The Dragon File

Chapter 3

A few days earlier

Aspen, Colorado

Under thin wispy streaks of cloud he could see through to the blue sky above, the sun glinted off the snow telegraphing a beautiful day to those lucky enough to be on the mountain. Quentin Grant, known only as "Q" to the local ski bums on the slopes, slowly wound his way down the slope. He just finished a challenging run to top off what turned out to be a perfect day. The air was crisp and cold. He could detect a hint of pine in the air. Surviving several jumps his spirits soared, he was very happy with this day of boarding. He only "bit it" a couple of times. Both falls were pretty dramatic. Hi skill level was high enough that he routinely pulled off acrobatic jumps like the famous X-games athletes, but he wasn't as consistent as the professionals. When he "missed" it usually meant a noteworthy crash. His martial arts training was often the only thing that kept him from serious broken bones. He knew how to protect his body when falling.

Done for the day, he stopped on a cut out midway down on the right side of the main run to the ski lodge. Snowplows pushed snow to the edge and it made a nice embankment that provided a place to sit and watch the tourists ski. He knew the local ski bums, mostly boarders these days, pulled over to chill and talk about their exploits before calling it a day. The only thing missing was a cold brew. Q saw two of his favorite young boarders sitting on a snow pile, their boards still attached to their boots.

Boarding toward them, he leaned far backward to use the edge of his board to kill his momentum. He stopped cold and fell backward on the snow pile. He leaned over in each direction and held out a gloved fist. Each of the boarders bumped his fist with their own. The scene was strikingly similar to military officer saluting greetings as they met.

"S'up?"

"Not much Q, you shred it today?"

"A good day, I've had better, but it is absolutely beautiful up there today."

"Yeah, we both bit it in the powder on the backside. It was epic!"

"Nice!"

After a few minutes of sharing stories about their "epic" day, a group of ladies got his attention. Quentin watched as they descended down the mountain snow-plowing from side to side. Laughing and having fun as they descended, it sounded as if they too were finishing a great day. One female skier in particular caught his attention. He could see enough of her face to know she was something special.

Standing up on his board, Quentin kept his eyes on the lady.

"Later."

"Later...Q, good luck with the ladies."

Both of the young men laughed.

Quentin cruised slowly down the last one third of his run toward the lodge. This was not part of his plan for the day, but if felt right. He spied the group of ladies sitting in a circle with their snow skis lying next to them. It looked like they were done for the day as well.

As he slowly cruised by, he saw her. She took off her goggles and shook the snow from her hair. He saw beautiful blue eyes and a smile he knew he would never forget.

He could not take his eyes off her face. She looked up and saw him staring as he boarded past. Their eyes locked and he felt a surge of electricity tingle up his spine. She noticed his stare and smiled that unforgettable smile.

Despite spending weeks on these slopes every winter, his brain stopped working for a moment and his feet followed suit. Instead of performing a sweet little stop, his feet worked against each other and the front edge of the board bit into the now and stopped while the other side continued to slide. He went down in a heap of board, man and snow spray that defined awkwardness. Rolling over, he started laughing in disbelief.