Older Man Rich Girl. (Completed)

Chapter 20. Marseille.

Harry had been in Paris for five days working with Fleur. They had followed their suspect, Amir Khan, each time he left his apartment but all his excursions had been routine trips to the shops to buy groceries or a newspaper. Sometimes they would use Fleur's scooter to shadow him, and other times they would split up to take turns stalking their target.

Harry sat in the cafe at a small round table with his back to the window. Opposite him, Fleur kept her eyes focused on a point over his shoulder while she talked. 'He's taking his time in that shop. But there is a suspicious character loitering outside just left of the door ... looks Algerian.'

'The guy wouldn't be a French agent, would he?'

'Doubt it.' She sipped her Cappuccino.

Harry glanced up at the flat screen TV behind the bar and listened to the news. Two Frenchmen sat on stools and drank espressos while they focused on the TV.

Fleur tapped his hand. 'Amir has just come out and is talking to the Algerian.' She paused. 'Amir has passed a folded newspaper to the other guy and now they are separating.'

They left the cafe and stood for a moment next to Fleur's scooter. Harry lit a cigarette and pretended to inhale while he checked to see if anyone else was trailing the Algerian. Two men sitting in a car parked down the street eased their Peugeot away from the kerb and followed Amir.

Harry discarded the cigarette and put on his helmet. 'We'll follow the Algerian.' He climbed onto the scooter behind Fleur.

Their route took them into a no-go area dominated by Muslims, where they saw their target enter a small apartment block. Fleur came to a stop, between two parked cars, ten yards from the entrance and switched off the engine. They knew the routine. Fleur pretended to make a call on her mobile while Harry used the IVT app on his phone to see if a mobile was being used in the immediate area.

She said, 'What's the range of that thing?'

'70 yards.' Although Fleur knew of the MI6 device, the details remained a secret, which is why he couldn't tell her that the Immediate Vicinity Trace logged the phone numbers of all mobiles currently in use within a radius of 70 yards. Furthermore, the strength of the signal from the other mobiles registered on the app and indicated how close they were and in which direction the phone was located.

Harry watched his app and waited. Two other calls were being made, their phone numbers displayed on his screen, but these calls were in the wrong direction, away from the apartments. Fleur kept up the pretence of speaking on her phone, but spoke also to Harry. 'We can't wait any longer. We'll be noticed in this neighbourhood.'

'Start the engine.' Just at that moment the IVT responded with a strong signal from the apartment block, with the number of the device. 'Got it. Let's go.' He climbed back on the scooter as Fleur started the engine.

They sped away and Harry pressed Send on the app and disconnected the phone. The automatic link with GCHQ in Cheltenham would ensure the mobile number was traced to its owner and calls recorded from this moment. Once out of the no-go area, Fleur stopped her scooter at the side of the road, in the shade of a line of trees planted along the edge of the pavement. She turned round in her saddle. 'Do you need to get the details over to your Government Communications Headquarters?'

'It's done.'

'And there's no need to request permission of the phone company?'

'It's not up to me.'

She got off her scooter and eased off her helmet. She shook her hair to free it. 'I sometimes wonder if this type of snooping goes too far. I mean, you're breaking our civil liberties and our right to privacy, aren't you?'