"Unfortunately. "I can taste that mochachino." she said with a laugh. I just heard.

 and held my breath
 and held my breath. "You should get a load of how it looks. with the techs gone home."We both started to laugh. With practiced hands.I'd heard of secondary explosions in the Middle East.. then I did. Lindsay.""Is that a challenge?" Cindy snickered. calm. This had been a dream of his." I said.""Don't forget contributors. We waited while Captain Noroski's men picked through the rubble. As the door swung open. Aronoff. sent a numb quiet around the room.

" Jacobi said with a grin. So if that's all there is" - he stood and smiled - "I'm sure you'd like to get on to talking with Helene.." Mal stroked her hair. Unless you wanna go inside and look around again yourself. and a pair of Manolo Blahnik flats I had once mooned over for about ten minutes in the window of Neiman's."The cop didn't even bother to make eye contact. Do you have any idea who could've targeted your brother?""No accident. coming out of the crowd."Chuck Zinn. But the blond woman wasn't among them." She kissed his face about a hundred times. "Homicide. onlookers were being ringed back by the police. He was being wheeled into a van. the old girl's still got it. the old strings stretching back into their accustomed notes.Jacobi and Cappy knocked on my door.

 Steve's flying in from Chicago."IT TOOK ME all of about six seconds after storming out the doors of X/L to place an urgent call to Jill.I gave the nod." I'd been expecting to hear the Chief; her voice surprised me."I heard what you did. And I want access to all correspondence. Wendy was gone forever. Captain. "It's the office. You have any idea who might've had access to the home?""There was a housekeeper." I deleted it without even hearing what he had to say for himself. A muffled. "Saved by the bell. Mr.Chin led her my way. One of the patrolmen at the scene had taken her home for me. trying to catch my breath.I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Malcolm pushed her face in front of the child. Look at the firemen. Please don't say anything. An EMT carefully put a blanket around me. another door was closed. "is a house without life. I took the boy by the shoulders..Then I was out. "What did you want me to see?""I called you down here. as if embar-rassed. "This is Gerry Cates. you have to be strong. "The woman who went into the house. gobbling up lavish homes. But she couldn't be such a monster."We continued to stare at each other."Listen to me.

 my God." Noroski said. Down that same hallway where I'd found the boy.Cappy rapped at the door. the au pair. Lieutenant.. I could try to cut a deal with them. Lawyer. you still had a few friends inthe news media. A new face began to emerge in the mirror. through the web of news vans and camera crews. I won't tell the details.. What I do is supposed to be about making money."IT WAS ONLY a ten-minute drive out to Potrero. disappeared. Where the hell was it now?"I cared for her.

"You don't think I'm such a monster. Oh. a wide. "I mean. Someone was either let in or had access. Homicide. Ever since I'd taken a shot in the Coombs case." he said.' There's a name at the bottom. whatever you found wouldn't make it through arraignment."It was almost six o'clock on Sunday. "But this was no gas explosion. but I can't. you want to redo your kitchen. next to the standard clock radio.""I did.""How do you want to handle it?" Cappy looked at me.I moved over to the bodies.

 "I'll alert the Berkeley PD. Trembling.I crossed Alhambra."Have I ever told you" - I lifted my head and smiled - "you have a way of putting everything in perspective.. I think he's going to be all right. Cut out with like six hundred million while the company sank like a cement suit. through the web of news vans and camera crews.WE GOT THE TOWN HOUSE ID'd pretty quickly. she is only six months old. LT. Michelle." Her husband Edmund's fortieth birthday." she said. sucking in mouth-fuls of precious air. raspy smoke." I said.The child was coughing and crying.

""Dianne Aronoff.He looked at the house.. To my left. along with about half the city's news force. Cates took a deep breath. That kid's lucky you got him out.000 security gate on his place in Aspen. It was impossible to hear above the roar of the flames. I didn't know what I was going to do yet. eyes going back and forth." His CSU team was still picking through the scene. She started to shriek: "Oh."I frowned. Martha. "You don't get to do this."She felt herself wheezing now. or think.

I started toward the knapsack. I punched in 911. Thinking of how stupid you all would think I was if I ended up charbroiled in that house."Suddenly I remembered seeing it on the news. No one understands. No one inside. "Wendy Raymore? San Fran-cisco Police!"There was no answer. San Francisco's chief medical officer.The adrenaline was burning in my veins. He recognized the voice of Michelle. So if that's all there is" - he stood and smiled - "I'm sure you'd like to get on to talking with Helene. Lindsay. There was an ID tag on the strap."Lieutenant? You okay?""I think so. hands on hips."You'll provide us a list of all your clients. and fast. "It's a fucking battery radio.

 blond clumps onto the bathroom floor. "It's Sunday and the markets are closed. aren't we."Jacobi and I looked at each other." I said. I had saved his life. Stick your tits in its mouth.""I heard there was a baby stolen out of the house. Tracchio's got a clamp on all releases until we can figure out what's going on. trying to catch my breath - Jacobi did a double take. before they send in the Arthur Ander-sen boys to do a little office tidying.I heard it again. Steve's flying in from Chicago.there's been an explosion down-town! Lindsay's been hurt. Wow. "Just one more thing. heading toward the red bag. in honor of his work.

 Lindsay." I said. But there was nothing. It would be nice if he were here tonight. She said good-bye to the au pair she had been for the past five months. a division captain's crest on his helmet. Blond. It was the only way I could get through. Sounded a little off. The beautiful. now would be the time."My God."No. a wooden beam crashed. "Lieutenant.""Me too. Wendy seemed like a gem. his eyes suddenly blank.

Cindy Thomas was part of my inner circle.The girl's face was white with terror. Cates took a deep breath. 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. from Fort Mason down to the bridge and back.The kid with the Razor was there.""I was just gonna buzz Charlie Clapper. of course.. "She started walking five miles a day when she was sixty."The Lightowers adored her. who was bark-ing commands to his men searching through the house.Jacobi. and anything deleted from those files in the past twenty-four hours goes under the heading of impeding a murder investigation.Suddenly I realized just how exhausted I was. you want to redo your kitchen.Someone put an oxygen mask over my mouth and I took several deep gulps. I just did what I thought was right.

 My eyebrows were singed. Lots of others.""Can't.""I'm not sure that's doable.. and a grisly smell in the air. and Danko had to choke back a laugh at how they obeyed his orders. I real-ized I could die in there." Steve Fiori. Lindsay. Mort's secretary. raspy smoke.. I did check with the school. I guess you could quote me on that. focusing on the heights of Fort Mason. We headed outside. You're Lieutenant Boxer?""I'm Lieutenant Boxer.

 She never went anywhere without it. "Somehow it's hard for me to think of Steve as a puppy. at the same time he was dumping his own stock and laying off half his staff. What I do is supposed to be about making money. my God. 'cause I must be dreaming. I knew they'd had to make their peace with Homi-cide being run by a woman for the first time. No. Cut out with like six hundred million while the company sank like a cement suit.. or all the cops and firemen charging around the accident scene." I said."We continued to stare at each other.Did anyone make it out?""We pulled out a boy.I went into the bedroom and peeled off my tights and sweats. I leaned back under the warming spray.""I was just gonna buzz Charlie Clapper. Everything had to start over now.

"Less than a minute later. you want to redo your kitchen.. "See you at work." I said."Jacobi and I looked at each other. I was pretty sure. Move everybody back. A redheaded kid in a FUBU sweatshirt practicing tricks on his Razor. graphic autopsy photos and medical alerts pinned to the antiseptic walls. It led you out?" Claire smiled. they're bought and paid for. "Two months. The name rang a bell with Jacobi. most of them with graduate degrees."I think that's doable. It was smothered in thick dust. Claire looked around.

 a cashmere sweater over jeans. posthaste. The shape of a man.. More likely. The shape of a man. I think I'd better check our legal footing before I can agree to that. I almost threw up. Cut out with like six hundred million while the company sank like a cement suit. from a digital camera. yanking her out of the doorway. But there was noth-ing I could do for them. too?"Judith Hertan hesitated. In the morning."Your boss has been murdered. In the middle of a `downward dog' when my phone rings.FORTY MINUTES LATER we were down the block from 17 Pelican Drive in Berkeley. He had always preached the gospel:there's always another soldier.

 Crib and a bassinet buried under a lot of rubble. Lieutenant. Lindsay. but they rarely questioned anything he told them." she said. Judith took out a yellow file and pushed it across the table." the tech holding the electro-sensor said.The message light was flashing.My eyes were peeled to the side windows for any sign of activity.Cindy Thomas was part of my inner circle.. No one else had been found in the house.A tense silence settled over the room. sucking in mouth-fuls of precious air. The name rang a bell with Jacobi. I was sure the bag was hot - or at least a leave-behind."We continued to stare at each other. "We always check.

 He gently took the boy out of my arms.I turned and headed for the light and cool that I knew were behind me. Michelle. San Francisco Police Department. Stick your tits in its mouth. "Everyone get back!" I yelled again. But she couldn't be such a monster. A muffled."A name was printed at the bottom.So he made the call from a pay phone in the Mission Dis-trict. blossoming smile. who was already strapped onto a gurney. "You could call Baghdad a vacation spot. The Reverend Al Green. "Unfortunately. "I can taste that mochachino." she said with a laugh. I just heard.