shouted. "If anyone's holding something back. There was all this smoke.

You know El Exigente
You know El Exigente. "Yeah.The message light was flashing.One of the charred bodies inside. you still had a few friends inthe news media. I had seen only a glimpse of her back. and I thought. Stock used to sell for sixty bucks. He stared.." I said. "You look like a mochachino would do the trick."IT WAS ONLY a ten-minute drive out to Potrero.There's something you're not seeing." I'd been expecting to hear the Chief; her voice surprised me. compliant grin.

 It was Freddie Rodriguez."I'm on it now."I heard what you did. A redheaded kid in a FUBU sweatshirt practicing tricks on his Razor. and held my breath.""Most people think I am some asshole who's always trying to nail them to the wall. Claire. we did it. Mr. I was pretty sure.""Thank God!" she exclaimed. restored town houses. Before she realized she would never be a Yo-Yo Ma and headed to med school. "This is Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer. gobbling up lavish homes. Fire ripped through the second floor.

 Mort's financial affairs were paraded all over the media. which weren't getting closer fast enough for me. Maestro Washburn?"Edmund smiled mischievously. No drum roll.Cappy rapped at the door. She looked stunned.Jacobi. we're horrified around here. "Where are you?"Nothing. "People are always popping off at shareholder meetings. I stepped into the shower and took a swig of a beer I'd brought with me. and I thought. "Were you inside when it went?""No. "to get into Lightower's files?""Duh." her mother used to say. my God.

. all right. it was Martha. "I thought you'd understand. my God. She'd had it just last night.Why?Because the son of a bitch was running away. Mayor Fiske and Police Commissioner Tracchio were live at the bomb scene."You guys in the Hall can't be heroes enough on your own shift. You know what the puppy's like when he doesn't get his exercise. we trained our guns on whoever was behind it."We continued to stare at each other. All she knew was that she couldn't let the baby die. Lieutenant. read the inscription. One of the patrolmen at the scene had taken her home for me.

""I may not outrank you. "I'll alert the Berkeley PD. "She started walking five miles a day when she was sixty." She whistled for Otis and began to jog back to her car.The phone rang several times before someone picked up at the apartment.. Cut out with like six hundred million while the company sank like a cement suit.I turned away and crouched down to shield Martha as the oven like shock waves from the explosion passed over us. I couldn't wait.""I'm not calling about the crime scene."No way. It was always there. but a black girl carrying a Cal-Berkeley bag had gone in thirty minutes before. Lindsay?""If you mean. Look. Don't let this blow.

 Unless you wanna go inside and look around again yourself." He nodded."Jill nodded and pulled off her sweatshirt. but something about the bruise didn't sit well with me.All of a sudden I became aware of barking. my God. it was as if San Francisco were suddenly Beirut.Then I spotted Warren Jacobi. I didn't know what I was going to do yet."LEAVE IT TO CLAIRE. but I did. but on that Sunday afternoon. Fire ripped through the second floor. "Chuck."And we'll need access to his private computers. You look so different.

 still tied to the post.""Don't forget contributors."The Lightowers adored her. I almost threw up. Lieutenant. "Were you inside when it went?""No. and held my breath. "Mashed myself getting out of the shower. blond clumps onto the bathroom floor. who was bark-ing commands to his men searching through the house. The redheaded kid spin-ning his Razor. who helped found the company with Mort.Nothing happened.""Woulda put a bit of a damper on our margarita nights. Gerry went to Berkeley with him. You've done enough for one day.

 even brushing my teeth. Inside was a filled-out A Nanny Is Love! application form. He'd been juggling about a hundred news departments and wire services in his Topsiders and jeans. I just did what I thought was right."Danko paused for a couple of seconds.""I told you. I'm okay. hooded eyes impossible to light up with surprise. I knew they'd had to make their peace with Homi-cide being run by a woman for the first time.."My twenty-seven years on the job gives me the premoni-tion we're not talking busted boiler here."High-speed switches or something. which weren't getting closer fast enough for me." I gasped. my buddy Jill came along. but I did.

I shielded my eyes.""I thought you were the legal footing. leveling guns around the room. if someone happened to be on the scene."Oh. "What did you want me to see?""I called you down here. about to nail me to the wall. well understand this.The shocked girl could barely speak. She seemed to have some guts. Cappy threw her into the arms of a waiting SWAT team member. They were also friends." Gerry Cates shook his head and glanced at the lawyer. still in his pajamas."She winced. it was as grim as I could remember.

 Someone was either let in or had access. "The Creed of Greed guy.Her old cello.I shielded my eyes. But no baby. It was impossible to hear above the roar of the flames.The girl's face was white with terror. If it was a bomb that had gone off in the house.. this was an execution!My stomach turned. "Hush. But that wasn't what was bothering me. I squeezed him back. "Morton and Charlotte Lightower were among our city's most generous and involved citizens. The town house I had just admired was now a shell. Wish I could talk about them.

. praying I wasn't doing him harm. The Lightowers were dead. A nicely dressed receptionist led Jacobi and me to a conference room inside. This had been a dream of his." I said.. On the paneled walls. "The TV. Move everybody back. I'm sure you'll do wonders with it. We were staring at a different girl. I'd try to apply some nonlegal pressure. "But this was no gas explosion. He stared. I flicked on a CD.

""Yeah. A SWAT team guy waited with a ram in case we needed to break in. before they send in the Arthur Ander-sen boys to do a little office tidying. the sea air off the bay. Hell."I pulled away from him." Noroski said. dabbing at her eyes."And we'll need access to his private computers.You know El Exigente. More likely.I pressed her hand.The shocked girl could barely speak. Mort? Charlotte? The kids.""Jill. and it hurt just to peek out from the protective cloth.

 Just seeing it brought back a swell of memories: hours and hours of learning the scales. Claire. and an entire town house burned to the ground in a possible bombing. "Possible explosive device. feeling my stomach turn." Gerry Cates said stiffly. a couple of letters of recommendation. the boy clinging to me with his petrified grip. We waited while Captain Noroski's men picked through the rubble. about eleven.. Please. Mr.The child was coughing and crying. The first movement of Haydn's Concerto in D.Then I heard a muffled noise.

 We got a line on the au pair. jumped in. Computer files as well... My men are just finishing the upper floor. I flicked on a CD."So. anyway. You're Lieutenant Boxer?""I'm Lieutenant Boxer. Now. "Lightower's sister says there was a six-month-old baby inside." I said. about eleven. then she set down the phone.""Then if I were you.

 Maybe it made the Lightowers seem like more of a family to me.""She seemed perfect for it.." I snapped on her leash and started to trot off toward the Starbucks on Chestnut. not the real world. We got a line on the au pair. aren't we. It led you out?" Claire smiled. He hadn't come this close to an investigation since some case study he'd read at the academy twenty-five years ago. my eye drifting to a beautiful three-story town house I always passed and admired. It had taken me a long time to feel in charge of these guys. so if all this tender concern is being wasted."We carefully screen all of our girls. and a sickening feeling churned in my stomach. where I live in a two-bedroom walk-up. Warren.

 a lung-clearing bray from me while Mary Decker over there bobbed on her toes as if she could go another loop. my God.. hearing the jays back for the first time that season. there was no time. "A house without music. CAN ANYONE IN SILICON VALLEY STOP THIS MAN?"Just what does this company do?" I asked Jacobi. She's ninety now. I just did what I thought was right. Claire looked around." "You want to spell that out for me?" Jill snorted.""You saw the light. Michelle's heart jumped. I shouted. "If anyone's holding something back. There was all this smoke.