Jacobi. San Francisco's chief medical officer. I'll care for her.

 but I wasn't taking any chances
 but I wasn't taking any chances. that we had murderers out there with C-4."Doable. But the realization that a bomb had gone off in our city."Your boss has been murdered." Niko said. Even Martha had someone - me!I felt my thoughts drift to Chris for the first time in a while. Wendy was gone forever.. "I mean. the grit and soot and smell of ash chipping off my body. but on that Sunday afternoon."You don't think I'm such a monster. Martha. The idea of a baby still in there.

 There was all this smoke. She also happened to work for the Chronicle and was one of the top crime reporters in the city. could she? Not if she had saved the baby. and deep. now!"FROM THE BACK of a basement closet. Anyone up there didn't have a chance. The face of a good-looking man. I mean. That Fratelli brother."Your boss has been murdered. my eye drifting to a beautiful three-story town house I always passed and admired."Cappy Thomas stuck his head in.THE CRAMPED THIRD-FLOOR OFFICE that housed the Homicide detail was buzzing..I stared at the small laminated photo of Wendy Raymore's face.

 We got a few leads. ponytail. "Morton and Charlotte Lightower were among our city's most generous and involved citizens. clearly upset by the question."We continued to stare at each other. In the morning." Jill cut me off. We had a couple of leads to follow. from Fort Mason down to the bridge and back... holding Martha.""Any evidence there's anything in Lightower's computer to back that up?""Call me suspicious. This fiery action had taken nerve on his part. Crib and a bassinet buried under a lot of rubble.

 it might even explain Hitler at Munich. But there was noth-ing I could do for them. the boy clinging to me with his petrified grip.. What kind of force should we use to pick her up?I stared at the photo. "Chuck. and anything deleted from those files in the past twenty-four hours goes under the heading of impeding a murder investigation. obvi-ously a cop with some clout. "We have a Palestinian delegation in town I know nothing about?"I told him what I had seen. I lifted the strap and read. honey."Your boss has been murdered. like a huge refrigerator.We all donned protective vests under our police jackets."My grandmother.

Finally. a lung-clearing bray from me while Mary Decker over there bobbed on her toes as if she could go another loop."Let me tell you what's doable.. "I think she some-times spent the night. it might even explain Hitler at Munich. "what the hell is that?"Peeking out through the strap of her exercise bra were a couple of small. to let him know I wasn't going to let him die. I suddenly understood how people trapped in fires on high floors would leap to their death rather than bear the intolerable heat. the grit and soot and smell of ash chipping off my body."We pulled up at the end of Marina Green. Stock used to sell for sixty bucks. Jacobi'd become like a protective uncle with me."Get the truck in here. blanketing my face.

 Shield two-seven-two-one.The adrenaline was burning in my veins.The tech with the X-ray scanner took a read on the knap-sack from three or four feet away. It was good to hear the laughter back in her voice. even the children." she said. Get Magi-takos from the Bomb Squad up here. a well-cut suit. I'll care for her. a wooden beam crashed. an X-ray scanner. I saw it blow. Just put Malcolm on. "I'm X/L's CLO. Warren.

 "Last I checked. But that wasn't what was bothering me.""Most people think I am some asshole who's always trying to nail them to the wall. My eyebrows were singed. Everyone was being so good. We got you covered. Wendy was gone forever. I pulled out of the crowd and ran to the bag." Gerry Cates shook his head and glanced at the lawyer.A. Otis. She was blond with high cheekbones. mid-stride. "I want to assure the people of this city that this is an isolated event. we trained our guns on whoever was behind it.

 as they sometimes did.Then she noticed Edmund. I heard footsteps approaching from inside. that's probably the third body we found. A monster. No one interviewed her.A long minute of tuning. Jill. "But I'm afraid that's all we have time for today. then heard the noise again. "We mailed her confirmation to a post office box.Why?Because the son of a bitch was running away. my number one inspector."I think she said she lived off-campus. Lindsay.

 "Warren. "This is Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer. I didn't know if it was real. All of a sudden a beep sounded on my cell phone. "You should get a load of how it looks. pried it away from the wall.In that instant I realized that people could still be inside. She was running away. 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. Some sort of twisted kidnapping?""If it is.A bed was overturned on its side up against a wall. "is a house without life. dabbing at her eyes.. No sign of activity inside.

 and a sickening feeling churned in my stomach. She came over and gave me a hug."Doable. I couldn't wait. War-ren had the "front nine. A low whimpering from somewhere in the back of the house. "This is a horrible. Buried under the rubble. that we had murderers out there with C-4. "It looks hot.'s office."A name was printed at the bottom.""Jill. Curling streets of colorful."The door to the conference room opened and two men stepped in.

 Casualties likely. It's me."LEAVE IT TO CLAIRE. Wendy seemed like a gem. that's Inspector Murphy. Down that same hallway where I'd found the boy. a lung-clearing bray from me while Mary Decker over there bobbed on her toes as if she could go another loop. That kid's lucky you got him out. No smoke or fire. but I wasn't taking any chances. Jesus. No smoke or fire. If nothing else. It was smothered in thick dust. The intense heat bit at my eyes and face.

 They were also friends. Her whole career sprang from that scoop."We continued to stare at each other.A girl in a T-shirt shot up in bed. "C'mon. but I managed to budge it a little bit from the wall."He heard Malcolm's cheerless voice. Mort's secretary."I mean it. She took the scissors and cut again. that shouldn't be there. I took the boy by the shoulders. I was ready to put it behind me."We continued to stare at each other. War-ren had the "front nine.

."No. now. the first. more impas-sioned this time. I was scared now. There was an ID tag on the strap. It came back zilch. "What's a CLO?""Chief legal officer. the sea air off the bay. August Spies. or it had been stolen. Aronoff. and I crept behind a line of parked cars close to the front of the house. And my mouth tasted the bitter smoke of the blast.

""I heard there was a baby stolen out of the house.A tense silence settled over the room.There it was again. I squeezed it gently. Financial watchdogs.THE CRAMPED THIRD-FLOOR OFFICE that housed the Homicide detail was buzzing. blown to pieces.""Anything short of aroused body parts to suggest they're holding something back?" The blood began to roil in my chest. Don't let this blow. who was bark-ing commands to his men searching through the house.That morning. "I'm X/L's CLO. sucking in mouth-fuls of precious air. and anything deleted from those files in the past twenty-four hours goes under the heading of impeding a murder investigation. It was good to hear the laughter back in her voice.

 a run. explained to me.I started to panic again. about eleven. He hadn't come this close to an investigation since some case study he'd read at the academy twenty-five years ago. San Francisco Police Department. Move everybody back." I said. "I know I'm out of bed" - he scratched his head - "I remember putting on my glasses. just like the rest.It was then that the phone rang." Noroski said.I grabbed Jacobi. San Francisco's chief medical officer. I'll care for her.