spotted Warren Jacobi. Down the hall.

A fireman made his way to me
A fireman made his way to me. explained to me." Just this little voice in my heart. probably a psychopath; he even scared Danko sometimes."Hey."Nope."My twenty-seven years on the job gives me the premoni-tion we're not talking busted boiler here." I said. then I did. "Lieutenant. through the web of news vans and camera crews. Looked like a gas explo-sion. CAN ANYONE IN SILICON VALLEY STOP THIS MAN?"Just what does this company do?" I asked Jacobi. I didn't know what to expect." I said. Frantically. I had seen only a glimpse of her back." She kissed his face about a hundred times. Tech." Steve Fiori.""She seemed perfect for it. "Ms.

 "Were you inside when it went?""No. And I want access to all correspondence. I didn't know what I was going to do yet. "Warren?""You did good today."IT WAS ONLY a ten-minute drive out to Potrero.It was hard to believe that it had been only five months since Jill lost her baby. Smoke was everywhere. The remains of a timing device and C-4 explosive were scraped off the walls. Cappy. I thought I knew what had happened. San Francisco's chief medical officer. probably a psychopath; he even scared Danko sometimes. at Caitlin." she muttered vacantly. Another fireman wrapped his arms around me.. What he meant was.""Okay. Jill." I lobbed a grenade at the CLO. I was thinking. We have no idea where she is.

"Your boss has been murdered. The second floor was gone. graphic autopsy photos and medical alerts pinned to the antiseptic walls." I said to the guys." said Jacobi. swirling at my feet. did the backyard grill flare up at nine on a Sunday morning? Yeah.""Anything short of aroused body parts to suggest they're holding something back?" The blood began to roil in my chest.FORTY MINUTES LATER we were down the block from 17 Pelican Drive in Berkeley.""And the Lightowers said their little baby had taken to her like honey. one of those plastic labels."Jacobi sniffed. But the blond woman wasn't among them. you called me down here. 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. A single pass.The man with the claw lifted the backpack to transport it to the truck.""Oh.. ponytail. hooded eyes impossible to light up with surprise. And e-mail.

 a missing baby. "Morton and Charlotte Lightower were among our city's most generous and involved citizens. I could see it now.E. Claire smiled at the memory. but if anyone was in there.Cindy Thomas was part of my inner circle. mid-stride. But who had it now?I put down my gun. Lindsay.. "Killer medical revelation?" She rolled her eyes. She was running away. I stepped into the shower and took a swig of a beer I'd brought with me. "This is a horrible." I said. You sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" Jacobi bent down over me. You should go home. Or the picture on Wendy Raymore's student ID.. "You should get a load of how it looks. That kid's lucky you got him out.

 Maybe it made the Lightowers seem like more of a family to me. Claire smiled at the memory." He nodded. He watched her and wondered if she would become his adversary. Otis. a wide. Or the girl I saw hurrying away from the bombing. Sirens." her mother used to say. "Lieutenant. "It looks hot."She had to figure it out - what to do with her. that shouldn't be there. Morton Lightower.. that a six-month-old baby was still miss-ing. The Reverend Al Green. "Unfortunately. We did it. We waited while Captain Noroski's men picked through the rubble." The lawyer jotted down a note again. but the feel came back to her.

 to say the one thing in the midst of this madness that would make me cry. but he was truly a killer. Jesus Christ. "Look. practicing."Oh. MY GOD!" I gasped as a flash of heat and debris nearly knocked me to the ground." I promised."LET THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE BE HEARD." I said. I won't tell the details.I picked up. even for your normal fixer-upper." Zinn nodded. but on that Sunday afternoon. The house was a shabby blue Vic-torian on a street of similar row houses several blocks from the campus. "This is a horrible. even for your normal fixer-upper. Do you have any idea who could've targeted your brother?""No accident." I said. But no baby." I could barely talk.

 Something made me feel like crying. "We may not have followed up on all of them. shrugging and stretching out a hamstring.. a blond woman..She had her hair pulled back tightly. Homicide. "Where are you?"Nothing. Jacobi'd become like a protective uncle with me.This couldn't have gone much better. not sure.Cappy kicked open the door."So.There's something you're not seeing.The phone rang several times before someone picked up at the apartment."There was a collective sigh." her partner added. and after a cup of coffee on the deck. Stock used to sell for sixty bucks. you have to be strong. "Just one more thing.

' "Jacobi switched gears. myGod. it could go off any second. compliant grin. I suddenly understood how people trapped in fires on high floors would leap to their death rather than bear the intolerable heat. praying that someone would answer. Wendy seemed like a gem." what we call the Sunday morning shift when the weather gets warm." she said.A TV was on. After the blast." He was trying to buy ball teams. Jesus. But it can't be. That kid is gone. Lindsay?""If you mean.. maybe forty. it might even explain Hitler at Munich. Mr.. 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).

 "She started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. you think you can finish off the next passage? That's the tricky part. I took her through the frustrating meeting I'd just come out of. vin-dictive tragedy." Cates looked at the lawyer. Cindy had sneaked her way into a Grand Hyatt penthouse suite.The Marina has always been one of my favorite neighbor-hoods. my God. around the conference table. I couldn't see for shit. Jacobi readied himself." I shook my head. "Martha's buying.I tied Martha to a lamppost. A computer photo.""Definite bombing. "I'm X/L's CLO. "I'm coming!" I shouted. then heard the noise again. "People are always popping off at shareholder meetings."Your boss has been murdered." I said.

 too. so professional. A redheaded kid in a FUBU sweatshirt practicing tricks on his Razor. It was smothered in thick dust.I started toward the knapsack. The redheaded kid spin-ning his Razor.. having come straight off the first tee at Olympic. I'll care for her." Jacobi said. Judith Hertan. about to nail me to the wall. It was Freddie Rodriguez.""Oh. "Killer medical revelation?" She rolled her eyes.. Suddenly. Edmund was still sleeping. I knew they'd had to make their peace with Homi-cide being run by a woman for the first time. Lindsay.""I may not outrank you. but on that Sunday afternoon.

 But when he fixed on the hole where 210 Alhambra used to be and saw me. the TV is saying that whoever did this was a monster."Sorry." He bowed apologetically. Martha." He rocked on his heels. "I want to assure the people of this city that this is an isolated event." I promised. You're Lieutenant Boxer?""I'm Lieutenant Boxer. Lots of others. "I think she's up there."We continued to stare at each other.""And the Lightowers said their little baby had taken to her like honey. "This is Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer.. Lindsay.." Fratelli: "Listen. or rather. You look so different..Claire unsnapped the clips and stared at the wood grain on the cello.

" the suit introduced himself. The Berkeley PD had the house under surveil-lance. "Ms. like finger marks.She yanked it from the bottom of the closet.The adrenaline was burning in my veins. but whoever named it sure has a twisted sense of humor. You make it stop crying. For two months Fratelli had stuck his face in my office every time he was in the Hall. Ever since I'd taken a shot in the Coombs case. now!"FROM THE BACK of a basement closet.""I saw two bodies inside. Goose bumps. They owned a small placement service for nannies and au pairs.""Yeah. You are a hero. you did good. I need you to think. 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. Hell. "We're gonna go for a hand entry. printed on paper.

" I said. She'd had it just last night. "A house without music. "Where are you?" I called. I don't want to stay on too long. "Mashed myself getting out of the shower. Any of that sound doable."OH. Closer this time. We got a line on the au pair. I stared at that knapsack. weren't you? I told you they're stupid!" he said. said. "Where are you?"Nothing. Even Martha had someone - me!I felt my thoughts drift to Chris for the first time in a while." I stared at the card and sniffed. Captain. Linds. A quilt folded up that was now just a dust convention. But the blond woman wasn't among them."No. I could hardly bear the pain of the blistering heat on my face.

 my voice. I just wanted to give you an update - everything is working beau-tifully. The Reverend Al Green."She winced. They were also friends." she said. their clothes on fire. a staffer at the ME's office... "Were you inside when it went?""No. I ran over to her and hugged her tightly as she licked my face.The kid with the Razor was there. shuffling side-ways beside me. watch-ing.. "Chief just got it confirmed from the Bomb Squad. I heard footsteps approaching from inside.""Yeah.. the old girl's still got it.Then I was out.

 Mayor Fiske and Police Commissioner Tracchio were live at the bomb scene."Edmund hummed the opening bars that Claire had just played. "Not the upper floors. Wendy was gone forever.."So. I'd be asking'.A girl in a T-shirt shot up in bed. My gaze was fixed on the red bag. She took out the bow. but whoever named it sure has a twisted sense of humor. I just heard. I just heard. I'm all right.. and I thought. Before she realized she would never be a Yo-Yo Ma and headed to med school. "The ones who matter know."Suddenly the layout of the burning building came back to me. I made straight for it.Claire lifted her cello out of the felt mold. "Oh.

""Yeah. Everything had to start over now. a blond woman. "Oh. Suddenly. "I'm X/L's CLO.The girl's face was white with terror. I took the boy by the shoulders. Smoke was everywhere. from a digital camera."I don't get any reading.""I was just gonna buzz Charlie Clapper. where I live in a two-bedroom walk-up."IT WAS A CLEAR. her face registering a com-pletely new horror.What if she'd been careless? What if someone had seen her coming back with the kid? What if they were kicking the door down now!Then Malcolm stepped into the room."Michelle put the phone down. And my mouth tasted the bitter smoke of the blast. "Wendy Raymore? San Fran-cisco Police!"There was no answer. These three people."So. Inside the backpack.

 Then she covered her face again. typical police insolence. Where the hell was it now?"I cared for her.I gave the nod. Sundays were shit crime-solving days." I promised." I said. I suddenly understood how people trapped in fires on high floors would leap to their death rather than bear the intolerable heat. whatever.A TV was on. I'm telling you."We continued to stare at each other. Shield two-seven-two-one.BOOM! FUCKERS. I saw the shadowy outline of a child's face." I said. "Who?""Caitlin. Zinn.The child was coughing and crying. Otis. She's done nothing wrong. But no baby.

 of course."OH. A monster. Niko wheeled out a boxlike instrument. A nicely dressed receptionist led Jacobi and me to a conference room inside..A tense silence settled over the room. unlike any Sunday morning I could remember. The whole world was look-ing for her. This fiery action had taken nerve on his part. Judith took out a yellow file and pushed it across the table. she is only six months old."Suddenly I remembered seeing it on the news. We had a description from Lightower's sister.' There's a name at the bottom. the ceiling teetering where the second story used to be. then heard the noise again. Hand-carved wooden shutters and a terra-cotta tile roof like on the Grand Canal. Tracchio's got a clamp on all releases until we can figure out what's going on. you think you can finish off the next passage? That's the tricky part. coughing. those little police antennae behind my ears always go twang.

I went into the bedroom and peeled off my tights and sweats. CAN ANYONE IN SILICON VALLEY STOP THIS MAN?"Just what does this company do?" I asked Jacobi. still in his pajamas. badging his way over to me.""Definite bombing. disappeared."LET THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE BE HEARD. I'm in an all-day yoga clinic."You'll provide us a list of all your clients. I'm in an all-day yoga clinic. pushing her onto the bed. He watched her and wondered if she would become his adversary.Cappy rapped at the door. Oh." Warren Jacobi scratched his head.I stumbled through the flames." she said.. the ceiling teetering where the second story used to be."No way. "You look like a mochachino would do the trick. onlookers were being ringed back by the police.

 "but a killer medical revelation wouldn't hurt. my God. I just did what I thought was right. my lungs. No one would hear. said. forcing myself out of the EMT's grasp. eyes going back and forth. shuffling side-ways beside me. We had a couple of leads to follow. unlike any Sunday morning I could remember.Claire lifted her cello out of the felt mold."She had woken up early that morning. humanized them. So if that's all there is" - he stood and smiled - "I'm sure you'd like to get on to talking with Helene. or so she claimed.Finally. So if that's all there is" - he stood and smiled - "I'm sure you'd like to get on to talking with Helene."Doable. Just seeing it brought back a swell of memories: hours and hours of learning the scales."Twang..

 choking immediately on the gray. You make it stop crying."All run long. Any help you could give in finding her?""Maybe Helene could help you out. or think. ."Let's go find a missing baby. The house was a shabby blue Vic-torian on a street of similar row houses several blocks from the campus. Lindsay.. You are a hero. the department's press liaison. I was call-ing about you.. Two years ago I had -""If you moguls have a moment." I shook my head." Gerry Cates said stiffly. No drum roll."Jacobi exhaled. ponytail. wants to see you. he must be quite a fool.

""Don't forget contributors. Niko Magitakos.. calm. She never went anywhere without it. Mort's financial affairs were paraded all over the media. I knew they'd had to make their peace with Homi-cide being run by a woman for the first time. then I did. along with about half the city's news force. "A Nanny Is Love!""We called in when we heard about what happened.. A muffled."Then the town house with the terra-cotta roof exploded into flames. Linds." I said. It was the only way I could get through. Just seeing it brought back a swell of memories: hours and hours of learning the scales. with all my strength. and sitting down. Also.Then I spotted Warren Jacobi. Down the hall.