Kyle immediately interrupted.
KYLE: "Don't let her play games. She's been warned repeatedly."
THOMAS: "Sergeant, she hasn't been given a proper opportunity to establish who she is."
KYLE: "Stay out of this, Reed!"
Evelyn slowly withdrew her hand.
She looked at the young officer.
EVELYN: "Before you make a decision, I want you to understand something."
MILITARY POLICE OFFICER: "Yes, ma'am?"
EVELYN: "You are being asked to detain someone based entirely on the account of the individual whose maintenance records are currently being questioned."
The officer glanced at Kyle.
Kyle's face turned red.
KYLE: "That's enough! She's trying to manipulate you."
EVELYN: "Then verify the information."
KYLE: "I am the senior enlisted man responsible for this hangar!"
EVELYN: "That still doesn't answer my question."
KYLE: "What question?"
EVELYN: "Who authorized you to decide that I'm a threat?"
For a moment, nobody spoke.
The young officer looked increasingly uncomfortable.
Thomas folded his arms.
He had seen enough to understand that the situation was becoming dangerous.
But Kyle had no intention of backing down.
KYLE: "You want to know who I am? I'm the person who decides what happens inside this building."
EVELYN: "No, Sergeant. You're the person responsible for explaining what happened inside this building."
Kyle stepped toward her again.
His voice became louder.
KYLE: "You have no idea how much trouble you're in."
EVELYN: "I think you should be more concerned about the trouble you're creating for yourself."
That was the moment Kyle completely lost his temper.
He reached toward Evelyn's blonde ponytail and grabbed it.
Her head was pulled backward as she struggled to regain her balance.
The nearby technicians reacted immediately.
THOMAS: "BRODY! LET HER GO!"
Evelyn raised her hands toward Kyle's arm, trying to free herself.
KYLE: "You should have learned when to keep your mouth shut!"
EVELYN: "Get your hands off me!"
Kyle raised his other arm in a threatening movement.
Before he could continue, another officer rushed forward and caught his arm.
SECOND OFFICER: "STOP! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"
Kyle turned angrily.
KYLE: "Get out of my way!"
The second officer stepped between them.
SECOND OFFICER: "Are you out of your mind?"
Kyle released Evelyn.
She stumbled backward, one hand moving instinctively toward her hair.
The second officer looked at her.
Then he looked at Kyle.
His expression suddenly changed.
He recognized her.
Not from the clothing.
Not from the folder.
Not from anything visible to the people working inside the hangar.
He recognized her face.
SECOND OFFICER: "Sergeant... do you even know who she is?"
KYLE: "I don't care who she is."
The second officer stared at him in disbelief.
SECOND OFFICER: "You need to stop talking."
KYLE: "Excuse me?"
The officer stepped closer and spoke loudly enough for everyone in the hangar to hear.
SECOND OFFICER: "THAT WOMAN IS THE CHAIRWOMAN!"
Silence fell across Hangar Four.
Kyle's expression froze.
Thomas Reed slowly turned toward Evelyn.
The young military police officer lowered his hands.
Nobody moved.
For the first time since the confrontation began, Kyle Brody looked as though he had no idea what to say.
Evelyn stood quietly, adjusting her shirt and gathering her folder.
She did not smile.
She did not celebrate.
She simply looked at the sergeant who had spent the last several minutes treating her as though she had no right to question him.
EVELYN: "Now, Sergeant, perhaps we can discuss those maintenance records."
Kyle swallowed.
KYLE: "Chairwoman...?"
The second officer did not take his eyes off him.
SECOND OFFICER: "Yes. The chairwoman you've just assaulted."
Thomas Reed looked toward the fighter aircraft.
Then he looked back at Evelyn.
He understood that this confrontation was no longer about a visitor who had entered the wrong part of a hangar.
Something much bigger had just begun.
And Kyle Brody had no idea how much of his own operation was about to be examined.
For several seconds, nobody inside Hangar Four moved.
The words spoken by the second officer seemed to hang in the air.
"THAT WOMAN IS THE CHAIRWOMAN!"
Kyle Brody stared at Evelyn as though he had suddenly been introduced to an entirely different person.
His hand slowly dropped to his side.
The arrogance that had dominated his expression only moments earlier had disappeared.
KYLE: "That's... that's impossible."
The second officer stepped closer.
SECOND OFFICER: "I suggest you watch what you say next, Sergeant."
KYLE: "No. Wait a minute. Who told you that?"
SECOND OFFICER: "I know exactly who she is."
Kyle looked toward Thomas Reed, hoping to find some explanation that would restore his confidence.
But Thomas was no longer looking at him.