Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink

it caught in the shallows of his lungs.
    He shut his eyes, turned away from the door, and cursed his mind. “Not now, goddamn it!”
    “Danny, look at me!” Sydney shouted over the deafening sound of air continually blasting into the plane only steps from them. She grabbed his head. “Open your eyes and concentrate on me!” He did as he was told. “If we’re going to do this, I need you at 100 percent! Do you understand?”
    Danny whittled his vision down to only Sydney’s eyes. He willed every thought to be about only her.
    It worked. His breathing eased, his lungs opened up. The panic attack passed.
    “Thank you,” he said to her.
    She smiled. “Anytime.”
    Danny turned and gazed into the access door window for a long moment. “I’m going to open this door. When I do, expect a shitload of air to come rushing at us. You see that ledge?” He pointed to the thin ridge of metal on the left side of the gaping hole in the night sky.
    “Yes,” Sydney replied.
    “We need to get over to that ledge with the raft. Once we’re there, you need to be ready to jump.”
    “Okay.”
    Danny held up the slim cable that ran along the raft’s edge. “I want you to hold onto this cable like your life depends on it. It’s the only way to make sure you stay with the raft. Got it?”
    “Got it.”
    He grabbed the inflation ring. “Whatever you do, don’t pull this. That’s my job. Okay?” Sydney nodded. “You ready to do this?”
    Sydney gripped the raft’s cable. “Yes.”
    “Okay.” He offered a weak smile. “Good luck.”
    Sydney let go of the raft, grabbed Danny’s face, and kissed his mouth hard. “We don’t need luck, Danny! We are going to do this!”
    The fear that had nearly paralyzed Danny only moments ago all but vanished with the fleeting taste of her lips. Sydney gripped the raft again and waited for Danny to open the door.

Chapter 61
    Danny yanked open the door, and a huge rush of air sent Sydney tumbling backward. She scrambled on all fours until she made it back to the doorway. She grabbed onto the life raft again just as Danny started for the ledge. Sydney shuffled behind him until he stopped. He turned toward her and pointed where he wanted her to stand. She scooted over until her feet were only inches from the open sky. Danny cautiously leaned down and stared out into the darkness. He had told her that they would approach Reagan over the Potomac River. But as Sydney looked out past him into the shapeless night, fear overwhelmed her.
    How the hell can he tell where the water is?
    Danny turned to her. “We jump on three!”
    She nodded, and he turned back to watch the sky.
    “One!”
    “Two!”
    “Three!”
    Sydney’s mind went blank. She shut her eyes tight and lunged forward.
    Seconds later, she figured they were well past the landing gear, but the raft remained limp in her grip.
    Oh God! We’re going to die!
    She pictured the look of disappointment on Knobby’s face. “You failed, Sydney. You failed us all.”
    Sydney yelled at the top of her lungs, but she couldn’t hear anything. She squeezed her eyelids even tighter, but hot tears still stung her face.
    She was still falling …
    falling …
    falling.
    Suddenly, the wind ripped the raft out of her grip. She wanted to look, but her eyes wouldn’t open. Was she thrown from the raft? Was she falling free through the air?
    I don’t feel the wind anymore.
    Sydney willed herself to open her eyes. Beneath her, she saw black. But it wasn’t the darkness of night. The raft had inflated around her!
    Sydney was about to cheer for them when her body slammed hard into something. Her head snapped back, and her world went black.

Chapter 62
    Danny heard the sounds of the jet engines whine off in the distance. He opened his eyes and saw Sydney lying next to him. She wasn’t moving.
    Danny heard himself screaming. “Sydney! Sydney! Come on, Sydney! Talk to me!” He cradled her in his arms and put his head on her chest. He could hear a heartbeat. He fumbled for the flashlight in his pocket. The pain that consumed his own body from the fall ceased to exist now. All he cared about was making sure Sydney was okay.
    He flashed light in Sydney’s one eye and then the other. She finally came to, immediately thrashing around in his grip.
    “Sydney!”
    “I’d appreciate you getting that blasted light out of my face, Danny.”
    “Are you okay?”
    She felt various parts of her body. “I’ll live.”
    He helped her sit up. “Thank