The woman had a grip like an iron manacle -- strong, unshakable, and just this side of too tight. She hauled him out through the door into a (fortunately) empty corridor.

"You have unusual hair and I'm guessing you don't want to lose that stick," she said over her shoulder as she dragged him along behind her, "so blending into a crowd isn't going to be easy. Fortunately, we won't have to do much of that. You're not afraid of tight spaces, are you?"

She let him go when they reached a ventilation screen, hand dipping into a pocket and extracting a screwdriver.

"I'm Parker," she added, not looking back at him as she started spinning screws out of the wall. "I'll give you that one for free. First question?"