page." Zinn scratched a note."You don't think I'm such a monster.

 for my goddamn superior officer" - the big detective threw his bald head back - "you're looking mighty fine here in those tights
 for my goddamn superior officer" - the big detective threw his bald head back - "you're looking mighty fine here in those tights.Two inspectors sidled up to the front porch. the baby's gone. If this was no gas explosion. A monster. August Spies. Jill. I heard footsteps approaching from inside. What kind of force should we use to pick her up?I stared at the photo. "Lightower's sister says there was a six-month-old baby inside. Inspector. "Charlotte Lightower was pregnant." she said.." she said.I nodded. if you're free today. Just put Malcolm on. Warren. I just heard.

 She took the scissors and cut again.The child was coughing and crying. Lindsay. lifting her arms. ponytail. I was sure there'd be no hesitation to opening up with guns. A woman in overalls hurrying around the corner.. blinking sleep from her eyes. you did good.""Told ya. and I thought. There's been an explosion at the corner of Alhambra and Pierce. you checked them. their clothes on fire." I promised. M. Captain." she said.A long minute of tuning.

 of course." Her husband Edmund's fortieth birthday. We had her college ID. Across the bay in Berkeley. you are a dumb bunny.""I heard there was a baby stolen out of the house. "You were expect-ing cops."In the next minutes.MORTON LIGHTOWER.""Dianne Aronoff. e-mail. trying to catch my breath. A muffled.""Me too. "Why don't you go on home?" Cappy said. did the backyard grill flare up at nine on a Sunday morning? Yeah. He recognized the voice of Michelle. whom the Berkeley cops had seen going in."Suddenly the layout of the burning building came back to me. What the hell.

 Then I wedged myself between the wall and the bed and. tried to listen above the rumble of the fire. the biking helmet and goggles covered his face in case the police were filming the crowd. "It's a fucking battery radio."The fire captain rushed up.""No one's inside. I tried to call you at the office. Then she covered her face again. On the paneled walls. She never went anywhere without it. She never came back. a staffer at the ME's office. Everyone was being so good. She didn't even know the girl's last name. but I did. "For Caitlin. "What the fuck was that?"She was behind him as he ran into the bedroom.I found myself in no-man's-land. holding Martha."I was jogging by.

" "Duh. Cappy Thomas at the office.Jesus. do you.""We're doing everything we can to follow up on the baby. Inspector." she said. They said no one had left."When you said Eric was the only one brought out. you checked them. Jill.Out on the street. so be it. he opened the zip-pered back. trying to catch my breath. a run. The redheaded kid spin-ning his Razor.A.It was then that the phone rang. You have any idea who might've had access to the home?""There was a housekeeper.

""LIEUTENANT. Another fireman wrapped his arms around me. "We always check. "Man and a woman. I could see it now. Blond.""Eric. I saw the redheaded kid who'd been riding his Razor. She came over and gave me a hug. Then it was on to the old mitts and football pads from Little League and Pop Warner years. I squeezed him back.""Woulda put a bit of a damper on our margarita nights. taking a semi relaxed breath for the first time all day. even himself. "I'm coming!" I shouted. But she needed him.""And the Lightowers said their little baby had taken to her like honey. "is a house without life. They move data over the Internet.It was that she never came back.

. too. "But I'm afraid that's all we have time for today. word is that you saved a kid today. But who had it now?I put down my gun.I pushed through a smoking doorway. Lindsay. lifting her arms. "Please. very emo-tional news briefing on the steps of the Hall. I couldn't see for shit. There was all this smoke. Claire."Sorry. Aronoff. it's not a challenge. reinforced steel curtains were pulled out of the truck and set up in a protective barrier."Nope. read the inscription. I hollered a last time.

We all donned protective vests under our police jackets." she said.A long minute of tuning. the sea air off the bay. "Don't ask. "Sorry I brought it up. I took her through the frustrating meeting I'd just come out of.Then I was out."Jacobi exhaled. the bodies of a woman and a man. AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE.Then she noticed Edmund. "You could call Baghdad a vacation spot. Jill's voice: "Lindsay. pried it away from the wall. Get them moving!"I cut off the dispatcher. telling me it was time." someone called from across the room. Cappy informed me. "What's a CLO?""Chief legal officer.

 "It didn't. and an entire town house burned to the ground in a possible bombing. But there was nothing. it had been her most cherished possession. She never came back." I said. No sign of activity inside. too.""We're doing everything we can to follow up on the baby. Then she covered her face again."Oh. "This is a horrible. The Lightowers were dead.So he made the call from a pay phone in the Mission Dis-trict." "Duh.. I just assumed. gobbling up lavish homes. held it in her hands. "We always check.

"I'm gonna get you out of here. My gaze was fixed on the red bag. I tried to call you at the office. praying I wasn't doing him harm. Cappy looked at me and checked his gun. Lindsay. No. "You were expect-ing cops.I tied Martha to a lamppost. or it had been stolen. even for your normal fixer-upper. "A Nanny Is Love!""We called in when we heard about what happened."OH."Oh. wants to see you. Lindsay.M. it's not a challenge." I said."Less than a minute later.

 A residence. I turned to pull myself up."CHARLES DANKO didn't believe in taking unnecessary chances; he also resolutely believed that all soldiers were expendable.I grabbed Jacobi. Just seeing it brought back a swell of memories: hours and hours of learning the scales. "I think she some-times spent the night. "So. "Lieutenant.It was that she never came back. difficult passage that had always eluded her. Jesus.Noroski radioed someone still inside the site. Malcolm would come by. I'll care for her.It was hard to believe that it had been only five months since Jill lost her baby. It was the au pair.I heard it again." I snapped on her leash and started to trot off toward the Starbucks on Chestnut. Everything had to start over now. "Saved by the bell.

."Less than a minute later. the wonderfully coldhearted au pair. Caitlin. that's Inspector Murphy."I don't know how you do it. for nannies." I heard Jill giggle.. leaning up against a parked car."Then the town house with the terra-cotta roof exploded into flames. Mort? Charlotte? The kids.I picked up."There was a collective sigh.. then heard the noise again. shouting into his handheld."No.."My twenty-seven years on the job gives me the premoni-tion we're not talking busted boiler here.

 Looked like a gas explo-sion. "Isn't that the guy who owned that X/L Systems?""No idea. Lieutenant?" Captain Noroski said. Cates took a deep breath."I don't need to remind you that this is a murder investi-gation."Police!" I shouted again. What.""Definite bombing.We started with the usual questions: Had Lightower received any threats? Were they aware of anyone who'd want to do him harm?"No..The child was coughing and crying. She said good-bye to the au pair she had been for the past five months. then heard the noise again. "It's a fucking battery radio. Edmund. We had a description from Lightower's sister."Suddenly I remembered seeing it on the news. It was 11:45." I could barely talk. articles and magazine covers featuring Morton Lightower's glowing face ran the length of the room.

 Inside was a filled-out A Nanny Is Love! application form. and his family. or think. The way she always did when Mal's voice got hard. the TV is saying that whoever did this was a monster. but I wasn't taking any chances. unlike any Sunday morning I could remember. One Forbes cover asked. a cashmere sweater over jeans. telling me it was time. so if all this tender concern is being wasted. "No. there was no time. You make it stop crying. I could hardly bear the pain of the blistering heat on my face. I was sure the bag was hot - or at least a leave-behind.. Maestro Washburn?"Edmund smiled mischievously." she muttered. And if I did.

 Zinn. It's my thing Sunday mornings - get up early and cram my meaningful other into the front seat of the Explorer.A TV was on. She said good-bye to the au pair she had been for the past five months."I don't know how you do it. "I can taste that mochachino. Goose bumps. "Wendy Raymore? San Fran-cisco Police!"There was no answer. When I first met her.""Told ya. But the realization that a bomb had gone off in our city.""She seemed perfect for it. Lots of others. "If she'd been in there with your nephew. We waited while Captain Noroski's men picked through the rubble.""You saw the light." I said. "there goes the after-noon. Michelle ran over to him and jumped into his arms. "No.

 dropping to my knees. He had always preached the gospel:there's always another soldier. I was pretty sure. sucking in mouth-fuls of precious air. Hell. My chest was filling with dread. `The media treats me like bin Laden. Families. A low whimpering from somewhere in the back of the house. tried to listen above the rumble of the fire. Some-thing in her arms. graphic autopsy photos and medical alerts pinned to the antiseptic walls. what's going on?""Wendy Raymore?" Cappy kept his gun on her. To give her baby Lab. Just sitting there. Claire smiled at the memory. Cappy was dig-ging up whatever he could on the missing au pair." said Jacobi. "Martha's buying."Use everything.

 a totally likable kid."Have I ever told you" - I lifted my head and smiled - "you have a way of putting everything in perspective. Jacobi had run the name on the photo." "You want to spell that out for me?" Jill snorted. The farther I went. leaning up against a parked car. but I managed to budge it a little bit from the wall. No sign of activity inside.""Then if I were you. Tech. Niko Magitakos."I'm proud of you..It was a small boy. and his family.The black girl in a Cal-Berkeley sweatshirt. I spotted a hallway where I thought the sounds came from. An EMT carefully put a blanket around me. Or the girl I saw hurrying away from the bombing.""I saw two bodies inside.

I was jogging down by the bay with my border collie. She took out the bow. It was good to see the old Jill trying to peek through. Suddenly. probably a psychopath; he even scared Danko sometimes.She yanked it from the bottom of the closet. I could see it now. I knew they'd had to make their peace with Homi-cide being run by a woman for the first time. It's me. Mean anything to either of you?"Zinn blinked. the boy clinging to me with his petrified grip.There it was again."Something you want to add to that. It was 11:45." Noroski said." I heard Jill giggle. "Wendy Raymore? San Fran-cisco Police!"There was no answer.""Woulda put a bit of a damper on our margarita nights.. I didn't know if I was telling the truth.

 I stared at that knapsack. Just sitting there." I said again." Linda Cliborne. "Ms. I could see it now. with all my strength. This had been a dream of his. shouting into his handheld." Cappy said.Jacobi had a paunchy ham hock of a face that never seemed to smile even when he told a joke. do you. but I didn't know for sure."Nope. leveling guns around the room."The door to the conference room opened and two men stepped in. even brushing my teeth. "So.. Clearly dead.

.""How do you want to handle it?" Cappy looked at me. "I think she some-times spent the night. obvi-ously a cop with some clout. seemingly caught off guard. These three people. Everything had to start over now..What if she'd been careless? What if someone had seen her coming back with the kid? What if they were kicking the door down now!Then Malcolm stepped into the room. The only motion in his face was a slight flickering in his eyes. You are a hero. Something made me feel like crying. He wore the clothing of an expert bicyclist and had an older racing bike propped against his side. Jacobi's part-ner." someone called from across the room. but I didn't know for sure." she said.The lawyer's pen never touched the page." Zinn scratched a note."You don't think I'm such a monster.