"Both of you, remain where you are. I don't want anyone making calls or taking action without my authorization."
Ethan's expression tightened.
Renee looked at the telephone, then back at the lieutenant.
Neither officer answered immediately.
Vanessa noticed their hesitation.
"Is there a problem?"
Ethan chose his words carefully.
"No, Lieutenant."
Renee followed.
"Understood."
Vanessa seemed satisfied, but only briefly. She returned her attention to Daniel, whose calm expression had not changed.
The gold badge remained partially visible against his black shirt.
The verification had still not been completed.
And the longer Vanessa refused to make the call, the more the central question changed.
It was no longer only whether Daniel Brooks was who he claimed to be.
It was whether Lieutenant Vanessa Cole could accept that the truth might need to be established by a process she did not personally control.
Daniel took a slow breath and looked directly at her.
"Lieutenant, I am giving you one more opportunity to resolve this properly. Please verify my credentials."
Vanessa's eyes narrowed.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she reached toward the telephone.
Ethan straightened near the desk. Renee moved slightly away from the doorway, watching the lieutenant's hand approach the receiver.
Daniel remained seated, his hands still secured in front of him.
Vanessa lifted the receiver from its cradle.
But before she could begin dialing, she stopped and looked at Daniel again, her expression caught between suspicion and the uncomfortable possibility that she had been wrong from the beginning.
Vanessa held the telephone receiver against her palm without dialing a single number.
Daniel watched her from the chair.
"Is there a problem, Lieutenant?"
She slowly turned toward him.
"You seem very interested in what I'm doing."
"You picked up the phone."
"And?"
"I assumed you were finally going to verify my credentials."
Vanessa gave a short, humorless laugh.
"You really don't know when to stop, do you?"
"I know when a question has been answered. This one hasn't."
She placed the receiver back into its cradle with enough force to make the plastic base click against the desk.
"There. Happy now?"
Daniel glanced at the telephone.
"You haven't made the call."
"I said I would handle it."
"Handling it and refusing to do it are two different things."
Ethan shifted beside the desk. Renee pressed her lips together, trying to keep her expression neutral.
Vanessa noticed both reactions.
"Something funny?"
"No, Lieutenant," Ethan answered.
"Then why do you both look as if you're waiting for me to make a mistake?"
Renee spoke cautiously.
"Nobody wants you to make a mistake. We want this situation resolved."
"Resolved according to whom?"
"According to the facts."
Vanessa turned toward her.
"You've been remarkably comfortable offering opinions today, Officer Carter."
"I'm offering a suggestion, ma'am."
"One I didn't request."
Renee nodded once.
"Understood."
Daniel looked between the two women.
"Lieutenant, I don't want your officers getting into trouble because of this."
Vanessa immediately seized on the statement.
"Then perhaps you should stop involving them."
"I'm not involving them. They're already here."
"You keep directing your comments toward them."
"Because they have suggested verifying my identification."
"And you think that means they agree with you?"
"I haven't asked them to agree with me."
Vanessa folded her arms.
"You expect everyone in this room to believe you're some important federal official simply because you say so."
"No. I expect you to use the information I provided to check whether I am."
"That's a convenient distinction."
"It's a necessary one."
She stared at him.
"You always speak like this?"
"Only when a straightforward question becomes an argument."
Ethan looked down, but a brief movement at the corner of his mouth suggested that he recognized the truth in Daniel's answer.
Vanessa caught it.
"Officer Miller."
Ethan straightened.
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
"Do you have something you want to say?"
He hesitated.
"I think we should make the call."
Vanessa's expression went cold.
"That wasn't what I asked."
"You asked whether I had something to say. I do."
"And you believe this is the appropriate time to question me?"
"I believe this is the appropriate time to verify the identification."
Daniel remained silent, allowing Ethan to speak for himself.
Vanessa stepped away from the desk.
"You've been an officer for five years, Ethan. Five. Do you know how many people I've dealt with who claimed to have connections, titles, badges, or some special reason the normal rules shouldn't apply to them?"
"No, ma'am."
"Then perhaps you should listen before assuming you know what's happening."
"I am listening."
"Are you?"
"Yes."