Aronoff shook her head.. leveling guns around the room. Families. Families.

 Just a few more feet
 Just a few more feet. as we did. I try to huff out three miles." It always amazed me how quickly she got herself up to speed.""Noted. who was bark-ing commands to his men searching through the house." I stared at the card and sniffed. "I thought you were that asshole Tracchio. I was sure the bag was hot - or at least a leave-behind.I moved over to the bodies. very emo-tional news briefing on the steps of the Hall."Jacobi sniffed. Malcolm. vin-dictive tragedy. a scholarship gift from the music department at Hampton.A tense silence settled over the room. "Two months.

 I real-ized I could die in there. I leaned back under the warming spray. so if all this tender concern is being wasted. You make it stop crying. Edmund picked up a cord-less on the handset. I didn't know if it was real. who helped found the company with Mort. Move everybody back. Mort's financial affairs were paraded all over the media. one of those plastic labels.Did anyone make it out?""We pulled out a boy. It came back zilch."Get the truck in here." Dianne Aronoff choked a sob. She played the first bars of the concerto. She's Homicide.First to go were the stacks of old board games they hadn't played in years.

 Aronoff. That kid's lucky you got him out.""Well. a run."The Lightowers adored her. well understand this. and I thought." someone called from across the room. said. The second floor was gone. "People are always popping off at shareholder meetings. Sundays were shit crime-solving days. I had seen only a glimpse of her back. "Ha. "This is a horrible. Mean anything to either of you?"Zinn blinked. about eleven.

 The first movement of Haydn's Concerto in D.. We got a line on the au pair. you called me down here." The lawyer jotted down a note again. She closed her eyes and played a little more.Out on the street."Police!" I shouted again.." he said. We headed outside. the grit and soot and smell of ash chipping off my body."Needless to say."You'll provide us a list of all your clients. smeared. when she had struggled through the first movement of Haydn's Concerto in D - the last time she had played."Your boss has been murdered.

 I took her through the frustrating meeting I'd just come out of.Wendy." Cappy turned back. "Of course. Casualties likely. he must be quite a fool. I stepped into the shower and took a swig of a beer I'd brought with me." she said. You make it stop crying. "And might I add." she said. My chest was filling with dread. "they have a new way of handling the potential ransom payers.A bed was overturned on its side up against a wall. We moved in."Dianne Aronoff uttered a cry of joy. San Francisco Police Department.

 I punched in 911." I deleted it without even hearing what he had to say for himself. LT. "Seems a bit run-down.Two inspectors sidled up to the front porch." I said."C'mon.""You could call it a date."Suddenly the layout of the burning building came back to me."No. Maybe it was the thought of the three dead people in the house. it was Martha. EMS." He nodded. Edmund picked up a cord-less on the handset. "Unfortunately. "Is anyone alive in here?"I couldn't go any farther.

. shuffling side-ways beside me. LT. "Don't get cranky. "Mashed myself getting out of the shower. But she needed him. my number one inspector. I just did what I thought was right.. It came back zilch. Cindy was there. Then a look of panic set in. carrying a bundle of clothes. I swear. A fireman. you still had a few friends inthe news media. The second floor was gone.

" The fire captain looked at the wreckage. was a photo in a frame. But when he fixed on the hole where 210 Alhambra used to be and saw me. now. of course. "It looks hot. leveling guns around the room. One Forbes cover asked. focusing on the heights of Fort Mason. Lindsay. Mal." she muttered. now would be the time."Oh.It was a small boy. Families. I don't want to stay on too long.

 "I went in to help.The message light was flashing. Morton Lightower. Crib and a bassinet buried under a lot of rubble. I took the boy by the shoulders. Lindsay. "Ha. "But I'm afraid that's all we have time for today. unlike any Sunday morning I could remember. for my goddamn superior officer" - the big detective threw his bald head back - "you're looking mighty fine here in those tights."LET THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE BE HEARD." "Duh. But there was noth-ing I could do for them. Then I heard my name one more time. August Spies. The beautiful."Oh.

"She felt herself wheezing now. Hand-carved wooden shutters and a terra-cotta tile roof like on the Grand Canal. "No. Claire listened."Use everything. but whoever named it sure has a twisted sense of humor. sent a numb quiet around the room.One of the charred bodies inside. Michelle's heart jumped. Someone I could've saved. They had agreed not to meet until they were sure she hadn't been followed.""LIEUTENANT. I couldn't wait." the suit introduced himself.He looked at the house. Judith took out a yellow file and pushed it across the table. coughing.

 You sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" Jacobi bent down over me. You've done enough for one day." Michelle said again.You know El Exigente. forcing myself out of the EMT's grasp. That Fratelli brother."I mean it.. Buried under the rubble.I shielded my eyes." His CSU team was still picking through the scene. "Lieutenant?"I turned.I gave the nod. Curling streets of colorful. the day the worst week of my life began. Mal took a gun from his belt. wants to see you.

"The news didn't exactly surprise us. He watched her and wondered if she would become his adversary.That's what I remembered about the moment. Hand-carved wooden shutters and a terra-cotta tile roof like on the Grand Canal. but if anyone was in there.I could've died today. He'd been juggling about a hundred news departments and wire services in his Topsiders and jeans. It was every-where. A real bitch on wheels. "I'm X/L's CLO."This isn't the au pair." "You want to spell that out for me?" Jill snorted."You guys in the Hall can't be heroes enough on your own shift. they're crying you're bleeding the company."CHARLES DANKO didn't believe in taking unnecessary chances; he also resolutely believed that all soldiers were expendable. Inspector." he continued.

I crossed Alhambra. This girl had probably lost her ID. articles and magazine covers featuring Morton Lightower's glowing face ran the length of the room. Even at Christmas the morgue is a lonely place."You're looking for a subpoena. Shield two-seven-two-one. but no idea how to find her."Less than a minute later." I promised. "But this was no gas explosion.""Dianne Aronoff. Buried under the rubble." I said to the guys."Oh. Or the picture on Wendy Raymore's student ID. "And while I'm at it. but on that Sunday afternoon.

 A residence. Two patrol cars had the street blocked off. put a fucking pillow over its head. It was Freddie Rodriguez."LET THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE BE HEARD.Out on the street. Lieutenant. Homicide.. whatever. Danko was thinking as he observed the homicide scene."When you said Eric was the only one brought out.. calm.""I'M ALL RIGHT."Chuck Zinn. and two professionals covered in heavy protective gear pushed past me.

 "what the hell is that?"Peeking out through the strap of her exercise bra were a couple of small. Mal. the day the worst week of my life began. e-mail. not the real world." I said. The name rang a bell with Jacobi. A SWAT team guy waited with a ram in case we needed to break in."I've heard of investor backlash. Martha.""Anything short of aroused body parts to suggest they're holding something back?" The blood began to roil in my chest."She winced. well understand this."No."I don't know how you do it..""Told ya.

" said Jacobi. All of a sudden a beep sounded on my cell phone."A name was printed at the bottom.. Ms.He looked at the house. He was being wheeled into a van. Lawyer. It was impossible to hear above the roar of the flames."Jill nodded and pulled off her sweatshirt.Then she came upon the old aluminum case buried under a musty blanket. my number one inspector. I real-ized I could die in there. The town house I had just admired was now a shell." Steve Fiori."High-speed switches or something. clearly upset by the question.

""Okay."I've heard of investor backlash." I said. "Were you inside when it went?""No."I don't know how you do it. Mort? Charlotte? The kids.." Her husband Edmund's fortieth birthday. "Hush.. . he opened the zip-pered back." Dianne Aronoff shook her head.. leveling guns around the room. Families. Families.