Page 48 of The Geek and the Sheikh

“Did it say what he was trying to steal?”

“I’m not sure. It was weird because I had to go down a lot of rabbit holes to find anything about it,” she said.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well, there was a folder, but it was empty. A search of the history showed that there had been a report, but someone had either moved or deleted it. I checked his supervisor’s files. Those had been cleaned as well, but I found a document that must have been added by HR months after he left. It was a psych-eval. After some digging, I discovered Hammer had been sent to an off-site psychiatrist. From the timestamp, they must be months behind on their patient records. I filtered my search and found a video deposition of when the CIA confronted him about the CRI charge. My guess is that whatever he said in that confrontation raised a red flag and it's why he was sent for a psych evaluation. Whoever wanted to erase what was said didn’t realize it.”

“So, what was on the video?”

“I haven’t watched it yet. I didn’t want to wake you,” she confessed.

“Play it.”

She nodded, pulled up the video, and pressed play. The video began with Mark sitting at a table in a stark room. It was obvious he was being filmed through a two-way mirror. A woman dressed in a black suit walked into the room, pulled out the chair across from Mark, sat down, and slid a file folder in front of him. Mark glanced at the folder, folded his arms, and sat back.

“You worked for Cosmos Raines Industries.”

Mark remained silent. The woman pulled the file back across the table and opened it. She appeared to be reading the contents before she pulled out a photograph.

“What is Operation Rebirth?”

“Drop the charges against me and I’ll tell you.”

The woman studied Mark’s face.“You are not in a position to make demands, Mr. Hammer. What is Operation Rebirth?”the woman repeated.

Mark chuckled and looked up at the ceiling as if he were contemplating the question before he returned his gaze to the woman. There was a smirk on his lips when he leaned forward.

“Drop the charges and I’ll tell you.”

The woman replaced the picture into the folder, closed it, and stood up. She was almost to the door when Mark spoke again.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you anyway.”

The woman turned around to face Mark.“Why do you say that?”

Mark stared back at the woman before he looked at the two-way glass where the video camera was. His arrogant know-it-all persona briefly wavered, revealing his uncertainty.

“What do you know about aliens visiting this planet? And a man who can’t die?”

The woman lifted her hand and the video ended.

“Whoa. This is like something out of the Bourne Identity movies!” Jameel exclaimed.

Junebug laughed. “I absolutely love that series. It’s wild to think that there are actually real-life people who do things like that."

"So what does this have to do with Interpol?"

"Mark Hammer is on the Interpol’s watch list, and someone there is very curious about it as well. They buried it pretty good. Whoever is doing research on this in Interpol doesn’t want anyone else to know.” Junebug gave him a cheeky smile. “I'm going to find out. I love a great mystery. As for why Hammer is working for Bronislav, it has to have something to do with this secret project in his past because of this thing that I haven't told you and I'm totally getting to it, but I've gotta admire the guy for how much money he demanded to be paid given that he has to be here for an ulterior motive that is probably going to screw over Bronislav. Like he asked for even more than Allison did, and she asked for a freakin' lot!"

Jameel flushed and nodded. He felt relieved that Junebug’s attention was focused on the screen rather than on his face. Guilt coursed through him. He had shared some of his history with Allison, but not all of it.

She hummed. "These two are definitely Bronislav's heavy-hitters, and also the ones he can rely on the least. Isn't that funny...." She trailed off as her fingers moved faster on the keyboard.

“Yeah," he replied softly.

He wasn't sure he wanted to ask what she was keeping from him. In a small way, it made him feel better ifbothof them were hiding things.

"I’m not sure I can sleep anymore. It might be smart to plan our next move. While I’d love to stay in Paris, I think it would be best if we tried to get back to Jawahir,” he suggested.

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