The Dharma Revelation

Chapter 58

Cavanaugh flung through the shirts in his closet, carefully picking the sharpest, best pressed white shirt he could find. He carefully laid it on his bed and went through his ties next. He took care to pick a tie that had at least a bit of gray. He found a perfect sky-blue tie with slices of silver intermixed just right. His gray suit jacket and slacks were already set aside on his bed.

He took his time getting dressed, taking care to not ruffle his shirt or disturb the perfect crease in his pants. He looked at himself in the mirror, quite pleased with the quality of knot in his tie. He ran his hands through his hair deliberately, making sure he looked professional, presentable.

He drove to the office, as he normally did, going through the routine that had become so very familiar to him throughout all of his years on his job.

He arrived at the office building, but as he approached, he pretended not to notice the man spraying window cleaner on the revolving door leading into the building.

Laughing to himself, Cavanaugh plugged some change into the newspaper dispenser and pulled out the latest edition of the Baltimore Sun. He took a moment and scanned the front page, looking for any and all mention of himself or the Chaos Wave.

"That's definitely as bad as I thought," he said out loud. And then he chuckled and walked into the building.

He pretended not to notice the look of surprise on the security guard's face as he flashed his ID and headed to the elevators.

By the time he got to his office, he began to lose his nerve a bit. His hand was shaking, and he was getting vivid flashbacks of Dharma's face and her words of encouragement to join the Osiris team.

Cavanaugh tossed the newspaper onto his desk and walked to the small wet bar in the corner of the office. He pushed his sleeve, exposing his white-gold Audemars Piguet watch. Despite the hour of morning, he decided to make himself a martini. He took his time, methodically, deliberately.

When he was finished, he walked over to the window, overlooking the greater metropolitan area. For a moment, he experienced another brief flashback. He recalled the time he and Dharma overlooked the Chicago skyline, as he tried to convince her to curtail the spreading of her new spiritual belief system.

"Only one apology left," he said out loud.

He took a deep breath and looked toward the sky, extending his martini glass.

"To you, Tracey," he said, blinking rapidly. "I am sorry that I let you down. I hope you're no longer disappointed in me."

He sipped his drink, pleased at the taste.

That's when he heard them. They weren't trying to be subtle, although he was still surprised at the level of carelessness. He shook his head in professional disappointment, but ignored them.

When they broke through the door, he remained where he was, staring out the window at the perfect blue morning sky. He could vaguely see his own reflection in the glass and was proud that he took the time to look sharp on this day. In the reflection, he could also see the shattered door jam, and the men with weapons pouring into his room.

Cavanaugh ignored their shouting. He kept his back turned to them and tried to hold onto this beautiful view as long as he could.

It was his hope that hecould take it with him.