Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink

well have been supported by a small but well-trained force acting on secret orders directly from King Edward, England’s commander in chief.
    “Thanks, Jimmy. And thanks for saving our asses.”
    “Sure enough, Sergeant.” He grinned as he snipped the right wire once more. “All in a day’s work, right?”
    Danny started for the ladder. Halfway up it, he called over to Jimmy. “Name’s Danny Cavanaugh by the way.”
    O’Brien saluted him with his wire cutters. “Nice to meet you, Danny. Maybe us two Irish boys can go tear up Adams Morgan some night, if you’re still around.”
    “Sounds like a hell of a plan,” Danny replied. He stepped over to the hatch and stuck his head up to see Sergeant Cannon standing over him. He was holding a walkie-talkie out in front of Danny’s face. “I thought you might like to hear this.”
    Danny heard the Speaker of the House’s voice in the distance. “Are you ready, sir?” There was no answer. A few moments passed and then the Speaker’s voice rung out through the walkie-talkie.
    “Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States.”
    The tiny speaker inside the walkie-talkie crackled with static as the applause overwhelmed it. Danny almost forgot about the speech. Cannon kept his thumb on the button until Danny motioned for him to turn it off. He climbed up out of the hatch and dusted himself off.
    “Looks like you get to be the hero all over again, Cavanaugh.”
    There was no hint of gratitude in Cannon’s voice, no recognition of Danny’s hunch that had just saved hundreds of lives, including Cannon’s. But Danny didn’t expect as much.
    “You still don’t trust me do you, Cannon?”
    “I’d like to know exactly how the hell you knew to check the basement. You get a call or something?”
    Danny shook his head. “No.”
    Then how’d you know?”
    “Instincts.”
    Cannon huffed. “Instincts, huh? Bullshit.”
    Danny stared at Cannon for a while. Then, he simply turned and started walking away.
    “Hey. Where you going Cavanaugh?” Cannon asked.
    “Where my instincts are leading me.”
    “We’ve got to tell people what’s happened. You’ve got to explain how you knew what was going on.”
    Danny kept walking. “You do it, Cannon. You’ve got a way with words.”
    Cannon called out after Danny. “Wait a minute. What are you going to do?”
    Danny kept walking and called out over his shoulder. “Be the hero again. Third time’s the charm, right?”

Chapter 102
    Danny lifted his head up off the cot and was momentarily confused by his surroundings. Then he saw the lockers in small employees’ locker room, and it all came rushing back to him. Chip had put him up for the night.
    Danny checked his watch. It was seven thirty in the morning. He looked over at a chair in front of one of the lockers. On it, Chip had left him a towel, a can of shaving cream, and a disposable razor. A note was on top of the towel. Danny rolled off of the inflatable mattress, trudged over to the chair, and read it.
    “No man ever looked good in his casket with a five o’clock shadow. Love and wet kisses, Carver.”
    Danny chuckled and then headed to the shower. As he took the next twenty minutes soaking his head, he reviewed the plan that he and Chip had devised in the late night that turned into early morning just hours ago.
    A couple pints of Shiner Bock had moistened Danny’s brain just enough to make their idea seem plausible, damn near successful. If everything went according to plan. But, as Danny knew all too well, things hardly ever went according to plan.
    Danny emerged in the kitchen with a towel around his waist and beads of water still clinging to his chest. Chip was cooking ham and cheese omelets. As soon as he saw Danny, he put both hands on his hips and thrust out his ass.
    “Morning, sugar. Thank you so much, but I don’t need any more heat for my fire,” he said, lisping his words.
    “It’s too early for that shit, Carver.”
    Chip produced two pints of beer from behind an industrial-sized bottle of Heinz ketchup. He handed one to Danny. “Here you go, breakfast of champions.”
    “Thanks.” Danny took it from him and glanced at the TV hanging in the corner. It was tuned to CNN Headline News. “Anything new on the news?”
    Chip looked up at the TV. “Just more pundits adding to the nauseating river of analysis about Butcher’s speech. They all loved the hell out of it, said it was just what this country needed to hear.” Chip