting. Ethan always wanted to be a police officer. I bet you have some incredible stories.”
    “I’ve got a few, yes ma’am.”
    “So what brings a Texas Ranger to the State of the Union?”
    “I’m being recognized for my service.”
    “Wow. You must have done something special. Of course, in my eyes, people in law enforcement do something special every day.”
    Danny grinned. He figured that this single mother’s life was so full of caring for a child like Ethan, on top of supporting herself, that she had no time to follow current events.
    “I just helped the president out of a jam,” Danny replied. Even though Ethan was hanging on his every word, he wanted to change the subject. “What brings y’all here tonight?”
    “Ethan’s the newly appointed spokesperson for President Butcher’s healthcare initiative.” Elisha’s easy smile ramped up into a dazzler, as she gazed proudly upon her son.
    Danny smiled at Ethan. “Well congratulations, Ethan. It’s about time that someone did something about our healthcare crisis.”
    Ethan raised his finger to his lips. “Shhh,” he sounded. He opened his mouth to speak further, but nothing came out.
    “Don’t try to talk too much, honey. You need to rest up for your big moment in the spotlight.” Elisha turned to Danny. “He’s trying to tell you not to tell anyone about his new job. It hasn’t been announced yet. Ethan doesn’t want anyone to steal the president’s thunder.”
    Danny felt a vibration in his side. He pulled out his buzzing cell phone and checked the caller ID. “Oh, okay, I understand.” He put the phone to his ear. “Mum’s the word.” Ethan nodded. “Excuse me a second.” Danny turned away from them. Carver Sutton’s unmistakable voice echoed in his ear.
    “Mum’s the word for what?”
    “For mum. It’s nothing. What’s up?”
    “I’ve got a juicy morsel for you, Sergeant.”
    “What is it?”
    “First of all, I checked to see if Stefan Taber had been a student of Colin Tanner’s at Oxford and found nothing. I figured it was an alias anyway. But then I did a little more digging into Tanner’s professorial career. Like my pappy always said, it’s all about the follow-through.”
    “Chip, I don’t have the time for theatrics.”
    “Okay, okay. Tanner was