He searched my face, ran his tongue over cracked, dry lips. “You’re bluffing. You can’t do that.”

I leaned forward, my right palm covering the money. “They’re going to shake that key off your belt, Cap, and they’re going to open that door. If I’m wrong and they don’t find anything, you win. If I’m right, well . . .” I let the sentence hang. “You and Reese will go down together, only here’s the kicker. Reese can afford a good lawyer, and likely won’t spend a day in jail. You? Depending on what’s back there, you won’t see the light of day for a long, long time. You’re not a young man, Cap, and jail’s a dark, lonely place.”

“Cops need warrants,” Cap barked, but he looked a little unsure.

I chuckled. “Yeah, okay.”

Cap thought it through. He tried bluffing. That didn’t work. He tried charm. That got him nowhere. Threats would come next, so I waited for them. And, as if on cue, he pounded his fists on the counter, rattling the mini fan sitting on the far end. I didn’t flinch.

“You get out of here,” Cap barked.

I waited for the rest of it, but apparently that’s all he had. I went in again. “You like deals, so here’s one. You give me the information I need, and I’ll forget about the back room.” For now. “I could be wrong. I’ve been out of the cop game a few years. My instincts could be rusty.”

He eyed the money again. He wanted it, but there was no way in Hell I was parting with two hundred dollars. I slid the money off the counter, back into my bag.

Cap sneered. “No money, no deal.”

“The deal is information on Vincent Darby in exchange for me walking out of here without dropping a dime on you. Seems like a fair trade to me.”

Cap’s eyes narrowed to reptilian slits. “You’re fishing. You got nothing.”

I smiled. “Nothing but the good sense to smell crap when it’s lobbed my way.”

Cap’s bushy brows rammed together, his mouth twisted. He reached under the counter and produced a worn leather sap. I had one just like it in the top drawer of my office desk for troublesome visitors. The look on Cap’s face told me that he thought the sap was all he’d need to get me walking. I held my spot.

“You’re quick to violence,” I said. “Hard to believe you held back with Tim, given the trouble he caused you.” I flicked a disdainful look at the sap. “That won’t solve anything, though. The offer still stands.”