I real-ized I could die in there. They said no one had left. Ms.

 She started to shriek: "Oh
 She started to shriek: "Oh. She's done nothing wrong.A. "I'm Captain Ed Noroski. I pushed across a copy of the photo. I just heard.""Is that a dare. my buddy Jill came along. still in his pajamas. She fumbled around her purse for her inhaler. holding Martha. Now here she was. still tied to the post. "Ms. Cindy had sneaked her way into a Grand Hyatt penthouse suite. It was impossible to hear above the roar of the flames.It was priceless and it said so much about the human con-dition. Buried under the rubble..

 weren't you? I told you they're stupid!" he said.I wished I had someone's arms to slide into. Also.""I saw two bodies inside." Claire gave me a halfhearted smile. The name rang a bell with Jacobi.The shocked girl could barely speak. Just sitting there. "You don't get to do this. "You could call Baghdad a vacation spot. August Spies." I said. And if I did. A fireman. it was Martha. Something in her arms. AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. "Don't get cranky. I punched in 911.

 I just heard. It led you out?" Claire smiled. "Look. It was smothered in thick dust. the au pair.""Can't. and we'll find whoever did this horrible thing. Edmund was still sleeping.""Not for Eric. The name rang a bell with Jacobi. e-mail." His CSU team was still picking through the scene. vin-dictive tragedy. What he meant was. a blond woman.Jacobi had a paunchy ham hock of a face that never seemed to smile even when he told a joke. I pushed across a copy of the photo. So if that's all there is" - he stood and smiled - "I'm sure you'd like to get on to talking with Helene. "The ones who matter know.

"They lifted the backpack into the protective truck as Niko knelt in front of it. and my brain was shouting out that it was wrong - dead wrong. I was ready to put it behind me.M.." Claire said. my God. He had always preached the gospel:there's always another soldier. if someone happened to be on the scene." He nodded. Need full medical and fire support. In the morgue. I guess you could quote me on that. But that wasn't what was bothering me. I noticed that my hands were still trembling." he said. Suddenly. I saw the redheaded kid who'd been riding his Razor. I stopped.

 The neigh-borhood just waking up. for nannies."Malcolm pushed her face in front of the child. The town house I had just admired was now a shell."LET THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE BE HEARD. choking immediately on the gray.MORTON LIGHTOWER. A quilt folded up that was now just a dust convention.. and after a cup of coffee on the deck. She never went anywhere without it. That kid's lucky you got him out.. I was scared now. I knew they'd had to make their peace with Homi-cide being run by a woman for the first time."I was hoping to catch up with you sometime today. One look at the SWAT team and she let out a startled scream. "Would you be asking me if your goddamn superior officer happened to be a man?""Damn right." The CLO straightened his pad.

 we're horrified around here. "Morton and Charlotte Lightower were among our city's most generous and involved citizens. There was all this smoke. "The Creed of Greed guy. I had saved his life. "Oh."Jill nodded and pulled off her sweatshirt. we doin' suits and ties tomorrow.." Chuck Zinn arched back in his chair. " 'cause it occurred to me that you needed a good hug.That morning. The second floor was gone. "I'm Captain Ed Noroski. articles and magazine covers featuring Morton Lightower's glowing face ran the length of the room." Dianne Aronoff shook her head. Claire looked around.' "Jacobi switched gears. Wendy was a name for Peter Pan.

 Move everybody back. it was Martha.""I may not outrank you.She had her hair pulled back tightly. If nothing else.."Claire moved over to a table and started to take off her surgical gloves..""Noted. No match on any name or group.""Of course we can work something out. the au pair. even for your normal fixer-upper."I heard what you did."I think that's doable. but whoever named it sure has a twisted sense of humor. "Warren. it's not a challenge. Please.

 Both of them had double my time on the force.I stopped. "Last I checked.""How do they go. They were also friends." She winked. What a performance she'd put on.""Then if I were you." I said.Claire lifted her cello out of the felt mold. We headed outside. grinning. A new face began to emerge in the mirror."IT WAS A CLEAR. or all the cops and firemen charging around the accident scene. are you?""I can't do this for you. holding Martha. I just did what I thought was right." I said.

 That was before everyone realized they had no data to move over the Internet. you called me down here. A redheaded kid in a FUBU sweatshirt practicing tricks on his Razor."I don't know why I found that so sad. I'm afraid they're our matters now."I frowned.Michelle lowered her head into the sink and dumped a bottle of L'Or?al Red Sunset dye all over her. now it's something like sixty cents. piqued. What was left of it. it had been ten years since she'd held it in her hands. "Word on the street is. The other. "Isn't that the guy who owned that X/L Systems?""No idea. They were all here. "No."No way." I said. Suddenly.

 I was thinking. Computer files as well. they're crying you're bleeding the company. A SWAT van pulled up alongside. Aronoff." I said. Shit. A woman in overalls hurrying around the corner.Then I heard a muffled noise. I almost threw up.Did anyone make it out?""We pulled out a boy. My God. Now here she was." Jacobi said with a grin. "I can taste that mochachino. pushing my way through the billow-ing smoke." her partner added.. Judith took out a yellow file and pushed it across the table.

 and sitting down."I mean it." It always amazed me how quickly she got herself up to speed. But the realization that a bomb had gone off in our city. If the call was interrupted." she said.""Thank God!" she exclaimed. Smoke was everywhere. all right. "I went in to help.I stopped." Jacobi said. I was sure the bag was hot - or at least a leave-behind.I GULPED AIR and headed deeper into the collapsing house." I smiled and wiped a tear from the corner of my eye." I lobbed a grenade at the CLO.MORTON LIGHTOWER. their clothes on fire. and an entire town house burned to the ground in a possible bombing.

 In the morgue." I said. Then it was on to the old mitts and football pads from Little League and Pop Warner years. After the blast. I think he's going to be all right."Lindsay. I need you to think."There was a collective sigh. A quilt folded up that was now just a dust convention. I was sure the bag was hot - or at least a leave-behind. "You were expect-ing cops. The first movement of Haydn's Concerto in D. Lawyer." He nodded. "Ms. Inside was a filled-out A Nanny Is Love! application form. that's Inspector Murphy. and it kept ending at the same point. The farther I went.

 "I went in to help. "If anyone's holding something back. The beautiful."LET THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE BE HEARD. a blond woman. She closed her eyes and played a little more."You know anyone lives in a place like this with a boiler on the second floor?""No one I know lives in a place like this. If nothing else.""I did. my head had been filled with the annoying recollection of Franklin Fratelli. Now.Why?Because the son of a bitch was running away. next to the standard clock radio. "Yeah. with all my strength. Jill. she froze. horrified. I swear.

" I tugged on her leash. "Is anyone there?"The smoke felt like sharp razors slicing into my lungs. You sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" Jacobi bent down over me."I've heard of investor backlash.""Okay. We knew the place could be booby-trapped. You look so different. the grit and soot and smell of ash chipping off my body. I need you to think." Fratelli: "Listen. One Forbes cover asked. from a digital camera.. And the bundle in her arms? That was the Lightowers' baby!HER HAIR FELL in thick.Jacobi. but if anyone was in there. yanking her out of the doorway."Wendy Raymore?" Cappy barked."We continued to stare at each other.

 That was before everyone realized they had no data to move over the Internet. She played the first bars of the concerto. Wish I could talk about them.""LIEUTENANT. who helped found the company with Mort. watching her. "I think she some-times spent the night. if I'm five minutes late. "Last I checked. blinking sleep from her eyes. so be it." He nodded.Not with everything that had just gone on. "It's the office. before they send in the Arthur Ander-sen boys to do a little office tidying. Edmund. printed on paper. we trained our guns on whoever was behind it. her face registering a com-pletely new horror.

 I need you backat home base. He'd been juggling about a hundred news departments and wire services in his Topsiders and jeans.""We're doing everything we can to follow up on the baby. "We found the nurs-ery. Something made me feel like crying."C'mon. She didn't even know the girl's last name. Lindsay had a date. Cindy had sneaked her way into a Grand Hyatt penthouse suite. This boy was brilliant."She had woken up early that morning. And Tracchio. Jacobi'd become like a protective uncle with me. "I mean." I lobbed a grenade at the CLO. She said good-bye to the au pair she had been for the past five months. now!"FROM THE BACK of a basement closet. an X-ray scanner.""No one's inside.

 A low whimpering from somewhere in the back of the house.Suddenly. humanized them. Just a few more feet. The Internet honcho. We have three dead. Caitlin?" she called to the bawling child. "Is anyone there?"The smoke felt like sharp razors slicing into my lungs. but he was truly a killer. " 'cause it occurred to me that you needed a good hug. It couldn't be better. it was as if San Francisco were suddenly Beirut. "Wendy Raymore? San Fran-cisco Police!"There was no answer.Suddenly I realized just how exhausted I was." her partner. Get Magi-takos from the Bomb Squad up here. He hoped they had suffered greatly as they burned."I heard what you did." I said.

 backed up ominously toward the spot. "I did the right thing. Casualties likely. humanized them. Cappy informed me."Jill. I lifted the strap and read. but finally he'd done something." Just this little voice in my heart. "Don't get cranky.A red school knapsack. "It's the office.""Thank God!" she exclaimed. In the morning. my lungs.. Stick your tits in its mouth. "No."Jill.

It was that she never came back. Lindsay. to let him know I wasn't going to let him die. along with Claire and Jill. We have three dead. If this was no gas explosion. I was sure there'd be no hesitation to opening up with guns..""I saw two bodies inside. It was Freddie Rodriguez."There was a collective sigh." Jill cut me off. if you're free today. This had been a dream of his.M."Claire was looking drawn and helpless in her orange sur-gical scrubs. I real-ized I could die in there. They said no one had left. Ms.