Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink

body, Fantroy couldn’t help twisting Thoreau’s words around for a better fit that described the world’s current situation.
    Most men live lives of blissful ignorance, and then thought, I’ll buy that .
    The other members of The Group continued milling about the room in clusters of twos and threes. Fantroy didn’t bother with greetings. He didn’t need to call the meeting to order. When the others noticed him heading toward his spot at the front table, they assembled themselves in their usual seats. While the settings for their meetings may have changed, their seats never did.
    Fantroy didn’t waste any time. He said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I have an update on the situation in Mexico. But first, let me inform you of something new that needs our utmost attention. I received a phone call from the president of the United States earlier this afternoon. He informed me that his Nuclear Emergency Search Team has found two nuclear suitcase devices, dirty bombs, inside the District of Columbia. The president also informed me that the nuclear material inside these devices can be traced back to Great Britain.”
    There were no gasps from this socially refined and politically savvy group. Instead, eyeballs all over the room shifted almost unnoticeably. Fantroy knew what each person was thinking.
    Could one of us be behind this?
    He continued. “President Butcher said that he will inform the American public about the bombs in a special address tomorrow evening. I will need to be there in order to show our support for America and to let the public know that our government has no involvement in this plot. It goes without saying that conspiracy theories will be thrown around like confetti at a party. It is the policy of The Group that we be proactive in order to maintain our privacy. That means we have only a few hours to find out who is behind this plot.” Fantroy glanced at his watch. “I recommend we take an hour break to give each of us some time to gather whatever information we may have concerning this incident.”
    Fantroy looked around the room as he considered his speech. While his people were still checking their plutonium deposits, he opted not to deny having anything to do with the bombs. In fact, it was a more powerful message that he simply ignored that possibility altogether.
    He remained standing for another long moment to field any objections to his suggestion. There were none, and he cued the room by taking his seat. As if choreographed, the rest of the members broke apart. Some jettisoned to the four corners of the meeting room before cracking open their cell phones. Others, like Fantroy, kept their seats and began punching messages into their secured BlackBerries. Fantroy took in the scene with a sense of superiority.
    If only they knew what I know.
    For a moment before addressing the room, Anthony Fantroy thought about revealing the other part of his conversation with the president, the part concerning the attempted robbery of secret documents from the Library of Congress. President Butcher wouldn’t elaborate as to their exact contents, but he did mention it concerned the relationship between Great Britain and the United States. That was the real reason Fantroy was anxious about getting to Washington, D.C. as quickly as possible. If he had revealed that part of his conversation with President Butcher to The Group, each member would surely throw their suspicions firmly on his back. Fantroy couldn’t have that. He needed to have each Group member struggling, almost panicking to get him information about themselves and hopefully about each other.
    Every Group member in the room was of a different nationality. They followed various customs, they practiced diverse religions. But they were all unified by one common goal: the bottom line. It was the overwhelming force behind everything they did. But while they had caused some of the biggest economic incidents in history, the actions of The Group were slow and methodical, taking years to craft and months to execute. Fantroy was well aware that this philosophy pained some members of The Group. They wanted things done quicker, with bigger payoffs. But while they stood at the brink of the biggest economic catastrophe in history, one that would ensure their reign over the entire planet, Fantroy couldn’t help but think that someone in this room didn’t have faith in their plan.
    One of Anthony Fantroy’s strong suits, in fact it was his single biggest