Beta had taken advantage of the chaos at the hospital to make a clean getaway. He had thoroughly cleared out his safe house before the operation, so he had nowhere to stay in Paris. He could only find somewhere else to rest for the time being, then figure out how to leave France.
His only option now was to find an old acquaintance. He could catch his breath at her place and make a new plan to get out.
Under his assumed identity, Beta used makeshift materials to add another layer of disguise over his existing one. Once he was sure everything was in order, he hailed a taxi and headed for his destination. He got out two blocks away and carefully walked the rest of the way.
Beta knocked on the door in a particular rhythm: three long knocks, two short ones, a pause, then one heavy knock.
The office building stood on the edge of an abandoned industrial district, its outer walls weathered and peeling. The metal fire escape cast a shadow in the twilight. In the vacant lot behind the building, a dusty gray van sat motionless, a few withered leaves scattered beside its tires. The whole area was steeped in a silence as if forgotten by time, broken only by the hollow echo of his knocks in the corridor.
Chains slid on the other side of the door, which opened a crack three fingers wide.
A wary woman's voice came through the gap. "Who is it?"
"It's me, Miss Little Flower," Beta replied.
The chain was yanked free. A tawny hand grabbed Beta by the collar and dragged him inside. The woman swiftly leaned out to scan the corridor, then slammed the door shut.
She was a mixed-race woman with an exotic allure. Her rounded nose