Page 75 of The Geek and the Sheikh

Junebug grinned. “Hi, RITA. I’m at a party.”

“Oh, do tell. It must be ritzy. What is the party for?” RITA asked, suddenly appearing next to her.

Junebug swiveled on the stool. “We are trying to catch bad guys. One of them has Katie’s mom, Kathleen. I was wondering if you could help us.”

RITA laughed, her body shimmering. “Iliveto catch bad guys. What do you need, love?”

“I need satellite tracking on this phone, a complete 3D model of the streets and buildings, and all possible escape routes for our people and Colin Coldhouse,” Junebug explained.

“Ah, sweet. I get to test out the new satellites and software FRED and I have been working on.”

Junebug tilted her head. “Who’s FRED?”

RITA chuckled. “The sexiest alien AI you’ve ever seen.”

“Alien…? I am so going to have to know more,” Junebug breathed with excitement.

“First things first. Let’s kick some ass,” RITA said.

The AI shimmered and disappeared. Seconds later, information began to flood the screen. Everything she needed was there. Junebug reduced the information and divided it on the screen so she could analyze each one. She connected with the earpiece frequency Idella had given each member of the team.

“Turn left up at the next street,” she instructed, studying the SUV as it made the turn.

Junebug connected with the phone company and put Katie’s phone on the computer speaker. She had barely finished the connection when an alert came through. She wiggled her nose with distaste when she heard Coldhouse’s voice. He gave additional instructions. RITA must have been patched in as well because the information on her screen changed.

“We know where he is. Give us ten minutes to get in place,” Idella said.

Junebug pulled up one of the boxes on her screen. “I’ve uploaded a schematic of the apartment building. It’s going to be a difficult shot as the building is higher than the surrounding ones.”

“I need a place where I have a clear view of the roof, Bugs,” Idella replied.

She snorted out a frustrated breath. She really needed her bank of screens. If she had been smart, she would have kicked the two security analysts out of their comfy office.

“I can’t make buildings grow. Two blocks away, there’s a hotel. It is two stories higher. Looking at the blueprint, you should have a good view. Whether you can hit something from that far away and in the dark is another matter,” she said.

“I can hit it,” Idella retorted.

Junebug bit the tip of her finger as she watched the dots moving on her screen. RITA was tracking each person through their phone. The green dots outnumbered the single red dot, so it was hard to tell who was who.

“I’m in place,”Idella said.

Junebug listened in tense silence as the mission unfolded. Her heart ached for Katie. She decided that she didn’t have what it took to be Jane Bond. She had never listened in real-time as her sister went on a mission. It was a lot scarier than she had imagined.

“I’m at the top,”Midnight murmured.

“Two floors to go,”Raja's guard Hussain replied.

Nearly a dozen green dots suddenly appeared on her screen as they spread out. That would be the guys heading their way: Junayd, Tarek, Raja, and their security. Aimee had alerted them.

She leaned forward, unmuted the mic, and spoke. “Cavalry is on the way.”

“I’m in the elevator heading to the top,”Katie said.

“Katie,”Raja’s deep voice boomed through the computer audio.“Katie, I’m here, habibti. Keep calm. I will not let Coldhouse hurt you or your mother.”

“I know. I… love you, Raja,”Katie whispered.

The emotion between Katie and Raja brought tears to Junebug’s eyes. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like for Jameel to be in that kind of danger.

---