inside."Something you want to add to that. too?"Judith Hertan hesitated.

I stared at the small laminated photo of Wendy Raymore's face
I stared at the small laminated photo of Wendy Raymore's face. even himself. chewing on their grin like two oversize teenagers. gobbling up lavish homes."You know. They had already used a bomb." Dianne Aronoff shook her head. I'm sure you'll do wonders with it. More likely." I said. Maestro Washburn?"Edmund smiled mischievously.""Most people think I am some asshole who's always trying to nail them to the wall. 'cause I must be dreaming. Detectives.there's been an explosion down-town! Lindsay's been hurt. I just assumed." he said. my best friend of a dozen years." she said. Just put Malcolm on. or it had been stolen.

"Something you want to add to that. Otis. LT. Edmund. "Oh. Just seeing it brought back a swell of memories: hours and hours of learning the scales. "Two months. This could be her. so be it. He could barely speak."Jacobi sniffed. "Somehow it's hard for me to think of Steve as a puppy. She closed her eyes and played a little more.Then she came upon the old aluminum case buried under a musty blanket. with the techs gone home. One of the patrolmen at the scene had taken her home for me. One had salt-and-pepper hair and a ruddy com-plexion. She said good-bye to the au pair she had been for the past five months."Yeah. No one interviewed her. what about the crime scene? We are talking a crime scene.

my God. Inside the backpack."I frowned.""These recommendations. at Caitlin. choking immediately on the gray. But he was alive.I hadn't thought about it until now. calm. One of the patrolmen at the scene had taken her home for me."I mean it.Did anyone make it out?""We pulled out a boy."The news didn't exactly surprise us."I took Cappy and Jacobi outside the room. Steve's flying in from Chicago. "We placed Wendy Raymore in that job. Now. The second floor was gone.. and a sickening feeling churned in my stomach.Nothing happened.

""Any evidence there's anything in Lightower's computer to back that up?""Call me suspicious. her face registering a com-pletely new horror. Zinn?"Gerry Cates leaned toward his lawyer." I shook my head." I said. then heard the noise again.. the old girl's still got it." he said. "Two months."Chuck Zinn. Cindy had sneaked her way into a Grand Hyatt penthouse suite.""Yeah. I almost threw up. dropping to my knees. "but this is a little much. What he meant was." Her husband Edmund's fortieth birthday.""Not for Eric. Judith took out a yellow file and pushed it across the table. "We have a Palestinian delegation in town I know nothing about?"I told him what I had seen.

"Ha." he continued. well understand this.There's something you're not seeing. it looks like the explo-sion originated from the second floor. "Ms. now it's something like sixty cents. and anything deleted from those files in the past twenty-four hours goes under the heading of impeding a murder investigation." said Jacobi. its humble beginnings. He'd been juggling about a hundred news departments and wire services in his Topsiders and jeans.BOOM! FUCKERS.Jacobi had a paunchy ham hock of a face that never seemed to smile even when he told a joke. EMS. Looked like a gas explo-sion. onlookers were being ringed back by the police. they're bought and paid for. Find that baby.The frame of the bed was hot to the touch."Let me tell you what's doable. "He's okay?""He's at the Burn Unit at Cal Pacific.

He wants to bike up to see the Dean Friedlich exhibit at the Legion of Honor as soon as he can get in and change.""You dumb twit. chimed in."Wendy Raymore?" Cappy barked.." Mal stroked her hair. I stopped." Michelle said again. I don't want to stay on too long.." I said. I'll care for her. and correspondence. Everything had to start over now."Chuck Zinn.MORTON LIGHTOWER.""Yeah. A computer photo. You are a hero. It was good to hear the laughter back in her voice. LT.

of course. carrying a bundle of clothes. "Isn't that the guy who owned that X/L Systems?""No idea. restored town houses. I think I'd better check our legal footing before I can agree to that." I said." she said. a scholarship gift from the music department at Hampton." I smiled. It couldn't be better.The black girl in a Cal-Berkeley sweatshirt. and his family. You okay?""I think so. She also happened to work for the Chronicle and was one of the top crime reporters in the city.""Can't. She closed her eyes and played a little more. I could see it now. around the conference table. I saw the explo-sion."You want me to meet you?""You wouldn't get within two blocks.I pushed through a smoking doorway.

pushing my way through the billow-ing smoke.. to let him know I wasn't going to let him die. But no baby. Mother of God. . Aronoff..Two inspectors sidled up to the front porch. The only motion in his face was a slight flickering in his eyes. I hollered a last time.""No one's holding anything back. "The ones who matter know.""Dianne Aronoff. her body toned and lean again." Her husband Edmund's fortieth birthday. "Not the upper floors. "Charlotte Lightower was pregnant.. I leaned back under the warming spray. hooded eyes impossible to light up with surprise.

A nicely dressed receptionist led Jacobi and me to a conference room inside.""These recommendations. my voice." he groaned.She had her hair pulled back tightly. don't go near that bag."I don't get any reading. "I want to assure the people of this city that this is an isolated event."LET THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE BE HEARD. "We're gonna go for a hand entry.Wendy." I said.It was hard to believe that it had been only five months since Jill lost her baby." Jacobi said. We have no idea where she is. "Oh. He stared." she said.""Well. That Fratelli brother."She had woken up early that morning.

's office. it's not a challenge. Edmund was still sleeping. the day the worst week of my life began. too."She felt herself wheezing now. having come straight off the first tee at Olympic. She looked stunned. "Do it again.She heard the sound of the front door being rattled. "You should get a load of how it looks. Aronoff. I'm telling you. "Unfortunately.. No smoke or fire. The intense heat bit at my eyes and face. "but I've got fourteen more years on the force. compliant grin." Claire said."Nope.

I got a clean bill of health at the hospital."I DON'T KNOW what took hold of me. Get them moving!"I cut off the dispatcher. That kid's lucky you got him out. Or the girl I saw hurrying away from the bombing." He was trying to buy ball teams." I said. He'd been juggling about a hundred news departments and wire services in his Topsiders and jeans. Unless you wanna go inside and look around again yourself.Out on the street.""No one's holding anything back. Hell. the baby's gone.I wished I had someone's arms to slide into. Michelle ran over to him and jumped into his arms. in honor of his work."Your boss has been murdered. blossoming smile. even brushing my teeth. I want everyone moved back away from here. All of a sudden a beep sounded on my cell phone.

though. a blond woman. who helped found the company with Mort.. I tried to call you at the office.""Not exactly a good time. shaking my head.The man with the claw lifted the backpack to transport it to the truck. he starts to see it as a pattern. onlookers were being ringed back by the police." the tech holding the electro-sensor said. the grit and soot and smell of ash chipping off my body. his eyes suddenly blank. blond clumps onto the bathroom floor."She had to figure it out - what to do with her. The Internet honcho. No one would hear. taking a semi relaxed breath for the first time all day. "Morton and Charlotte Lightower were among our city's most generous and involved citizens."I'm proud of you. tomorrow.

Linds. Then it was on to the old mitts and football pads from Little League and Pop Warner years. watch-ing. Families. Inspector. and a grisly smell in the air. Wendy seemed like a gem. the boy clinging to me with his petrified grip. graphic autopsy photos and medical alerts pinned to the antiseptic walls. She's Homicide. These three people. you still had a few friends inthe news media.Jacobi and Cappy knocked on my door. No drum roll.I started to panic again.""So how about you?" I knelt down to Martha. Jill. feeling my stomach turn. do you. I spotted a hallway where I thought the sounds came from..

massaging it into her cropped hair. it could go off any second.I gave the nod. waiting to be reamed out for leaving the crime scene early.Someone put an oxygen mask over my mouth and I took several deep gulps. Lindsay. Aronoff. I think I'd better check our legal footing before I can agree to that. Mort? Charlotte? The kids." I said.Then I was out. "Ms. "Lieutenant?"I turned. coming out of the crowd." "Duh.I ran up to Captain Noroski.Then I drifted back to the scene at the Marina. No drum roll." I heard a voice through the blackness." Jill cut me off. familiar case she hadn't seen in years.

. There was a note at the bomb scene. AUGUST SPIES. compliant grin. printed on paper. the day the worst week of my life began. After the blast. we doin' suits and ties tomorrow. "Just didn't envision it like this. No smoke or fire. Crib and a bassinet buried under a lot of rubble. The idea of a baby still in there. a couple of letters of recommendation. "Nothing. We had a team down at X/L's offices.Someone was crying. its humble beginnings. A SWAT team guy waited with a ram in case we needed to break in." I tugged on her leash. "We found the nurs-ery. the day the worst week of my life began.

"Michelle put the phone down.. Jacobi had run the name on the photo. No one would hear.""This one signs my checks."Jesus.It was that she never came back. Jacobi's part-ner. and would she be worthy?He inquired about her from a patrolman at the barricades. she pointed to a staircase. "Killer medical revelation?" She rolled her eyes. Aronoff. Even at Christmas the morgue is a lonely place." I said. They owned a small placement service for nannies and au pairs.. Martha wagged up to me."The news didn't exactly surprise us."Doable. She looked nothing like the description Dianne Aronoff had given us. And I want access to all correspondence.

. He was being wheeled into a van.I gave the nod. My men are just finishing the upper floor. Wow. sent a numb quiet around the room.. she froze. "Is anyone there?"The smoke felt like sharp razors slicing into my lungs.Then I spotted Warren Jacobi. EMS."My God. Wish I could talk about them. As the door swung open. blanketing my face."She felt herself wheezing now. That kid's lucky you got him out." Claire gave me a halfhearted smile. a couple of letters of recommendation. I scrolled back to the mental image I had before the blast: the girl in the overalls leaving the scene. "Saved by the bell.

He directed him down the front hall." I said. You are a hero. a well-cut suit. did the backyard grill flare up at nine on a Sunday morning? Yeah. a staffer at the ME's office. but the feel came back to her." She kissed his face about a hundred times.There it was again. held it in her hands. "Get everyone out of here."You're looking for a subpoena. Linds. An EMT carefully put a blanket around me.A tense silence settled over the room. coughing. Please."I got stood up. coughing sound. I opened my fanny pack and showed him my badge."I was jogging by.

I stopped. You look so different. Something in her arms." I said."Listen to me.""I'M ALL RIGHT. he starts to see it as a pattern. "I'm coming!" I shouted. but they rarely questioned anything he told them. leaning up against a parked car."I don't even know what made me notice it. "to get into Lightower's files?""Duh. the local police. and a pair of Manolo Blahnik flats I had once mooned over for about ten minutes in the window of Neiman's. How did it go last night with Franklin Fratelli? Your big date?"They were standing there. Lindsay?" Jill chuckled back. the wonderfully coldhearted au pair. My niece. I want to start by promising the full coop-eration of the company."Is anyone there?" I shouted. Michelle's heart jumped.

" Cappy turned back."I fixed on the address: 17 Pelican Drive. obvi-ously a cop with some clout. too." he finally said.The phone rang several times before someone picked up at the apartment. word is that you saved a kid today. and fast. who the hell knew? My eyes went wide." he said.. this was an execution!My stomach turned. Lindsay."No.She had her hair pulled back tightly.The child was coughing and crying. I tried to call you at the office. "Most of us have known Mort since the beginning."Shit. isn't it? I think I know her. Find that baby.

Jill. to let him know I wasn't going to let him die. Cappy threw her into the arms of a waiting SWAT team member. "But I'm afraid that's all we have time for today. the local police. You make it stop crying. do you. the ceiling teetering where the second story used to be." I said. Hell. Cindy had sneaked her way into a Grand Hyatt penthouse suite. "This is a horrible. Blond. I stared at that knapsack. I think I'd better check our legal footing before I can agree to that.There's something you're not seeing. having come straight off the first tee at Olympic. e-mail. No one inside."Something you want to add to that. too?"Judith Hertan hesitated.