"Move, or I end this now."
Evelynn's kick split the service door off its frame. Metal screamed. A strip of red LED blinked out where she'd cut the feed with a palm-sized jammer.
"Who the hell—" the guard at the top of the basement stairs had a flashlight shaking in his hand.
"Drop it," Evelynn said. She stepped into the stairwell without taking her eyes off him.
The guard's jaw worked. "This is Thompson property. You leave now and—"
"You shout and I don't. You move and I don't." Evelynn's voice was flat. She didn't smile. "One step, and you lose your career."
He swallowed. He stayed put.
Evelynn's fingers found the door sensor, cool and clinical. She ran a short sequence on the device clipped to her belt. The camera feed froze. The motion sensor hiccuped. The alarm light on the stairwell control flickered and died.
"No bullets," the guard said, trying to sound brave. "Security protocol—"
"Security protocol ends with me," Evelynn cut in. Her hand went for the rail. Her boot hit the next step. Steel met fist in a practiced movement that didn't leave bruises to show. The guard's flashlight clattered down the stairs. He reached for his radio and stopped.
"Who sent you?" he asked, voice thinning.
Evelynn didn't answer. She pulled her gloved hand back and the guard slid down the stairs in a heap, arms crossed, unconscious from the choke hold
