“Laptops with nothing more dangerous than office supply orders.” I shrugged. “We gave them to Rinaldo to get him off our backs.”

“And why would you do that without informing us, the rats, or the wolves?”

“Because Rinaldo’s tame witch was infected, and Rinaldo was using him as a conduit to control the cloaks. He threatened to infect the city if we even thought about mentioning them to anyone else.”

“Which, I hate to admit, is a perfectly good reason to not set up any sort of trap.” He paused. “Why are you here?”

“We’re here because Janice Green had Hamberly’s name on her phone, and considering the hatred Rosen had of the man, we figured it might be worth searching his house.”

Parella frowned. “But Wilson had no connection to Hamberly, so why would you think the notes would be found here?”

“We didn’t,” Jackson said easily. “We’re just covering all our bases.”

“I’m still not seeing the connection—”

“James Hamberly had some very explicit photos of Rosen’s son with a number of men,” I said, “and he was blackmailing Rosen to the tune of a couple grand a month.”

“Given it was possible he went after more than cash,” Jackson continued, “we searched the place from top to bottom. Unfortunately, the only thing we discovered was that Hamberly and his many photo subjects are into some serious kink.”

“But you’re more than welcome to go discover that for yourself.” I stepped to one side and waved a hand toward the house.

“Thanks, but I’ll take your word on that particular matter. Hand over your purse.”

I did so without comment. He found Wilson’s key and held it up. “What is this?”

“The other key we found at Wilson’s. We’re still searching for a damn match. You already have the information we found with the first key.”

He replaced the key and then handed back the purse. I slipped it back over my shoulder, glad he didn’t bother checking my phone, which held all the photographs of the notes we’d found at Junior’s—notes he didn’t have.

“I’m gathering you and your sindicati cronies haven’t found the research notes De Luca’s hidden somewhere?”

“No, we have not.” He paused. “Nor does anyone in his den appear to know.”

“You know the den is working with Rinaldo, don’t you?”

“No, we did not.” He contemplated me for a moment. “I don’t suppose you would consider working with us when the current search is over? You are very good at uncovering information few others seem able to.”

“It’s amazing how well the fear of fire will loosen lips,” I said. “But you and I working together? One of us would be dead within hours, and it would not, I’m afraid, be me.”