Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink

the PR department anymore. Danny just hoped that by using an ATM on the east side of Knoxville, the police and the people hunting them would figure that they were headed east out of town. In reality, he had parked the stolen truck in the airport’s remote parking lot, and seeing as it could be classified as a piece of shit, it wouldn’t have a vehicle locater system on it. Danny was confident that it wouldn’t be found for days, maybe weeks.
    “How come your cameraman doesn’t have a camera?” he heard Ed ask Sydney.
    Sydney huffed. “He keeps all his equipment in his pack until the last moment he needs it. He doesn’t want to feel, how do you say, tenu en arrière , held back.”
    “You mean constricted?” Ed guessed.
    Sydney’s eyes flashed. “Yes. Yes. He doesn’t want to feel constricted by the camera’s viewfinder. Luke is an artist first and a cameraman second. He must attain a feel for the space before he shoots.” She once again showed a smile that made Ed lose all concern over Danny’s lack of proper equipment. “Believe me, he is sometimes hard to work with, but he is one of the best.”
    After Ed gave Sydney the extended tour, which included going over every forklift, gas truck, and tool chest, he was ready to show off the main attraction.
    He led them to an enormous set of closed double doors. Then he shuffled off to a control panel on the side wall and pressed a button. The doors crept open, receding accordion-style into the walls. Ed scurried back to Sydney’s side and stretched his arms wide. “Here it is. The piece de resistance. ”
    Ed beamed at Sydney, waiting for her approval. She gave him a polite golf-clap. “Très bon. Very good.”
    The newspaper article that Danny and Sydney read over in the airport parking lot described the replica of the U.S.S. Monitor as, “a monument to both modern-day engineering and a salute to America’s history.” Seeing the boat in its iron flesh didn’t disappoint one bit.
    Ed strutted like a peacock past the bow, as he filled them in on the history of the original U.S.S. Monitor .
    “The Monitor was an ironclad boat used by the Union to help defeat the Confederates at the Battle of Hampton Roads. Hampton Roads was a strategic harbor at the mouth of the James River that the two sides fought over for control of the Virginia coastline.”
    Sydney examined the boat. “It looks more like a submarine than a ship.”
    “Her design is why she’s important enough to be in the regatta. When she’s in the water, the deck’s only eighteen inches above the water line, which made it hard for enemy boats to target her.” Ed pointed to the circular turret in the center of the ship. “That is the first revolving turret ever used in battle. It allowed the Monitor to use its two guns to shoot in a full three hundred and sixty degree circle. She could take on much bigger ships with that ability.”
    “You certainly know a lot about this boat, Ed,” Sydney purred.
    “Boats are my hobby,” he said with a twinkle in his eye as he gazed at the Monitor . “She’s been here for over a week getting ready for shipment, so I’ve had time to study her. The Sea-Ray folks did a bang-up job replicating the original Monitor . I sure am going to miss her.”
    Sydney’s next question was one that she and Danny spent the most time tweaking. “So, there are no delays in the shipment due to the security threat in Washington?”
    “You didn’t see the president’s speech this morning?”
    “No,” Sydney replied.
    Ed actually puffed out his chest before continuing. “This is America. Like a good marine, President Butcher ain’t gonna run and hide from threats. We’re not gonna hide under rocks being scared of those damn towelheads. We will live our lives, and this regatta will happen.”
    Sydney grinned. “The show must go on.”
    “Exactly. Say, shouldn’t you be writing some of this stuff down?”
    Danny bit his lip, wondering what Sydney would say. He forgot to tell her to act like she was taking notes during Ed’s tour.
    “I have an eidetic memory,” Sydney said.
    “A what?” Ed replied.
    “I’m sorry,” Sydney said, like the foreign word to Ed was a French one. “A photographic memory. I can remember things very well.”
    “Oh, wow. It must be cool to have such a great memory.”
    Sydney glanced at Danny before responding. “You have no idea.”
    The two of them moved past the boat, but Danny stayed behind, confident that Sydney would