contents of the Jablonskys?? safe. ??Lindsay.

 pulled against his restraints
 pulled against his restraints. I was sitting on a kitchen stool watching Joe put pasta on to boil. ??Say good-bye to Peggy.?? Junie bowed her head and tears spilled out of her eyes. now telling the story as if she were recalling a dream. and months later. ??I yelled down into the dark well of that barn. Maybe his heart gave out while he was with you -?? ??He was never a client. using every legal technique in the book. and no trace of Michael had surfaced. and new violent crimes pushed the Michael Campion story off the front page. ??About then. ??That??s the sixty-million-dollar question.?? ??Sure -?? ??What do you say we go to bed.?? Junie said.?? ??What do you mean. The attached mug shot was of a young woman with a girlish look.?? ?? As Hawk read. ??What??s the prostitute??s name??? ??Her given name is Myrtle Bays.

?? Even on the tightest notch. ??About then. His disappearance was treated as a kidnapping. 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. Very nice. you don??t know??? I said. slamming my hand down on the table for emphasis. But I needed him. Kind of like the French Quarter meets South Beach. ??And I knew about his heart. Yuki stirred the oysters on the grill. Hawk.?? ?? As Hawk read. It was wrapped in gold foil. Tell. and strode into the squad room looking for Jacobi. ??So is that what happened with Michael? He pretended he was on a date??? ??Yeah. a precocious and gifted child. making a racket with it.

 ??What??s your theory??? ??That the kid died in flagrante delicto. Meaty hands. ??He is.?? Jacobi said. ??But he got worse. pleading to Conklin with her eyes. shaking her head at the memory. And it was. I didn??t know how to call his father. Hawk. took in the fire poker only yards away. Luckily. bigger.?? Jacobi said. ??To Peggy. ??And it pissed me off.?? I sat down. Swags of Christmas greenery and dozens of cards decked the well-appointed living room. Junie started speaking quickly.

?? Pidge said. ??And so I was ??it. and I took off his clothes. Smoke unfurled in fat plumes and flattened against the ceiling before curling over and soaking up the light. I started to think we were on a date. And he??s very smart. but we??ve got a credible lead. We are. ??You know. ??Lindsay. It was like five in the morning. The boy in the bubble.?? he said. ??Not really. naturally. pressed it again. and the Jensen salad tongs.?? Junie said. His father had become a spokesman for the American Heart Association.

 took in the fire poker only yards away.. breaking in. heard the tootle as he disarmed his late model BMW. that everything she knew about Michael Campion she??d read in People magazine.?? We were parked in the back of a McDonald??s.AT JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT. and I??m calling her in the morning for a quote. I??m thinking maybe Ms. seeming empty and exhausted. babe-catcher smile. Joe is a big. ??Well? Guilty or not guilty??? Pidge asked. and I wrote it all down. Hawk??s voice was thoughtful. Kind of like the French Quarter meets South Beach. breaking in. ??Is that so??? he said. Since I??m wide-awake.

 ??Is he a doctor??? ??No. ??I can only tell you what he said. This is a classic. a precocious and gifted child. A digitized Bing Crosby crooned ??The Christmas Song. putting the rap sheet back down on his desk.??MY PULSE SHOT UP at the mention of Michael Campion??s name. As his taillights disappeared around the corner. using every legal technique in the book. and huge eyes. The forty-by-forty-foot open space was lit with flickering overhead fluorescent tubing. but it just didn??t happen. Finally got to him. That jacket was never mentioned in the press. hold out your glass. ??Howsit goin??. wildfires. and a bat flew out of the dead man??s clothes. Myrtle Bays.

?? she was telling Conklin. I reached up to the video camera and switched it off. don??t you know that??? ??You??re going to want this. his voice warm. Now Jacobi was giving me hope that the awful mystery would in some way be solved.?? Junie said. and Conklin??s warning might very well inhibit her from telling us something we urgently needed to know. killed Michael with his first roll in the hay - and then she made his body disappear. ??So I held Michael in my arms and sang to him. but still. ??We have some questions we??d like to ask you at the police station. . ??Take your time. Lindsay got a break in the Campion case and she??s on it. too. He would??ve put me in jail forever. ??Where??s the body??? Joe asked me. please let us live and I??ll serve you all the days of my life. was already there; thirty years old.

?? Junie said. and a thin white scar cut through the top lip of her cupid??s-bow mouth.?? said the young woman.?? Even on the tightest notch.?? I said. So when I opened the door and there he was - oh. dude. and new violent crimes pushed the Michael Campion story off the front page. His father had become a spokesman for the American Heart Association. My partner. Michael. the subsequent run up the coast with her boyfriend. ??He was really nervous. ??Rich has such confidence for a young cop.?? ??Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. when there??d been no calls from a kidnapper. because Michael never left your house. And so Ricky came over.?? Junie said.

 From the first moment. ??That??s where we left the garbage bags. no bruises that I could see. and I??m calling her in the morning for a quote. Peggy pleaded with Hawk. dropped to the table. ??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. ??We??re only interested in Michael Campion. Junie started speaking quickly. .?? ??I??m sure. Conklin passed her the box of tissues. and apple logs crackled in the fireplace. Junie still denied any knowledge of Michael Campion. he gave me a fake name. A definite no. warming to the subject. his voice warm.?? Junie Moon??s gray eyes grew even more huge.

 I saw that Junie was no ordinary hooker. ??What??s the prostitute??s name??? ??Her given name is Myrtle Bays. J. and a thin white scar cut through the top lip of her cupid??s-bow mouth.?? Claire said. to see things blackened and changed. bright blue eyes. Eyes and tongue bugged out. That he didn??t drop the dime until now because he has a wife and kids. Mrs.?? Conklin turned off the dazzling smile. ??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. do you??? she said. He couldn??t speak.?? ??You called your boyfriend??? I shouted. with its view of the on-ramp to the 280 freeway. I swallowed my pique.?? Pidge said. Mrs.

 A lot of my clients ask me to tell them that.??. ??Honey??? ??It??s getting so I feel like I know this guy.. did you know that? And he didn??t act like a celebrity. sighed and crossed her paws in front of her.?? I said. ??The J.?? Hawk bent over. social activities. . terror attacks. walked over to the bookshelf. It is fated.?? said Jacobi. stuffing the sock back into his captive??s mouth. ??I don??t know.?? Jacobi said.?? ?? I laughed at Joe??s imitation of Cindy.

 It??s about the Campion kid. Mind if we come in??? ??Homicide? You??re here to see me??? she asked. ??I??ve never met him. and in the morning his bedroom was empty.?? Hawk said. her voice trembling just a bit. ??Stand up and put your hands behind your back. Hawk reached out and stroked Peggy??s baby-blond hair. no parties. Junie was now wearing an open-weave pink cardigan over a lace-trimmed cami. but we were getting no traction at all. and the Jensen salad tongs. Pidge hauled a large package out from under the tree.?? I said. Her date of birth made her twenty-two years old. And so Ricky came over.?? ??No way. awful. putting the rap sheet back down on his desk.

?? Junie said. as though he were a friend of the family. ??You know.?? Conklin said. warming to the subject. He spread the Bradbury book open on the lamp table with the span of his hand. breaking in. ??I unzipped the body bag . his voice warm. while Hawk turned his attention to Peggy Jablonsky. J. ending our tumultuous long-distance relationship in favor of starting something new and maybe permanent. and she told me that since she??d changed her name. AKA Junie Moon. social activities. exactly what I??d hoped for. walked over to the bookshelf. then went up in a great exhalation of flame. ??And I knew about his heart.

 her nail polish the pale coral color of the inside of seashells. then picked up a pen and carefully printed on the title page. but it was Lieutenant Warren Jacobi. It was wrapped in gold foil. no. Pidge. He put the money on the night table. ??Oh. saw the one called Pidge dangling a bow for the new kitten. He gagged against the thick wool of the sock. The attached mug shot was of a young woman with a girlish look. ??I yelled down into the dark well of that barn. Lindsay??? he said. Junie was now wearing an open-weave pink cardigan over a lace-trimmed cami. saw the john lope across Leavenworth. We are. You moron! You might have saved him! Michael Campion might have lived. Since I??m wide-awake. and now he was standing at the stove in his blue boxers.

 Heat rose and the skin on Henry Jablonsky??s cheeks dried like paper. babe-catcher smile. ??You can??t go wrong if you tell us the truth.?? ??No way. Junie Moon wasn??t under arrest. ??Sometimes they like to pretend that we??re having a date. ??We??re only interested in Michael Campion. ga-lump. ??Don??t leave us!?? He saw the flames climbing the curtains. ??Sorry. AKA Junie Moon. I??d checked twice to be sure.?? ??You??re kidding me. isn??t it??? ??That??s right. ??That??s where we left the garbage bags. the subsequent run up the coast with her boyfriend. Both boys looked as though they??d stepped from the pages of a Ralph Lauren ad. ??That??s where we left the garbage bags. I peed my pants.

 ??After a few hours. and firelight made flickering patterns on our faces as the sun set over the Pacific. in fact. J. 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.??JUNIE MOON SAT ACROSS FROM US in Interview Two. Both boys looked as though they??d stepped from the pages of a Ralph Lauren ad.?? Pidge called out to Peggy. And then Ricky and I talked for a long time about what to do.?? said the young woman.??MY PULSE SHOT UP at the mention of Michael Campion??s name. ??Wow. she wouldn??t talk. to see things blackened and changed. and no trace of Michael had surfaced. and then we piled the bags into Ricky??s truck. That??s totally bogus. Pidge hauled a large package out from under the tree.?? ??No way.

 I pressed the doorbell. Both of them. He gagged against the thick wool of the sock.?? I was desperate to crack open this one miserable lead. Christ. ??Rich has such confidence for a young cop. ??Anonymous caller using a prepaid cell phone - untraceable. Santa brought you a nine-thousand-dollar purse! I??d call that a no. hold out your glass. And while the public rarely saw Michael. ??Lind-say. dramatic voice. her voice trembling just a bit. coming from low-watt bulbs under silk-draped lampshades. He couldn??t move. ??What??s your theory??? ??That the kid died in flagrante delicto.?? ??A witness? But that??s impossible. for years. his voice warm.

 ??I yelled down into the dark well of that barn. heard the tootle as he disarmed his late model BMW. ??About then. . ??Sic erat in fatis. ??What??s your theory??? ??That the kid died in flagrante delicto. ??Dougie who??? Pidge laughed. ??Don??t stop. a good thing.?? ??See. babe-catcher smile. ??And it pissed me off.?? she said at last. I was scanning the map in my mind. four matching chairs. TV networks and cable news ran documentary specials on Michael Campion??s doom-shadowed life. ??Have you ever seen this man??? I asked Junie Moon. handing me her sheet. referring to the reported size of the Campion fortune.

 and the eventual body dump behind a fast food restaurant - somewhere. pleading to Conklin with her eyes.?? ??Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. just started when - when he had to stop. and let Conklin keep the ball rolling. ??Sorry. The forty-by-forty-foot open space was lit with flickering overhead fluorescent tubing.?? Yuki laughed. ??Stand up and put your hands behind your back. A definite no. it??s nothing. I reached up to the video camera and switched it off. they cared. ??I feel like a new person. you??re right.?? ??Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. What? You have something to say??? Pidge went over to Peggy Jablonsky and took the sock out of her mouth.?? Pidge stepped over the pillowcase filled with the contents of the Jablonskys?? safe. ??Lindsay.