Free Detective Danny Cavanaugh 01 - The Brink by Mark Fadden Page A

under the table. He was panting as he fought to get himself up on his forearms. He flashed back to the moment when, on the day before his fourteenth birthday, he lost the use of his legs. He had just jumped a traffic light in downtown Amsterdam and was blindsided by a delivery truck, his spine crushed underneath its tires. Just like he struggled now, he had tried to pull his useless body out from underneath the truck. But it was no use, and eventually he had blacked out from the pain. But while pain gripped his body once more, Nathan would not succumb to it.
    He finally shimmied back into his wheelchair and glanced toward the double doors at the far side of the room. Two armed guards were now bookending them.
    Moments later, Taber and another guard were standing over him with their SIG Sauer 550 assault rifles at the ready.
    “Are you okay, sir?” Taber asked.
    Nathan silently thrust a finger toward the double doors that Sydney and the American had used for their escape. He envisioned the library that stood beyond them for what it was: a dead end.
    As Taber approached the doors, he only needed to nod. The two guards grabbed the doorknobs and yanked both doors open wide. A split-second later, all four guards, including Taber, plunged into the doorway. They yelled “Drop your weapons!” simultaneously in their various accents.
    Nathan edged up behind Taber. In his haste to see what was happening, his hands slipped on his wheels and he nearly fell over forward.
    Damn this chair! Damn this body!
    Nathan regained his composure and peeked around Taber. He saw the same books, tables, and accented leather furniture that he had before. But no Sydney and no American.
    “The chimney!” Nathan whispered through gritted teeth. “Check the chimney!”
    The four soldiers moved as one. Their backs were to each other with each gun barrel pointed in a different direction. They raced over to the fireplace. Taber yanked on the chest pocket of his utility vest. He extracted a small, square mirror and shoved it into the fireplace. A few seconds ticked by as he examined the chimney. Then he stuck his head in the fireplace and looked up.
    Nathan could tell from Taber’s reaction they were not there. But that wasn’t possible. They couldn’t have disappeared into thin air.
    Move! Back the way we came!
    The American’s words repeated in Nathan’s head as he slowly turned his wheelchair in a circle, studying the room. The library was a dead end, or was it? Suddenly, Nathan’s eyes caught the view beyond the open double doors. The memory of Sydney approaching the conference table and then sprinting away flashed in his head.
    No. Please God, no.
    Nathan used every bit of strength he had to power his way back into the meeting room. He could see what he feared was true from fifteen feet away.
    His panic swelled as he got closer.
    Ten feet, then five.
    Nathan collapsed on the table, his hands frantically shuffling the pages in front of him. He found two copies of the lawsuit, his and Joseph Ambrose’s. The third copy, the one he had retrieved from Sydney’s room, was gone.

Chapter 18
    As he sprinted through the darkness of the monastery’s underground passageway, Danny glanced behind him. He expected Sydney to be several yards back and struggling to keep up, but she was right on his heels. He figured that if the tunnel hadn’t been so narrow, she would be leading them right now and he would be the one struggling to catch her.
    Who was this woman?
    When they first ducked into the tunnel to gain access to the monastery, Danny had regaled Sydney with the story of how he found it. “I discovered it when I was kid. The monks who lived here three hundred years ago built it as an escape route when the Spanish were trying to exterminate the population.”
    Her response allowed him to label her as a confirmed smartass. “So, you were a kid once. Hard to believe.” Of course, it took one to know one.
    Danny hoped his pocket Mag-Lite flashlight had