Page 67 of The Geek and the Sheikh

After Jameel’s mom left, she had showered, eaten the meal that Jameel had delivered, and was sipping on the best hot chocolate she had ever had. After her shower and meal, she had explored the apartment. It was at least ten-times bigger than the vault under the Brooklyn Bridge. Hell, the bathroom alone was half the size of her home back in New York.

There were five bedrooms, six bathrooms, a formal dining room with French doors leading out onto a balcony that overlooked a walled garden with a small swimming pool, a kitchen made for a chef, a small nook for quieter meals, a laundry room, a security room, a library/den, two offices, a gym, and this room. It was even possible she had missed a room or two in her explorations. Once she saw this one, her exploring was over.

She sipped on her hot chocolate while her normal surveillances started. Once they were running, she focused on more urgent matters. The single phone she had kept with her had died during their journey from France to Jawahir and she hadn’t had a chance to check her messages. She was reading through the alerts she had set up when a message popped up on the screen in front of her.

Any information on Operation Rebirth or Dalla Bogadottir?

She pursed her lips. If Dimitri Mihailov wanted information, he was going to have to give some in return. She scrolled through the half-dozen messages he had left. She was sure it was him and not Sergi who had left them, but she suspected that they were working together. From the little research she had done on the men, they never did anything apart.

Information works both ways. Why are you interested in the information, Dimitri?

She grinned when three ellipses appeared before his response popped up.

We are searching for a woman named Dalla Bogadottir. It’s personal.

Explain personal.

While she waited for his response, she opened a portal to a server that she hadn’t accessed in years. It was no ordinary server. She had found it looking for information on Harlem years ago. Harlem had almost caught her that day. Two days later, her mom had packed Junebug and Midnight up and left. She had abandoned her search after that because what Harlem did was no longer relevant to her small family.

Typing in the server name, she wasn’t sure it would even still be active. She didn’t know why she had thought of it now. Maybe some latent memory or that weird gnawing at her subconscious that she got sometimes. Her mom had called it her Buggy sense.

Whatever it was, it had awoken with a vengeance. She was surprised when the server popped up. It was still active. Taking a deep breath, she stared at the blinking curser for the password. She closed her eyes, pulling a distant memory from the recesses of her mind. Her fingers moved as if she were mimicking a skilled musician’s stroke on a piano. Her fingers tapped out the characters on the keyboard in the same sequence she had watched Harlem use while she hid in the shadows.

Opening her eyes, she pressed the enter key. It was crazy to think the same password would still work after all these years. Her heart hammered in her chest when the file opened.

“Welcome, Harlem. How may I assist you?”

“Whoa. They’ve updated the site with AI integration. That’s cool,” she breathed.

“How may I help you?” the AI computer voice requested.

“You sound human,” she said.

“Thank you. I will take that as a compliment. How may I help you, Junebug Rain?” the AI system said.

Junebug sat back with her mouth hanging open. This was advanced, even for an AI system. She leaned forward and peered at the screen.

“Do you have a name?” she asked.

“Of course, my name is RITA.”

“Rita? That’s a really cool name. Does it stand for something or is it just Rita?” Junebug asked.

“RITA stands for Really Intelligent Technical Assistant,” RITA answered.

“Oh, that is super cool! What part of the government do you work for?” she curiously inquired.

“I’m not technically a part of the government, though we do work extensively with them. I’m part of Cosmos Raines Industries.”

“What does Cosmos Raines Industries do and what does it have to do with Harlem… and Operation Rebirth?”

Junebug threw in the last phrase as an afterthought. She didn’t expect RITA would have an answer for her. That thought caused her to ask another question.

“RITA, how do you know who I am?”

RITA’s soft, realistic voice startled her. The laughter hadn’t come from the computer but from behind her. Junebug slowly rotated in her chair before she released a squeak of surprise. Standing not more than two feet away from her was the holographic image of a very beautiful redhead wearing an outfit that looked like something out of a 1950’s movie.

“Holy moly, Batman, we aren’t in Kansas anymore,” Junebug breathed.

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