Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink

Cavanaugh and Sydney Dumas, a better use of his talents came to mind.
    He searched the man and found a cell phone in his pant’s pocket. He dialed the last received call and waited.
    “Chip, thank God,” Cavanaugh gushed into the phone.
    “Not quite.”
    There was a long silence. “What have you done to Chip?”
    “I killed him, and I have his recording. Just thought you might like to know you have nothing now.”
    Taber hung up. Then he put the walkie-talkie to his lips.
    “Cavanaugh is no longer a problem,” he told the president. Taber couldn’t help but smile, as he thought about the recorded confession he held in his hand. “But we need to have a chat about increasing my fee.”

Chapter 107
    Danny doubled over in his seat. He put his thumping head in his hands.
    No! God, no!
    The Metro train gained speed as it left the Arlington Cemetery station and sped toward the District. Danny wanted to scream. He wanted to bust the train apart. He wanted to get off right now and go kill that bastard Stefan Taber.
    “Danny,” Sydney peeled his hands away from his face. She had listened to the call that Danny thought was from Chip. “Danny, listen to me.”
    Danny looked at her. As he blinked, tears spilled from his eyes.
    “Danny, it’s not your fault.”
    “I got him—” Danny heard the volume of his voice and then whispered, “I got him into our mess, Sydney. I got him killed.”
    “He knew what he was getting into, Danny.” Danny shook his head. He tried looking away, but Sydney wouldn’t let him. She followed his eyes with hers. “He knew the risks, Danny.”
    “It’s not that simple.”
    “It isn’t fair, Danny. We both know too much about loss. My parents and your father were taken from us. Chip was your friend, and now he’s gone. I know it isn’t fair. But all we can do is finish what he helped us start.”
    “What are you talking about?” Danny asked.
    “We don’t have the recording anymore, so we need to get another form of proof.”
    Danny searched Sydney’s eyes. He suddenly realized what she meant. “You’re talking about the lawsuit.”
    Sydney nodded. “With all that has happened, the other copies are no doubt destroyed by now. My copy is the only one left.”
    Danny lowered his voice even further. “But it’s in the White House, Sydney. It’s in the Oval Office, for Christ’s sake. I saw Butcher lock it up in his credenza. For all we know, he’s already destroyed it.”
    Darkness invaded the car as the train rocketed into the tunnel that snaked underneath Rosslyn, Virginia. But it couldn’t overtake the look in Sydney’s blazing green eyes.
    “Butcher wouldn’t have destroyed it. He could still use it as evidence for whatever else he may be planning. You said it yourself back outside the monastery, Danny. Spoken accusations are nothing without hard evidence to back it up.”
    As Danny’s eyes adjusted to the muted light inside the train, he saw the look on Sydney’s face. “You’re suggesting we break into the White House?” he whispered. She nodded. “It’s impossible, Sydney.”
    “What’s impossible is that we’re still alive, Danny.” She looked toward the train’s ceiling. “Someone up there is watching out for us. They’ll help us again, I know it.”
    The Metro slowed, its squealing brakes piercing their quiet conversation. The driver’s voice boomed throughout the car. “This is Rosslyn Station. Transfer point for the orange line train.”
    Help. We need help . In his mind, Danny was already analyzing a short list of candidates who could help them infiltrate the White House. He kept coming back to the same person over and over. “I think we need to count on someone else, Sydney.”
    “Who?”
    “Someone Chip told me I can trust.”

Chapter 108
    Danny entered the code at the keypad hidden in the back of the storage closet in the Willard Hotel. He heard a clunk and then pulled on the corner of the shelving unit bolted to the secret door. It swung open, and he saw the same long concrete tunnel that he had run through only days ago. Sydney blasted by him and began running down it. Danny wanted to yell at her to wait, but he also didn’t want to alert anyone of their presence. The door began closing on its pressurized hinges behind him as Danny took off after her.
    As they blew through the intersection of the five tunnels, Danny couldn’t help noticing that someone had already cleaned Sydney’s blood off the wall. They were at the next