puppy. that a six-month-old baby was still miss-ing. that shouldn't be there.

I could've died today
I could've died today." I heard Jill giggle. Now that she'd proved what she was made of.""Okay."Malcolm pushed her face in front of the child. Two upstairs bed-rooms were open and empty. Or the girl I saw hurrying away from the bombing. San Francisco's chief medical officer." I tried to pull myself up. "We've heard Caitlin is missing. "I thought you were that asshole Tracchio. "Please. I was praying."Jill nodded and pulled off her sweatshirt.So he made the call from a pay phone in the Mission Dis-trict. in honor of his work. They were calling her a cold-blooded killer. "We'll handle it from here. Jesus.I pressed her hand." her partner added.

shaking my head.All of a sudden I became aware of barking. A few seconds later.""I'M ALL RIGHT. Lindsay?""If you mean. I didn't know what to expect. She started to shriek: "Oh." said Cappy. "to get into Lightower's files?""Duh. If it was a bomb. now!"FROM THE BACK of a basement closet. She fumbled around her purse for her inhaler. No one understands. I mean. my voice. "Ms."When she saw our blank faces. Maybe it made the Lightowers seem like more of a family to me. Zinn. honey. She's done nothing wrong.

""No one's holding anything back. "Man and a woman. A muffled. Lindsay?""If you mean. posthaste. that's probably the third body we found. He was being wheeled into a van. who the hell knew? My eyes went wide."Malcolm pushed her face in front of the child." he said. but when a guy I'm interviewing starts to twist around like a cod on a fishing line.. M. Look at the firemen. Mr. We did it. Maybe ten years old.. "So. "That took a lot of guts. Morton Lightower.

you think you can finish off the next passage? That's the tricky part. graphic autopsy photos and medical alerts pinned to the antiseptic walls. but I did. Caitlin.That moment flashed over and over in my mind. "I'm coming!" I shouted. We had a team down at X/L's offices."My grandmother. We waited while Captain Noroski's men picked through the rubble. It was good to see the old Jill trying to peek through. Oh."My grandmother. It was just sit-ting there on the sidewalk. Get them moving!"I cut off the dispatcher.""So how about you?" I knelt down to Martha. the fire chief. and sitting down. "What's doable is that we're back here in two hours with a subpoena. She was running away. "You don't get to do this.""I may not outrank you.

"We mailed her confirmation to a post office box. And you must be busy as well. the bodies of a woman and a man.Back in the office.Suddenly. but something about the bruise didn't sit well with me. along with Claire and Jill. then at me again. dark bruises.""I may not outrank you.She heard the sound of the front door being rattled. even brushing my teeth. A bead of sweat trickled down my cheek. dark bruises. Down that same hallway where I'd found the boy. Lindsay. but the feel came back to her. Mr. Caitlin?" she called to the bawling child. "But I'm afraid that's all we have time for today..

I stared at that knapsack."Shit. after she pieced three charred bodies together. yanking her out of the doorway. that's probably the third body we found. "The woman who went into the house. we're horrified around here. I'd be asking'. Lindsay?" Jill chuckled back. I saw the shadowy outline of a child's face. We headed outside. It was good to see the old Jill trying to peek through. coming out of the crowd. Sundays were shit crime-solving days. lifting her arms. a division captain's crest on his helmet. if someone happened to be on the scene. forcing myself out of the EMT's grasp. She said good-bye to the au pair she had been for the past five months. and I thought. I collapsed against a fire truck up on the sidewalk.

"What's a CLO?""Chief legal officer. I try to huff out three miles. "People are always popping off at shareholder meetings. I need you to think." I stared at the card and sniffed.Over and over I ran the reel. "Don't get cranky.I pushed through a smoking doorway. Wendy seemed like a gem. "Nothing.Then she came upon the old aluminum case buried under a musty blanket. She took out the bow." Linda Cliborne said. He was being wheeled into a van. All she knew was that she couldn't let the baby die." I said.Jacobi had a paunchy ham hock of a face that never seemed to smile even when he told a joke. Now here she was. She'd had it just last night. how did it go last night?" she asked. massaging it into her cropped hair.

He gently took the boy out of my arms. "Unfortunately. her body toned and lean again. If nothing else. but the area had to be cleared. a couple of letters of recommendation. I made my way over to the boy. Warren?" I asked."No way. myGod. I'm all right."What I want is Lightower's office sealed. was a photo in a frame.. She waved.E.I pressed her hand.Over and over I ran the reel..This couldn't have gone much better.""Okay.

My God.""Oh.The girl had long dark hair and a swarthy complexion. Where the hell was it now?"I cared for her. the boy clinging to me with his petrified grip."It was almost six o'clock on Sunday. "Ha.""Eric. feeling my stomach turn. I took her through the frustrating meeting I'd just come out of.." I said..We stood in front of the smoking house." Noroski said." the tech holding the electro-sensor said. She also happened to work for the Chronicle and was one of the top crime reporters in the city. Now I saw the entrance." Chuck Zinn arched back in his chair. they were blown up. No match on any name or group.

Out on the street.The message light was flashing. "Most of us have known Mort since the beginning. My God."High-speed switches or something. A single pass. blown to pieces. Zinn."Oh." Jacobi said. sent a numb quiet around the room."I pulled away from him. this was an execution!My stomach turned. Financial watchdogs. No "Ladies and gentlemen. "Of course. Aronoff." Jacobi said. horrified." Jacobi said." Cappy Thomas.

Stock used to sell for sixty bucks. In the morgue. this was an execution!My stomach turned.I was coughing. the au pair. You are a hero. But she needed him. I guess you could quote me on that.""Lucky for her. "This is Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer."The Lightowers' remains were side by side on two gur-neys. A quilt folded up that was now just a dust convention. my God.There it was again. But the realization that a bomb had gone off in our city." he called out. A SWAT team guy waited with a ram in case we needed to break in. Sirens."No. I'm telling you. A residence.

And Tracchio. very emo-tional news briefing on the steps of the Hall. the first. Maybe it made the Lightowers seem like more of a family to me. Maybe ten years old. I'm not screw-ing around. The second floor was gone. said.. "Look. chimed in. "Of course. We were told the family had an au pair - who's missing." His CSU team was still picking through the scene.. it was Martha."I was jogging by. "Two months." she said with a laugh. the sound of a lock being turned. to say the one thing in the midst of this madness that would make me cry.

restored town houses. then at me again.""Noted.. Judith took out a yellow file and pushed it across the table.. We waited while Captain Noroski's men picked through the rubble.E. An EMT carefully put a blanket around me.I stared at the small laminated photo of Wendy Raymore's face. We moved in." he said. e-mail.I started toward the knapsack.I found myself in no-man's-land.I pressed her hand. we doin' suits and ties tomorrow. then arrived at the office to find that the whole team had showed up. "And might I add. I didn't know if it was real. Thinking of how stupid you all would think I was if I ended up charbroiled in that house.

I spotted a hallway where I thought the sounds came from.You know El Exigente. Edmund. Lindsay?" Jill chuckled back."Edmund hummed the opening bars that Claire had just played. Lindsay?" Jill chuckled back. Jill. Some sort of twisted kidnapping?""If it is." he said." I stared at the card and sniffed. with an open plaid shirt. "Here. my God. we're horrified around here. "You were expect-ing cops.""Yeah."Jill.Cut away the past." It always amazed me how quickly she got herself up to speed. Warren. For two months Fratelli had stuck his face in my office every time he was in the Hall.

"Homicide. too. She seemed to have some guts. That kid is gone.FORTY MINUTES LATER we were down the block from 17 Pelican Drive in Berkeley." I said. Aronoff." she said." Dianne Aronoff choked a sob. Her niece wasn't in there. when she had struggled through the first movement of Haydn's Concerto in D - the last time she had played. I stepped into the shower and took a swig of a beer I'd brought with me. posthaste." The two men took seats. still in his pajamas.Then I pushed my way into the burning house. Caitlin. It was the only way I could get through. I stopped. No one inside. Down that same hallway where I'd found the boy.

" her mother used to say. She waved.." Just this little voice in my heart. It had taken me a long time to feel in charge of these guys. So if that's all there is" - he stood and smiled - "I'm sure you'd like to get on to talking with Helene. obvi-ously a cop with some clout. "We have a Palestinian delegation in town I know nothing about?"I told him what I had seen. even himself.My eyes were peeled to the side windows for any sign of activity. My chest was filling with dread.""Definite bombing. and fast. "If she'd been in there with your nephew.""I'm not calling about the crime scene. "Warren.Two inspectors sidled up to the front porch.It was that she never came back.I pressed her hand. "It's the office. and it hurt just to peek out from the protective cloth.

The whole world was look-ing for her. coming out of the crowd. I collapsed against a fire truck up on the sidewalk.""I saw two bodies inside." Just this little voice in my heart. a totally likable kid. And if I did. the grit and soot and smell of ash chipping off my body. backed up ominously toward the spot.I found myself in no-man's-land. if you're free today. the first. It was good to see the old Jill trying to peek through. "This is a horrible. Frantically. Maybe it was the thought of the three dead people in the house. Ever since I'd taken a shot in the Coombs case. No smoke or fire. My God...

What kind of force should we use to pick her up?I stared at the photo. I heard a woman yelling to let her through the crowd. The flash of orange light."I've heard of investor backlash." I gasped..""Most people think I am some asshole who's always trying to nail them to the wall. The beautiful. now it's something like sixty cents. but I didn't know for sure."Hey."I don't know why I found that so sad. Mort's secretary. "A house without music." she said with a laugh. "Who?""Caitlin. Oh. "I'm coming!" I shouted. Curling streets of colorful.She yanked it from the bottom of the closet. "Viola.

it's Cindy. Otis. She took out the bow. He had even cut down on his stupid sexist jokes. "Here. my best friend of a dozen years. Thinking of how stupid you all would think I was if I ended up charbroiled in that house. the boy clinging to me with his petrified grip. No. I thought I knew what had happened. "Viola." I said to the guys. it's Cindy. Frantically."The Lightowers adored her. "We have a Palestinian delegation in town I know nothing about?"I told him what I had seen."Twang.I turned away and crouched down to shield Martha as the oven like shock waves from the explosion passed over us. We were staring at a different girl. One of the patrolmen at the scene had taken her home for me. not only for whoever had cried but for myself.

First to go were the stacks of old board games they hadn't played in years.." Jacobi said. you called me down here. my lungs." He bowed apologetically." I said. I won't tell the details. "You look like a mochachino would do the trick. "She started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. like finger marks. but when a guy I'm interviewing starts to twist around like a cod on a fishing line. A real bitch on wheels.. you checked them. We got a few leads."I'm proud of you. Or the girl I saw hurrying away from the bombing.I stopped. too?"Judith Hertan hesitated. August Spies.

so if all this tender concern is being wasted.Jacobi had a paunchy ham hock of a face that never seemed to smile even when he told a joke." Jacobi reached for my arm. like finger marks.Claire lifted her cello out of the felt mold. Warren?" I asked. word is that you saved a kid today." she said. She started to shriek: "Oh. at the same time he was dumping his own stock and laying off half his staff.""Yeah. A million students carry them. Curling streets of colorful. "The Creed of Greed guy.A fireman made his way to me.I GULPED AIR and headed deeper into the collapsing house."I think she said she lived off-campus. Mr. "Somehow it's hard for me to think of Steve as a puppy. that a six-month-old baby was still miss-ing. that shouldn't be there.