Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink

forget?”
    “Listen Luther, I need a favor, and I don’t have much time. I’m here at the House of Representatives. Actually, I’m under it. Do you know anything about their subway system?”
    Luther laughed. “Know anything? My brother’s people did the retrofitting work back in ’93 for all the house trains. I heard enough bullshit stories about that job to last me a lifetime.”
    “That’s great, Luther. Listen, I’m going to need you to stay calm and concentrate on what I’m about to ask you. Don’t worry about anything else, just focus on answering the question.”
    “Okay.”
    “Can you tell me if there is anywhere on one of these trains where someone could hide a bomb without it being discovered?”
    “Someone wants to bomb one of the trains?”
    “No, Luther. Someone wants to blow up the Capitol.”
    There was a long silence. Danny thought that the old man may have had a heart attack.
    “Luther, you still there?”
    Luther came back with a question that stunned Danny. “Is the car in the repair dock?”
    “Yes! Yes, Luther, it is!”
    “Listen to me carefully, Sergeant. Your problem isn’t the train. Your problem is what lies beneath it.”

Chapter 100
    “It was Steven Fraser Tytler, an eighteenth-century Scottish historian, who said that a democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the treasury. Then it’s all over but pinpointing the moment of total ruination.
    “Our leaders in Congress have been loose with the purse strings long enough. They have fed for far too long and taken far too much from the public trough. I am not exaggerating when I say that our leaders have guided us down the path toward complete financial collapse. It is time for us, the American people, to take back the reins of fiscal responsibility.
    “Each and every American has a responsibility to not only vote but to ascertain an intimate knowledge of the processes and players of their government as if their lives depended on it. Because it does. Thomas Jefferson once said that the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. While he was referring to battle, I believe that if each American takes the initiative to make our democracy a part of us, to let it flow through our veins like lifegiving blood, then we will keep the tree of liberty healthy forever.
    “I have spent my first weeks in office, as my predecessors have, being handled with kid gloves by my critics and by the media. With this speech, I am certain my list of critics will grow exponentially. Tonight, I issue those folks an invitation to bring their concerns to my door. Should they have a better solution to bring America back from the brink of disaster, I will utilize it and offer my deepest appreciation as well as the thanks of a grateful nation. However, before you even draft your critique, I challenge you to stand tall, look me in the eye, and tell me with an honest heart that you too are not concerned about the kind of nation we are leaving our children. But most of all, I ask you to take the energy you will expend to try and browbeat me and use it for America, not against it.
    “I will not lie to you. I stand here before you and the world to say that we all will need to make sacrifices over the next four years and beyond in order to fix our nation. Each and every American will need to make great sacrifices. We will endure much pain. But we will not make those sacrifices and endure that pain alone. We will bear those burdens with our American brothers and sisters. We will hurt together, but we will also persevere together to one day make our democracy great again.
    “My fellow Americans, we can no longer afford to be led with blinders on. We can no longer afford to put our democracy on autopilot. It is up to each and every one of us to decide whether we stand teetering on the brink of failure or poised ready to rebuild a new and improved nation. Thank you, and may God continue to bless America.”
    The echo of a single pair of clapping hands rose up from the back of the Senate chamber. The first floor lights had been dimmed beyond the central dais from where Jack Butcher stood. He squinted beyond the spotlights aimed on him toward the man who was strolling down the