GENERAL VALDEZ
General Valdez raced up the stairs in the Dunlops’ house in a desperate hurry to keep up with a pair of dedicated and fast-moving Secret Service agents who had figured out somebody in the house was listening in on the top-secret government meeting. Everyone in the basement had heard the sneeze, which had sounded close enough to be in the same room. It was the lead agent who had determined the security-threatening noise had come from a heating duct. No doubt, in the agent’s mind, “spies were everywhere.” Valdez was more concerned that the noise had sounded like the sneeze of a young boy.
At the top of the stairs, the agents went left, directly toward Mathew’s bedroom. The door was closed. A quick series of boom-boom-boom sounds came from inside. Both agents drew their handg
