Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink

surgery right now.”
    “What about Cavanaugh?”
    “He escaped, sir,” Vanessa replied.
    Just then, the phone beeped and a red light appeared on the Line 2 button. “I’ve got another call, Vanessa.”
    “I’ll keep you posted, Mr. President,” Vanessa said and then hung up.
    Jack hit the Line 2 button. “This is President Butcher.”
    “Mr. President, it’s Clarence Warner again, sir. I have news.”
    “Hold on, Clarence. Let me put you on speaker.” Jack pressed the speakerphone button and hung up the handset.
    “Clarence?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Give us what you’ve got.”
    “We’ve checked every building along the mall, sir. They’re all clear except for the Lincoln Monument. We’re getting low-level radiation readings from it. My team has cleared the area and is performing a full-scale search as we speak.”
    “Hold on, Clarence.” Jack put the phone on mute and turned to Simon. “Another gas leak story?”
    Simon nodded. “NEST knows how to handle it, Mr. President.”
    Jack nodded and depressed the mute button again. “Okay, Clarence, we’re back.”
    “Mr. President?”
    “Yes, Clarence.”
    “Sir, are you familiar with how nuclear material is fingerprinted to its country of origin?”
    “Keep talking, Clarence.”
    “Sir, we have the plutonium’s source country.”
    Clarence paused, and Jack felt his blood pressure rising. “Would you like to tell us, Clarence, or should we play twenty questions?”
    “Mr. President, the material inside the Washington Monument bomb is from Great Britain.”
    Jack forced himself to keep his face clear of any expression. He read the other faces in the room. Shock was pretty much the prevailing emotion. No surprise there.
    “Clarence, the plutonium identification has been verified, correct?”
    Clarence Warner’s answer was instantaneous. “Yes, Mr. President. Our SOP is to travel with both electronic and hard copies of the global nuclear materials list. This list is managed by the NNSA and is crosschecked with the DOD’s nuclear materials database, sir. It’s as accurate as accurate can be.”
    NNSA? Jack squinted at the brainstorming list on the dry-erase board and began clicking the marker cap again. After only a couple months in office, he was still green with all of the federal government acronyms. But he didn’t dare ask Simon what NNSA stood for in front of others, especially Harry Tharp. That mental lapse would definitely make it out of the room.
    “Clarence, Simon Shilling here. Remind me who’s directing the National Nuclear Security Administration again?”
    “Sam Ashworth, sir.”
    Thanks , Jack thought as he eyed Simon.
    Simon continued. “Mr. President, I think that we need to get Ashworth over here ASAP to get his take on the situation.”
    Before Jack could agree, Clarence came back on the line. “Mr. President, may I put you on hold for a moment? One of my guys has some information for me.”
    “Of course, Clarence.” Jack hit the mute button once again. He addressed the group. “Thoughts?”
    Simon followed up with another question. “Anyone know who’s in charge of Britain’s nuclear security?”
    All eyes turned to the one person in the room who should know. As Jack’s National Security Adviser, Charlie Jacoby didn’t disappoint. “They have a director of civil nuclear security in their Department of Trade and Industry. I think his name is Nottingham, but don’t quote me. I haven’t had the pleasure to meet him yet, but I’m sure I can get him on the horn to verify that some of their nuclear material is missing.”
    “Do we really think this Nottingham’s going to admit that they lost some of their nuclear material?” Blake Conway asked the group.
    “Or if it was stolen, tell us who stole it?” Rita Rodriguez added.
    Harry Tharp hacked a few times to get the floor. “How do we know it’s not intentional?”
    Harry’s statement did more to silence the room than any amount of his throat clearing could.
    Jack couldn’t help his eyes crossing over the room to meet Simon’s. Does Harry know about what really happened at the Library of Congress and at Monticello?
    Blake outright laughed at Harry’s suggestion. “You’re suggesting that the British government planted dirty bombs inside the United States? That’s ludicrous.”
    Harry leaned forward in his chair and stared at Blake. “That’s exactly why they would do it, son. Nothing’s impossible in love and politics. ’Course you’re too