Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink

the other side. Danny followed suit and jumped over it into the dry creek bed that curved underneath the back porch of the club’s restaurant. They scrambled up the embankment on the other side and ran into the parking lot. While it was half-filled with cars, no people were around.
    As they ran toward the Camry, Danny blinked the bits of wood from his eye. They were twenty feet from it when he grabbed hold of Sydney’s arm. She stopped in her tracks. He held out his hand, ordering her to stay back. He readied the knife to strike and examined the car. It was clear. He motioned for Sydney to get in. Thirty seconds later, they were past the club’s front entrance gates and cruising down the road.
    Danny stayed silent as he examined his eye in the rearview mirror. He imagined the scene as Brick, Skeeter, and Garage Sale Jimmy discovered Booker. Was he even still alive? It didn’t matter. It wouldn’t take long for the shooting of Senator Booker Halsey to be all over the news. There was little doubt that Danny Cavanaugh would again be the prime suspect.
    For the next fifteen minutes, as they wound through the privileged boulevards of Houston’s Memorial area and then weaved their way toward downtown, Danny and Sydney remained silent.
    Once they reached the congested downtown area, Danny drove down several streets, making random turns along the way, before finding a parking garage. He pulled into it and screeched through seven levels. The eighth floor was nearly empty. He steered the Camry into a corner spot and shut off the engine.
    Danny was fuming. He jerked toward Sydney. “Come clean, Sydney.”
    “I don’t—”
    “Quit lying to me, Sydney! There’s more to all this than what you’re telling me!”
    Sydney’s eyes flashed. “I didn’t lie to you, Danny. I just didn’t think it was the right time to get into all this.”
    “Well, there’s no time like the present, is there? I want to know why you didn’t show me the page of the lawsuit with Booker’s signature. Why didn’t you tell me that he was the one representing the U.S. in the suit? And how the hell do these guards of yours keep finding us?” Danny slammed his fist against the steering wheel. “What the fuck is going on?”
    Sydney sighed and kept her voice even. “I don’t know how the guards keep finding us. I wanted to keep the signature page and the representation information to myself until we found the proper authorities. I was going to tell you about it, but after you told me the reason why you were at your cabin, I decided it was too much for you. I thought I could handle this without getting you involved any more than you already were. I was only trying to protect you, Danny.”
    “Protect me,” he said with absolute cynicism. “That’s terrific. You’re doing a great job. And what would it be that you’re protecting me from, Sydney?”
    “From the truth.”
    Danny’s frustration spiked. “Goddamn it, Sydney! I am sick and tired of all the mystery! Tell me the fucking truth!”
    Sydney flared back at him. “You didn’t want to tell me about that FBI agent you killed did you? There are some things that we would rather not reveal.”
    Their eyes remained locked until Danny finally relented. “Okay,” he uttered as calmly as he could. “But I need to know, Sydney. I can’t go on unless I know everything.”
    Sydney looked out the windshield and stared at the concrete wall in front of them. She remained silent for a long time.
    “Sydney?” Danny urged.
    “I need a few moments,” she replied without moving her eyes.
    “For what?”
    “To determine the best way to unravel the world as you know it.”

Chapter 40
    Considering their situation, Sydney was surprised Danny allowed her the time to gather her thoughts. How can I tell him? How do I not sound like a lunatic?
    Sydney once again flashed back to the moment when Knobby enlightened her in his booth at the Land’s End Pub. The light streaming in from the window made his eyes glow. She could tell from the look on his face that he was so proud of her, his protégé’s only child. She was there to tell him that the University of Monaco had offered her a teaching position. She was going to follow in the footsteps of the three men in her life: Knobby, her foster father, and her real father.
    As Sydney sat there, she felt her unwavering affection for her godfather. Knobby was the one who had Jacques and Claire Dumas adopt her. Jacques had been a visiting professor