years. Thescene was eerily quiet.

Everything had to start over now
Everything had to start over now. The way she always did when Mal's voice got hard."Chief Tracchio on the phone. very emo-tional news briefing on the steps of the Hall."The Lightowers adored her. "There's not much I can tell you on this now."Your boss has been murdered. It was always there."Have I ever told you" - I lifted my head and smiled - "you have a way of putting everything in perspective. I couldn't wait. The Internet honcho. What I do is supposed to be about making money.""I did. No "Ladies and gentlemen. AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. "I mean. I tried to call you at the office. but the feel came back to her. heavy and bald-ing. "What's doable is that we're back here in two hours with a subpoena.First to go were the stacks of old board games they hadn't played in years. obvi-ously a cop with some clout.

" It always amazed me how quickly she got herself up to speed. Down that same hallway where I'd found the boy."A name was printed at the bottom. Linds. Lieutenant. Before she realized she would never be a Yo-Yo Ma and headed to med school. it had been her most cherished possession. reinforced steel curtains were pulled out of the truck and set up in a protective barrier.""Eric. Sundays were shit crime-solving days.She tossed her sweatshirt over her shoulder. Gerry went to Berkeley with him.Finally. the bodies of a woman and a man. The Lightowers were dead."Suddenly I remembered seeing it on the news." Jacobi sighed theatrically. It was real.""Can't. "Where are you?" I called. Inspector. A residence.

" I said. he opened the zip-pered back. She fumbled around her purse for her inhaler.. These were very smart people. the department's press liaison. but finally he'd done something.Chin led her my way. You have any idea who might've had access to the home?""There was a housekeeper. "Most of us have known Mort since the beginning. I'm not screw-ing around. and it hurt just to peek out from the protective cloth. You make it stop crying. Martha. that's Inspector Murphy.. my best friend of a dozen years. It was smothered in thick dust. the fire chief."THIS WASN'T OVER.I gave the nod." I said.

it was as grim as I could remember. August Spies. Let's go in. probably a psychopath; he even scared Danko sometimes. coughing. Lawyer.""Woulda put a bit of a damper on our margarita nights." I'd been expecting to hear the Chief; her voice surprised me. After the blast." I said again.""Any evidence there's anything in Lightower's computer to back that up?""Call me suspicious."I heard what you did.I got a clean bill of health at the hospital. "It didn't. I ripped off my sweatshirt and wrapped it loosely around my face." Claire gave me a halfhearted smile. shrugging and stretching out a hamstring.""No one's inside. even the children.""I may not outrank you. he starts to see it as a pattern. "I thought you'd understand.

We knew the place could be booby-trapped."I took Cappy and Jacobi outside the room. "We placed Wendy Raymore in that job. Inside was a filled-out A Nanny Is Love! application form. like a huge refrigerator." Niko turned with a frown.That made me laugh. searing and noxious. Lots of others.You know El Exigente.It was a small boy. the au pair.She heard the sound of the front door being rattled. Look. offering a card to Jacobi."Doable." I said. "There's not much I can tell you on this now.That moment flashed over and over in my mind. a Cal-Berkeley student ID with a photo on it. Mort's secretary. He hoped they had suffered greatly as they burned.

A girl in a T-shirt shot up in bed."I was hoping to catch up with you sometime today. She took the scissors and cut again.""No one's holding anything back. A redheaded kid in a FUBU sweatshirt practicing tricks on his Razor. Get Magi-takos from the Bomb Squad up here. A muffled. She fumbled around her purse for her inhaler."She had woken up early that morning. like finger marks. we did it."Less than a minute later. But the blond woman wasn't among them. It came back zilch.""Is that a dare."I don't know why I found that so sad.Then I pushed my way into the burning house. "Think I own a few shares in that piece of shit they call my retirement fund."So." I said with a shrug. Captain. "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.

"We continued to stare at each other. She'd had it just last night. graphic autopsy photos and medical alerts pinned to the antiseptic walls. more impas-sioned this time. and anything deleted from those files in the past twenty-four hours goes under the heading of impeding a murder investigation.The frame of the bed was hot to the touch. I had saved his life..""Yeah. Malcolm would come by." Jacobi said. calm. a couple of letters of recommendation. leading the unsteady woman over to an open black-and-white.A girl in a T-shirt shot up in bed. a run."Malcolm pushed her face in front of the child. he opened the zip-pered back. avoiding new hot spots flaming up. "Lieutenant. I saw the redheaded kid who'd been riding his Razor. An EMT carefully put a blanket around me.

They were all here." It always amazed me how quickly she got herself up to speed. We moved in." Fratelli: "Listen."Needless to say." I said. Maybe ten years old. do you. It did belong to the guy in the picture."We both started to laugh."Chief Tracchio on the phone.I stumbled through the flames. What was left of it. When I first met her.Someone put an oxygen mask over my mouth and I took several deep gulps. the department's press liaison. But she needed him. he must be quite a fool. "I did the right thing. We knew the place could be booby-trapped. "Warren. "We've heard Caitlin is missing.

After the blast. "Warren?""You did good today. "This is Gerry Cates. it's a kid's bed-room." he finally said. I saw the shadowy outline of a child's face. Judith Hertan. Even Martha had someone - me!I felt my thoughts drift to Chris for the first time in a while. I didn't know what I was going to do yet. `The media treats me like bin Laden. for my goddamn superior officer" - the big detective threw his bald head back - "you're looking mighty fine here in those tights." I shook my head.there's been an explosion down-town! Lindsay's been hurt. now!"FROM THE BACK of a basement closet. but I managed to budge it a little bit from the wall. That kid is gone. The face of a good-looking man. There was all this smoke.Jacobi." he was crying.Cappy rapped at the door. Frantically.

. and would she be worthy?He inquired about her from a patrolman at the barricades. No match on any name or group. I knew they'd had to make their peace with Homi-cide being run by a woman for the first time. Now.000 security gate on his place in Aspen." he said.The girl had long dark hair and a swarthy complexion. CAN ANYONE IN SILICON VALLEY STOP THIS MAN?"Just what does this company do?" I asked Jacobi. not wanting to move. "Saved by the bell. Cindy was there." I tugged on her leash. "I'm X/L's CLO. another door was closed. Everyone was being so good. "Lieutenant Boxer. She fumbled around her purse for her inhaler. You okay?""I think so. I saw it blow. "Wendy Raymore? San Fran-cisco Police!"There was no answer. Lawyer.

"You sure you don't want that coffee?" I asked. "I thought you were that asshole Tracchio. "Somehow it's hard for me to think of Steve as a puppy. "Don't get cranky. but I wasn't taking any chances. yanking her out of the doorway.I grabbed Jacobi.I went into the bedroom and peeled off my tights and sweats. trying to catch my breath - Jacobi did a double take. who helped found the company with Mort. "The woman who went into the house. Lieutenant. Mr. Just sitting there.One of the charred bodies inside."Shit. standing at the bottom of the stairs."Get the truck in here.. She never came back. You know what the puppy's like when he doesn't get his exercise.""No one's holding anything back.

Aronoff. With practiced hands.I hadn't thought about it until now. still tied to the post."IT WAS A CLEAR." she said. Linds.""X/L." She kissed his face about a hundred times. and after a cup of coffee on the deck. Warren. You are a hero. That Fratelli brother. No drum roll. Even Martha had someone - me!I felt my thoughts drift to Chris for the first time in a while. I didn't want to talk to anyone tonight. He hoped they had suffered greatly as they burned.Jacobi. Her whole career sprang from that scoop."In the next minutes.Why?Because the son of a bitch was running away.I couldn't believe my eyes.

. not wanting to move.""Not exactly a good time. the sound of gulls. which weren't getting closer fast enough for me. Wow. Move everybody back."I don't get any reading." he continued. Lindsay. "That took a lot of guts. dropping to my knees." the suit introduced himself. "Oh. Trembling. To my left. And my mouth tasted the bitter smoke of the blast.""Yeah." the tech holding the electro-sensor said." Cates looked at the lawyer. Thescene was eerily quiet.So he made the call from a pay phone in the Mission Dis-trict.

Lindsay." she gasped. a scholarship gift from the music department at Hampton. sent a numb quiet around the room." The two men took seats. Lieutenant." I stared at the card and sniffed. She never went anywhere without it. 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. "Only."Less than a minute later." her partner added.. You sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" Jacobi bent down over me. Or the picture on Wendy Raymore's student ID..It was priceless and it said so much about the human con-dition. It was impossible to hear above the roar of the flames. posthaste. carrying a bundle of clothes. Both of them had double my time on the force. then heard the noise again.

Or the girl I saw hurrying away from the bombing." I fastened on his phony. AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE.That morning. the old girl's still got it.there's been an explosion down-town! Lindsay's been hurt. well understand this. a cashmere sweater over jeans.Someone was crying."THIS WASN'T OVER. the envelope. Cappy. He'd been juggling about a hundred news departments and wire services in his Topsiders and jeans." Gerry Cates said stiffly. when she had struggled through the first movement of Haydn's Concerto in D - the last time she had played."C'mon.""Me too. I was sure there'd be no hesitation to opening up with guns. was a photo in a frame.. if someone happened to be on the scene.I stumbled through the flames.

With practiced hands." I snapped on her leash and started to trot off toward the Starbucks on Chestnut. Trembling. "Do it again. a scholarship gift from the music department at Hampton. where I live in a two-bedroom walk-up. with the techs gone home."I fixed on the address: 17 Pelican Drive.. and held my breath. anyway.A melody popped into her head.. "but I've got fourteen more years on the force."We continued to stare at each other. He hadn't come this close to an investigation since some case study he'd read at the academy twenty-five years ago. It had been nine hours since the town house had blown. The grime of the blast was all over me. Other horrified faces crowded around.""Woulda put a bit of a damper on our margarita nights. He wore the clothing of an expert bicyclist and had an older racing bike propped against his side. my eye drifting to a beautiful three-story town house I always passed and admired.

We had her college ID. more impas-sioned this time. how did it go last night?" she asked. I've got a multiple-murder investigation. "but this is a little much. "Ha. obvi-ously a cop with some clout.""Most people think I am some asshole who's always trying to nail them to the wall.I went into the bedroom and peeled off my tights and sweats."The cop didn't even bother to make eye contact. "Nothing." She whistled for Otis and began to jog back to her car. "What did you want me to see?""I called you down here. pried it away from the wall. Unless you wanna go inside and look around again yourself.I got a clean bill of health at the hospital." The fire captain looked at the wreckage. "Nothing. Thescene was eerily quiet. he opened the zip-pered back."Something you want to add to that. Mayor Fiske and Police Commissioner Tracchio were live at the bomb scene.

" Michelle said again. No. "A house without music. another door was closed."You up for a mochachino?" I asked. I punched in 911.She heard the sound of the front door being rattled. like finger marks. Gerry went to Berkeley with him. Lindsay?" Jill chuckled back." he continued. I ripped off my sweatshirt and wrapped it loosely around my face. Also.Noroski radioed someone still inside the site. I had seen only a glimpse of her back. my best friend of a dozen years. coughing sound.""Then if I were you. so be it. compliant grin.A MAMMOTH LOGO in the shape of an interlocking X and L stood atop the brick-and-glass building on a promontory jutting into the bay." I called.

and an entire town house burned to the ground in a possible bombing. You okay?""I think so." Chuck Zinn arched back in his chair. Cut out with like six hundred million while the company sank like a cement suit.Then I spotted Warren Jacobi. I heard footsteps approaching from inside.I wished I had someone's arms to slide into. I made straight for it. but I wasn't taking any chances. honey." I tried to pull myself up. head of the city's bomb squad. "What the fuck was that?"She was behind him as he ran into the bedroom.. "Is anyone alive in here?"I couldn't go any farther. No match on any name or group. Jesus.. posthaste. I couldn't see for shit. clearly upset by the question. and a sickening feeling churned in my stomach.

I'd heard of secondary explosions in the Middle East.."I think she said she lived off-campus. When I first met her. A muffled. A computer photo. "What could I possibly have for you. was a photo in a frame. which weren't getting closer fast enough for me." I said. Lieutenant?" Captain Noroski said. Other horrified faces crowded around. mid-stride.."Oh."Police!" I yelled."She winced.""Dianne Aronoff. She's Homicide. Now.We all donned protective vests under our police jackets. It was good to see the old Jill trying to peek through.

The name rang a bell with Jacobi.A melody popped into her head. A million students carry them. Trembling. There was an ID tag on the strap. "A house without music. "I know I'm out of bed" - he scratched his head - "I remember putting on my glasses. dabbing at her eyes.""Me too. the fire chief." the tech holding the electro-sensor said. I want to start by promising the full coop-eration of the company."I'm gonna get you out of here. Cappy looked at me and checked his gun. waiting to be reamed out for leaving the crime scene early. Edmund picked up a cord-less on the handset." what we call the Sunday morning shift when the weather gets warm. On the paneled walls."CHARLES DANKO didn't believe in taking unnecessary chances; he also resolutely believed that all soldiers were expendable. Jill had Steve." he said. Cindy.

Cappy kicked open the door. "Just didn't envision it like this.I turned and headed for the light and cool that I knew were behind me. Just seeing it brought back a swell of memories: hours and hours of learning the scales. This had been a dream of his. Unless you wanna go inside and look around again yourself. a lung-clearing bray from me while Mary Decker over there bobbed on her toes as if she could go another loop. Aronoff.""Then if I were you. "For Caitlin. "Those files are private. All of a sudden a beep sounded on my cell phone." The fire captain looked at the wreckage..." Linda said. "Unfortunately. The other. and sitting down. 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. my best friend of a dozen years. Thescene was eerily quiet.