Beirut.I went into the bedroom and peeled off my tights and sweats.

 But I'm okay
 But I'm okay. August Spies. Shield two-seven-two-one. Mort's financial affairs were paraded all over the media." His CSU team was still picking through the scene. AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. " 'cause it occurred to me that you needed a good hug. "Viola. honey. Someone I could've saved. Mr. A million students carry them. it's a kid's bed-room. "Chuck. "to get into Lightower's files?""Duh. now.""She seemed perfect for it. The redheaded kid spin-ning his Razor. My heart jumped. Families. And the bundle in her arms? That was the Lightowers' baby!HER HAIR FELL in thick. Lindsay had a date. Just put Malcolm on."CHARLES DANKO didn't believe in taking unnecessary chances; he also resolutely believed that all soldiers were expendable." I smiled and wiped a tear from the corner of my eye. "Chief just got it confirmed from the Bomb Squad. "I'm coming!" I shouted. who helped found the company with Mort.

 They were all here.I nodded."He heard Malcolm's cheerless voice. San Francisco Police Department. I guess you could quote me on that. their clothes on fire. heading toward the red bag.The girl had long dark hair and a swarthy complexion." she said. "What's doable is that we're back here in two hours with a subpoena. maybe forty.Cappy rapped at the door. A muffled. Don't let this blow. my God." I said."I think that's doable.I wished I had someone's arms to slide into. or all the cops and firemen charging around the accident scene. compliant grin.""And the Lightowers said their little baby had taken to her like honey. for my goddamn superior officer" - the big detective threw his bald head back - "you're looking mighty fine here in those tights. "You're not gonna do this for me. "Lieutenant?"I turned. "You're not gonna do this for me. she threw on a denim shirt and jeans and set out on the dreaded task of cleaning out the basement closet.""Eric."I was jogging by.

 She never came back.""How do you want to handle it?" Cappy looked at me. installing a $50." Fratelli: "Listen. I didn't know if it was real. then I did. even himself. maybe forty.I was right. Cindy. Blond. my lungs."OH. "It referred to Morton Lightower as an `enemy of the people. "I'm coming!" I shouted. She was blond with high cheekbones. She seemed to have some guts. It was always there. But it can't be.You know El Exigente. I'm telling you."Mal." I said.I pushed through a smoking doorway.The child was coughing and crying.THE CRAMPED THIRD-FLOOR OFFICE that housed the Homicide detail was buzzing."Jill. of course.

 "You should get a load of how it looks. "Ha. "We placed Wendy Raymore in that job. Oh. Mr. still in his pajamas.""I did.Not with everything that had just gone on. Her whole career sprang from that scoop. too. or it had been stolen.I hadn't thought about it until now. I heard footsteps approaching from inside. He hadn't come this close to an investigation since some case study he'd read at the academy twenty-five years ago. "We always check. practicing. "Morton and Charlotte Lightower were among our city's most generous and involved citizens. I tried to call you at the office." I snapped on her leash and started to trot off toward the Starbucks on Chestnut. You look so different.. before they send in the Arthur Ander-sen boys to do a little office tidying." Jacobi said. I try to huff out three miles."All run long.I stared at the small laminated photo of Wendy Raymore's face. the department's press liaison."Needless to say.

 I tried to call you at the office. massaging it into her cropped hair.""Told ya. Don't let this blow. A million students carry them." Linda said."Needless to say." The lawyer jotted down a note again. "You look like a mochachino would do the trick. You look like shit. Jill had Steve. Martha wagged up to me. made sure she was in good standing. badging his way over to me. I spotted a hallway where I thought the sounds came from. as if the meeting was over.WE GOT THE TOWN HOUSE ID'd pretty quickly. A wall of burning Sheetrock and plaster hung above me." Linda said. He wore the clothing of an expert bicyclist and had an older racing bike propped against his side. "Killer medical revelation?" She rolled her eyes."She had woken up early that morning."Suddenly I remembered seeing it on the news. held it in her hands.I stumbled over debris. leveling guns around the room.It was a small boy." Niko turned with a frown.

 but finally he'd done something. "It's a fucking battery radio. But that wasn't what was bothering me."You probably want to talk to Helene now. Lindsay. Find that baby. then I did. coming out of the crowd. probably a psychopath; he even scared Danko sometimes. I'm telling you.."I pulled away from him. Some sort of twisted kidnapping?""If it is. blossoming smile. or perhaps a nightmare. it was Martha.Back in the office. we're horrified around here."When you said Eric was the only one brought out."C'mon. watching her. EMS." she said. It did belong to the guy in the picture. Martha. unlike any Sunday morning I could remember. e-mail. through the CCI database and the FBI.

 My men are just finishing the upper floor. She's Homicide.I stared at the small laminated photo of Wendy Raymore's face. are you?""I can't do this for you.""I'm okay. when she had struggled through the first movement of Haydn's Concerto in D - the last time she had played. They were all here.. "Oh. "It's Sunday and the markets are closed. I noticed that my hands were still trembling.That moment flashed over and over in my mind. at Caitlin. You look like shit. but the feel came back to her. Lieutenant. I flicked on a CD. "what the hell is that?"Peeking out through the strap of her exercise bra were a couple of small.I started to panic again. "For Caitlin."IT WAS A CLEAR. we're horrified around here.A TV was on.""I did. but I didn't know for sure. They were all here. restored town houses. Jacobi readied himself.

" I said. If the call was interrupted. It was good to hear the laughter back in her voice. it had been her most cherished possession. I'd try to apply some nonlegal pressure. then I did. Otis. Lindsay had a date."You'll provide us a list of all your clients.Someone was crying. And you must be busy as well.The girl's face was white with terror. They were also friends. my eye drifting to a beautiful three-story town house I always passed and admired. A few seconds later. Please don't say anything. "You sure you don't want that coffee?" I asked."It was almost six o'clock on Sunday. "Wendy Raymore? San Fran-cisco Police!"There was no answer. blinking sleep from her eyes. But I'm okay. It came back zilch. through the web of news vans and camera crews. I scrolled back to the mental image I had before the blast: the girl in the overalls leaving the scene. That same.Jacobi and Cappy knocked on my door."Oh. He had always preached the gospel:there's always another soldier.

 "You don't get to do this.. They owned a small placement service for nannies and au pairs.I stopped." Cates replied." the tech holding the electro-sensor said."I think she said she lived off-campus. She played the first bars of the concerto. Michelle's heart jumped. It was smothered in thick dust."Open up! San Francisco Police!" Cappy rapped heavily on the door. "You could call Baghdad a vacation spot. Hand-carved wooden shutters and a terra-cotta tile roof like on the Grand Canal. Mr."I pulled away from him. Bombings usually don't involve kidnappings. a missing baby. Martha. That Fratelli brother. whom the Berkeley cops had seen going in.Jacobi. aren't we. Mr.Someone put an oxygen mask over my mouth and I took several deep gulps. explained to me." Linda Cliborne said. "Warren?""You did good today."Chief Tracchio on the phone.

" I said."I frowned. those little police antennae behind my ears always go twang.""This one signs my checks. She stood in front of the bombed-out home. and we'll find whoever did this horrible thing." Jacobi said with a grin. My God.This is all wrong! Fucking all wrong. Martha. "Just one more thing. The other. It couldn't be better. If it was a bomb." he continued." I promised. More likely."Suddenly I remembered seeing it on the news. I took her through the frustrating meeting I'd just come out of. Malcolm would come by. my God. All of a sudden a beep sounded on my cell phone.. but the best we could get was a corporate public relations flack who said we could meet with them tomorrow at 8 A. Martha. If the call was interrupted. coughing.""Any evidence there's anything in Lightower's computer to back that up?""Call me suspicious.

 in a pink cashmere sweater." He bowed apologetically.""These recommendations. I didn't know if it was real. my God. The remains of a timing device and C-4 explosive were scraped off the walls." I stared at the card and sniffed. But there was nothing. whatever you found wouldn't make it through arraignment. blinking sleep from her eyes. She's ninety now. my voice. and we'll find whoever did this horrible thing. 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. clearly upset by the question."LEAVE IT TO CLAIRE. Something I had edited out.I heard it again."No way."Doable. I saw myself on the street. a totally likable kid. carrying a bundle of clothes."AN HOUR LATER Tracchio and I held a tense. sent a numb quiet around the room." Warren Jacobi scratched his head. Zinn. the local police.

Any moment now. put a fucking pillow over its head. just for a little while. but I wasn't taking any chances. Cappy." Cappy said."My God." Michelle said again. In my eyes. Let's go in."The three of us pushed our way inside. "Just didn't envision it like this. Gerry went to Berkeley with him. as they sometimes did. Niko Magitakos. He had even cut down on his stupid sexist jokes. She's done nothing wrong. Even Martha had someone - me!I felt my thoughts drift to Chris for the first time in a while."I think she said she lived off-campus. a staffer at the ME's office..""This one signs my checks.I couldn't believe my eyes. where I live in a two-bedroom walk-up. The only motion in his face was a slight flickering in his eyes. eyes going back and forth. She was blond with high cheekbones.""I'm not calling about the crime scene.

 so professional. now. I flicked on a CD. I took the boy by the shoulders. But he was alive.I picked up. Shield two-seven-two-one."Less than a minute later. the old girl's still got it. He had always preached the gospel:there's always another soldier. "Killer medical revelation?" She rolled her eyes. That kid's lucky you got him out. No drum roll. but the area had to be cleared." he was crying."Sorry. and my brain was shouting out that it was wrong - dead wrong." she said. Judith took out a yellow file and pushed it across the table. Martha wagged up to me.. MY GOD!" I gasped as a flash of heat and debris nearly knocked me to the ground. I saw a light where I thought I had come in. He directed him down the front hall. No sign of activity inside. I ran across the street to the blazing home. posthaste. Casualties likely.

 LT. I'll care for her."Shit.I stumbled over debris. about to nail me to the wall. honey. "I'm Lieutenant Boxer.""Noted.there's been an explosion down-town! Lindsay's been hurt. they're bought and paid for. "Ha. He'd been juggling about a hundred news departments and wire services in his Topsiders and jeans. the au pair. feeling my stomach turn. compliant grin. Something made me feel like crying. "Ha.In that instant I realized that people could still be inside. "Somehow it's hard for me to think of Steve as a puppy.The adrenaline was burning in my veins. You look so different." Michelle said again. now!"FROM THE BACK of a basement closet." said Cappy..There it was again. Edmund.A TV was on.

 I opened my fanny pack and showed him my badge. I stepped into the shower and took a swig of a beer I'd brought with me. Wow. you checked them. Just a few more feet. "You sure you don't want that coffee?" I asked. Please. I hollered a last time. I want to start by promising the full coop-eration of the company. that we had murderers out there with C-4. Shit.""I may not outrank you. if someone happened to be on the scene. She was running away.The kid with the Razor was there. dark bruises. Lindsay. shuffling side-ways beside me." she said. and deep." Fratelli: "Listen. It was good to see the old Jill trying to peek through. heavy and bald-ing. but he was truly a killer. "Don't get cranky. but a black girl carrying a Cal-Berkeley bag had gone in thirty minutes before.""Oh. "Get everyone out of here.

 Another fireman wrapped his arms around me.""Don't forget contributors. don't go near that bag. "Warren."So. Inside was a filled-out A Nanny Is Love! application form. Lieutenant?" Captain Noroski said. I pulled out of the crowd and ran to the bag.""I'M ALL RIGHT. "We have a Palestinian delegation in town I know nothing about?"I told him what I had seen. I just assumed. "Would you be asking me if your goddamn superior officer happened to be a man?""Damn right. holding Martha.I turned and headed for the light and cool that I knew were behind me. He stared. Hell.He looked at the house. the day the worst week of my life began. "Last I checked."Malcolm pushed her face in front of the child. Martha wagged up to me."High-speed switches or something. What was left of it. I suddenly understood how people trapped in fires on high floors would leap to their death rather than bear the intolerable heat."Mal."My God.She had her hair pulled back tightly. Where the hell was it now?"I cared for her.

" I said. A SWAT team guy waited with a ram in case we needed to break in. "Nothing.. I thought I knew what had happened. Or the girl I saw hurrying away from the bombing. I squeezed it gently. "We mailed her confirmation to a post office box.""Me too.""Is that a dare. She was cheerful and attractive. But look at you. Lindsay?""If you mean. she is only six months old. and it kept ending at the same point. isn't it? I think I know her. after she pieced three charred bodies together." I promised. Frantically. I pushed across a copy of the photo.""Is that a challenge?" Cindy snickered. We have three dead. You should go home.""Are there any leads?" Cates inquired. or all the cops and firemen charging around the accident scene. like a huge refrigerator. Mort? Charlotte? The kids.""Of course we can work something out.

""Not for Eric."Doable. and a grisly smell in the air. You're Lieutenant Boxer?""I'm Lieutenant Boxer. just like the rest." I said to the guys.. The face of a good-looking man." Jacobi sighed theatrically. To give her baby Lab. "they have a new way of handling the potential ransom payers. Lieutenant.I shielded my eyes.The girl had long dark hair and a swarthy complexion. Two years ago I had -""If you moguls have a moment.We started with the usual questions: Had Lightower received any threats? Were they aware of anyone who'd want to do him harm?"No. He gently took the boy out of my arms."My grandmother.""Dianne Aronoff. a cashmere sweater over jeans.""I told you. Cappy was dig-ging up whatever he could on the missing au pair. She had listened to the news reports all afternoon. "I'm X/L's CLO. She took out the bow. "This is Gerry Cates. his eyes suddenly blank. Ever since I'd taken a shot in the Coombs case.

 Detectives."Needless to say. they were blown up. I'm okay.Any moment now. Financial watchdogs." I said.""I'm not calling about the crime scene. at the same time he was dumping his own stock and laying off half his staff.I heard it again. 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. Then I heard my name one more time.. Shield two-seven-two-one. There was all this smoke. The town house I had just admired was now a shell. I just assumed. before they send in the Arthur Ander-sen boys to do a little office tidying. The flash of orange light. coughing. Lindsay. They had already used a bomb. this was an execution!My stomach turned.. If this was no gas explosion."Suddenly I remembered seeing it on the news.The frame of the bed was hot to the touch. then I did.

" Steve Fiori. they're crying you're bleeding the company. "What the fuck was that?"She was behind him as he ran into the bedroom. the department's press liaison.""I'm not calling about the crime scene. my God. "A house without music. just like the rest. Edmund.""Not for Eric. "Wendy Raymore? San Fran-cisco Police!"There was no answer."The Lightowers' remains were side by side on two gur-neys. it was as if San Francisco were suddenly Beirut. A bead of sweat trickled down my cheek. Otis." I said. who the hell knew? My eyes went wide. An EMT carefully put a blanket around me. Jacobi's part-ner. I couldn't wait. "Is anyone alive in here?"I couldn't go any farther. It would be nice if he were here tonight. who was already strapped onto a gurney. Poor woman probably didn't even know herself. Niko wheeled out a boxlike instrument. His room was buried under an avalanche of debris. blown to pieces. he starts to see it as a pattern.

This is all wrong! Fucking all wrong. As the door swung open.A MAMMOTH LOGO in the shape of an interlocking X and L stood atop the brick-and-glass building on a promontory jutting into the bay." her partner. We were staring at a different girl.WE GOT THE TOWN HOUSE ID'd pretty quickly. next to the standard clock radio.The message light was flashing. I need you backat home base."Nope. do you know that?""There was a moment when I wasn't sure I was going to make it out.Then I was out." Noroski said."Suddenly I remembered seeing it on the news. Jill. 'cause I must be dreaming. Jacobi's part-ner. "Every cop in the city will be looking for this kid. "Hush." There could've been a nursery down there. about to nail me to the wall. Jill's voice: "Lindsay."The three of us pushed our way inside. Mr. That was before everyone realized they had no data to move over the Internet. And Tracchio. shrugging and stretching out a hamstring.FORTY MINUTES LATER we were down the block from 17 Pelican Drive in Berkeley.

" he said.Why?Because the son of a bitch was running away. We got a line on the au pair."Needless to say. The grime of the blast was all over me." I fastened on his phony." I stared at the card and sniffed. Mort's financial affairs were paraded all over the media. No sign of activity inside."I don't know how you do it. There was an ID tag on the strap.I was coughing. The beautiful.Suddenly I realized just how exhausted I was. I'd be asking'.BOOM! FUCKERS. a totally likable kid." I deleted it without even hearing what he had to say for himself.I screamed ahead. You look so different. Families. I want everyone moved back away from here. Jesus. The farther I went. put a fucking pillow over its head.The girl had long dark hair and a swarthy complexion. They were also friends. I saw myself on the street.

I turned away and crouched down to shield Martha as the oven like shock waves from the explosion passed over us. Suddenly. if I'm five minutes late. said." Chuck Zinn arched back in his chair. I was call-ing about you. horrified. jumped in."No way.I moved over to the bodies. "Mommy. "What could I possibly have for you."We carefully screen all of our girls. The name rang a bell with Jacobi. When I first met her." I said. "And might I add. The name rang a bell with Jacobi. LT.." She winked. Let's go in. Someone was either let in or had access. She came over and gave me a hug.Did anyone make it out?""We pulled out a boy. All she knew was that she couldn't let the baby die. voices.Jesus.

"Jesus. his eyes suddenly blank. Hand-carved wooden shutters and a terra-cotta tile roof like on the Grand Canal. Just put Malcolm on." Claire gave me a halfhearted smile.I nodded.. Across the bay in Berkeley. The neigh-borhood just waking up. grinning. you are a dumb bunny. Other horrified faces crowded around. She closed her eyes and played a little more.There it was again."We carefully screen all of our girls." Jacobi reached for my arm. and two professionals covered in heavy protective gear pushed past me." Michelle said again. and an entire town house burned to the ground in a possible bombing. "Ms. so professional. Wendy was gone forever. "I did the right thing. She'd had it just last night.Suddenly. along with about half the city's news force. coughing sound.The girl's face was white with terror.

""Can't. telling me it was time." The fire captain looked at the wreckage. Lindsay." he called out.Noroski radioed someone still inside the site. too. It had been eighteen months since he died. I real-ized I could die in there. "Who?""Caitlin.." Cappy said. not sure. San Francisco Police Department. Cindy.. I stepped into the shower and took a swig of a beer I'd brought with me.There it was again.""I saw two bodies inside." what we call the Sunday morning shift when the weather gets warm.. Stick your tits in its mouth. I suddenly understood how people trapped in fires on high floors would leap to their death rather than bear the intolerable heat. she is only six months old. I'm telling you. Aronoff."My twenty-seven years on the job gives me the premoni-tion we're not talking busted boiler here. She's done nothing wrong.

 "We're gonna go for a hand entry.""Of course we can work something out. in a pink cashmere sweater. He recognized the voice of Michelle.. nodding. the biking helmet and goggles covered his face in case the police were filming the crowd. leading the unsteady woman over to an open black-and-white. One of the patrolmen at the scene had taken her home for me. who was bark-ing commands to his men searching through the house. "Which fund you in?""I think it's called Long-Term Growth.""You could call it a date."Please. you have to be strong. I want to start by promising the full coop-eration of the company. A computer photo." she said. Lieutenant. You okay?""I think so. coughing.. Then it was on to the old mitts and football pads from Little League and Pop Warner years.. e-mail." Linda Cliborne said.""You could call it a date."Oh.The tech with the X-ray scanner took a read on the knap-sack from three or four feet away.

 We have three dead. No "Ladies and gentlemen. But look at you. Good Lord. He'd been juggling about a hundred news departments and wire services in his Topsiders and jeans. just running the bow along the strings. difficult passage that had always eluded her.""Lucky for her. vin-dictive tragedy. To give her baby Lab. through the web of news vans and camera crews.I got a clean bill of health at the hospital. I just took hold of that little boy and prayed.""Most people think I am some asshole who's always trying to nail them to the wall. My God. Lindsay." I called.I couldn't believe my eyes. "For Caitlin. I collapsed against a fire truck up on the sidewalk. Now I saw the entrance. I just wanted to give you an update - everything is working beau-tifully. We had a team down at X/L's offices. Unless you wanna go inside and look around again yourself. the sound of a lock being turned. I saw the redheaded kid who'd been riding his Razor. "Warren?""You did good today.This couldn't have gone much better.

 the local police. who was already strapped onto a gurney. most of them with graduate degrees. where was she?CHARLES DANKO STOOD at the edge of the crowd.A.I was right. could she? Not if she had saved the baby. even before the results of the examination of the blast scene came back. Lindsay.The man with the claw lifted the backpack to transport it to the truck."Use everything.It was hard to believe that it had been only five months since Jill lost her baby. Lieutenant."It was almost six o'clock on Sunday. "Look. "Mashed myself getting out of the shower. and deep. We got a few leads." I said. It was a goddamn leave-behind. "You could call Baghdad a vacation spot. "If she'd been in there with your nephew.""No one's inside."I don't get any reading. who the hell knew? My eyes went wide. Another adult in a back room on the first floor. it was as if San Francisco were suddenly Beirut.I went into the bedroom and peeled off my tights and sweats.