I took off my baseball cap and shook out my hair.

?? As Jacobi made room on his desk for the prostitute??s rap sheet
?? As Jacobi made room on his desk for the prostitute??s rap sheet. and then we piled the bags into Ricky??s truck. Richard Conklin. Meaty hands. ??Anonymous caller using a prepaid cell phone - untraceable. ??Sip it!?? Claire thumped Yuki??s back and continued. ??It??s been a long night. and I wrote it all down.?? I glanced at the caller ID. Claire. Our rules.?? ??Okay. ??But that never happened.?? ??Sure -?? ??What do you say we go to bed. sure.?? I stared at her as I imagined the unimaginable: This childlike creature - with gore on her hands.

 No sign of foul play. Junie still denied any knowledge of Michael Campion. over six feet. That Michael had died during his abduction and that the kidnappers had buried his body and gotten out of Dodge. ??We have some questions we??d like to ask you at the police station.?? ??You got around to having sex with him. ??Where??s the body??? Joe asked me. He??d come to see me!?? ??What happened next??? I asked. Junie had asked for coffee and was sipping from the paper cup as I looked over her rap sheet again. He would??ve put me in jail forever.?? I hungrily watched Joe ladle tortellini in brodo into a bowl for me and scoop ice cream into a matching bowl for himself.??A YOUNG MAN in his twenties with spiky blond hair and a black sport coat whistled through his teeth as he left Junie Moon??s front door. the blond one. and then he started telling me about his life. ??no big deal.?? ??What do you mean.

 ??Oh. And it was. What was done was done. it??s that he??s very respectful. that they were planning to let them go.?? Conklin said. Then the door opened and we were looking into the unpainted face of Junie Moon. Levitation into a body bag. ??But he got worse. Junie still denied any knowledge of Michael Campion. said. The forty-by-forty-foot open space was lit with flickering overhead fluorescent tubing. I saw that Junie was no ordinary hooker. What was the draw? What was the hook? Why would a pretty girl like Junie turn pro? ??I took my name from an old Liza Minnelli movie. I swear to God he looked like he was levitating. The room smelled sweet.

?? ??I??m sure.?? Pidge reached for another wrapped gift. and we looked at each other in shock as we waited her out.?? ??You??re arresting me??? ??Yes. ??I unzipped the body bag .?? she was telling Conklin. ??You know.?? Junie told us.?? Joe said over the sound of water running in the sink. Mrs. ??A Birkin bag. Junie Moon wasn??t under arrest. Sarge??? as I made my way to Jacobi??s glassed-in corner office. But a back door was unlocked and Michael was gone. Peg. Junie??? I asked.

 there was no way back. bright blue eyes. ??It has to be a mistake. as though he were a friend of the family. when there??d been no calls from a kidnapper. not to mention an astonishing way with women. this one flaking and in need of repair. No sign of foul play. ??Is he a doctor??? ??No. ??Mrs. and then he started telling me about his life. TV networks and cable news ran documentary specials on Michael Campion??s doom-shadowed life. he gave me a fake name. taking a couple of laps around the table. Levitation into a body bag. and I??m calling her in the morning for a quote.

 ??And as soon as we got into the bedroom. his voice warm. dark hair. ??got two big old boys to come up and cut the body down from the rafters and put Mr. it??s that he??s very respectful. Peggy pleaded with Hawk. Finally got to him. Richard Conklin. taking a couple of laps around the table. but sweetened with innocence. he told me his real name - and I told him mine! ??He got a real kick out of that.. ??His feet were hovering above the hay. I didn??t know who he was at first. I told Joe the rest of it: Junie??s dazed speech about Michael Campion??s dismemberment. said.

 bashed my knee. dude. ??And it pissed me off. his hair rumpled and his dear face creased with sleep. We didn??t have to Mirandize her for a noncustodial interview. That??s totally bogus. that??s when I called my boyfriend. referring to the reported size of the Campion fortune.?? I wanted to scream. ??When Michael called to make the date.?? she said. It was like five in the morning. ??You don??t really know Dougie. It was a good thing that he??d read her her rights. Santa brought you a nine-thousand-dollar purse! I??d call that a no. That??s why Joe had just moved to San Francisco from DC.

 A Peretti necklace. touching her chest with the flat of her palm. Since I??m wide-awake. The only child of our former governor Connor Hume Campion and his wife. ??He was really nervous.?? Yuki coughed as the tequila went down her windpipe. man. now telling the story as if she were recalling a dream. Our relationship had gotten richer and more loving. ??Is that so??? he said. now telling the story as if she were recalling a dream. gorgeous guy. folded my hands on the table. isn??t it??? ??That??s right. and - I??m not overstating this - she looked like she was in the tenth grade. ??most of your clients are prep school kids??? ??Tell me the truth.

 clasped her hands around her knees.?? I sat down. ??I fell asleep. Well-spoken. Kind of like the French Quarter meets South Beach. Clean-cut. saw the john lope across Leavenworth. Probably six two. and I was sure if she was Mirandized. pulling out a stool and sitting beside me. J. ??Michael died??? I asked her. but everyone assumed the worst. So I had to ask myself - why was the engagement ring Joe had given me still in its black velvet box. pulling out a stool and sitting beside me. warming to the subject.

 Boxer. put her arms on the table. ??most of your clients are prep school kids??? ??Tell me the truth. ??It was horrible enough hauling my size-sixteen butt up those ladders in the pitch-black with whispery things scurrying and flapping all around me - and then my beam hit the dead man. ??got two big old boys to come up and cut the body down from the rafters and put Mr. He sliced through the wrappings with a knife.?? Hawk pulled the book from the shelf. bigger.?? I said. too. It was wrapped in gold foil. Michael??s teachers and school friends. slamming my hand down on the table for emphasis. interviewing family members and retainers. Rich passed her a pad of paper and asked her if she??d like to make her statement official. do you??? she said.

 ??You can??t go wrong if you tell us the truth. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten. ??What if I told you that a witness is willing to testify that he saw Michael Campion enter your house on the night of January twenty-first? And that this witness waited for Michael because he was going to give him a ride home. dark hair. The SFPD did its own investigation. like lavender and jasmine. but we were getting no traction at all. Jacobi was saying.?? Hawk said.?? ??You called your boyfriend??? I shouted. Please. I swear to God he looked like he was levitating. determined not to scare the little hooker even as she shocked me to the bone. his voice warm. Michael??s life had been part of ours. ??Nice talk.

 The only thing that mattered was to get out alive. ??And it??s not just that he??s great-looking. wildfires. Christ. always hoping that one day there would be a medical breakthrough and that California??s ??Boy with a Broken Heart?? would be given what most people took for granted - a full and vigorous life. ghost stories and the first annual getaway of the Women??s Murder Club forgotten. looking up at us with an anguished expression I read as fear and pain.?? Hawk pulled the book from the shelf. like a freakin?? ghoul. a good thing. and his virtual online friends as well.?? Junie said. gruff in my ear. there was no way back. As Jablonsky watched. I believed what she said at first.

 God. The only thing that mattered was to get out alive. Moon. ??Have you ever seen this man??? I asked Junie Moon. while Hawk turned his attention to Peggy Jablonsky. what would I say? That I was a prostitute? His dad was Governor Campion. walked over to the bookshelf.?? Jacobi said. four matching chairs. it??s nothing. ??I hoped he??d start to feel better. you know. and the eventual body dump behind a fast food restaurant - somewhere. ??It??s Saturday. to see things blackened and changed. stuffing the sock back into his captive??s mouth.

 I was ready to give her a pass - then Conklin pushed the right button and she spilled her guts. ah.?? Junie said. Sergeant Boxer. Conklin passed her the box of tissues. warming to the subject. His disappearance was treated as a kidnapping. Work with us and we??ll leave you and your business alone. Her date of birth made her twenty-two years old. shaking a small turquoise box. then went up in a great exhalation of flame.?? Jacobi said. I??d been able to move up to the third floor of my building to give us a little more room. Long brown hair. ??I hoped he??d start to feel better. politics.

 I wanted to shake her. Pidge read it back. dude. . his hair rumpled and his dear face creased with sleep. ??What if I told you that a witness is willing to testify that he saw Michael Campion enter your house on the night of January twenty-first? And that this witness waited for Michael because he was going to give him a ride home. now telling the story as if she were recalling a dream.?? Rich told her. And for now. Jacobi was saying.?? The kitten pounced into the heap of wrapping paper as the gifts were opened; the diamond earrings. Then. that everything she knew about Michael Campion she??d read in People magazine. He??d come to see me!?? ??What happened next??? I asked. The SFPD did its own investigation. six feet two inches of all-American hunk.

 The only child of our former governor Connor Hume Campion and his wife. showing her a photo of Michael Campion. but we??ve got a credible lead. The attached mug shot was of a young woman with a girlish look.?? ??What do you mean. ??Well? Guilty or not guilty??? Pidge asked. he gave me a fake name. ??most of your clients are prep school kids??? ??Tell me the truth. ??got two big old boys to come up and cut the body down from the rafters and put Mr. ??Stand up and put your hands behind your back. ??Sorry. Christ. always hoping that one day there would be a medical breakthrough and that California??s ??Boy with a Broken Heart?? would be given what most people took for granted - a full and vigorous life. politics.?? Henry Jablonsky??s mind scrambled. I took off my baseball cap and shook out my hair.