The Dragon File

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Prince George's County, Maryland

It was late in the day and dinner had been over for a half hour. Charles Grant sat in his home office alternating between furiously typing on a laptop and sitting back staring at the screen barely breathing while he waited. A television on the wall was turned on blaring the latest news. After decades working for the NSA, he grew accustomed to having information at his fingertips. He still tried to consume as much information as possible. However, at this moment, he didn't even realize the television was still on. He was closing in on a solution to the hardest puzzle he faced in years!

Tonight, he was sitting in a large burgundy colored leather chair hunched over one of several laptops on the large cherry desk. There was one large window in the wall behind him. The window looked out into the trees of the woods behind his home. He and his wife Jackie bought this home just outside Laurel, Maryland to be near his work at the NSA. After pausing and staring at the television without seeing what was on the screen, he looked down and started typing furiously again. He knew there was an answer at the end of this riddle.

Outside the window, the sun was just disappearing below the horizon leaving orange streaks across the evening sky. The orange streaks looked like they were cut into the blue sky background...that look gave him a new thought.

"Yes," he exclaimed to the empty room.

"Maps!"

"I knew it! I knew something was hidden in there...but this is a new technique."

His voice trailed off as he pulled a cell from his pocket and quickly dialed a number known by only a handful of people.

"Bill, I finally broke the file open. There are multiple files embedded in the picture, which explains its large file size. I haven't opened them all, but I did see maps."

He listened for a few seconds as the voice on the other end of the connection spoke.

"Maps...of cities, I recognize one, the map is of in Paraguay. No, it wasn't that hard, the airport name is on the map."

He chuckled. Hearing the next step, he nodded his head up and down as if the voice on his phone could see him.

"Yes sir, I'll meet you there."

It was the last phone call he ever made. Walking through their living room, his wife Jackie looked up from her e-book.

"I need to go to the agency for a couple of hours."

His wife looked at him and raised one eyebrow. He knew he owed her an explanation.

"I have been working on a computer problem for Bill. I finally solved a riddle the boys on the team couldn't figure out. I know I spent too much time on this. Tell you what, why don't we go see that movie you want to see tomorrow night."

She smiled at him and said the idea sounded wonderful and turned back to her book knowing he would be home in a couple of hours and she would have his full attention again.

Charles kissed his wife on the head and walked through their kitchen to the garage. Jackie Grant glanced up at their front window as the red taillights on his car disappeared from the driveway. The sun was now completely below the horizon and the taillights were bright in the evening light.

She knew better than to ask questions about her husband's work even though he was retired and no longer officially worked for the agency. Having him leave the house to disappear to the agency was not out of the ordinary. She was thankful that he no longer disappeared for weeks at a time.

Early in his career, many years ago, he would disappear for several weeks with no communication. She was observant enough to understand that once the Cold War ended, Charles' long disappearances also ended.

Several hours later, a police officer knocked on her door. Opening the door and seeing the officer, she knew something was terribly wrong.