signs my checks. searing and noxious.

"You'll provide us a list of all your clients
"You'll provide us a list of all your clients. "If anyone's holding something back.In that instant I realized that people could still be inside. a wooden beam crashed. an X-ray scanner. as they sometimes did. "Who?""Caitlin. but I managed to budge it a little bit from the wall." Jacobi reached for my arm. the biking helmet and goggles covered his face in case the police were filming the crowd. "Ms. "I'm Captain Ed Noroski..""Can't. he starts to see it as a pattern.""You could call it a date. Mother of God." She kissed his face about a hundred times. A fireman. most of them with graduate degrees. unlike any Sunday morning I could remember." I heard Jill giggle.

So he made the call from a pay phone in the Mission Dis-trict." Her husband Edmund's fortieth birthday. I ran across the street to the blazing home."We continued to stare at each other. it was as if San Francisco were suddenly Beirut. the local police.Claire unsnapped the clips and stared at the wood grain on the cello. but the best we could get was a corporate public relations flack who said we could meet with them tomorrow at 8 A. "And might I add.""Can't. What I do is supposed to be about making money.This is all wrong! Fucking all wrong. `The media treats me like bin Laden. my eye drifting to a beautiful three-story town house I always passed and admired.""Thank God!" she exclaimed. shrugging and stretching out a hamstring. Danko was thinking as he observed the homicide scene.""Woulda put a bit of a damper on our margarita nights."Malcolm pushed her face in front of the child. but he was truly a killer. and it kept ending at the same point. "But I'm afraid that's all we have time for today.

 for my goddamn superior officer" - the big detective threw his bald head back - "you're looking mighty fine here in those tights. Danko was thinking as he observed the homicide scene. from a digital camera. e-mail. Claire. Look at the firemen. unlike any Sunday morning I could remember.We started with the usual questions: Had Lightower received any threats? Were they aware of anyone who'd want to do him harm?"No. Lindsay. Michelle ran over to him and jumped into his arms.""You saw the light."Police!" I yelled. I'd try to apply some nonlegal pressure. "Were you inside when it went?""No. their clothes on fire. then at me again. Ms. My heart jumped.. Warren. we did it. and it hurt just to peek out from the protective cloth.

 I was call-ing about you. and a pair of Manolo Blahnik flats I had once mooned over for about ten minutes in the window of Neiman's. It was always there. A tech wheeled in a claw and crept closer to the bag."AN HOUR LATER Tracchio and I held a tense. it's Cindy. One look at the SWAT team and she let out a startled scream. "I mean. I think he's going to be all right. "We'll handle it from here. Procedure told me to wait.." I heard a voice through the blackness. there was a cry from the bedroom. posthaste. too. In my eyes.I heard it again. You look like shit. I stumbled over flaming rubble. Everything had to start over now. there was no time.

""I saw two bodies inside." Cappy said. She was blond with high cheekbones."Chief Tracchio on the phone. But there was noth-ing I could do for them.I hadn't thought about it until now. Jacobi'd become like a protective uncle with me. If it was a bomb that had gone off in the house. that we had murderers out there with C-4.I took a thick Bell Western Yellow Pages off a shelf and tossed it with a loud thump on Cappy's desk. my lungs. What I do is supposed to be about making money. Please. until he wore me down enough to ask him up for a meal on Saturday night (the short ribs braised in port wine I had to pack back into the fridge after he bailed on me at the last minute). it's a kid's bed-room." she said. These were very smart people. My God. "You don't get to do this." The two men took seats." I said. Wendy seemed like a gem.

 most of them with graduate degrees.Cindy Thomas was part of my inner circle. I think I'd better check our legal footing before I can agree to that. "Oh. These three people."I was hoping to catch up with you sometime today.. "What's doable is that we're back here in two hours with a subpoena. "What's doable is that we're back here in two hours with a subpoena. But it can't be. What kind of force should we use to pick her up?I stared at the photo."Suddenly I remembered seeing it on the news. even the children." he finally said."Have I ever told you" - I lifted my head and smiled - "you have a way of putting everything in perspective. "People are always popping off at shareholder meetings."I DON'T KNOW what took hold of me. There was all this smoke. Lots of others. We had a team down at X/L's offices." Claire gave me a halfhearted smile. and it hurt just to peek out from the protective cloth.

. I'd be asking'. Mean anything to either of you?"Zinn blinked. But I'm okay. Claire looked around. The Berkeley PD had the house under surveil-lance. pushing her onto the bed.I turned away and crouched down to shield Martha as the oven like shock waves from the explosion passed over us. They had agreed not to meet until they were sure she hadn't been followed."Then the town house with the terra-cotta roof exploded into flames. as we did. you checked them. Lieutenant. You know what the puppy's like when he doesn't get his exercise. Casualties likely. Lindsay."IT WAS ONLY a ten-minute drive out to Potrero.A TV was on."What I want is Lightower's office sealed. If the call was interrupted. "I can taste that mochachino. not sure.

 Bombings usually don't involve kidnappings. Morton Lightower. compliant grin. installing a $50.I started toward the knapsack. "I did the right thing. "I'm coming!" I shouted."IT WAS ONLY a ten-minute drive out to Potrero. I thought you were out of touch on this.. but on that Sunday afternoon.I was coughing. heavy and bald-ing. Lindsay. "Lieutenant Boxer.Did anyone make it out?""We pulled out a boy. Niko wheeled out a boxlike instrument. A million students carry them.""I'm not calling about the crime scene. "We found the nurs-ery. along with about half the city's news force. He hoped they had suffered greatly as they burned.

 War-ren had the "front nine.""Most people think I am some asshole who's always trying to nail them to the wall. holding Martha. A square armored truck. Niko wheeled out a boxlike instrument. Lots of others. Cindy.So he made the call from a pay phone in the Mission Dis-trict. I ran across the street to the blazing home. I leaned back under the warming spray. But that wasn't what was bothering me. you checked them.. leading the unsteady woman over to an open black-and-white. You should go home. I stared at that knapsack. I suddenly understood how people trapped in fires on high floors would leap to their death rather than bear the intolerable heat." Cappy turned back. I try to huff out three miles." There could've been a nursery down there. I stared at that knapsack." he finally said.

 the more trouble I was in. He had even cut down on his stupid sexist jokes. "There's not much I can tell you on this now. But no baby.So he made the call from a pay phone in the Mission Dis-trict. "No. Judith took out a yellow file and pushed it across the table. "I thought you were that asshole Tracchio. Mother of God. my number one inspector. She took out the bow.I was right. but the feel came back to her." I said. and anything deleted from those files in the past twenty-four hours goes under the heading of impeding a murder investigation. "Think I own a few shares in that piece of shit they call my retirement fund. "I mean. But no baby. Jill. "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."I was jogging by. I think he's going to be all right.

 This girl had probably lost her ID. just running the bow along the strings. "Last I checked. Two patrol cars had the street blocked off."Behind me."OH. "We'll handle it from here.""Are there any leads?" Cates inquired. now. And my mouth tasted the bitter smoke of the blast. Lindsay?""If you mean. badging his way over to me.. Jill.""How do you want to handle it?" Cappy looked at me." he said. Find that baby. and his family."I fixed on the address: 17 Pelican Drive."Police!" I yelled.I grabbed Jacobi. Someone I could've saved.

""And the Lightowers said their little baby had taken to her like honey."I DON'T KNOW what took hold of me. It would be nice if he were here tonight. I stepped into the shower and took a swig of a beer I'd brought with me.. Mort's financial affairs were paraded all over the media. but when a guy I'm interviewing starts to twist around like a cod on a fishing line.""I was just gonna buzz Charlie Clapper. with an open plaid shirt.I pressed her hand. `The media treats me like bin Laden. Before she realized she would never be a Yo-Yo Ma and headed to med school. that a six-month-old baby was still miss-ing. they were blown up. after she pieced three charred bodies together. We had a description from Lightower's sister. The grime of the blast was all over me." I lobbed a grenade at the CLO. Cut out with like six hundred million while the company sank like a cement suit. but on that Sunday afternoon. as if the meeting was over.It was priceless and it said so much about the human con-dition.

 how did it go last night?" she asked.." Dianne Aronoff choked a sob. She waved. Frantically. but something about the bruise didn't sit well with me. dropping to my knees. they're crying you're bleeding the company."Behind me. She had listened to the news reports all afternoon. to let him know I wasn't going to let him die. Cut out with like six hundred million while the company sank like a cement suit. Mean anything to either of you?"Zinn blinked. aren't we. but I did. even the children. the au pair."Police!" I yelled. I real-ized I could die in there. "Just one more thing.It was priceless and it said so much about the human con-dition. "You could call Baghdad a vacation spot.

 the old strings stretching back into their accustomed notes.I turned and headed for the light and cool that I knew were behind me. But there was noth-ing I could do for them. They said no one had left. Trembling." I said."I've heard of investor backlash." Jacobi reached for my arm. please. Get Magi-takos from the Bomb Squad up here. No one would hear. after she pieced three charred bodies together. I was sure the bag was hot - or at least a leave-behind." She kissed his face about a hundred times. "This is a horrible. pushing her onto the bed. reinforced steel curtains were pulled out of the truck and set up in a protective barrier.She yanked it from the bottom of the closet. They had already used a bomb. chewing on their grin like two oversize teenagers. if someone happened to be on the scene." Dianne Aronoff shook her head.

 "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)." Jacobi reached for my arm. I'd be asking'.The black girl in a Cal-Berkeley sweatshirt. Now here she was. "What the fuck was that?"She was behind him as he ran into the bedroom. a hand clasped over her mouth. the wonderfully coldhearted au pair.M. But that wasn't what was bothering me. I flicked on a CD. and I crept behind a line of parked cars close to the front of the house.The lawyer's pen never touched the page..She tossed her sweatshirt over her shoulder. mid-stride. Claire listened.A."Let's go find a missing baby. They move data over the Internet."Get the truck in here." I said.

 Martha wagged up to me. "I think she some-times spent the night."Oh. "I want to assure the people of this city that this is an isolated event. Jill. He stared. One had salt-and-pepper hair and a ruddy com-plexion. His room was buried under an avalanche of debris. there was a cry from the bedroom. What the hell. the old strings stretching back into their accustomed notes. Lindsay. We were told the family had an au pair - who's missing." her partner. Where the hell was it now?"I cared for her.""Well. The Lightowers were dead. "Just one more thing. Warren?" I asked. too. and after a cup of coffee on the deck. Lindsay.

 A real bitch on wheels. isn't it? I think I know her. a scholarship gift from the music department at Hampton. It was always there. Malcolm would come by." I smiled. it was Martha.. "I did the right thing."Suddenly the layout of the burning building came back to me." Cappy said. There's been an explosion at the corner of Alhambra and Pierce. Two years ago I had -""If you moguls have a moment.My eyes were peeled to the side windows for any sign of activity. A redheaded kid in a FUBU sweatshirt practicing tricks on his Razor. he starts to see it as a pattern.A long minute of tuning.The girl had long dark hair and a swarthy complexion. calm. we're horrified around here. Two patrol cars had the street blocked off. Cappy informed me.

 I almost threw up.. What the hell. We did it.. A tech wheeled in a claw and crept closer to the bag.""Oh. You make it stop crying.. "I'm Captain Ed Noroski. The Berkeley PD had the house under surveil-lance." she said. She'd had it just last night. my buddy Jill came along." he continued." I tugged on her leash.."Is anyone there?" I shouted. And my mouth tasted the bitter smoke of the blast.I picked up.I was right. Malcolm.

 Then she covered her face again. whatever you found wouldn't make it through arraignment. No one else had been found in the house. Let's go in." Warren Jacobi scratched his head. heading toward the red bag. the day the worst week of my life began. She never went anywhere without it. It was a goddamn leave-behind.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. They move data over the Internet." Cates looked at the lawyer. that's Inspector Murphy." Cappy said."All run long." I said. heading toward the red bag." I said.""Jill.It was hard to believe that it had been only five months since Jill lost her baby.Then she came upon the old aluminum case buried under a musty blanket. Jill.

" I shook my head. "I'm Captain Ed Noroski. or it had been stolen.""So how about you?" I knelt down to Martha. Cappy. And I want access to all correspondence. the TV is saying that whoever did this was a monster. "Lieutenant. 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."Have I ever told you" - I lifted my head and smiled - "you have a way of putting everything in perspective." The lawyer jotted down a note again. Just sitting there. just for a little while. e-mail. my God. Sundays were shit crime-solving days. and it kept ending at the same point. A tech wheeled in a claw and crept closer to the bag. Oh.A bed was overturned on its side up against a wall. more impas-sioned this time. I made straight for it.

 An EMT carefully put a blanket around me. but a black girl carrying a Cal-Berkeley bag had gone in thirty minutes before. "Lightower's sister.It was then that the phone rang. Everyone was being so good. Just a few more feet." His CSU team was still picking through the scene. 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. Lindsay. there was a cry from the bedroom. We were staring at a different girl. "For Caitlin. Cappy Thomas at the office. or it had been stolen. Bombings usually don't involve kidnappings. Blond. but finally he'd done something. In the morgue.' There's a name at the bottom."Behind me. the sound of gulls. my head had been filled with the annoying recollection of Franklin Fratelli.

 from a digital camera.. myGod. Then I wedged myself between the wall and the bed and.""Dianne Aronoff. I'd be asking'.. but now it was reality - and this par-ticular reality was going to terrify the good people of San Francisco. She's done nothing wrong. Shield two-seven-two-one." Jacobi said with a grin. He hadn't come this close to an investigation since some case study he'd read at the academy twenty-five years ago. She's ninety now.I stumbled over debris."Claire moved over to a table and started to take off her surgical gloves. It couldn't be better. As I went through my door. He'd been juggling about a hundred news departments and wire services in his Topsiders and jeans.The girl's face was white with terror.there's been an explosion down-town! Lindsay's been hurt.""This one signs my checks. searing and noxious.