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She rubbed her hands together and nodded. “Yeah, okay sure. Let’s hear it. Wish number one.” Jeannie fought the urge to roll her eyes.

“I wish for you to fall in love with me.”

“Uh, good one.” Jeannie put her palms together and bowed her head. “Ping! Wish granted.” She shook her head, her high ponytail swaying back and forth. This guy was so stupid. “Ohh, Victor, you’re home! So good to see you. Did you have a nice day?”

She smiled brightly, drawing on years of experience to keep up the ruse. She was Southern and fake sincerity was encoded in her DNA. It was an unusual superpower, but it was hers, nonetheless.

“Oh genie, it was so stressful. Everyone expects so much from me, and it’s so hard to run a company.” He pouted, his bottom lip sticking out.

Jeannie smiled, an idea forming in her head. “Perhaps you’d like a massage, er, Master?” She patted her hand on the pouf in front of her.

Victor beamed, his face lighting up. “You are perfect.” He sat down and took off his shirt, leaving on his dingy white undershirt. “I’m eager to see what your hands can do.”

Jeannie’s nose scrunched.Gross.She walked to the small table that held an assortment of beautiful bottles. She had to hand it to him, he really had gone all out on the room. It’dmake a great Airbnb, minus the kidnapping and creepy old man part.

Finding a small bottle of oil, she walked over to where he sat on the pouf, setting the extra slack from her leash next to her foot.

She stood behind him, her body shaking in revulsion.I can do this.During their training sessions, Al had always drilled into her the importance of putting herself first. She closed her eyes, thinking back to one of their sessions.

“Shady fuckers deserve a shady ending. Don’t feel bad if you have to gouge out an eyeball. If they put you in the position where you would even consider sticking your finger in their eye socket and shoving out their eyeball, they’ve done some serious shit and deserve it.” He’d stared into her eyes, brushing the hair from her face. “You stay alive. No matter what occurs. I will find you.”

Or maybe that wasLast of the Mohicans. Whatever. She stared at the length of chain, solidifying her plan. If it worked, she’d owe a lot to Marina’s sci-fi movie nights.

Chapter 39

The elevator reached the fiftieth floor, and Al used the key card “Officer Shane” had commandeered from the security desk to open the door.

“Follow my lead, got it? Our priority is to find Jeannie and make sure she’s safe. Second priority is to kick that sorry motherfucker’s ass.”

“Hell, yeah!” Diane shouted. She hoisted the camera onto her shoulder. “We’re rolling!”

Jazz looked at her and grinned. Shane nodded, smoothing his hair and checking his breath in his hand. “I’ve taken down an army of assassins and a coven of vampires. I can handle this.”

Al smiled. It wasn’t his usual team, but they would do. He banged on the door leading to the suite.

“Open up! Pizza delivery!” He waited a few seconds, and when nothing happened, he took the key card and swiped, opening the door. The suite was not what he expected.Instead of a large sitting area with a crystal chandelier and big screen TV, there was a long hallway with lots of doors.

Jazz ran to the first one and tried to open it, but it was locked. “Pass me the key!” she shouted, and Al tossed her the card. The door opened, and inside they found a small room decorated like a hospital room. A woman in a nurse’s uniform was huddled on the bed.

“Hey, honey,” Jazz said in whispered tones. “I’m Jazz. What’s your name?”

The woman looked up, eyes darting at the group of people standing in the doorway. “Beth.”

“Do you want to get out of here?” Jazz asked.

“Yeah, but—” She held up her hand, which was handcuffed to the bed rail.

Jazz took a deep breath. “We can take care of that. You aren’t staying a second longer than you need to. Do you know where he keeps the key?”

Beth’s eyes filled with tears as she shrugged.

“I got it,” Shane announced, pushing his way into the room. “I played a street urchin inLes Misduring my method acting days.” He pulled a hair pin from Jazz’s elaborate updo and began to pick the lock.

They heard a scream, and Al ripped the key card from Jazz’s hand and ran out of the room. “Jeannie!” he shouted.

There was more shouting, and Al followed the noise until he got to the last room in the hall. He opened the door to see Jeannie standing behind an old fat creep like an avenging angel. She was wearing a ridiculously hot outfit—not that he was thinking about that—with gold chains crisscrossing her body. Her hands held a thicker chain, which she was currently using to strangle the man.

His eyes bulged from his head, and as he gasped for air, she leaned down to his ear. “Nothing against genies, but I’m more of a Princess Leia girl.”