Page 12 of The Geek and the Sheikh

She was going to live. She was going to capture Bugs!

The IP address suddenly disappeared from Allison's screen.

"Gotta go," Bugs said.

And just like that, Bugs was gone.

"Shit, shit, shit."

Allison's fingers flew across the keyboard, searching for the counter-malware Bugs had installed. She blew out a breath when she found and deleted the simple yet effective erase code. The trojan would have slowly spread through her system if she hadn't stopped it.

But the IP Address was gone.

Allison groaned and lowered her head to rest on her arms. She thought she had been so careful.

"Damn it."

Ping.

Allison slowly lifted her head at the alert. Her eyes scanned the source code from her backup trace. Her lips parted with a growing smile. She may have blown her chance with Bugs, but not with Jam-man. Well, not Jam-man himself, but his network of goonies.

"The hazards of being a prince: you can't go anywhere without someone knowing… and darling, you just saved my mission," she murmured.

Sitting up, her fingers flew over the keyboard as she downloaded Jam-man's flight itinerary. It was an assumption that Bugs had contacted Jam-man and he was traveling to meet her, that was true, but their unresolved sexual tension had been reaching nauseating levels lately and it did look like Jameel had decided to leave home in a hurry.

It was a lead. She would see where it went.

"I don't have a face for her, but I do have one for the Jawahir prince," she murmured.

She could find him, and if he met with a woman, Allison could investigate further to confirm her identity beyond a doubt. It would likely be within the time limit that Andrius had given her. This could work—but if she waited until after they met, capturing Bugs would be more difficult. The security around them would be nearly impenetrable.

"Not to mention the combined skills of both of them!" she muttered.

She tapped her fingers on the desk. There was no reason to make this more difficult for herself. She bit her lip and opened a log to cross-match London with what she remembered of the IP address. Forty-five minutes later, she sat back and stared through blurry eyes at the screen. It was rough… probably not perfect… but she had a general location. A map with a five-block circle near the London Tower Bridge.

There were ten hotels in the area. She could investigate the new arrivals and send Andrius's team to the most suspicious visitor before Jam-man arrived. Except....

What if I'm wrong?

It was risky. Allison rose from her seat and paced the narrow confines of her rented flat. It was a tiny space, only made bearable by the balcony that could be seen behind her computer, but it was definitely a 'look, don't touch' kind of balcony. Not even a cat would trust it.

Not that she had a cat. What shecoulddo is go investigate herself. Bugs would not be nearly as dangerous in the real world, and she seemed very young—surprisingly inexperienced. Allison could work with that. Interrogating her would provide the confirmation she needed.

That was risky, too. It could be a wild goose chase. A glance at the clock told her that she was running out of time. Bugs would be enacting counter-measures as well. Allison needed to befast.Give the hacker as little time to regroup as possible.

She had to make a decision. Her mind swirled with possibilities. The wrong move would get her killed or imprisoned for life.

"If I play it smart, I might… just might… be able to live through this and come out rich enough that not even my past can touch me," she murmured as an idea began to solidify in her mind.

With a little motivation, Jameel might reach out—if she let him know she was available.

Four

Jameel opened his laptop and logged in the moment they reached altitude. He was surprised when a message pinged on an account he kept open to chat with old college buddies once in a blue moon. He snorted when he saw the subject line:Please, need to tell you something.

Yeah, I bet you do!he thought angrily.

A flash of guilt swept through him. It had been years since he had talked to Allison Wells. Their last conversation had ended poorly. He knew she had been through a lot, but her lying and stealing wasn’t something he could forgive. He had found it hard to show her ‘grace’ as his mom called it, and he was still certain that grace wasn’t what she deserved. He wasn’t a doormat.

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