Page 53 of The Geek and the Sheikh

His expression changed, becoming thoughtful before he chuckled at her sense of humor. He ate more of the pastry. She finished her croissant and studied his face.

“What is Operation Rebirth?” she casually inquired.

His eyes widened with surprise before they flashed to her computer. She gave him an amused look, finished chewing, and swallowed before she dabbed the corners of her mouth.

“I told you. This is a world where tech rules. Former CIA to mercenary, that's not much of a stretch. What surprised me was the highly classified clearance you had,” she said.

He scowled at her. “Why should that surprise you?”

She lifted an eyebrow and looked at him skeptically.

“I read your psych report,” she dryly replied.

“Ah. Well, that explains everything,” he sardonically retorted.

She was about to ask him again when an alert popped up on her computer. She sat forward, opened the screen, and scanned the report.

“What is it?” he demanded.

Her lips curved in a satisfied smile. “It would appear that our target caught the curiosity of the local police. I have their last location and the make, model, and license of the car they are driving,” she said.

“What are you doing?”

She impatiently waved a hand . Her mind raced as she typed in different commands, searching for traffic camera information and routes in the vicinity of where Jameel and Bugs were stopped.

“I’m setting up a program to search for the make and model of the car so we can track where they are going. If we know their route, we can intercept them,” she said, scanning the code she had written.

“I’ll notify the team,” he said, rising from his seat.

She looked up and frowned. “They need to stay with Jameel’s men. We stand a better chance of capturing Jameel and Bugs if the men aren’t with them.”

“I’ll let them know.”

She nodded and sent the command. There were dozens of routes Jameel could take. If he passed through any of the points where traffic cameras were installed, she would get an alert. There might be a few false positives, so she would need to monitor each alert, but it was their best chance to capture the two.

The first alert pinged and she looked at the camera. Enlarging the image, she verified the license plate. They were going through a tunnel on the highway heading south.

They are trying to get to Jawahir.

There was no doubt in her mind as to their intended destination. She snapped her laptop shut and reached for her bag. Thrusting the laptop into her backpack, she put on her shoes and rose from her chair.

“I’ll give you directions when we reach the car,” she stated.

She paused in surprise when a firm hand gripped her upper arm. The protest on her lips died when Mark pressed a firm, hard kiss to her lips. She blinked up at him.

“I can see why Bronislav hired you.”

She stared after him as he collected their jackets and offered hers to her. She accepted it and slid it on before following him out of the hotel room.

Fifteen

Jameel slowed when the turnoff for the gas station appeared just like the sign said. He pulled into the second bay and turned off the ignition. His hand shot out without him thinking about it when Junebug reached for her door.

“I need to go to the bathroom,” she said.

“Can you get a couple bottles of water and some snacks?” he asked.

“Oh, sure.”

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