Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink

Monaco.”
    “You mean the Monaco in Monte Carlo, the playpen of the rich and famous?”
    “One and the same.”
    “Wow. So how did you wind up serving on something called the International Court of Justice? Pretty lofty stuff.”
    “My boyfriend at the time nominated me.”
    “Who was your boyfriend?”
    “The prince,” Sydney replied flatly.
    Danny’s eyes whipped off of the road. “Your boyfriend was the prince of Monaco?”
    “Yes. Does it seem that hard to believe?”
    Danny looked back into the dark void beyond the windshield. “No. But I imagine the next guy is gonna have it a little rough living up to the prince of Monaco.”
    “Ever hear the story of the frog that is really a prince, Danny?”
    “Yeah, Sydney. Even I’ve heard that one,” Danny said with a trace of sarcasm.
    “Sometimes it’s the other way around. The prince is just a frog in disguise.” Sydney could tell that he was contemplating her rather honest comment as he flipped through a couple stations on the radio before finally settling on one.
    “I see we have the same taste in music,” Sydney said as Eric Clapton broke into his classic rendition of “After Midnight . ”
    “You’re a Clapton fan? Outstanding!” Danny replied. “Plus, the song seems appropriate, don’t you think?”
    Sydney grinned. “Absolument.” But her smile quickly faded as she recalled the secret Danny had been keeping from her. “I can assume from our conversation on the ferry that you were not at your family’s cabin on holiday.” As soon as the words crossed her lips, she knew she had struck a nerve. Danny shifted in his seat. It took him several seconds before he answered her.
    “I did say that I’d tell you why we can’t go to the authorities with your story, didn’t I?”
    Sydney nodded. “I think we have some time to kill here.”
    Danny sighed. “It’s not my family’s cabin anymore. We sold it a long time ago.”
    “So why were you there?”
    “I was hiding.”
    “Hiding from whom?”
    Danny glanced at her. “That’s not altogether true.” He gripped the steering wheel with both hands and stared straight ahead. “Here goes … I was about sixty seconds from putting a bullet in my head before I saw that the monastery was occupied.”
    “What?” Suicide? Did she hear him right? “But why? Why would you want to kill yourself, Danny?”
    “Because I’m a man without a country.”
    “I’m sorry, Danny. I don’t understand.”
    “I’m a wanted man, Sydney. I took a chance that no one would be using the cabin, so I went down there. My plan was to hide out. But while I was planning a way to exonerate myself, I got to thinking about everything, and it was just too much. So I thought I would end it all, just like my old man did.”
    “You mean your father?”
    “Yup.”
    “Why did he kill himself?”
    “I don’t know. No one does. He just went there one weekend and shot himself. He didn’t even leave a note.”
    “Oh Danny, that’s awful. I’m so sorry.” Sydney touched his clenched hand on the steering wheel. “But then why would you want to do the same?”
    “Like I said, I’m a wanted man.”
    “But you’re a police officer.”
    “It doesn’t matter. I’ve been framed by some seriously powerful people. The kind who won’t stop until they get what they want.”
    “Framed? You mean for a crime?”
    Danny nodded. “I’ve been accused of being involved with a very bad man named Rafael Espinoza. He’s head of a Mexican drug cartel, the largest cartel. I’ve also been blamed for the deaths of many people.” Danny paused. Sydney could see the conflict raging inside him. She wisely kept her mouth shut, offering the space he needed to continue. “We had intelligence about an eighteen-wheeler that was being used to smuggle illegals across the border. I was the lead on the operation, and it literally blew up in my face. The truck was booby-trapped with explosives. In the ensuing confusion, a dirty FBI agent tried to kill me. But I got the drop on him. I had to kill him in self-defense.”
    “What do you mean, he was dirty?”
    “He, along with many other FBI and border patrol agents, was the one working for Espinoza.”
    “How do you know there are others?”
    “Because it’s like the Wild West down here. There are too many drugs going one way and too much money and guns going the other.”
    “And you thought you could stop it all? All by yourself?”
    “Call me an idealist, but yes, I believe