Beta contacted the hacker he had never met in person once again. The other man easily hacked into the security system on the first floor and set all the surveillance footage to loop, covering Beta's movements.
In the underground parking garage, Beta sat in the driver's seat of a black Jaguar.
The face reflected in the rearview mirror was identical to Michael Bryce's, from the smiling eyes to the signature dimple in his right cheek. He practiced Michael's trademark smile in the mirror: first pressing his lips together slightly, then suddenly breaking into a grin that showed eight pearly white teeth, with three charming wrinkles creasing the corners of his eyes.
"Feeling pretty good today?" Beta asked himself aloud. His voice had already been adjusted to sound 95% like Michael's. He gave the nonexistent wrinkles in his dark blue suit one last straightening.
Beta opened the car door, stepped onto the ground in his dress shoes, and walked around to the rear. He pressed the trunk release and lifted out a suit bag.
Holding the hanger in his left hand, he opened the driver's door and leaned into the car. With his right hand, he opened the center console and took out the CZ75 pistol fitted with a suppressor. He felt the cold metal through the coating on his hand. He lifted his jacket hem and tucked the pistol into the holster at his lower back, making sure the suit jacket fell naturally and concealed every trace of it.
7:20 p.m.
The elevator rose smoothly.
Beta tilted his head slightly, watching the red floor numbers tick upward as he went over the details of the operation one last time. Amid the faint hum of the metal elevator car, a crisp chime rang out, and the doors slowly opened.
Carrying the