Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink

American couldn’t hear her words. Could Nathan contact the American and make him question her motivation? Could he make the American turn on her?
    Nathan didn’t know those answers, but what he did know was that Sydney and the American had come back specifically for the lawsuit. That meant they had a plan, a purpose. Maybe they had someone in mind to tell about its existence, maybe a news reporter or a U.S. government official. Whether anyone else believed them was now a moot point. There was now a story with evidence, a story that would need to be investigated.
    And it’s all my fault.
    Nathan shuddered at the possibilities his error would cause. He had to contain this situation. But how? Could he count on Stefan Taber to help him massage the truth? Could Taber be bribed if it came to that? As if reading his mind, Taber appeared in the doorway. Nathan jumped in his chair but tried not to dwell on the fact that Taber startled him.
    Nathan had known Stefan Taber personally for two years and had known of Taber’s reputation for over six years. He was a ruthless operative who made sure nothing could be linked to The Group, an ability that both intrigued and scared Nathan at the same time.
    “Any news from your guards?” Nathan asked as Taber approached.
    “Declan Drake radioed.” Taber had informed Nathan about what Sydney did to Drake in her bathroom. After sending all his guards, including Drake, out in the woods after her, Taber hadn’t heard from him until moments after they discovered the escape tunnel behind the library. Drake had been incapacitated by the American. But, ever the professional, he was able to continue the hunt. “They’re tracking them due north as we speak.”
    As if on cue, the Motorola Talkabout T7400 radio lying on the conference table burst to life. It spewed out static followed by a short, inaudible sentence. Nathan was about to grab it off the table but Taber swiped it first.
    “Repeat,” Taber blurted into the radio and turned up the volume.
    “We’ve tracked them to a cabin almost two clicks due north of the monastery,” Drake replied in his calm Irish brogue. “I had a clean shot at the man and took it.”
    A glimmer of hope rose from Nathan’s gut. “Is he dead?” he asked. Taber repeated the question into the radio and waited for a reply.
    “Nothing’s affirmative yet, sir. We have the cabin surrounded and are waiting further instruction.”
    Taber stared at Nathan for instructions. The guards had the cabin under control, and the American was, in all likelihood, dead. Nathan was about to give the order to move in and kill Sydney when he stopped himself. The lawsuit was a highly unusual and controversial document. Still, as a seasoned ICJ judge, Sydney Dumas was bound by her duty to adjudicate it without passion or prejudice. Nathan couldn’t get past her initial reaction to it in the conference room. It was as if someone had just told her an unbelievable secret, like she knew the real story behind the lawsuit and it was just proved true.
    The questions that had been lurking in Nathan’s mind for the past few hours were now peppering the forefront of his brain. Was Sydney that sophisticated to see beyond the words in the lawsuit? Was she some sort of spy sent to infiltrate The Group? If so, who sent her? Nathan’s questions needed answers, and Sydney Dumas was the only one who could answer them.
    “Do not kill her,” Nathan said. “At all costs I need her alive.”

Chapter 23
    Sheets of wooden lattice surrounded the cabin’s border, providing a barrier between the porch and the sloped earth underneath it. Beyond it, Danny saw a pair of bare legs emerge from the brush. The guard from the monastery grounds. He wasn’t giving up.
    Danny heard the guard’s voice and then the squelch from a radio, but couldn’t make out what he was saying. Danny and Sydney were still frozen, waiting for the guards to make their move. There was one more pulse of radio noise and then the feet began to move toward the cabin’s front steps. In seconds, the guards would see that Danny’s body wasn’t there.
    “Let’s go,” he mouthed to Sydney. He began crawling again and hoped Sydney had enough will left in her to follow.
    They made it to the cabin’s western edge just as turmoil erupted above their heads. Wood splintered as the front door was kicked in; glass shattered as windows were broken. The floorboards shook, jolting Danny as he reached through the lattice panel and