Page 31 of The Geek and the Sheikh

Jameel grimaced and played with his coffee cup. “Let’s just say an old friend I thought I could trust turned out not to be so trustworthy after all.”

“The first thing we need to do is get you and Ms. Rain to Jawahir. It will be easier to protect you both there,” Yahya replied.

“But what about Allison?”

All three men turned when Junebug reappeared. She had changed into a bright lime green tie-dyed blouse that hung down over her hips. A wide, yellow belt wrapped around her small waist, drawing attention to her curvy, hourglass figure. A pair of black leggings covered her legs. Her hair, pulled back into an intricate French braid along both sides of her temple, connected in a thick braid that fell down her back. She had exchanged her fluffy bunny slippers for a pair of high-top red runners.

Jameel didn’t know how all the mixture of color could work, but it did. She looked vibrant… and very young. She was holding the empty bag from the marshmallows he had eaten in one hand and a full bag in the other.

“We’ll worry about Allison after I know you are safe,” Jameel said, pushing his chair back and standing.

“Your hot chocolate, ma’am,” James said.

“Oh… thank you.”

Junebug exchanged the empty plastic bag for the big, steaming mug of hot chocolate and carried her sugary treasures to the table, sliding into the chair that Jameel pulled out for her. Opening the corner of the marshmallows, she picked out five, examining each one carefully before she placed it in her cup.

“Where is the other man?” she asked.

“Hyder has gone to the supermarket to retrieve more groceries. When he returns, I’ll make you some chocolate chip pancakes and eggs,” Jameel offered.

Junebug nodded, and then frowned. “How did he go to the grocery store?”

“The car we picked up at the airport,” Yahya answered.

“What model and year?” she asked.

“Range Rover, this year,” Yahya replied.

She quit stirring the marshmallows in her cup, stood, picked up her cup and marshmallows, and left the kitchen. Jameel watched her with a deepening frown. He replayed the brief conversation and couldn’t pick out anything that could have been offensive.

“Did I say something wrong?” Yahya asked.

“No. I’ll go see what happened,” Jameel said.

He rose from his seat and strode after Junebug. He caught up with her halfway up the stairs. She was mumbling to herself.

“Would she think of it? Yes, because I did. If I did, then it is more than likely she did. But when? Did she think of it first? I should have asked how long they have been here. No, that won’t matter. I need to know when they landed. Does that matter? It'll be soon and they might need time, so ok, first alarm, then the landing or maybe skip the landing and just check the prints 'cause there might not be time and she might not—”

“Bugs? Time for what?” he asked.

“What? Oh, I need to know how much time we have before they find us,” she said.

“Who finds us?”

She stopped on the stairs. “Allison and Bronislav’s men. Yahya and Hyder brought them to us.”

Jameel’s mouth went dry. He stared after Junebug as she continued climbing the stairs to the second level. His mind swirled. How…? The answer hit him like a lead pipe.

“The car… they can track the car.”

He muttered a curse, turned on his heel, and raced down the staircase. Yahya met him in the hallway, grabbed his arm, and shook his head, holding a finger to his mouth. Yahya motioned for him to step back against the staircase so that they weren’t visible through the kitchen windows.

“We have company,” Yahya warned.

“I was just coming to warn you,” he said.

Yahya frowned. “How did you know? The alarm alerted us just a few seconds ago.”

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