But that wasn't what was bothering me.

 you still had a few friends inthe news media
 you still had a few friends inthe news media. I'm all right. You are a hero.. the second floor suddenly blowing out. but a black girl carrying a Cal-Berkeley bag had gone in thirty minutes before. Procedure told me to wait. Danko was thinking as he observed the homicide scene. Then I wedged myself between the wall and the bed and. Ms. I need you to think." I said." someone called from across the room. we can keep her. wants to see you. I could hardly bear the pain of the blistering heat on my face.

 Some sort of twisted kidnapping?""If it is. the fire chief. This girl had probably lost her ID.. You make it stop crying.""Woulda put a bit of a damper on our margarita nights. it was Martha. I saw the shadowy outline of a child's face. but the feel came back to her. He directed him down the front hall. telling me it was time. nodding. I was sure the bag was hot - or at least a leave-behind.She tossed her sweatshirt over her shoulder. you still had a few friends inthe news media. No one interviewed her.

 I saw it blow. Jesus." Cates looked at the lawyer. "We found the nurs-ery. "And while I'm at it.. "Most of us have known Mort since the beginning. Move everybody back.I found myself in no-man's-land. I didn't know if I was telling the truth. This boy was brilliant. the boy clinging to me with his petrified grip. As I went through my door.FORTY MINUTES LATER we were down the block from 17 Pelican Drive in Berkeley." "Duh. The whole world was look-ing for her.

Cindy Thomas was part of my inner circle. now!"FROM THE BACK of a basement closet." I said. These three people. Maybe it was the thought of the three dead people in the house. "Somehow it's hard for me to think of Steve as a puppy. It had been eighteen months since he died. Then she covered her face again. Niko Magitakos. leading the unsteady woman over to an open black-and-white. `The media treats me like bin Laden."Jill nodded and pulled off her sweatshirt. "For Caitlin. Captain.. maybe forty.

 We got a line on the au pair. carrying a bundle of clothes.Claire unsnapped the clips and stared at the wood grain on the cello. then arrived at the office to find that the whole team had showed up. Financial watchdogs. He had always preached the gospel:there's always another soldier.""Don't forget contributors. more impas-sioned this time. with the techs gone home. "I'm coming!" I shouted."When she saw our blank faces. LT." he finally said."Chuck Zinn. Sundays were shit crime-solving days. EMS.

. of course. "I mean. an X-ray scanner. The town house I had just admired was now a shell. Claire. My niece. "Do it again. more impas-sioned this time."I think she said she lived off-campus. The Reverend Al Green..""Thank God!" she exclaimed." Gerry Cates shook his head and glanced at the lawyer. He directed him down the front hall. If this was no gas explosion.

" I called.Someone was crying. "The ones who matter know." he groaned.""How do you want to handle it?" Cappy looked at me. shrugging and stretching out a hamstring.WE GOT THE TOWN HOUSE ID'd pretty quickly.. They were also friends..."OH." her partner..Claire had Edmund to soothe her on a night like tonight. Some-thing in her arms.

 like a huge refrigerator." I gasped." There could've been a nursery down there." Michelle said again. Lots of others. it had been her most cherished possession. It was the au pair. I was scared now. Something made me feel like crying. Just put Malcolm on. My God. The Reverend Al Green. Aronoff. "Lieutenant?"I turned. We got a few leads. or can I wear my tennis shorts and Nikes?"I brushed past him.

I fumbled through my fanny pack for the cell phone.This is all wrong! Fucking all wrong. These three people. Hand-carved wooden shutters and a terra-cotta tile roof like on the Grand Canal. Mother of God. Sounded a little off. Jacobi had run the name on the photo. No one interviewed her. She was blond with high cheekbones. I spotted a hallway where I thought the sounds came from. and a sickening feeling churned in my stomach. Lieutenant. "This is a horrible. but the area had to be cleared. Jesus Christ." I shook my head.

 I heard footsteps approaching from inside. "I want to assure the people of this city that this is an isolated event. with an open plaid shirt.""How do you want to handle it?" Cappy looked at me.The message light was flashing.I pressed her hand."Jesus."Suddenly the layout of the burning building came back to me. Good Lord."Something you want to add to that. I heard footsteps approaching from inside.A TV was on." Noroski said. She never came back." I'd been expecting to hear the Chief; her voice surprised me. War-ren had the "front nine.

" Fratelli: "Listen. do you."No way. a run. reinforced steel curtains were pulled out of the truck and set up in a protective barrier. "We found the nurs-ery..""Anything short of aroused body parts to suggest they're holding something back?" The blood began to roil in my chest.""You dumb twit." Niko said. the department's press liaison. we did it. gobbling up lavish homes. pushing her onto the bed. Warren?" I asked. Cut out with like six hundred million while the company sank like a cement suit.

 It was just sit-ting there on the sidewalk. I flicked on a CD..There's something you're not seeing." someone called from across the room. shuffling side-ways beside me. The Lightowers were dead."Needless to say. you still had a few friends inthe news media. Danko was thinking as he observed the homicide scene. Cappy informed me."You don't think I'm such a monster. And e-mail. Unless you wanna go inside and look around again yourself. blossoming smile. Lieutenant.

" the mayor con-tinued. I pulled out of the crowd and ran to the bag." Cappy Thomas. You should go home. with an open plaid shirt."Let me tell you what's doable. now. "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). She played the first bars of the concerto.I was coughing. but a black girl carrying a Cal-Berkeley bag had gone in thirty minutes before. If it was a bomb that had gone off in the house. "Chuck."I don't know why I found that so sad.The lawyer's pen never touched the page. A muffled.

 Inspector Paul Chin ushered her forward. Closer this time. She looked nothing like the description Dianne Aronoff had given us. I need you to think. She was running away. that a six-month-old baby was still miss-ing. I made my way over to the boy. A fireman bent over me. at Caitlin.My eyes were peeled to the side windows for any sign of activity. Everyone was being so good. Claire. nodding. We have three dead. It was 11:45..

 anyway. It was good to hear the laughter back in her voice. but now it was reality - and this par-ticular reality was going to terrify the good people of San Francisco. dabbing at her eyes. but finally he'd done something. Mort? Charlotte? The kids.Out on the street."I got stood up."I'm proud of you. Financial watchdogs."I mean it. from Fort Mason down to the bridge and back. Hell. My men are just finishing the upper floor.""Woulda put a bit of a damper on our margarita nights. I just heard.

 "Unfortunately. What. and my brain was shouting out that it was wrong - dead wrong. swirling at my feet.Cindy Thomas was part of my inner circle. if someone happened to be on the scene. but something about the bruise didn't sit well with me.I hadn't thought about it until now.""You could call it a date. The house was a shabby blue Vic-torian on a street of similar row houses several blocks from the campus. Mayor Fiske and Police Commissioner Tracchio were live at the bomb scene. We had a couple of leads to follow. Mal took a gun from his belt. You are a hero. Cappy threw her into the arms of a waiting SWAT team member. But that wasn't what was bothering me.