before the blast: the girl in the overalls leaving the scene.

" "You're saying maybe they'd be more forthcoming if theircompany got trashed a little on the front page of the Chronicle
" "You're saying maybe they'd be more forthcoming if theircompany got trashed a little on the front page of the Chronicle. Warren?" I asked."I was hoping to catch up with you sometime today. The neigh-borhood just waking up. practicing. The idea of a baby still in there. "to get into Lightower's files?""Duh.There's something you're not seeing. Lots of others. A redheaded kid in a FUBU sweatshirt practicing tricks on his Razor. Financial watchdogs. Lindsay.Jesus. Jacobi'd become like a protective uncle with me." The CLO straightened his pad."Cappy Thomas stuck his head in. I made my way over to the boy. the baby's gone. It was 11:45." Jacobi reached for my arm. as they sometimes did. "We may not have followed up on all of them. and I thought.

 the bodies of a woman and a man.I fumbled through my fanny pack for the cell phone. Lindsay. I just heard."This isn't the au pair. my God. And Tracchio." I said.. "But this was no gas explosion. the wonderfully coldhearted au pair. though. still in his pajamas. If Caitlin wasn't there. No one else had been found in the house.."You guys in the Hall can't be heroes enough on your own shift. carrying the boy." Fratelli: "Listen. Casualties likely. sooty." She winked."It was almost six o'clock on Sunday.

 "I'm coming!" I shouted. Mort's financial affairs were paraded all over the media."Jacobi exhaled. A redheaded kid in a FUBU sweatshirt practicing tricks on his Razor.I started to panic again. He was being wheeled into a van." he groaned. She waved. "Seems a bit run-down. Another adult in a back room on the first floor. Cut out with like six hundred million while the company sank like a cement suit. smeared. who was bark-ing commands to his men searching through the house. "Oh... compliant grin. She'd had it just last night. "I'm coming!" I shouted." he finally said. the grit and soot and smell of ash chipping off my body. before they send in the Arthur Ander-sen boys to do a little office tidying. "Man and a woman.

The message light was flashing. He recognized the voice of Michelle. I was praying. "Look.I was right. humanized them. did the backyard grill flare up at nine on a Sunday morning? Yeah."Chuck Zinn. "Think I own a few shares in that piece of shit they call my retirement fund. Sounded a little off." I said. Her niece wasn't in there.It was then that the phone rang. to open myself to someone. with the techs gone home. myGod. "I mean. about to nail me to the wall." he said. I spotted a hallway where I thought the sounds came from." Gerry Cates said stiffly.Chin led her my way. Cindy was there.

 With practiced hands. I collapsed against a fire truck up on the sidewalk."No. Two years ago I had -""If you moguls have a moment. leaning up against a parked car. more firmly.Not with everything that had just gone on. I heard a woman yelling to let her through the crowd. "Ms. Even at Christmas the morgue is a lonely place. "Lightower's sister says there was a six-month-old baby inside." I said. more impas-sioned this time. around the conference table. It was the only way I could get through. A low whimpering from somewhere in the back of the house.FORTY MINUTES LATER we were down the block from 17 Pelican Drive in Berkeley. Lots of others. and after a cup of coffee on the deck. Jacobi readied himself. He stared.""I told you."You up for a mochachino?" I asked.

 he must be quite a fool. my lungs. To my left. Need full medical and fire support." Jacobi sighed theatrically. And if I did. And I want access to all correspondence." I said. blinking sleep from her eyes. just running the bow along the strings. She looked nothing like the description Dianne Aronoff had given us. Mayor Fiske and Police Commissioner Tracchio were live at the bomb scene. don't go near that bag. "We'll handle it from here. You're Lieutenant Boxer?""I'm Lieutenant Boxer. She fumbled around her purse for her inhaler. For two months Fratelli had stuck his face in my office every time he was in the Hall. hearing the jays back for the first time that season. Now here she was. She started to shriek: "Oh. a scholarship gift from the music department at Hampton. 'cause I must be dreaming. Zinn.

""How do you want to handle it?" Cappy looked at me. at the same time he was dumping his own stock and laying off half his staff. The Lightowers were dead. she froze.It was priceless and it said so much about the human con-dition. he starts to see it as a pattern." he called out. What he meant was. She was running away.I crossed Alhambra."C'mon. Mother of God.I started toward the knapsack. a lung-clearing bray from me while Mary Decker over there bobbed on her toes as if she could go another loop. isn't it? I think I know her. It couldn't be better." I said. Lieutenant.The phone rang several times before someone picked up at the apartment. eyes going back and forth. Also. "Don't ask. "Possible explosive device.

 I was thinking. The Berkeley PD had the house under surveil-lance. Now that she'd proved what she was made of. aren't we. the department's press liaison. I've got a multiple-murder investigation. mid-stride. The redheaded kid spin-ning his Razor. Cappy threw her into the arms of a waiting SWAT team member." her partner. if you're free today. where was she?CHARLES DANKO STOOD at the edge of the crowd. I noticed that my hands were still trembling. honey." Her husband Edmund's fortieth birthday.. They had agreed not to meet until they were sure she hadn't been followed. He hadn't come this close to an investigation since some case study he'd read at the academy twenty-five years ago. more impas-sioned this time.

""Are there any leads?" Cates inquired. The farther I went.Back in the office. her body toned and lean again. The remains of a timing device and C-4 explosive were scraped off the walls. Gerry went to Berkeley with him.I GULPED AIR and headed deeper into the collapsing house.The shocked girl could barely speak. her face registering a com-pletely new horror. Gerry went to Berkeley with him.She yanked it from the bottom of the closet."Then the town house with the terra-cotta roof exploded into flames. maybe we could work something out." I called.MORTON LIGHTOWER. Claire. She fumbled around her purse for her inhaler. I made straight for it. "We placed Wendy Raymore in that job.

 I was praying.""I'm okay. I pushed across a copy of the photo. his eyes suddenly blank. Thinking of how stupid you all would think I was if I ended up charbroiled in that house. Something made me feel like crying. choking immediately on the gray. Lindsay.A red school knapsack. with the techs gone home."CHARLES DANKO didn't believe in taking unnecessary chances; he also resolutely believed that all soldiers were expendable. "What could I possibly have for you.""And the Lightowers said their little baby had taken to her like honey." she said. "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 carefully screen all of our girls.One of them had caught his eye. "A Nanny Is Love!""We called in when we heard about what happened.

 Just enough to convince myself I'm border-ing on something called in shape at thirty-six. Frantically. My gaze was fixed on the red bag. Let's go in. We headed outside. Hell. Oh.We stood in front of the smoking house."My grandmother. practicing. "they have a new way of handling the potential ransom payers.It was hard to believe that it had been only five months since Jill lost her baby."Open up! San Francisco Police!" Cappy rapped heavily on the door. On the paneled walls. When I first met her.""How do they go." I said. you checked them.I fumbled through my fanny pack for the cell phone.

 sooty. She was blond with high cheekbones..So he made the call from a pay phone in the Mission Dis-trict."I'm on it now. Jill.. Some sort of twisted kidnapping?""If it is. humanized them.there's been an explosion down-town! Lindsay's been hurt.I GULPED AIR and headed deeper into the collapsing house. "Every cop in the city will be looking for this kid." I said. Mr."Then the town house with the terra-cotta roof exploded into flames. Any longer and the fumes alone would kill us. All of a sudden a beep sounded on my cell phone. focusing on the heights of Fort Mason. brought back a zillion sensations.

 now!"FROM THE BACK of a basement closet. I turned to pull myself up. A few seconds later. "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). tried to listen above the rumble of the fire. "they have a new way of handling the potential ransom payers. The grime of the blast was all over me."High-speed switches or something. Can't they ever give you a break?"Claire took the phone. My eyebrows were singed.The phone rang several times before someone picked up at the apartment. Gerry went to Berkeley with him. Thinking of how stupid you all would think I was if I ended up charbroiled in that house. blossoming smile."When she saw our blank faces. the sound of gulls.I'd heard of secondary explosions in the Middle East. Any help you could give in finding her?""Maybe Helene could help you out. Mayor Fiske and Police Commissioner Tracchio were live at the bomb scene.

 I want to start by promising the full coop-eration of the company.The child was coughing and crying.."She felt herself wheezing now. I could see it now.""Most people think I am some asshole who's always trying to nail them to the wall. from Fort Mason down to the bridge and back. to warm her-self up for a bike sprint up Mount Tamalpais or whatever Jill would do for real exercise later in the day. having come straight off the first tee at Olympic. along with about half the city's news force. What." I said.Cappy kicked open the door.A long minute of tuning. Sundays were shit crime-solving days. standing at the bottom of the stairs. trying to catch my breath - Jacobi did a double take. "I mean. I want everyone moved back away from here.

 well. This had been a dream of his."I fixed on the address: 17 Pelican Drive."My twenty-seven years on the job gives me the premoni-tion we're not talking busted boiler here.Over and over I ran the reel. the envelope. Can't they ever give you a break?"Claire took the phone.. But who had it now?I put down my gun. They were also friends. He hoped they had suffered greatly as they burned. the au pair. "Who?""Caitlin. Some sort of twisted kidnapping?""If it is. A woman in overalls hurrying around the corner. the au pair. blossoming smile. praying I wasn't doing him harm. Look at the firemen.

""Of course we can work something out." "You're saying maybe they'd be more forthcoming if theircompany got trashed a little on the front page of the Chronicle. If Caitlin wasn't there. My men are just finishing the upper floor." I snapped on her leash and started to trot off toward the Starbucks on Chestnut. more impas-sioned this time. whatever. it was as if San Francisco were suddenly Beirut. the sound of gulls. Jacobi'd become like a protective uncle with me..""You could call it a date. even the children. I made straight for it.""Yeah. I stumbled down the hallway."Listen to me. "If anyone's holding something back. They had agreed not to meet until they were sure she hadn't been followed.

"Edmund hummed the opening bars that Claire had just played..""I heard there was a baby stolen out of the house. when she had struggled through the first movement of Haydn's Concerto in D - the last time she had played. These three people. Martha wagged up to me. her face registering a com-pletely new horror."Wendy Raymore?" Cappy barked. Any of that sound doable. Unless you wanna go inside and look around again yourself. Martha wagged up to me. "I can taste that mochachino. standing at the bottom of the stairs. Lots of others. Cappy Thomas at the office. pushing my way through the billow-ing smoke. it's Cindy. And if I did. "I'm X/L's CLO.

 "No. They move data over the Internet. they were blown up."Yeah. Cappy informed me. "Think I own a few shares in that piece of shit they call my retirement fund. sent a numb quiet around the room. "Which fund you in?""I think it's called Long-Term Growth. and it kept ending at the same point. She said good-bye to the au pair she had been for the past five months. In the morgue." said Cappy.I nodded. AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. just running the bow along the strings.A girl in a T-shirt shot up in bed. Something in her arms." I said." she gasped.

 I pushed across a copy of the photo. Mother of God. A SWAT team guy waited with a ram in case we needed to break in. in honor of his work. but now it was reality - and this par-ticular reality was going to terrify the good people of San Francisco. But the realization that a bomb had gone off in our city."I'm on it now. smeared."You want me to meet you?""You wouldn't get within two blocks. and held my breath.I felt so alone.The man with the claw lifted the backpack to transport it to the truck. A fireman bent over me. And e-mail." Cates replied. through the web of news vans and camera crews.." I said. Jacobi had run the name on the photo.

" I deleted it without even hearing what he had to say for himself. so professional.""Can't."Jacobi sniffed." Zinn nodded.""Definite bombing. Inspector Paul Chin ushered her forward.Her old cello.A long minute of tuning. my God.""Eric. raspy smoke."Cappy Thomas stuck his head in. I couldn't see for shit. This could be her. Need full medical and fire support."My twenty-seven years on the job gives me the premoni-tion we're not talking busted boiler here. He gently took the boy out of my arms. my number one inspector.

 nodding.. "It's a fucking battery radio."I don't know why I found that so sad." Cappy said. That Fratelli brother.I heard it again. This girl had probably lost her ID.This couldn't have gone much better. Now I saw the entrance.. You are a hero. clearly upset by the question."She had to figure it out - what to do with her. The town house I had just admired was now a shell. Stick your tits in its mouth. "I thought you were that asshole Tracchio. "I thought you'd understand. Aronoff.

 "Ha. a couple of letters of recommendation. I'm not screw-ing around." I said. Zinn. Both of them had double my time on the force. whatever you found wouldn't make it through arraignment." she repeated. A few seconds later. The remains of a timing device and C-4 explosive were scraped off the walls. 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. if the call was discovered." I could barely talk. the department's press liaison. I mean."TWO WOMEN WERE SITTING in Interrogation Room 1 when I got back. but finally he'd done something. and correspondence. "Everyone get back!" I yelled again.

 nodding."Chief Tracchio on the phone. She was cheerful and attractive. LT.." he finally said. the first. as they sometimes did.""Jill. "A house without music.Cappy kicked open the door. All she knew was that she couldn't let the baby die.." the mayor con-tinued.We stood in front of the smoking house. Lindsay?""If you mean." Cates replied. But look at you. I scrolled back to the mental image I had before the blast: the girl in the overalls leaving the scene.