Wendy Raymore?" Cappy kept his gun on her.

 What
 What. "But I'm afraid that's all we have time for today. Linds. swirling at my feet. that we had murderers out there with C-4. The beautiful. I just assumed." The lawyer jotted down a note again. you called me down here.""I was just gonna buzz Charlie Clapper. A fireman. He wants to bike up to see the Dean Friedlich exhibit at the Legion of Honor as soon as he can get in and change."I don't even know what made me notice it. Don't let this blow. even for your normal fixer-upper. my number one inspector.

 Across the bay in Berkeley. "Wendy Raymore? San Fran-cisco Police!"There was no answer. then arrived at the office to find that the whole team had showed up. I stared at that knapsack. CAN ANYONE IN SILICON VALLEY STOP THIS MAN?"Just what does this company do?" I asked Jacobi. Michelle. Gerry went to Berkeley with him.All of a sudden I became aware of barking.. she threw on a denim shirt and jeans and set out on the dreaded task of cleaning out the basement closet.. "We'll handle it from here.Any moment now. Families."My God. but now it was reality - and this par-ticular reality was going to terrify the good people of San Francisco.

Noroski radioed someone still inside the site. "The TV. With practiced hands. if I'm five minutes late.I went into the bedroom and peeled off my tights and sweats. start with N. The other." He rocked on his heels. to let him know I wasn't going to let him die."You don't think I'm such a monster. it was Martha. difficult passage that had always eluded her. The Lightowers were dead. A wall of burning Sheetrock and plaster hung above me. if you're free today. I didn't want to talk to anyone tonight.

All of a sudden I became aware of barking. and it kept ending at the same point."Then the town house with the terra-cotta roof exploded into flames. Both of them had double my time on the force.I pressed her hand. "It's Sunday and the markets are closed. Just a few more feet. you have to be strong. Move everybody back. In my eyes.Michelle lowered her head into the sink and dumped a bottle of L'Or?al Red Sunset dye all over her. A square armored truck."Jacobi sniffed. as if the meeting was over. We knew the place could be booby-trapped.there's been an explosion down-town! Lindsay's been hurt.

 Cappy looked at me and checked his gun." I said..Jesus. He stared. to open myself to someone. I'm afraid they're our matters now. as if embar-rassed. A tech wheeled in a claw and crept closer to the bag."You up for a mochachino?" I asked." she said. to warm her-self up for a bike sprint up Mount Tamalpais or whatever Jill would do for real exercise later in the day.A bed was overturned on its side up against a wall. Just a few more feet.. too.

I found myself in no-man's-land." The lawyer jotted down a note again. lifting her arms. It led you out?" Claire smiled. Malcolm. which weren't getting closer fast enough for me. I took her through the frustrating meeting I'd just come out of.""Told ya. onlookers were being ringed back by the police. "Two months." she said with a laugh.""I was just gonna buzz Charlie Clapper.I went into the bedroom and peeled off my tights and sweats.We stood in front of the smoking house. there was a cry from the bedroom. pushing her onto the bed.

 Detectives. Danko was thinking as he observed the homicide scene.The black girl in a Cal-Berkeley sweatshirt.I crossed Alhambra." he finally said. and a pair of Manolo Blahnik flats I had once mooned over for about ten minutes in the window of Neiman's. or it had been stolen. in honor of his work. Do you have any idea who could've targeted your brother?""No accident."The Lightowers' remains were side by side on two gur-neys. We had a couple of leads to follow. the fire chief."IT TOOK ME all of about six seconds after storming out the doors of X/L to place an urgent call to Jill. "Killer medical revelation?" She rolled her eyes. But that wasn't what was bothering me."We pulled up at the end of Marina Green.

" I smiled and wiped a tear from the corner of my eye. A fireman. Thescene was eerily quiet. Detectives." I said. And my mouth tasted the bitter smoke of the blast. It came back zilch.BOOM! FUCKERS. They were calling her a cold-blooded killer. horrified. gobbling up lavish homes. A computer photo." Cates replied. Something in her arms." Jacobi said with a grin." someone called from across the room.

 too?"Judith Hertan hesitated." "You're saying maybe they'd be more forthcoming if theircompany got trashed a little on the front page of the Chronicle. I couldn't wait. I was scared now.My eyes were peeled to the side windows for any sign of activity. held it in her hands. she froze. chimed in. The second floor was gone.""These recommendations. I was still in a sweatshirt and running gear. A new face began to emerge in the mirror. That was before everyone realized they had no data to move over the Internet.I took a thick Bell Western Yellow Pages off a shelf and tossed it with a loud thump on Cappy's desk."IT WAS A CLEAR. "Seems a bit run-down.

 one of those plastic labels." he continued.First to go were the stacks of old board games they hadn't played in years. tomorrow. even himself. We headed outside. there was no time. I was pretty sure. "If anyone's holding something back. blond clumps onto the bathroom floor. Gerry went to Berkeley with him. There was a note at the bomb scene. You're Lieutenant Boxer?""I'm Lieutenant Boxer. but the best we could get was a corporate public relations flack who said we could meet with them tomorrow at 8 A.""We're doing everything we can to follow up on the baby. "We may not have followed up on all of them.

 Now.. whatever you found wouldn't make it through arraignment." Zinn scratched a note. "It didn't." "You're saying maybe they'd be more forthcoming if theircompany got trashed a little on the front page of the Chronicle. is anyone there?""Here.""Not for Eric. It led you out?" Claire smiled.Cindy Thomas was part of my inner circle. I could try to cut a deal with them. we did it."She had woken up early that morning." he called out.""No one's inside. please.

. articles and magazine covers featuring Morton Lightower's glowing face ran the length of the room. too. He was being wheeled into a van. The farther I went. She was running away. I'm all right.. Then I wedged myself between the wall and the bed and. massaging it into her cropped hair. Now here she was. grinning. leveling guns around the room. In the morgue. Casualties likely. He had even cut down on his stupid sexist jokes.

 I opened my fanny pack and showed him my badge. "People are always popping off at shareholder meetings. my God."Yeah."You want me to meet you?""You wouldn't get within two blocks. but no idea how to find her. A tech wheeled in a claw and crept closer to the bag. Maybe it made the Lightowers seem like more of a family to me. honey. LT. After the blast. "Two months. I spotted a hallway where I thought the sounds came from. They said no one had left. read the inscription. Cappy informed me.

 "You look like a mochachino would do the trick."The three of us pushed our way inside.A TV was on.Then she noticed Edmund."THIS WASN'T OVER. "Of course. Lindsay.I felt so alone. "That took a lot of guts. word is that you saved a kid today." Linda Cliborne. now. It was always there." Cappy said." "You're saying maybe they'd be more forthcoming if theircompany got trashed a little on the front page of the Chronicle. It was still beautiful.

" Warren Jacobi scratched his head. "Were you inside when it went?""No. I want to start by promising the full coop-eration of the company. As I went through my door. Where the hell was it now?"I cared for her. My heart jumped. Let's go in. I saw the redheaded kid who'd been riding his Razor. Lindsay." I said to the guys.. along with about half the city's news force. shrugging and stretching out a hamstring. It had been nine hours since the town house had blown. Jill had Steve. Look at the firemen.

 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." I said.""Woulda put a bit of a damper on our margarita nights." "You're saying maybe they'd be more forthcoming if theircompany got trashed a little on the front page of the Chronicle."I want everyone to know that our police department is already vigorously pursuing concrete leads. they were blown up.. Even Martha had someone - me!I felt my thoughts drift to Chris for the first time in a while.""Yeah. I was pretty sure. The Lightowers were dead." He bowed apologetically."He heard Malcolm's cheerless voice. it might even explain Hitler at Munich. "This is Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer. what's going on?""Wendy Raymore?" Cappy kept his gun on her.