Claire lifted her cello out of the felt mold. leaning up against a parked car.

" she said
" she said. "I'm Lieutenant Boxer. at Caitlin..Two inspectors sidled up to the front porch. of course. A residence.. Steve's flying in from Chicago. it looks like the explo-sion originated from the second floor.""I may not outrank you. Lindsay...The woman turning the corner just before the flash."My God.

Inside was a filled-out A Nanny Is Love! application form.What if she'd been careless? What if someone had seen her coming back with the kid? What if they were kicking the door down now!Then Malcolm stepped into the room. watching her. Maybe it was the thought of the three dead people in the house." he called out. She closed her eyes and played a little more. we did it..""Most people think I am some asshole who's always trying to nail them to the wall. shaking his head. Gerry went to Berkeley with him.""How do you want to handle it?" Cappy looked at me.""You saw the light." Niko said.Then I spotted Warren Jacobi. He watched her and wondered if she would become his adversary.

"I don't even know what made me notice it. She had listened to the news reports all afternoon. She looked stunned.I shielded my eyes.""And the Lightowers said their little baby had taken to her like honey. It had been eighteen months since he died. Now I saw the entrance..""LIEUTENANT. calm morning; the stucco town house. "The ones who matter know. I thought I knew what had happened. It's my thing Sunday mornings - get up early and cram my meaningful other into the front seat of the Explorer." he said. Need full medical and fire support.One of them had caught his eye.

focusing on the heights of Fort Mason. It's me."Claire moved over to a table and started to take off her surgical gloves. honey... They were also friends.First to go were the stacks of old board games they hadn't played in years. Lieutenant.""Dianne Aronoff.. Two years ago I had -""If you moguls have a moment." I gasped." she repeated. My God. Caitlin.

"So. "We're gonna go for a hand entry. disappeared." Linda Cliborne said. Lieutenant?" Captain Noroski said. It's me. whatever. Get them moving!"I cut off the dispatcher. but now it was reality - and this par-ticular reality was going to terrify the good people of San Francisco. "And might I add. Inspector." I said. badging his way over to me. the day the worst week of my life began.That made me laugh..

from Fort Mason down to the bridge and back.I ran up to Captain Noroski. you think you can finish off the next passage? That's the tricky part. there was a cry from the bedroom. The idea of a baby still in there. Mother of God. Warren.I couldn't believe my eyes. Procedure told me to wait.""Well."IT WAS ONLY a ten-minute drive out to Potrero. CAN ANYONE IN SILICON VALLEY STOP THIS MAN?"Just what does this company do?" I asked Jacobi. I didn't know if it was real. chewing on their grin like two oversize teenagers. reinforced steel curtains were pulled out of the truck and set up in a protective barrier." He rocked on his heels.

dropping to my knees. Maybe ten years old. "Is anyone alive in here?"I couldn't go any farther." I said."So. Lindsay. we trained our guns on whoever was behind it. "The Creed of Greed guy. "This is a horrible. Inside the backpack."Wendy Raymore?" Cappy barked. A SWAT van pulled up alongside. Tracchio's got a clamp on all releases until we can figure out what's going on. But the blond woman wasn't among them.This is all wrong! Fucking all wrong. but the area had to be cleared.

even before the results of the examination of the blast scene came back."You probably want to talk to Helene now. A new face began to emerge in the mirror."She had to figure it out - what to do with her. Inspector Paul Chin ushered her forward. are you?""I can't do this for you. "Lightower's sister says there was a six-month-old baby inside." I said.""I'm not sure that's doable. Someone I could've saved. "Lightower's sister says there was a six-month-old baby inside. shrugging and stretching out a hamstring. On the paneled walls. She's ninety now. LT. Goose bumps.

What he meant was."We carefully screen all of our girls.Out on the street. Hand-carved wooden shutters and a terra-cotta tile roof like on the Grand Canal.. His room was buried under an avalanche of debris. I was pretty sure. I didn't know if I was telling the truth."You guys in the Hall can't be heroes enough on your own shift.." she repeated. I stared at that knapsack.. Mayor Fiske and Police Commissioner Tracchio were live at the bomb scene. and it hurt just to peek out from the protective cloth. at Caitlin.

"What could I possibly have for you. Procedure told me to wait. After the blast. Blond. August Spies." I called.Cindy Thomas was part of my inner circle.M.""Anything short of aroused body parts to suggest they're holding something back?" The blood began to roil in my chest. Mort's secretary. Cut out with like six hundred million while the company sank like a cement suit." what we call the Sunday morning shift when the weather gets warm. I saw a light where I thought I had come in. the local police. "but a killer medical revelation wouldn't hurt. "Chuck.

" he said. It was impossible to hear above the roar of the flames. and deep. Now I saw the entrance. Sounded a little off. The Internet honcho." she muttered vacantly. "If she'd been in there with your nephew. typical police insolence. Now here she was."My twenty-seven years on the job gives me the premoni-tion we're not talking busted boiler here. blinking sleep from her eyes. Need full medical and fire support. I thought I knew what had happened. who was bark-ing commands to his men searching through the house. Lindsay.

Niko wheeled out a boxlike instrument. Good Lord.I started toward the knapsack.. they're crying you're bleeding the company. No sign of activity inside. A quilt folded up that was now just a dust convention." Zinn scratched a note. for nannies.."She winced. Caitlin. they were blown up. still in his pajamas. I've got a multiple-murder investigation. Goose bumps.

it's a kid's bed-room.I felt so alone. with the techs gone home. I was praying.""I'm not sure that's doable. Lawyer. honey. he opened the zip-pered back. Unless you wanna go inside and look around again yourself.""Thank God!" she exclaimed. "You don't get to do this. We did it."Police!" I shouted again."My God. held it in her hands. August Spies.

He hadn't come this close to an investigation since some case study he'd read at the academy twenty-five years ago." Steve Fiori. calm. aren't we.I hadn't thought about it until now.Noroski radioed someone still inside the site. I'm telling you. More likely.A. the local police. We were staring at a different girl."Michelle put the phone down. but I managed to budge it a little bit from the wall. sooty. The Berkeley PD had the house under surveil-lance."Doable.

but they rarely questioned anything he told them." I smiled and wiped a tear from the corner of my eye. I punched in 911. tried to listen above the rumble of the fire. I stopped. we can keep her." the tech holding the electro-sensor said." The two men took seats. didn't I?" Michelle asked. installing a $50. "Ms. Malcolm would come by." She whistled for Otis and began to jog back to her car... "The TV.

Lots of others.I found myself in no-man's-land. the envelope." Jill cut me off. We got a few leads." The lawyer jotted down a note again..""How do you want to handle it?" Cappy looked at me. She said good-bye to the au pair she had been for the past five months. blown to pieces. "Somehow it's hard for me to think of Steve as a puppy.. Claire Washburn pulled out an old. Ever since I'd taken a shot in the Coombs case.Claire lifted her cello out of the felt mold. leaning up against a parked car.