might've had access to the home?""There was a housekeeper.

 Any help you could give in finding her?""Maybe Helene could help you out
 Any help you could give in finding her?""Maybe Helene could help you out." I said." I said. probably a psychopath; he even scared Danko sometimes.""I told you. In the middle of a `downward dog' when my phone rings. But who had it now?I put down my gun. "Word on the street is. Niko Magitakos. the envelope. You are a hero. The house was a shabby blue Vic-torian on a street of similar row houses several blocks from the campus. now it's something like sixty cents.Out on the street."Dianne Aronoff uttered a cry of joy.Claire had Edmund to soothe her on a night like tonight. Lindsay.

"Chief Tracchio on the phone. " 'cause it occurred to me that you needed a good hug. Lawyer. choking immediately on the gray. You sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" Jacobi bent down over me." I said with a shrug.It was a small boy.A TV was on. "We have a Palestinian delegation in town I know nothing about?"I told him what I had seen. but something about the bruise didn't sit well with me. not sure. tomorrow. Now here she was."They lifted the backpack into the protective truck as Niko knelt in front of it. It was Freddie Rodriguez. Lindsay.Cut away the past.

 Financial watchdogs. "There's not much I can tell you on this now. you did good. 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). A redheaded kid in a FUBU sweatshirt practicing tricks on his Razor. A woman in overalls hurrying around the corner. This girl had probably lost her ID." Cappy said. Poor woman probably didn't even know herself.. about eleven. the old strings stretching back into their accustomed notes. I'd be asking'. leveling guns around the room. In the morgue. "Warren." I heard Jill giggle.

"No."She had woken up early that morning. posthaste. 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). Judith took out a yellow file and pushed it across the table." I said with a shrug."Jacobi sniffed. the ceiling teetering where the second story used to be. when she had struggled through the first movement of Haydn's Concerto in D - the last time she had played.. the sound of a lock being turned. but finally he'd done something.. "what the hell is that?"Peeking out through the strap of her exercise bra were a couple of small."You want me to meet you?""You wouldn't get within two blocks. I saw the explo-sion. I stopped.

" I said. "I heard it on the news. Look at the firemen. the baby's gone. head of the city's bomb squad. you still had a few friends inthe news media. A new face began to emerge in the mirror. I turned to pull myself up. I could hardly bear the pain of the blistering heat on my face. The Lightowers were dead. but I can't. In the middle of a `downward dog' when my phone rings.FORTY MINUTES LATER we were down the block from 17 Pelican Drive in Berkeley.This couldn't have gone much better. Wow.A girl in a T-shirt shot up in bed. I couldn't wait.

 searing and noxious."OH. "Mommy. There was an ID tag on the strap. the baby's gone. No smoke or fire. my number one inspector.M. articles and magazine covers featuring Morton Lightower's glowing face ran the length of the room. Claire listened."Michelle put the phone down." Zinn nodded. printed on paper. "but this is a little much. "Would you be asking me if your goddamn superior officer happened to be a man?""Damn right. But she couldn't be such a monster..

 A residence. everything told me. 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.That moment flashed over and over in my mind." The CLO straightened his pad. Across the bay in Berkeley.. We knew the place could be booby-trapped. who was bark-ing commands to his men searching through the house. hearing the jays back for the first time that season. He wore the clothing of an expert bicyclist and had an older racing bike propped against his side. LT. the TV is saying that whoever did this was a monster. the day the worst week of my life began."You know anyone lives in a place like this with a boiler on the second floor?""No one I know lives in a place like this. Niko Magitakos."Then the town house with the terra-cotta roof exploded into flames.

 "Lieutenant. But she couldn't be such a monster. We got a line on the au pair. Lieutenant. She never came back. What I do is supposed to be about making money. But it can't be. We had a team down at X/L's offices. even brushing my teeth. word is that you saved a kid today. It had taken me a long time to feel in charge of these guys. "Ms. Maybe it made the Lightowers seem like more of a family to me. shouting into his handheld. A woman in overalls hurrying around the corner. The town house I had just admired was now a shell. "People are always popping off at shareholder meetings.

 We moved in. it was as grim as I could remember. Lindsay.. She also happened to work for the Chronicle and was one of the top crime reporters in the city."The fire captain rushed up. "And might I add.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. I think I'd better check our legal footing before I can agree to that.. If nothing else." Jill cut me off."AN HOUR LATER Tracchio and I held a tense. trying to catch my breath - Jacobi did a double take. choking immediately on the gray.I pushed through a smoking doorway. "there goes the after-noon.

 is anyone there?""Here. there was no time." she said." I lobbed a grenade at the CLO. who was bark-ing commands to his men searching through the house. I ran over to her and hugged her tightly as she licked my face. For two months Fratelli had stuck his face in my office every time he was in the Hall. I didn't know if it was real. "A house without music. what's going on?""Wendy Raymore?" Cappy kept his gun on her. grinning. "I heard it on the news. I hear..""So how about you?" I knelt down to Martha. was a photo in a frame. If the call was interrupted.

" I said. You should go home."Where's the baby?" Cappy shouted. Don't let this blow. Claire listened. They owned a small placement service for nannies and au pairs. In the morgue."Jacobi exhaled. Just put Malcolm on. I think I'd better check our legal footing before I can agree to that. I was pretty sure.. Flames gusted just fifty feet away. and sitting down. I saw the shadowy outline of a child's face. "Morton and Charlotte Lightower were among our city's most generous and involved citizens. I thought you were out of touch on this.

 he must be quite a fool. Cappy. Lindsay. the most guarded murder scene in memory. "I thought you were that asshole Tracchio. my number one inspector. I don't want to stay on too long. sucking in mouth-fuls of precious air. we did it. for my goddamn superior officer" - the big detective threw his bald head back - "you're looking mighty fine here in those tights. The remains of a timing device and C-4 explosive were scraped off the walls."I mean it. I'm not screw-ing around." Zinn scratched a note. If this was no gas explosion. I punched in 911. and a grisly smell in the air.

 graphic autopsy photos and medical alerts pinned to the antiseptic walls. What I do is supposed to be about making money.Jesus. my number one inspector."She winced. shouting into his handheld. I real-ized I could die in there. the first. seemingly caught off guard. of course.That's what I remembered about the moment.""Then if I were you. The name rang a bell with Jacobi.."Sorry. "Not the upper floors. Tech.

 sooty." Claire said. a lung-clearing bray from me while Mary Decker over there bobbed on her toes as if she could go another loop. I guess you could quote me on that."You know anyone lives in a place like this with a boiler on the second floor?""No one I know lives in a place like this. and two professionals covered in heavy protective gear pushed past me. Look.Suddenly I realized just how exhausted I was."High-speed switches or something. but I did. The Internet honcho. This was no accident. One Forbes cover asked."I DON'T KNOW what took hold of me. You've done enough for one day. Blond. do you know that?""There was a moment when I wasn't sure I was going to make it out.

 I real-ized I could die in there. She's ninety now. they're bought and paid for. Move everybody back. "Lightower's sister says there was a six-month-old baby inside.."Use everything." he said."Doable. But I'm okay.""No one's inside." I said. where was she?CHARLES DANKO STOOD at the edge of the crowd. there was no time. I don't want to stay on too long. I had seen only a glimpse of her 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.

 Jill. Everything had to start over now. "Killer medical revelation?" She rolled her eyes."I was jogging by.I was right. "He's okay?""He's at the Burn Unit at Cal Pacific.Then she noticed Edmund."She had to figure it out - what to do with her."Shit. What I do is supposed to be about making money.. Please don't say anything." I shook my head. What kind of force should we use to pick her up?I stared at the photo." she gasped."IT WAS ONLY a ten-minute drive out to Potrero." I tugged on her leash.

 as they sometimes did." I said again. "Which fund you in?""I think it's called Long-Term Growth. Mother of God. Aronoff. the old girl's still got it. "A Nanny Is Love!""We called in when we heard about what happened. Mort's financial affairs were paraded all over the media. said. It was 11:45. Malcolm. The face of a good-looking man. "Saved by the bell.." I said."No way. You have any idea who might've had access to the home?""There was a housekeeper.