Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink

stench of dampened earth seemed to intensify with each breath he took, forcing memories of his childhood adventures in this tunnel to materialize. Although he couldn’t remember if he had imagined a scenario where he was being chased by bad guys back then, it was actually happening now.
    When they reached the end of the tunnel, Danny shined the flashlight on Sydney. She wasn’t even breathing hard.
    Danny handed her the flashlight and swung the rifle onto his sweaty back.
    “You ready?” he asked her, still trying to catch his breath.
    “Yes,” she replied calmly and aimed the light on the ancient wooden ladder that would carry them up into daylight.
    Danny popped his head up first. Seeing that the coast was clear, he hopped out of the hole and helped Sydney up behind him.
    “You okay?” Danny asked her.
    “Yes.” She lifted up her shirt and took out the documents that she had tucked into her waistband. As she began scanning through the pages, Danny eyed the woods around them once more. He thought again about his childhood. He remembered that there was one man who was always at the monastery whenever Danny and his father visited. Booker Halsey. If Phoenix Oil still owned the monastery, was it possible he might be involved in all this? Danny took his thinking one step further.
    If Booker is involved, was Dad involved, too?
    If Sydney’s theory about some kind of conspiracy to bring down the United States was even a remote possibility, such a plot would place anyone involved under tremendous pressure. That kind of pressure would inevitably make some people crack.
    Is that the real reason why Dad killed himself?
    Suddenly, Danny found new momentum. Since meeting Sydney, his desire to help her was fueled by a deep altruism that was the main reason he became a cop in the first place. More important, by helping her, Danny could possibly clear his name. But now, this woman was much more than a way to a better future. Sydney Dumas could hold the key that unlocked the secrets to his past.
    It wouldn’t be smart to share any of this speculation with Sydney just yet. Not until he got a chance to talk to Booker. Danny stopped examining the woods and turned to Sydney.
    “You got everything we need?” he asked.
    She tucked the papers back into her waistband. “It’s all here.”
    “Good. Now let’s get out of here.”
    “Where are we going?”
    “Houston, Texas. I know someone who might be able to help us.”

Chapter 19
    Despite the combination of rage and paranoia that pulsed through him, Nathan Broederlam had a revelation about the library. There must be a secret passageway.
    He had ordered two guards to stomp on the floors and listen for hollow spots. The other two he ordered to tear apart the bookshelves. Taber found what they were looking for after several long minutes of searching. After clearing the bookcase that bordered the left side of the fireplace, Taber beat on the back wall with his forearm and heard an empty thwock.
    Taber stepped back and leveled his rifle at the wall. He opened fire. The other guards joined in. In less than six seconds, they had torn the wall to splinters. Nathan couldn’t believe it. The darkened passageway in front of him looked like it had been carved out by hand.
    Taber extracted a flashlight from his utility vest and examined the empty passageway. He sent his men into it with orders to shoot to kill. Taber stayed behind.
    “You’re not going with them?” Nathan questioned.
    “My men don’t need me with them. Besides, Sydney came back once. She may come back again. We need to be ready for any contingency.”
    Taber loped back into the conference room. Nathan sat at the tunnel’s mouth. He noticed two large hinges on the right side and then saw a cable attached to a clasp in the upper left corner.
    Nathan angled his chair back and forth until he was as close as he could get to it. He reached for it in vain, his body giving up after only a few attempts.
    Goddamn this body!
    He wheeled over to the set of fireplace tools and picked up the poker. He rolled back to the tunnel’s entrance and was able to hook the poker around the cable. He had to rest for a few seconds before giving the cable a good tug. When he did, Nathan heard a scraping noise in the fireplace. He rolled over to it and saw that the grate had moved. The grate was the secret doorknob . Sydney couldn’t have known that detail, Nathan thought. It must have been the American. But there was no way he found