Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink

offline?” Jack asked.
    Harry took the liberty of fielding this question. “The original system was, Mr. President. But after a few years of tinkering with it, we have a new grid. It’s in perfect working order.” A look of satisfaction appeared on Harry’s face. He knew something that the president did not.
    Jack stared at Harry. “I’ll believe that when I get human confirmation. Where exactly is the NEST team searching?”
    “They’re searching the monument itself and any conceivable structure on the grounds that could contain a nuclear device: porta-potties, trash cans, things like that.”
    “How sensitive are these new ring sensors?” Jack paused and then reworded his question. “Can they tell us how long ago a device was put there, if there’s a device there at all?”
    Harry cleared his throat before responding. “That time window isn’t a factor of the sensor, Mr. President. It’s a factor of the device. It depends on the material used and if the device is shielded or not. If it isn’t shielded then radiation could leak from it and reach the sensor fairly quickly; we’re talking seconds to just a few minutes. If it was shielded, the leakage could take hours or even days to reach the sensor.”
    Jack looked over at Simon. Even in this situation, Jack was able to read Simon’s thoughts, and vice versa.
    The monument. How would it look on the news? What would they tell the American people?
    “When will we know what’s there?” Jack asked.
    Just then the phone in front of Jack rang. Simon stared at him as it fell silent and then rang again. “I think we’ll know as soon as you pick up that phone, sir.”
    The ringing phone wasn’t a good sign. If it was a false alarm, the NEST leader would have called Harry Tharp and given him the all-clear. Any questions that Jack had about the harmless package could be fielded by Harry or answered at a later time. But this call was coming into the direct PEOC line. Bad news for sure.
    Jack picked up after the third ring. “Jack Butcher,” he said.
    “Mr. President, Clarence Warner here. I’m in charge of the NEST team investigating the Washington Monument incident, sir.”
    “Just a moment, Clarence.” Jack replied. “I’m at PEOC. I’m going to put you on speaker.”
    Jack pressed the speaker button and hung up the phone’s handset. “Clarence, you still with us?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Why don’t we get down to brass tacks, son,” Harry quipped. “What’d you find?”
    There was a pause during which Jack stared at Harry. This is my show, Harry.
    “We found a suitcase in a trash can on the eastern edge of the monument grounds twenty yards north of the 15th Street Jefferson Drive intersection.”
    Blake Conway had a street map up on his PDA. Jack looked over his shoulder as he pointed to the location with his stylus.
    “Is it nuclear, Clarence?” Jack asked.
    “Yes, sir,” Clarence replied. “It’s a dirty bomb.”

Chapter 36
    Danny was still feeling the effects of only getting an hour’s sleep at a rest stop as he pulled into the parking lot of the Houston Racquet Club. He hadn’t been there since the days of his youth, when his dad would help him hone his tennis skills. But everything remained the same. The same soaring pine trees bordered the parking lot; the same flawless landscaping, bursting with azaleas and monkey grass, filled out the clubhouse’s façade, wrapping its way around the sides of the building. That’s what money does , Danny thought. It insulates against the passage of time .
    Rather than passing through the main parking lot and parking alongside the tennis courts, Danny made a sharp left and pulled back into the corner furthest away from the clubhouse. He considered the guns on the floorboard in the Camry’s back seat and decided against taking them. It was just common sense. He didn’t want anyone alerting the police. He was already nervous about driving a stolen vehicle, which couldn’t be helped. Any American cop would have pulled him over in his truck, complete with its newly acquired bullet hole design job. Besides, he still had the combat knife. That, along with some serious attitude, would hopefully get Booker Halsey to spill his guts.
    Although he could tell she was hesitant, Sydney was already climbing back into the guard’s outfit. Danny waited outside the car until she was done. Like a gentleman, he made sure to keep his eyes off of her, although he had spent the last eight hours sitting