She came over and gave me a hug. Morton Lightower.

" the suit introduced himself
" the suit introduced himself."My twenty-seven years on the job gives me the premoni-tion we're not talking busted boiler here. you want to redo your kitchen. though.""Is that a dare. choking immediately on the gray. What the hell. a Cal-Berkeley student ID with a photo on it. It was every-where.. that's probably the third body we found. He gently took the boy out of my arms. Down that same hallway where I'd found the boy."I don't know how you do it."Your boss has been murdered. Now that she'd proved what she was made of. Suddenly. LT.Cindy Thomas was part of my inner circle.""I saw two bodies inside. pushing her onto the bed. She also happened to work for the Chronicle and was one of the top crime reporters in the city. Casualties likely. but when a guy I'm interviewing starts to twist around like a cod on a fishing line.Suddenly I realized just how exhausted I was. LT.

 are you?""I can't do this for you." Jacobi sighed theatrically. a run.. as if the meeting was over.. their clothes on fire. On Sunday.She tossed her sweatshirt over her shoulder. If this was no gas explosion. No one would hear. The intense heat bit at my eyes and face. "Mortie was saying.A melody popped into her head. "Do it again."No way. They move data over the Internet. I was call-ing about you. I try to huff out three miles. Aronoff. They were calling her a cold-blooded killer. "Killer medical revelation?" She rolled her eyes." "Duh. A monster. I didn't know if it was real. I was ready to put it behind me.

 but he was truly a killer. No one understands. You have any idea who might've had access to the home?""There was a housekeeper. seemingly caught off guard.. Something made me feel like crying." she said. But no baby. it might even explain Hitler at Munich."Jacobi exhaled. Lindsay?" Jill chuckled back."Needless to say. Stock used to sell for sixty bucks."IT WAS ONLY a ten-minute drive out to Potrero." I shook my head. that's probably the third body we found. like finger marks. Move everybody back. a fireman climbed out from the debris on the ground floor. You should go home. In the morgue. I was scared now. and deep.I was right."Cappy Thomas stuck his head in. my God.

 blown to pieces. I real-ized I could die in there. standing at the bottom of the stairs. "What's doable is that we're back here in two hours with a subpoena. It did belong to the guy in the picture. Closer this time."Chief Tracchio on the phone. She closed her eyes and played a little more."The door to the conference room opened and two men stepped in. A SWAT team guy waited with a ram in case we needed to break in." Jacobi said. Something in her arms. pushing my way through the billow-ing smoke."The three of us pushed our way inside. her body toned and lean again. A new face began to emerge in the mirror. was a photo in a frame. Now that she'd proved what she was made of. from Fort Mason down to the bridge and back."LET THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE BE HEARD. "Last I checked." she said. Lindsay.""Then if I were you. but the feel came back to her. The flash of orange light.

 Zinn?"Gerry Cates leaned toward his lawyer. Cut out with like six hundred million while the company sank like a cement suit. Danko was thinking as he observed the homicide scene. my best friend of a dozen years. She also happened to work for the Chronicle and was one of the top crime reporters in the city. I think I'd better check our legal footing before I can agree to that." Just this little voice in my heart." I said. her face registering a com-pletely new horror. Something made me feel like crying."The Lightowers' remains were side by side on two gur-neys." I said. She played the first bars of the concerto. The intense heat bit at my eyes and face. she froze. "You're not gonna do this for me. and I crept behind a line of parked cars close to the front of the house."He heard Malcolm's cheerless voice. I nodded. Judith Hertan. there was no time. articles and magazine covers featuring Morton Lightower's glowing face ran the length of the room. 'cause I must be dreaming. This had been a dream of his. "It's a fucking battery radio..

 I punched in 911. you did good. I made straight for it.I screamed ahead. my buddy Jill came along.I stumbled over debris. In the morning. chewing on their grin like two oversize teenagers." Linda Cliborne.Noroski radioed someone still inside the site. "Nothing.E. You know what the puppy's like when he doesn't get his exercise. I guess you could quote me on that.The kid with the Razor was there."We pulled up at the end of Marina Green. Wendy seemed like a gem. probably a psychopath; he even scared Danko sometimes. it had been ten years since she'd held it in her hands. you are a dumb bunny." Cappy Thomas. Aronoff. Then a look of panic set in. Jesus Christ. I've got a multiple-murder investigation. Let's go in.

"I DON'T KNOW what took hold of me. eyes going back and forth." Jacobi said. One of the patrolmen at the scene had taken her home for me. "For Caitlin.That's what I remembered about the moment. "that's Lieutenant Boxer.Suddenly I realized just how exhausted I was..Claire lifted her cello out of the felt mold."There was a collective sigh. but on that Sunday afternoon. My eyebrows were singed." I said. with an open plaid shirt.The shocked girl could barely speak. "Where are you?"Nothing. "that's Lieutenant Boxer. "Here."When she saw our blank faces. "I'm Lieutenant Boxer. Suddenly."We continued to stare at each other. "Warren."Police!" I shouted again. Mal.

 "Warren. I just took hold of that little boy and prayed. A fireman bent over me."TWO WOMEN WERE SITTING in Interrogation Room 1 when I got back.Cut away the past. but I managed to budge it a little bit from the wall." she said.The tech with the X-ray scanner took a read on the knap-sack from three or four feet away. mid-stride. This boy was brilliant.I took a thick Bell Western Yellow Pages off a shelf and tossed it with a loud thump on Cappy's desk. You make it stop crying." I tried to pull myself up."Shit. my head had been filled with the annoying recollection of Franklin Fratelli.""Lucky for her. hearing the jays back for the first time that season. didn't I?" Michelle asked.""So how about you?" I knelt down to Martha. through the web of news vans and camera crews. A woman in overalls hurrying around the corner. Look.. He wore the clothing of an expert bicyclist and had an older racing bike propped against his side. but no idea how to find her. "I heard it on the news.

 but if anyone was in there. more impas-sioned this time.""So how about you?" I knelt down to Martha. do you. It had been eighteen months since he died.. the au pair. My men are just finishing the upper floor."Get the truck in here. "Where are you?"Nothing. waiting to be reamed out for leaving the crime scene early. But there was nothing." she said.. the grit and soot and smell of ash chipping off my body. e-mail.." I said. Thinking of how stupid you all would think I was if I ended up charbroiled in that house. She fumbled around her purse for her inhaler.The girl had long dark hair and a swarthy complexion..Someone put an oxygen mask over my mouth and I took several deep gulps. This had been a dream of his. practicing. "What did you want me to see?""I called you down here.

Cindy Thomas was part of my inner circle. They were all here. Maybe ten years old. EMS. choking immediately on the gray. but finally he'd done something. I was praying." the suit introduced himself. August Spies. I was thinking. This had been a dream of his.I nodded. calm morning; the stucco town house." her partner added. Jill. His room was buried under an avalanche of debris. but I managed to budge it a little bit from the wall. "You think it might piss someone off if he's selling six hundred million dollars of stock while going around the country telling everyone else it's a buy at ten?""We can't control our share price. C'mon. Let's go in. Lieutenant?" Captain Noroski said. We were told the family had an au pair - who's missing. I was sure the bag was hot - or at least a leave-behind. The Reverend Al Green. my eye drifting to a beautiful three-story town house I always passed and admired. "Look.

"I pulled away from him. A million students carry them. "Hush. All she knew was that she couldn't let the baby die."LEAVE IT TO CLAIRE. a well-cut suit. I try to huff out three miles. "If anyone's holding something back. It led you out?" Claire smiled. As the door swung open. 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. it was as if San Francisco were suddenly Beirut. Caitlin?" she called to the bawling child. Edmund was still sleeping. "A Nanny Is Love!""We called in when we heard about what happened." The fire captain looked at the wreckage. "Viola.."So. Across the bay in Berkeley. The Berkeley PD had the house under surveil-lance. My eyebrows were singed. "The woman who went into the house. We knew the place could be booby-trapped."I don't need to remind you that this is a murder investi-gation. Mort's secretary.

"Jacobi sniffed.""Lucky for her. "We're gonna go for a hand entry. The flash of orange light. Lindsay. I held Martha as a car passed by. It was smothered in thick dust. There was an ID tag on the strap."Edmund hummed the opening bars that Claire had just played. pushing my way through the billow-ing smoke. AUGUST SPIES. Look at the firemen. along with about half the city's news force. C'mon. but whoever named it sure has a twisted sense of humor. Inside was a filled-out A Nanny Is Love! application form. What was left of it. carrying the boy. My God. That kid is gone. "Chuck. A computer photo.""Jill. standing at the bottom of the stairs. Please." Claire said.

 though. "Lightower's sister. Mother of God.I felt so alone. the first. A wall of burning Sheetrock and plaster hung above me. "You think it might piss someone off if he's selling six hundred million dollars of stock while going around the country telling everyone else it's a buy at ten?""We can't control our share price. practicing.She yanked it from the bottom of the closet.""So how about you?" I knelt down to Martha. The neigh-borhood just waking up. said.""Don't forget contributors. then arrived at the office to find that the whole team had showed up.000 security gate on his place in Aspen. I stumbled over flaming rubble. most of them with graduate degrees. His room was buried under an avalanche of debris. And if I did. Lieutenant. Jacobi's part-ner. "Mortie was saying. I sneak out for a couple of hours and you decide now's the time to be a hero? You all right?""Other than my lungs feeling like they've been lit with lighter fluid."I'm proud of you. Anyone up there didn't have a chance. Zinn.

""You dumb twit. please. She took the scissors and cut again. He wore the clothing of an expert bicyclist and had an older racing bike propped against his side. "It referred to Morton Lightower as an `enemy of the people. Ever since I'd taken a shot in the Coombs case." he called out..""I'm not calling about the crime scene. about eleven." she said." I said again. A wall of burning Sheetrock and plaster hung above me. but I didn't know for sure. "Every cop in the city will be looking for this kid. so if all this tender concern is being wasted."Oh."Twang. That kid is gone. It couldn't be better. I just heard. It was every-where." Jacobi said with a grin.I picked up. "It referred to Morton Lightower as an `enemy of the people.""Yeah.

 What.. so be it. MY GOD!" I gasped as a flash of heat and debris nearly knocked me to the ground.Two inspectors sidled up to the front porch. maybe we could work something out."I DON'T KNOW what took hold of me. my number one inspector." he said. "We have a Palestinian delegation in town I know nothing about?"I told him what I had seen. A low whimpering from somewhere in the back of the house.Jacobi. focusing on the heights of Fort Mason.I found myself in no-man's-land. vin-dictive tragedy."The three of us pushed our way inside."C'mon. She started to shriek: "Oh. The Internet honcho."Jacobi exhaled.Then I heard the crying again. his eyes suddenly blank. "We have a Palestinian delegation in town I know nothing about?"I told him what I had seen. I'm not screw-ing around. honey." It always amazed me how quickly she got herself up to speed.

 blond clumps onto the bathroom floor. No smoke or fire. "Ms. Find that baby." I tugged on her leash. Two upstairs bed-rooms were open and empty."What I want is Lightower's office sealed. read the inscription.Jesus. tried to listen above the rumble of the fire. She seemed to have some guts. the boy clinging to me with his petrified grip. Claire listened. very emo-tional news briefing on the steps of the Hall. We got you covered.The woman turning the corner just before the flash."You know.I started toward the knapsack. avoiding new hot spots flaming up." I called. Something I had edited out. It had been eighteen months since he died. "The woman who went into the house. "Would you be asking me if your goddamn superior officer happened to be a man?""Damn right." she said. "It's the office.

 I want to start by promising the full coop-eration of the company. August Spies."I'm proud of you. was a photo in a frame. Lieutenant. "Lieutenant?"I turned.""I'm not sure that's doable.""Dianne Aronoff. They had already used a bomb. what about the crime scene? We are talking a crime scene. "If anyone's holding something back. brought back a zillion sensations. The neigh-borhood just waking up. He stared. He directed him down the front hall. Mal."We both started to laugh. it had been her most cherished possession."He heard Malcolm's cheerless voice. well. "Nothing. "Not the upper floors. No "Ladies and gentlemen. "This is Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer." I said..

" he said. Even at Christmas the morgue is a lonely place. I sneak out for a couple of hours and you decide now's the time to be a hero? You all right?""Other than my lungs feeling like they've been lit with lighter fluid. "That took a lot of guts. If the call was interrupted. I could try to cut a deal with them. Caitlin?" she called to the bawling child. A residence. not the real world. Something I had edited out. Wendy was a name for Peter Pan."So. or it had been stolen. If nothing else.. The beautiful."It was almost six o'clock on Sunday. just running the bow along the strings. and deep. She's done nothing wrong."OH. Even Martha had someone - me!I felt my thoughts drift to Chris for the first time in a while. this was an execution!My stomach turned. held it in her hands.Jacobi. Then I heard my name one more time.

I stopped. He had even cut down on his stupid sexist jokes. I shouted. "Where are you?"Nothing.. Claire. shuffling side-ways beside me. Lawyer. I need you backat home base. "It referred to Morton Lightower as an `enemy of the people. What a performance she'd put on." She whistled for Otis and began to jog back to her car. We got you covered. Something in her arms.""Dianne Aronoff. "For Caitlin. it was as if San Francisco were suddenly Beirut.She had her hair pulled back tightly."You want me to meet you?""You wouldn't get within two blocks. a well-cut suit.Cappy rapped at the door. which weren't getting closer fast enough for me.A tense silence settled over the room. Tracchio's got a clamp on all releases until we can figure out what's going on. Michelle. and deep.

 Claire looked around. "If anyone's holding something back. my head had been filled with the annoying recollection of Franklin Fratelli. How did it go last night with Franklin Fratelli? Your big date?"They were standing there. I think he's going to be all right.""Is that a challenge?" Cindy snickered. weren't you? I told you they're stupid!" he said. massaging it into her cropped hair. Mort? Charlotte? The kids. Claire smiled at the memory. "what the hell is that?"Peeking out through the strap of her exercise bra were a couple of small. praying I wasn't doing him harm. eyes going back and forth. "Here. And my mouth tasted the bitter smoke of the blast. She had listened to the news reports all afternoon. too. she pointed to a staircase. restored town houses. most of them with graduate degrees.A long minute of tuning.""I'm not sure that's doable. You are a hero. "Which fund you in?""I think it's called Long-Term Growth. Jesus. AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE.

 Mr. Someone was either let in or had access. A woman in overalls hurrying around the corner. Lindsay." Jacobi said. taking a semi relaxed breath for the first time all day. The other. Zinn." He bowed apologetically. I'm all right.."Jesus.Jacobi had a paunchy ham hock of a face that never seemed to smile even when he told a joke. a Cal-Berkeley student ID with a photo on it. blinking sleep from her eyes. it could go off any second. calm morning; the stucco town house. Poor woman probably didn't even know herself. but if anyone was in there. "No..Then I pushed my way into the burning house. coming out of the crowd." Michelle said again. you called me down here."Chief Tracchio on the phone.

Jacobi. Cindy. "Hush.Then I spotted Warren Jacobi. we trained our guns on whoever was behind it. Jacobi had run the name on the photo. very emo-tional news briefing on the steps of the Hall. very emo-tional news briefing on the steps of the Hall. Ms. for my goddamn superior officer" - the big detective threw his bald head back - "you're looking mighty fine here in those tights. put a fucking pillow over its head. he starts to see it as a pattern. But she needed him. "Sorry I brought it up. if the call was discovered. You have any idea who might've had access to the home?""There was a housekeeper. The flash of orange light. "Nothing. and held my breath.I went into the bedroom and peeled off my tights and sweats. "Only. She played the first bars of the concerto. and it kept ending at the same point.Noroski radioed someone still inside the site. What I do is supposed to be about making money.""Yeah.

 now. I saw a light where I thought I had come in.Nothing happened. Mr."I'm proud of you. along with about half the city's news force. "I want to assure the people of this city that this is an isolated event.The girl had long dark hair and a swarthy complexion." Niko said. It was still beautiful. the TV is saying that whoever did this was a monster." Steve Fiori.. I was scared now. "Just didn't envision it like this. What he meant was. She'd had it just last night. You're Lieutenant Boxer?""I'm Lieutenant Boxer. San Francisco Police Department."So.A girl in a T-shirt shot up in bed." Mal stroked her hair. Lieutenant. I made my way over to the boy." Cappy said. one of those plastic labels.

 I heard footsteps approaching from inside.I pushed through a smoking doorway. I was thinking. and would she be worthy?He inquired about her from a patrolman at the barricades. "Ha. made sure she was in good standing."I mean it. reinforced steel curtains were pulled out of the truck and set up in a protective barrier." she gasped. whom the Berkeley cops had seen going in."Something you want to add to that. a staffer at the ME's office. but if anyone was in there.The girl's face was white with terror.""Noted. "People are always popping off at shareholder meetings.. The whole world was look-ing for her. Families. His room was buried under an avalanche of debris.""Oh.Jacobi had a paunchy ham hock of a face that never seemed to smile even when he told a joke. heading toward the red bag. "Most of us have known Mort since the beginning. Something made me feel like crying."Jill nodded and pulled off her sweatshirt.

. smeared. I saw the explo-sion."Hey."He heard Malcolm's cheerless voice. Caitlin?" she called to the bawling child. Claire smiled at the memory."Chuck Zinn.. to warm her-self up for a bike sprint up Mount Tamalpais or whatever Jill would do for real exercise later in the day. "So. Any help you could give in finding her?""Maybe Helene could help you out. I'd be asking'. word is that you saved a kid today. practicing. explained to me." Linda said. It was just sit-ting there on the sidewalk. too. Zinn?"Gerry Cates leaned toward his lawyer. a hand clasped over her mouth.""I heard there was a baby stolen out of the house. You look like shit.I stumbled through the flames. the baby's gone. I spotted two shapes.

" There could've been a nursery down there.""She seemed perfect for it. Curling streets of colorful. but finally he'd done something. he starts to see it as a pattern. A real bitch on wheels.We started with the usual questions: Had Lightower received any threats? Were they aware of anyone who'd want to do him harm?"No. maybe forty.. Caitlin?" she called to the bawling child."Shit. We headed outside. Two upstairs bed-rooms were open and empty.""Of course we can work something out."Suddenly the layout of the burning building came back to me. Or the girl I saw hurrying away from the bombing. pushing my way through the billow-ing smoke."Yeah. I saw myself on the street. "What's a CLO?""Chief legal officer." I deleted it without even hearing what he had to say for himself. but I wasn't taking any chances. praying I wasn't doing him harm." Linda Cliborne said. She came over and gave me a hug. Morton Lightower.