The Unexpected Hero

by Michael C. Grumley

  “I was asked to stop by and give you this.” While crossing the room, the visitor reached inside his jacket and retrieved a large envelope. He laid it down when he reached the desk.

  Director Douglass Bollinger stared at the envelope before finally stretching forward to pick it up. “What is it?’

  “Pictures. From our new NGI system.”

  The FBI’s New Generation Identification system had been revealed to the public in the fall of 2014. It was an advanced facial recognition system designed to house over fifty million faces in a massive database. It was sold to the public as a tool in the war on terror, but most government departments knew it was designed for something far grander. Fifty million images were merely the beginning.

  “We’ve now begun rolling the system out into some other metropolitan hubs, beginning with larger train and bus stations. These images were picked up in Los Angeles a few days ago. The system flagged them, and Mr. Brennan asked that I deliver these to you personally. As a Christmas present.”

  “Is that right?” Bollinger was rhetorical. He slid the large 8 ½ x 11 pictures out and examined them.

  There were several faces in the picture and it took Bollinger a moment to see him. When he did, his expression froze.

  After a long silence, he finally blinked and moved on to the next picture. Each time he saw the face, his heart began to beat faster.

  “Mr. Brennan said you would know who he was.”

  Bollinger didn’t hear him. He was stuck, staring again at the last picture. Impossible.

  “I take it you know him.” Still no answer. Finally, he shrugged and turned. “I guess I’ll show myself out.”

  Bollinger didn’t notice the young agent leave. Nor did he hear the sound of the door clicking shut behind him. Instead, the large office fell silent with the only sound being the racing of Bollinger’s heart.

  He couldn’t believe it. Dan Taylor was alive.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Michael Grumley lives in Northern California with his wife and two young daughters. His email address is michael@michaelgrumley.com, and his web site is www.michaelgrumley.com where you can find supplemental Q&A pages for his books, as well as a very unique offer.

  Message from the author

  Thank you for taking the time to read The Unexpected Hero. I hope you enjoyed the second installment of Evan’s story. As some of you may know, I’m a part-time, self-published author, with the goal of being able to write full-time. Not surprisingly, a self-published writer’s only real means for accomplishing this is through reviews and referrals. I know leaving a review can be a bit of a pain, but if you could please spare two minutes to leave a review for The Unexpected Hero, I would be very grateful.

  Michael

  Click her to leave a review for The Unexpected Hero.

  OTHER BOOKS BY

  MICHAEL gRUMLEY

  BREAKTHROUGH

  LEAP

  AMID THE SHADOWS

  THROUGH THE FOG

  THE UNEXPECTED HERO