Page 55 of The Geek and the Sheikh

“When didyoubecome a badass?” she retorted.

Jameel gave her a sarcastic sneer. “I’ve always been one.”

“Hammer is coming and he looks pissed,” Junebug warned.

Jameel nodded, closed the door, and started the car. In seconds, they exited the petrol station and were back on the highway. They were going to need to find an alternate route. He could see Allison and Hammer arguing in the rearview mirror as they pulled away.

Junebug twisted in her seat to look out of the back window.

“Won’t they follow us?” she asked.

“Yeah, but it may take them a little longer without these,” he replied, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the items he had taken off of Hammer.

“Oh, you are good! If I can get a connection, I can block them from remote starting,” she said.

She leaned down and pulled her laptop onto her lap. Jameel divided his focus between the curvy road ahead of them and the rearview mirror. He bit back the urge to ask her how it was going when she started muttering under her breath. Her loud sighs and mumbled grumblings made him smile.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, not looking up from her computer screen.

“I make the same sounds when I’m working on stuff,” he admitted.

She flashed him a grin before returning her attention to the screen. Her low groan of frustration filled the air. He looked in the rearview mirror.

“What is it?” he asked.

“There’s a tunnel coming up. I’ll lose my signal when we go through it. This was not the best route to take. There aren’t a lot of places where we can hide,” she said.

“There is one place we can try. My parents have an old friend who lives about 50 kilometers from here,” he said.

She looked at him with a frown. “You’re just now suggesting that? Will it be safe? Do you trust them?”

He nodded. “Yes. Gilbert is as old as the hills but he still has his wits about him. If he is there, he will help us.”

They were approaching a long tunnel. His eyes flashed to the camera mounted at the entrance. That must have been how Allison located them. But… how did she know they were in this car?

“The policeman must have filed a report,” Junebug said.

“How did—?” He shook his head. “I should have thought about that sooner.”

“I should have thought about it,” she murmured, her voice low.

He heard the self-recrimination. “At least we know how she found us. That gives us more clues into how she thinks.”

Junebug nodded and leaned her head back. “I’ve set a six-hour delay for the camera server along the route. If she is monitoring them, they won’t show anything until then.”

“By then, we’ll be long gone.”

“Yeah.”

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

He shook his head. “Don’t tell me nothing. Talk to me, Junebug.”

She rocked back and forth in her seat. It was a gentle rocking. He suspected she did it more out of habit than out of anxiety. Still, he could tell something was bothering her.

“It was a rookie mistake. One that could have gotten us both killed. Harlem… Harlem never tolerated mistakes,” she said.

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