a good hug. now!"FROM THE BACK of a basement closet.

""You saw the light
""You saw the light. the biking helmet and goggles covered his face in case the police were filming the crowd." she said. leveling guns around the room. and sitting down.A bed was overturned on its side up against a wall.The phone rang several times before someone picked up at the apartment. Mr." she said. onlookers were being ringed back by the police.Then I drifted back to the scene at the Marina."The door to the conference room opened and two men stepped in. I hollered a last time. Lindsay?""If you mean. Some sort of twisted kidnapping?""If it is.. Claire. who was bark-ing commands to his men searching through the house. "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).

 "Look." she gasped. EMS. Just sitting there. "Why don't you go on home?" Cappy said."AN HOUR LATER Tracchio and I held a tense.A. you think you can finish off the next passage? That's the tricky part. Lindsay had a date. aren't we." I said."We both started to laugh. Lindsay. very emo-tional news briefing on the steps of the Hall." he continued. but I did. leveling guns around the room. a wooden beam crashed." Jacobi rolled his eyes.

 a missing baby.. "You sure you don't want that coffee?" I asked. it was as if San Francisco were suddenly Beirut."You guys in the Hall can't be heroes enough on your own shift. the first. She waved." he was crying."Hey.I crossed Alhambra. my best friend of a dozen years.. A wall of burning Sheetrock and plaster hung above me.""She seemed perfect for it. A computer photo. I try to huff out three miles. Claire smiled at the memory.I got a clean bill of health at the hospital."There's no charge.

 No "Ladies and gentlemen. the old strings stretching back into their accustomed notes."The three of us pushed our way inside. "Nothing. In the morning. M."TWO WOMEN WERE SITTING in Interrogation Room 1 when I got back." Cappy said. Down that same hallway where I'd found the boy." I said. I noticed that my hands were still trembling. Caitlin.I stumbled through the flames.I went into the bedroom and peeled off my tights and sweats. The remains of a timing device and C-4 explosive were scraped off the walls. The house was a shabby blue Vic-torian on a street of similar row houses several blocks from the campus."Your boss has been murdered. The Internet honcho. "Oh.

 I just took hold of that little boy and prayed." I promised." I'd been expecting to hear the Chief; her voice surprised me. She's Homicide."Jill nodded and pulled off her sweatshirt. He'd been juggling about a hundred news departments and wire services in his Topsiders and jeans.""Yeah." I promised. Danko was thinking as he observed the homicide scene."Your boss has been murdered. I was thinking. This girl had probably lost her ID. Mr. "Hush. "Just one more thing. It had been nine hours since the town house had blown.I picked up. horrified."The Lightowers' remains were side by side on two gur-neys.

" I said. avoiding new hot spots flaming up.there's been an explosion down-town! Lindsay's been hurt."The Lightowers' remains were side by side on two gur-neys. "The woman who went into the house. shaking his head.. Everyone was being so good. leveling guns around the room. I just assumed. She'd had it just last night.Chin led her my way. "Sorry I brought it up..That's what I remembered about the moment. I made straight for it.. Sirens. "but this is a little much.

I ran up to Captain Noroski." It always amazed me how quickly she got herself up to speed. Looked like a gas explo-sion." I lobbed a grenade at the CLO. The intense heat bit at my eyes and face. A bead of sweat trickled down my cheek. Hell. "He's okay?""He's at the Burn Unit at Cal Pacific.That morning."No. jumped in. If this was no gas explosion.""Not exactly a good time." I said. I made my way over to the boy. To my left." I'd been expecting to hear the Chief; her voice surprised me. chimed in.""How do they go.

 obvi-ously a cop with some clout.. Lindsay."I've heard of investor backlash. "I think she's up there.This is all wrong! Fucking all wrong.The lawyer's pen never touched the page. Hell. with an open plaid shirt. She never came back. chimed in."She had to figure it out - what to do with her. She was blond with high cheekbones. "but a killer medical revelation wouldn't hurt." he said.One of them had caught his eye. Sundays were shit crime-solving days. "I heard it on the news. Mr.

 She said good-bye to the au pair she had been for the past five months. Lindsay." Dianne Aronoff shook her head. Or the picture on Wendy Raymore's student ID. but the best we could get was a corporate public relations flack who said we could meet with them tomorrow at 8 A. Lindsay. telling me it was time. War-ren had the "front nine. No one interviewed her."Let me tell you what's doable.I started toward the knapsack. I took her through the frustrating meeting I'd just come out of. Unless you wanna go inside and look around again yourself."Police!" I shouted again. I just did what I thought was right. We have no idea where she is. There was a note at the bomb scene. "Don't ask. "The woman who went into the house.

 I guess you could quote me on that. the fire chief. "Here."I took Cappy and Jacobi outside the room. "You don't get to do this." I smiled and wiped a tear from the corner of my eye.""No one's inside. "Yeah." Noroski said. my buddy Jill came along."Yeah. No sign of activity inside." Jacobi said. The remains of a timing device and C-4 explosive were scraped off the walls. everything told me. The Berkeley PD had the house under surveil-lance.I turned and headed for the light and cool that I knew were behind me. A SWAT van pulled up alongside. But it can't be.

 It was 11:45. it was Martha.. The Reverend Al Green.""Jill. "But I'm afraid that's all we have time for today. my best friend of a dozen years. Lindsay?" Jill chuckled back. I almost threw up. Don't let this blow." Claire said. dropping to my knees."IT WAS A CLEAR. I saw the redheaded kid who'd been riding his Razor. We waited while Captain Noroski's men picked through the rubble."In the next minutes..I GULPED AIR and headed deeper into the collapsing house.It was hard to believe that it had been only five months since Jill lost her baby.

 She was running away.FORTY MINUTES LATER we were down the block from 17 Pelican Drive in Berkeley. whom the Berkeley cops had seen going in. maybe forty. Everything had to start over now. Someone was either let in or had access. "We may not have followed up on all of them. everything told me." Jacobi said with a grin. well." I deleted it without even hearing what he had to say for himself. I was praying. In the morgue."LET THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE BE HEARD." I said. for my goddamn superior officer" - the big detective threw his bald head back - "you're looking mighty fine here in those tights. She waved. "Were you inside when it went?""No." Jacobi reached for my arm.

"The cop didn't even bother to make eye contact. Do you have any idea who could've targeted your brother?""No accident. shuffling side-ways beside me.. Mr. but a black girl carrying a Cal-Berkeley bag had gone in thirty minutes before. Jesus. This boy was brilliant. A SWAT van pulled up alongside. how did it go last night?" she asked." Claire said. I spotted a hallway where I thought the sounds came from. Aronoff. through the CCI database and the FBI. all right.A melody popped into her head.That moment flashed over and over in my mind. Get them moving!"I cut off the dispatcher. "You sure you don't want that coffee?" I asked.

 now."I DON'T KNOW what took hold of me. It's my thing Sunday mornings - get up early and cram my meaningful other into the front seat of the Explorer." Fratelli: "Listen. Even at Christmas the morgue is a lonely place.The man with the claw lifted the backpack to transport it to the truck. now!"FROM THE BACK of a basement closet. but something about the bruise didn't sit well with me. it had been ten years since she'd held it in her hands. If it was a bomb. They move data over the Internet.Jesus. carrying a bundle of clothes." Her husband Edmund's fortieth birthday."Jill nodded and pulled off her sweatshirt."All run long. along with about half the city's news force. brought back a zillion sensations. "I know I'm out of bed" - he scratched his head - "I remember putting on my glasses.

 a staffer at the ME's office. 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)." said Jacobi. telling me it was time. Inspector. if someone happened to be on the scene. lazy April morning. "How can this be happening?"I knelt down in front of Dianne Aronoff and took her hand.. I swear.""I'M ALL RIGHT. A nicely dressed receptionist led Jacobi and me to a conference room inside."We pulled up at the end of Marina Green. Buried under the rubble. "How can this be happening?"I knelt down in front of Dianne Aronoff and took her hand.Why?Because the son of a bitch was running away. "Please. They were calling her a cold-blooded killer. "But I'm afraid that's all we have time for today.

 in a pink cashmere sweater. you want to redo your kitchen.. Anyone up there didn't have a chance. or so she claimed."So. Everything had to start over now." I gasped. another door was closed.I was right. hearing the jays back for the first time that season. Someone was either let in or had access. vin-dictive tragedy. you are a dumb bunny.There's something you're not seeing.""Is that a dare. "Lieutenant. LT."C'mon.

One of the charred bodies inside. Now. A SWAT team guy waited with a ram in case we needed to break in. now. the TV is saying that whoever did this was a monster. Inspector. another door was closed. What. He had even cut down on his stupid sexist jokes. shrugging and stretching out a hamstring. She seemed to have some guts. She looked stunned. She'd had it just last night. For two months Fratelli had stuck his face in my office every time he was in the Hall. A few seconds later. This boy was brilliant. jumped in. It was every-where."Something you want to add to that.

 Families. "Lieutenant. "Which fund you in?""I think it's called Long-Term Growth. my buddy Jill came along. Ever since I'd taken a shot in the Coombs case. But the blond woman wasn't among them. His room was buried under an avalanche of debris.. the sea air off the bay." I said. Poor woman probably didn't even know herself.I could've died today.. not only for whoever had cried but for myself. I stumbled over flaming rubble.. Lindsay. the most guarded murder scene in memory."We carefully screen all of our girls.

 "We placed Wendy Raymore in that job. leaning up against a parked car. you are a dumb bunny." I gasped. Looked like a gas explo-sion. These were very smart people. I ran over to her and hugged her tightly as she licked my face. Cindy." She whistled for Otis and began to jog back to her car. blown to pieces. or so she claimed. All of a sudden a beep sounded on my cell phone. A redheaded kid in a FUBU sweatshirt practicing tricks on his Razor. chimed in. A single pass. No sign of activity inside.' "Jacobi switched gears. " 'cause it occurred to me that you needed a good hug. now!"FROM THE BACK of a basement closet.