He trained his breath into a soft rhythm, craned his neck around the corner of the brick building, and used his middle finger to tip down his dark sunglasses.
Target: located.
He pressed his back flatter against the rough wall. He couldn't be seen. And he wouldn't be - he didn't work in Investigations for nothing. He knew how to be discreet.
He heard the crunching of gravel and started; his target was on the move. He braved another look around the corner and relocated her, perhaps a meter closer to his hideout than she had previously been.
The temptress had males on either side of her, vying for her attention and she offered no more than a smug smile in return. One offered a daisy as payment for her affections and she took it, looking in the other direction, accepting and rejecting in the same movement. Hughes jotted a note onto a small pad of paper and slipped it back into his coat pocket. i Target: Indifferent to daisies. /i
The target looked up and he was almost detected, but he pulled back around the corner in time. This mission was too important to get caught. He wouldn't be out here on his day off if it wasn't.
He slid a camera out of his pocket and stuck his arm around the building. He didn't need to aim; he'd done this enough. Finally, his questions would be answered. He needed to know the target's daily activities. He clicked the camera and his eyes widened behind his dark glasses.
He'd forgotten the flash was on. He was caught.
"Daddy!" came the cry from across the playground before small arms threw themselves around his leg.