of the carding world and DarkMarket. His aim, perhaps unwisely, was to put the frightenars on Cha0, to let him know that information about his operation was leaking out and that the police might well be investigating him.

In his innocence - which, despite everything, was still an integral part of his character - Mert assumed that Cha0 would not be able to establish who this mystery hacker offering interviews to the press actually was. But Mert had not reckoned with Haber 7 taking a sneaky photograph of him at the McDonald's in Kadikoy where he and their journalist met. Once that was published, Cha0 knew who had been blabbing. Mert was firmly in the big man's sights.

With a warrant out for his arrest and Sadun under lock and key, Cha0, Lord Cyric et al. would have known that Mert was vulnerable to pressure from law enforcement. The interview reinforced those suspicions. So instead of returning to the DarkMarket board directly, Mert made contact with a young hacker friend of his called Mustafa, who was also known to Cha0. Mustafa was, by all accounts, keen to develop his skills in the easy money culture of carding and cybercrime.

Mustafa's family came from Antalya, which also gave Mert an excuse to get out of Istanbul where he felt insecure. He stayed in the south for more than a month, back in his favourite part of the country.

Mustafa worked on DarkMarket using the nickname MYD, and he developed a good working relationship with Cha0. What Mert did not know, however, was that Mustafa had warned Cha0 that Mert appeared to be stalking him.

Mustafa arranged to meet Cha0 up in Istanbul, and so he and Mert headed back north. Mert had kept Lucy Hoover informed of his movements and alerted her that he was preparing to meet Cha0. The Americans needed to get a sighting of Cha0 and to establish both his coordinates and his communications infrastructure. Mert, for once, was keeping a promise - leading the Americans to their quarry. Cha0 had instructed Mustafa to meet his people outside a Burger King not far from Goztepe suburban rail station, which is on the Asian side of Istanbul, a couple of miles from Fenerbahce's stadium.

When they reached Goztepe, they found Hakan Oztan, a big bull of a man who had acted as Cagatay's minder when the two were in prison together and now offered the same services to Sahin as well. The bodyguard took them both to a house named Sozdener Apartments in