Lucas looked past him toward the counter. Chloe was watching, not openly at first but with the alert concentration of someone trying to decide whether she should intervene. Thomas's office door was closed. A businessman at the next table folded his newspaper, looked at Lucas for an instant, and then resumed reading. The air conditioner hummed above them, offering a strange normality to a moment that was ceasing to be normal.
"I've answered your questions," Lucas said. "I'm a paying customer. I'd like to continue my morning."
Mateo shifted his weight, a small movement that brought his right hip closer to the table. He examined the expensive laptop again as though it offended him. He asked where Lucas had obtained it, and Lucas told him he owned it. That answer seemed to make the officer angrier. He had expected uncertainty, perhaps an apology, and instead he was looking at a man who had decided he did not need Mateo's permission to sit down.
"Let me see some identification," Mateo said.
"What crime do you suspect me of committing?" Lucas asked.
"I'm investigating suspicious activity. ID. Now."
"You haven't identified conduct that gives you grounds to detain me," Lucas replied. "If this is a voluntary conversation, I'm ending it. If you believe I'm detained, please explain why."
Mateo's palm struck the table so hard that coffee rippled inside Lucas's cup. The crack made two nearby customers flinch, and a spoon fell from a saucer. Chloe stopped moving behind the counter. Lucas did not reach for his credentials. For the moment, he held his hands still and watched the officer's face turn a deeper red.
"I didn't say we were finished," Mateo snapped. "Don't give me a law-school speech."
Lucas kept his voice low. "You can lower yours, Officer. Nobody here needs this."
"You think you're going to tell me how to do my job?" Mateo stepped closer. "Get your ID out, or I'll get you out of that booth."
Chloe set her towel down. She could no longer convince herself that the exchange was an ordinary check. The man had bought his coffee, sat quietly, and done nothing that violated any shop rule. She knew because she had taken his order. She stepped around the espresso machine until Mateo could see her.
"Excuse me, Officer," she said. "He's a customer. He paid for his drink, and he hasn't bothered anyone."
Mateo whipped his head toward her. "Stay out of police business."
"I just wanted to explain--"
"Then stop explaining," Mateo said. "Say another word and you'll be interfering with an investigation. You understand me?"
Chloe stepped back, shaken. She had been nervous speaking in the first place, and being threatened in front of customers made her feel suddenly young. Nadia reached for her hand behind the counter. Lucas saw that movement, small and protective, and knew he could no longer pretend that his own discomfort was the only consequence of the officer's behavior.
"She told you a fact you could have verified," Lucas said. "You had no reason to threaten her."
"I decide what I need to verify," Mateo said, turning back. "Stand up."