Older Man Rich Girl. (Completed)

Chapter 24. Weasel.

Harry didn't tell the girls that he already knew of the plans Jacques had made with Weasel. The sophisticated listening device picked up everything, planted during the break in, and recorded on Harry's phone. He was a realist. Weasel could easily kill with a knife, the weapon of choice, as suggested by Jacques. It would be far too dangerous to fight with Weasel.

To keep himself hidden from the full moon, Harry stood in the night shadows of a tree at the far end of his road. Cars were parked nose to tail in the quiet street. Up at the other end, his flat had no lights on and looked empty. He hunched into his coat, collar up, and pulled down the peaked cap to disguise himself. As he slowly walked along the pavement towards his flat he scanned the parked cars. Most of them he recognised, cars belonging to neighbours who always parked with a permit on the inside of their windscreen. Halfway along he couldn't believe his eyes - Corinne's car was there, with the lights off, and a lone man in the driver's seat. The boy from Marseille was waiting.

He took his hat off, walked round to the closed window next to Weasel, and knocked on the glass. 'Open the window an inch,' he said.

Weasel looked confused, frozen in his seat, his 18-year-old eyes wide.

'Let's make the obvious assumption,' said Harry, 'that you're sitting here waiting for me. But ... I have some information concerning you.'

'I'm listening.'

Harry passed him a piece of paper. 'Read that.'

Weasel switched on the interior light and read the email from Jacques to a member of his gang in Marseille.

Harry watched the other man's face. 'Jacques wants you to go to Marseille for some reason, and when you're there he's arranged for you to be killed.' He paused to choose his next words carefully. Having seen the way Weasel ate at Snap's birthday lunch, the way he arranged neat morsels of spent food round the rim of his plate, Harry was banking on a meticulous, precise person, who would not go running to Jacques in panic. Harry continued, 'I've hacked into Jacques's emails and I can keep you informed of what's going on. Interested?'

Weasel adjusted his round glasses. 'What do you want in return?'

'I want to know everything Jacques says about Corinne.' He figured Weasel could be turned to have him providing information to Harry. And, just as important, to have Weasel on Harry's side.

'Exchange of information.' Weasel's statement didn't need further comment.

'Give me back that email.' Harry paused. 'And keep pretending to Jacques you can't track me down.'

Weasel, without saying a word, passed the paper to Harry and started the car. He drove away and Harry watched the car's rear lights disappear onto the main road.

He looked at the email before he crunched it into a ball. He didn't tell Weasel that the hacked emails from Jacques's computer showed all his contacts and previous correspondence, downloaded onto Harry's laptop before he gave up the file to Douglas. It wasn't difficult to set up a new email address to look like the real thing, as if sent by Jacques, except for one changed letter in the address. It looked genuine. Weasel believed it and he wouldn't be going to Marseille in a hurry.

Even though Harry had the listening device secured in Jacques's study, it was a good feeling to have Weasel neutralised as an assassin. He turned his thoughts to Corinne. He had the impression that she had forgiven him and he breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't felt so relieved to be forgiven by any previous girlfriend. On reflection, it became useless to fight against his feelings, that he was in love with Corinne.