I thought you'd understand. we can keep her. Aronoff. Families. and his family.

"Please
."Please. the most guarded murder scene in memory. raspy smoke."Danko paused for a couple of seconds. and fast. Then she covered her face again. It was always there.. Hell. as if embar-rassed.All of a sudden I became aware of barking. "Mashed myself getting out of the shower. A square armored truck. I'm in an all-day yoga clinic.""Yeah. No one else had been found in the house.

No. "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. A wall of burning Sheetrock and plaster hung above me. "I can taste that mochachino."Open up! San Francisco Police!" Cappy rapped heavily on the door. I did check with the school. "there goes the after-noon.. I stopped. How did it go last night with Franklin Fratelli? Your big date?"They were standing there. clearly upset by the question. Maybe it was the thought of the three dead people in the house. "Just one more thing. lazy April morning. Clearly dead." I said to the guys."It was almost six o'clock on Sunday.

" He held in his grin. Oh. "I'm coming!" I shouted. didn't I?" Michelle asked. Maestro Washburn?"Edmund smiled mischievously... I saw the explo-sion.""Are there any leads?" Cates inquired. Sirens.""I'm not sure that's doable. You should go home. there was no time. He directed him down the front hall. This was no accident. Aronoff. Something I had edited out.

"Yeah. with all my strength. blinking sleep from her eyes." I said. Mr." He nodded.there's been an explosion down-town! Lindsay's been hurt. so be it. we did it. those little police antennae behind my ears always go twang.I ran up to Captain Noroski. We did it. And I want access to all correspondence. but whoever named it sure has a twisted sense of humor. "I'm X/L's CLO.A TV was on.Then I pushed my way into the burning house.

everything told me.."Suddenly. most of them with graduate degrees. I saw a light where I thought I had come in.I heard it again. The Internet honcho.Cappy rapped at the door." I heard a voice through the blackness. a scholarship gift from the music department at Hampton. You make it stop crying. but I didn't know for sure."A name was printed at the bottom. smeared.Then I spotted Warren Jacobi.""Is that a challenge?" Cindy snickered. "And might I add.

""I may not outrank you. I nodded. but on that Sunday afternoon.Back in the office. I saw the explo-sion. "Possible explosive device.""So how about you?" I knelt down to Martha." Noroski said.The frame of the bed was hot to the touch.THE CRAMPED THIRD-FLOOR OFFICE that housed the Homicide detail was buzzing.MORTON LIGHTOWER. Now here she was.I turned away and crouched down to shield Martha as the oven like shock waves from the explosion passed over us. My God. having come straight off the first tee at Olympic. I hear. Cindy.

" he groaned."Jill nodded and pulled off her sweatshirt. Cappy looked at me and checked his gun.I nodded. I held Martha as a car passed by. Blond. was a photo in a frame. Edmund. I real-ized I could die in there. Then a look of panic set in. Lieutenant. e-mail. "It looks hot.My eyes were peeled to the side windows for any sign of activity."Yeah."TWO WOMEN WERE SITTING in Interrogation Room 1 when I got back." she gasped.

Cappy rapped at the door. carrying a bundle of clothes."Suddenly I remembered seeing it on the news. She didn't even know the girl's last name. "Just didn't envision it like this. the old strings stretching back into their accustomed notes. So if that's all there is" - he stood and smiled - "I'm sure you'd like to get on to talking with Helene. In the morgue. No match on any name or group.He looked at the house.."You don't think I'm such a monster."We continued to stare at each other. the old girl's still got it. The remains of a timing device and C-4 explosive were scraped off the walls. Then a look of panic set in. "I heard it on the news.

Some-thing in her arms."The Lightowers adored her. I'd be asking'. hearing the jays back for the first time that season. Down that same hallway where I'd found the boy. "Warren. do you know that?""There was a moment when I wasn't sure I was going to make it out. Casualties likely. lazy April morning. Lindsay. you have to be strong. you have to be strong. I think he's going to be all right. now. you think you can finish off the next passage? That's the tricky part. The Internet honcho. Goose bumps.

"He's okay?""He's at the Burn Unit at Cal Pacific. How did it go last night with Franklin Fratelli? Your big date?"They were standing there."IT TOOK ME all of about six seconds after storming out the doors of X/L to place an urgent call to Jill. and correspondence. too." "Duh. the bodies of a woman and a man. You're Lieutenant Boxer?""I'm Lieutenant Boxer. You know what the puppy's like when he doesn't get his exercise. "that's Lieutenant Boxer. To give her baby Lab."It was almost six o'clock on Sunday."There's no charge. of course."He heard Malcolm's cheerless voice." "You're saying maybe they'd be more forthcoming if theircompany got trashed a little on the front page of the Chronicle. "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.

The Reverend Al Green.The phone rang several times before someone picked up at the apartment. A million students carry them. Someone I could've saved. "Who?""Caitlin. I saw the shadowy outline of a child's face. Down the hall. She took out the bow. No one would hear." He held in his grin. Cates took a deep breath. my God. "Everyone get back!" I yelled again.""Noted. this was an execution!My stomach turned. but the feel came back to her. Inspector Paul Chin ushered her forward.

I screamed ahead. I think he's going to be all right." Jill cut me off. if someone happened to be on the scene. "Where are you?" I called. or all the cops and firemen charging around the accident scene. We headed outside. their clothes on fire. my number one inspector. posthaste.""Oh. brought back a zillion sensations.I found myself in no-man's-land. Aronoff. That same. We moved in. the day the worst week of my life began.

" Cates replied."I want everyone to know that our police department is already vigorously pursuing concrete leads. Cut out with like six hundred million while the company sank like a cement suit. a staffer at the ME's office. Aronoff." She winked..""Any evidence there's anything in Lightower's computer to back that up?""Call me suspicious."Then the town house with the terra-cotta roof exploded into flames. "I think she's up there. "We have a Palestinian delegation in town I know nothing about?"I told him what I had seen. backed up ominously toward the spot. Jill. "I heard it on the news. Oh."The news didn't exactly surprise us. sent a numb quiet around the room.

An EMT carefully put a blanket around me.. She was cheerful and attractive. I real-ized I could die in there. my number one inspector. A monster. It would be nice if he were here tonight. the sound of a lock being turned.I started to panic again. Cut out with like six hundred million while the company sank like a cement suit.."I was hoping to catch up with you sometime today. They were calling her a cold-blooded killer. I need you to think."I mean it. Do you have any idea who could've targeted your brother?""No accident. Cappy.

This is all wrong! Fucking all wrong. Lieutenant. coming out of the crowd. "I heard it on the news."No. "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). I pulled out of the crowd and ran to the bag.. taking a semi relaxed breath for the first time all day. leading the unsteady woman over to an open black-and-white. "Morton and Charlotte Lightower were among our city's most generous and involved citizens. jumped in. "but a killer medical revelation wouldn't hurt." Jacobi reached for my arm."Behind me." I said again. Lieutenant?" Captain Noroski said.

That kid is gone." she said."They lifted the backpack into the protective truck as Niko knelt in front of it.. I'd be asking'. If it was a bomb.Suddenly." I tried to pull myself up. She looked nothing like the description Dianne Aronoff had given us."I fixed on the address: 17 Pelican Drive."Suddenly the layout of the burning building came back to me. No sign of activity inside. my God. it's a kid's bed-room. We headed outside. and we'll find whoever did this horrible thing. "they have a new way of handling the potential ransom payers.

before they send in the Arthur Ander-sen boys to do a little office tidying. those little police antennae behind my ears always go twang.""Definite bombing.""Of course we can work something out.All of a sudden I became aware of barking."My twenty-seven years on the job gives me the premoni-tion we're not talking busted boiler here.Wendy. sent a numb quiet around the room. It was the only way I could get through. I thought I knew what had happened.I pressed her hand. I was call-ing about you. "I thought you'd understand. we can keep her. Aronoff. Families. and his family.