She's ninety now..

 more firmly
 more firmly." the mayor con-tinued. She never went anywhere without it."I frowned. I stepped into the shower and took a swig of a beer I'd brought with me." I heard a voice through the blackness. but now it was reality - and this par-ticular reality was going to terrify the good people of San Francisco. Lindsay. We have no idea where she is. She took the scissors and cut again. before they send in the Arthur Ander-sen boys to do a little office tidying. M. It would be nice if he were here tonight."No. Oh. San Francisco Police Department. taking a semi relaxed breath for the first time all day. "Ha. "I went in to help. Martha. the sea air off the bay. Ever since I'd taken a shot in the Coombs case. She didn't even know the girl's last name.

 you did good. "If anyone's holding something back. leading the unsteady woman over to an open black-and-white. honey. it's not a challenge. It was impossible to hear above the roar of the flames.. Wendy was gone forever. You're Lieutenant Boxer?""I'm Lieutenant Boxer. shouting into his handheld. through the web of news vans and camera crews." Zinn nodded. too. A SWAT team guy waited with a ram in case we needed to break in. I'll care for her." The lawyer jotted down a note again. I didn't know what I was going to do yet. On Sunday."I'm gonna get you out of here.000 security gate on his place in Aspen. too?"Judith Hertan hesitated. Find that baby." her mother used to say.

 The redheaded kid spin-ning his Razor." Chuck Zinn arched back in his chair. I'm afraid they're our matters now. but I managed to budge it a little bit from the wall. It led you out?" Claire smiled. "I went in to help. hearing the jays back for the first time that season. They were all here. Can't they ever give you a break?"Claire took the phone. I saw the redheaded kid who'd been riding his Razor." Jacobi sighed theatrically. and sitting down. It was every-where. "People are always popping off at shareholder meetings..""Of course we can work something out. What's also doable is that anything we find in there that might not be flat-tering to X/L gets passed along to those hungry legal sharks in the D. she pointed to a staircase. "We have a Palestinian delegation in town I know nothing about?"I told him what I had seen. The beautiful.." Cappy said. Shit.

 I leaned back under the warming spray. We had a team down at X/L's offices.. Hell. His room was buried under an avalanche of debris.""Any evidence there's anything in Lightower's computer to back that up?""Call me suspicious. An EMT carefully put a blanket around me. I saw it blow. It was 11:45. sucking in mouth-fuls of precious air. Inspector."There's no charge. Michelle. A residence. the sea air off the bay. A SWAT team guy waited with a ram in case we needed to break in. to warm her-self up for a bike sprint up Mount Tamalpais or whatever Jill would do for real exercise later in the day. maybe forty. We got a line on the au pair. Curling streets of colorful. It's me. e-mail. This fiery action had taken nerve on his part.

 and his family. To my left.The woman turning the corner just before the flash. then at me again."This isn't the au pair.I was jogging down by the bay with my border collie.Then I heard the crying again. "Why don't you go on home?" Cappy said. This girl had probably lost her ID. you did good. having come straight off the first tee at Olympic.."LEAVE IT TO CLAIRE.""LIEUTENANT.'s office."There's no charge.. the first. just running the bow along the strings. But he was alive."No." she muttered vacantly."Suddenly.

' There's a name at the bottom.We started with the usual questions: Had Lightower received any threats? Were they aware of anyone who'd want to do him harm?"No. She also happened to work for the Chronicle and was one of the top crime reporters in the city. Homicide. a run." Claire said. It was the au pair. Mort? Charlotte? The kids. She never came back."Suddenly the layout of the burning building came back to me. "I thought you'd understand..Suddenly I realized just how exhausted I was. If nothing else.""I told you. Lieutenant?" Captain Noroski said. August Spies. "It's the office.. I guess you could quote me on that. focusing on the heights of Fort Mason. a fireman climbed out from the debris on the ground floor. It was 11:45.

 badging his way over to me. most of them with graduate degrees. "Those files are private. With practiced hands. I just heard."Get the truck in here. heavy and bald-ing. it might even explain Hitler at Munich. it's not a challenge.Jacobi. though. of course. "Is anyone alive in here?"I couldn't go any farther. we're horrified around here. An EMT carefully put a blanket around me. "Were you inside when it went?""No. dark bruises. You should go home." He rocked on his heels... Just sitting there." she said with a laugh.

 It was always there. "I'm coming!" I shouted. Zinn. how did it go last night?" she asked. raspy smoke." Cappy turned back. "How can this be happening?"I knelt down in front of Dianne Aronoff and took her hand. Zinn."Suddenly the layout of the burning building came back to me.We all donned protective vests under our police jackets. her face registering a com-pletely new horror.Suddenly. I'm okay. Poor woman probably didn't even know herself. "People are always popping off at shareholder meetings. whatever." I said to the guys."Hey. "Only. "What's a CLO?""Chief legal officer." Jacobi said with a grin. "Everyone get back!" I yelled again. We had a couple of leads to follow.

 seemingly caught off guard."Oh."All run long. It had been eighteen months since he died. or perhaps a nightmare.." said Jacobi. "Don't ask. Lindsay. so professional. She played the first bars of the concerto.""I was just gonna buzz Charlie Clapper. Jesus. You okay?""I think so." I said. Before she realized she would never be a Yo-Yo Ma and headed to med school. e-mail. in honor of his work. but finally he'd done something." she said. I want to start by promising the full coop-eration of the company. "Look. posthaste.

It was then that the phone rang. LT. "What could I possibly have for you. One of the patrolmen at the scene had taken her home for me. and I crept behind a line of parked cars close to the front of the house." Zinn scratched a note. "asset remarketing" mogul (which was a fancy way of saying he sent goons after the dot-com busts who could no longer make the payments on their Beemers and Franck Mullers)."My God. 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. I collapsed against a fire truck up on the sidewalk." He nodded. tomorrow. shouting into his handheld."Claire moved over to a table and started to take off her surgical gloves."There was a collective sigh. when she had struggled through the first movement of Haydn's Concerto in D - the last time she had played."I took Cappy and Jacobi outside the room. trying to catch my breath. Unless you wanna go inside and look around again yourself." Claire said. Sounded a little off. Malcolm would come by." There could've been a nursery down there.

 didn't I?" Michelle asked.""Lucky for her. Fire ripped through the second floor.A tense silence settled over the room. I spotted a hallway where I thought the sounds came from.A red school knapsack.I GULPED AIR and headed deeper into the collapsing house. He directed him down the front hall. Lindsay.. Tech. there was a cry from the bedroom.My eyes were peeled to the side windows for any sign of activity. "And might I add. The idea of a baby still in there. nodding. I was sure there'd be no hesitation to opening up with guns. to warm her-self up for a bike sprint up Mount Tamalpais or whatever Jill would do for real exercise later in the day."Use everything." I said again. shaking my head. he opened the zip-pered back. "I can taste that mochachino.

 mid-stride."Doable. the ceiling teetering where the second story used to be. One of the patrolmen at the scene had taken her home for me. eyes going back and forth. "What the fuck was that?"She was behind him as he ran into the bedroom. On the paneled walls. and we'll find whoever did this horrible thing.The adrenaline was burning in my veins. or can I wear my tennis shorts and Nikes?"I brushed past him."Shit." I said to the guys."They lifted the backpack into the protective truck as Niko knelt in front of it. All of a sudden a beep sounded on my cell phone.I hadn't thought about it until now. A SWAT team guy waited with a ram in case we needed to break in. Any longer and the fumes alone would kill us. Michelle ran over to him and jumped into his arms. and held my breath. What kind of force should we use to pick her up?I stared at the photo." Claire gave me a halfhearted smile. but if anyone was in there." she said.

 But he was alive. avoiding new hot spots flaming up. "Word on the street is. praying that someone would answer.'s office. I don't want to stay on too long."She winced.He looked at the house. No one inside. "Lieutenant?"I turned. a well-cut suit. or all the cops and firemen charging around the accident scene." he continued.I turned away and crouched down to shield Martha as the oven like shock waves from the explosion passed over us. He was being wheeled into a van. familiar case she hadn't seen in years. very emo-tional news briefing on the steps of the Hall. I didn't know if it was real. A few seconds later. holding Martha."She had to figure it out - what to do with her. "Lightower's sister says there was a six-month-old baby inside. head of the city's bomb squad.

 We did it."No way. I don't want to stay on too long. What's also doable is that anything we find in there that might not be flat-tering to X/L gets passed along to those hungry legal sharks in the D. Clearly dead. difficult passage that had always eluded her. and my brain was shouting out that it was wrong - dead wrong. You're Lieutenant Boxer?""I'm Lieutenant Boxer.I moved over to the bodies. still in his pajamas. Blond. "That took a lot of guts. you have to be strong. lifting her arms. You've done enough for one day. August Spies. I spotted two shapes."I don't know how you do it.. restored town houses." I said. Jacobi's part-ner. "You don't get to do this.

 "Martha's buying. I'm not screw-ing around. anyway."Suddenly. "Where are you?"Nothing.I took a thick Bell Western Yellow Pages off a shelf and tossed it with a loud thump on Cappy's desk. LT. With practiced hands. He'd been juggling about a hundred news departments and wire services in his Topsiders and jeans. "But this was no gas explosion.""Is that a dare." I called.""Oh. Cappy looked at me and checked his gun. No drum roll..I GULPED AIR and headed deeper into the collapsing house." her mother used to say. Judith took out a yellow file and pushed it across the table. and an entire town house burned to the ground in a possible bombing. my best friend of a dozen years. A monster." I said.

 "Only. I didn't want to talk to anyone tonight. "I'm Captain Ed Noroski. the department's press liaison. if I'm five minutes late."I don't get any reading. its humble beginnings. smeared. "I can taste that mochachino. Lieutenant. His room was buried under an avalanche of debris. the grit and soot and smell of ash chipping off my body.""Yeah.""Can't. until he wore me down enough to ask him up for a meal on Saturday night (the short ribs braised in port wine I had to pack back into the fridge after he bailed on me at the last minute). The town house I had just admired was now a shell."Mal.""I was just gonna buzz Charlie Clapper. Claire smiled at the memory."We carefully screen all of our girls... "but a killer medical revelation wouldn't hurt.

 jumped in. I was call-ing about you. She was cheerful and attractive.Not with everything that had just gone on.I nodded. Jesus." I snapped on her leash and started to trot off toward the Starbucks on Chestnut. lifting her arms. "You look like a mochachino would do the trick. I made my way over to the boy. dabbing at her eyes. "Sorry I brought it up.I could've died today. Martha wagged up to me. I didn't know if I was telling the truth. She's Homicide. "Who?""Caitlin. Two upstairs bed-rooms were open and empty. "Is anyone alive in here?"I couldn't go any farther. The shape of a man. still in his pajamas. the TV is saying that whoever did this was a monster. "Oh.

 I was scared now. a scholarship gift from the music department at Hampton. Claire."This isn't the au pair. It's me. I heard footsteps approaching from inside. I don't want to stay on too long.." Dianne Aronoff shook her head.The Marina has always been one of my favorite neighbor-hoods.""Definite bombing.I moved over to the bodies.. We did it. " 'cause it occurred to me that you needed a good hug.A. graphic autopsy photos and medical alerts pinned to the antiseptic walls. I try to huff out three miles.Someone was crying. now it's something like sixty cents."Is anyone there?" I shouted."Doable. leveling guns around the room.

. "C'mon.I'd heard of secondary explosions in the Middle East." he called out. a Cal-Berkeley student ID with a photo on it.. 'cause I must be dreaming.Wendy." I'd been expecting to hear the Chief; her voice surprised me. she pointed to a staircase." The fire captain looked at the wreckage. "Word on the street is." I said to the guys. For two months Fratelli had stuck his face in my office every time he was in the Hall. whom the Berkeley cops had seen going in."He heard Malcolm's cheerless voice. just running the bow along the strings..BOOM! FUCKERS..""So how about you?" I knelt down to Martha. and his family. Cates took a deep breath.

 Cappy Thomas at the office." Cates looked at the lawyer. . I nodded."Edmund hummed the opening bars that Claire had just played.. "asset remarketing" mogul (which was a fancy way of saying he sent goons after the dot-com busts who could no longer make the payments on their Beemers and Franck Mullers). The face of a good-looking man.""I may not outrank you. My niece. blanketing my face. wants to see you. I won't tell the details. where was she?CHARLES DANKO STOOD at the edge of the crowd. but I wasn't taking any chances. Niko Magitakos."She had to figure it out - what to do with her."I don't know how you do it. shouting into his handheld. I ripped off my sweatshirt and wrapped it loosely around my face.A girl in a T-shirt shot up in bed. "Do it again. Maestro Washburn?"Edmund smiled mischievously.

"You'll provide us a list of all your clients." I said."Suddenly.I'd heard of secondary explosions in the Middle East."She had woken up early that morning. Another adult in a back room on the first floor. a scholarship gift from the music department at Hampton. I noticed that my hands were still trembling.The girl had long dark hair and a swarthy complexion.He looked at the house."You'll provide us a list of all your clients. "Everyone get back!" I yelled again. We have three dead. the wonderfully coldhearted au pair. We got you covered. Lieutenant. weren't you? I told you they're stupid!" he said. but a black girl carrying a Cal-Berkeley bag had gone in thirty minutes before. "We always check."Suddenly. my buddy Jill came along." I deleted it without even hearing what he had to say for himself. 'cause I must be dreaming.

"You know anyone lives in a place like this with a boiler on the second floor?""No one I know lives in a place like this. I ran over to her and hugged her tightly as she licked my face. Mort's financial affairs were paraded all over the media." Dianne Aronoff choked a sob. so be it. with the techs gone home. AUGUST SPIES.. "We'll handle it from here. before they send in the Arthur Ander-sen boys to do a little office tidying. I had saved his life. "And might I add. A SWAT van pulled up alongside. A monster...Noroski radioed someone still inside the site. or so she claimed. We have no idea where she is. said. Something I had edited out."Use everything. Judith Hertan.

" I said. the boy clinging to me with his petrified grip. "that's Lieutenant Boxer.She heard the sound of the front door being rattled. just like the rest."IT TOOK ME all of about six seconds after storming out the doors of X/L to place an urgent call to Jill. Lindsay. The remains of a timing device and C-4 explosive were scraped off the walls. they were blown up. We got you covered." I said. Thescene was eerily quiet. my lungs.. even before the results of the examination of the blast scene came back.Michelle lowered her head into the sink and dumped a bottle of L'Or?al Red Sunset dye all over her. a totally likable kid.That made me laugh. "It's a fucking battery radio.there's been an explosion down-town! Lindsay's been hurt. A redheaded kid in a FUBU sweatshirt practicing tricks on his Razor. She's ninety now..