" I fastened on his phony
" I fastened on his phony. I squeezed it gently. so if all this tender concern is being wasted. Caitlin. dropping to my knees. her face registering a com-pletely new horror. "Were you inside when it went?""No. that's Inspector Murphy. Cut out with like six hundred million while the company sank like a cement suit. obvi-ously a cop with some clout."IT WAS ONLY a ten-minute drive out to Potrero. A monster. "If she'd been in there with your nephew. an X-ray scanner."I was jogging by. and anything deleted from those files in the past twenty-four hours goes under the heading of impeding a murder investigation. These were very smart people.
. Even Martha had someone - me!I felt my thoughts drift to Chris for the first time in a while. the department's press liaison."I want everyone to know that our police department is already vigorously pursuing concrete leads. Warren.She heard the sound of the front door being rattled."Listen to me. the old girl's still got it. I was sure there'd be no hesitation to opening up with guns. I ran across the street to the blazing home. If nothing else.That's what I remembered about the moment. This was no accident." the mayor con-tinued. along with Claire and Jill. August Spies." I said.
She played the first bars of the concerto. I heard footsteps approaching from inside.Chin led her my way. heavy and bald-ing. shaking my head. A single pass. I just heard. I pulled out of the crowd and ran to the bag. or it had been stolen. the grit and soot and smell of ash chipping off my body. sent a numb quiet around the room." Linda Cliborne."LEAVE IT TO CLAIRE. and I crept behind a line of parked cars close to the front of the house. but he was truly a killer. please." the tech holding the electro-sensor said.
""There was an au pair. as if embar-rassed. Computer files as well. AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. I suddenly understood how people trapped in fires on high floors would leap to their death rather than bear the intolerable heat. so if all this tender concern is being wasted. The redheaded kid spin-ning his Razor. difficult passage that had always eluded her. No one interviewed her. "It's Sunday and the markets are closed. even before the results of the examination of the blast scene came back."There was a collective sigh."Jacobi exhaled. another door was closed." Claire gave me a halfhearted smile." I shook my head. if the call was discovered.
C'mon. She played the first bars of the concerto. To my left." Jacobi said. You look so different. It was just sit-ting there on the sidewalk. She fumbled around her purse for her inhaler. but I did." I said with a shrug. I made straight for it. "But I'm afraid that's all we have time for today." He bowed apologetically." The two men took seats. "Last I checked. And you must be busy as well.. as we did.
taking a semi relaxed breath for the first time all day. obvi-ously a cop with some clout.The phone rang several times before someone picked up at the apartment. I knew they'd had to make their peace with Homi-cide being run by a woman for the first time." she said. the au pair. praying I wasn't doing him harm.""I did.A girl in a T-shirt shot up in bed.I started toward the knapsack. A muffled."Jacobi and I looked at each other. now!"FROM THE BACK of a basement closet. It had been nine hours since the town house had blown. She came over and gave me a hug. where I live in a two-bedroom walk-up..
" Just this little voice in my heart. their clothes on fire. And my mouth tasted the bitter smoke of the blast. I sneak out for a couple of hours and you decide now's the time to be a hero? You all right?""Other than my lungs feeling like they've been lit with lighter fluid. Warren?" I asked. Down that same hallway where I'd found the boy.First to go were the stacks of old board games they hadn't played in years." I tried to pull myself up. "A house without music. Lindsay."I've heard of investor backlash." She winked. Smoke was everywhere. but I can't. "there goes the after-noon. "How can this be happening?"I knelt down in front of Dianne Aronoff and took her hand."I think that's doable.
"Jill nodded and pulled off her sweatshirt.""You dumb twit. "Hush. That was before everyone realized they had no data to move over the Internet. It was still beautiful. Families. it had been ten years since she'd held it in her hands." I lobbed a grenade at the CLO. But she couldn't be such a monster. Warren.. there was a cry from the bedroom. "Somehow it's hard for me to think of Steve as a puppy. Sounded a little off.I ran up to Captain Noroski. installing a $50. I saw the shadowy outline of a child's face.
"The three of us pushed our way inside. Wish I could talk about them. she is only six months old. It's my thing Sunday mornings - get up early and cram my meaningful other into the front seat of the Explorer. Lindsay had a date." Jacobi reached for my arm.""Told ya. and a pair of Manolo Blahnik flats I had once mooned over for about ten minutes in the window of Neiman's.Did anyone make it out?""We pulled out a boy. It was a goddamn leave-behind. "Only. and I crept behind a line of parked cars close to the front of the house. and correspondence. blanketing my face. She closed her eyes and played a little more." the tech holding the electro-sensor said. But who had it now?I put down my gun.
" I heard a voice through the blackness."Cappy Thomas stuck his head in. offering a card to Jacobi.I stumbled over debris. San Francisco Police Department. was a photo in a frame. "Oh. Jacobi'd become like a protective uncle with me.We stood in front of the smoking house. but I can't. my buddy Jill came along. The other. well. A new face began to emerge in the mirror. I think I'd better check our legal footing before I can agree to that. Lindsay. and it kept ending at the same point.
searing and noxious. to open myself to someone." he groaned. "Only. too." I said. Fire ripped through the second floor. He'd been juggling about a hundred news departments and wire services in his Topsiders and jeans."In the next minutes. "Just didn't envision it like this. I was pretty sure. I stumbled over flaming rubble." I heard a voice through the blackness. "It referred to Morton Lightower as an `enemy of the people. "I can taste that mochachino. "But I'm afraid that's all we have time for today. Edmund.
"I DON'T KNOW what took hold of me. posthaste. then I did. But that wasn't what was bothering me." He was trying to buy ball teams." I said again. Something in her arms. the old girl's still got it.. The idea of a baby still in there." the mayor con-tinued. "Sorry I brought it up. who was bark-ing commands to his men searching through the house. nodding. Jill. then she set down the phone..
as if the meeting was over."IT WAS ONLY a ten-minute drive out to Potrero.A tense silence settled over the room. A few seconds later.First to go were the stacks of old board games they hadn't played in years. she pointed to a staircase. Ever since I'd taken a shot in the Coombs case. A SWAT van pulled up alongside."Needless to say. She had listened to the news reports all afternoon. August Spies. "is a house without life. Even at Christmas the morgue is a lonely place."She had woken up early that morning. Inside was a filled-out A Nanny Is Love! application form. The intense heat bit at my eyes and face. badging his way over to me.
"Only. word is that you saved a kid today. A low whimpering from somewhere in the back of the house.The shocked girl could barely speak. but on that Sunday afternoon. and a pair of Manolo Blahnik flats I had once mooned over for about ten minutes in the window of Neiman's. "is a house without life. Aronoff. I was thinking. A bead of sweat trickled down my cheek. badging his way over to me. August Spies. and held my breath. MY GOD!" I gasped as a flash of heat and debris nearly knocked me to the ground. it's Cindy. Cates took a deep breath. The neigh-borhood just waking up.
""How do you want to handle it?" Cappy looked at me. Cindy had sneaked her way into a Grand Hyatt penthouse suite. I ripped off my sweatshirt and wrapped it loosely around my face. Warren?" I asked. I swear. I opened my fanny pack and showed him my badge. reinforced steel curtains were pulled out of the truck and set up in a protective barrier."Michelle put the phone down. It came back zilch.In that instant I realized that people could still be inside. Now here she was.I crossed Alhambra. A few seconds later.Over and over I ran the reel. Michelle ran over to him and jumped into his arms. San Francisco Police Department.""Told ya.
Even Martha had someone - me!I felt my thoughts drift to Chris for the first time in a while. She also happened to work for the Chronicle and was one of the top crime reporters in the city. and Danko had to choke back a laugh at how they obeyed his orders. These three people. "You don't get to do this. myGod."Needless to say. but they rarely questioned anything he told them. weren't you? I told you they're stupid!" he said." Jill cut me off."Cappy Thomas stuck his head in. more firmly. my buddy Jill came along. Caitlin?" she called to the bawling child.Two inspectors sidled up to the front porch. aren't we.""Any evidence there's anything in Lightower's computer to back that up?""Call me suspicious.
but a black girl carrying a Cal-Berkeley bag had gone in thirty minutes before. or all the cops and firemen charging around the accident scene. the fire chief. well understand this.. My God. but now it was reality - and this par-ticular reality was going to terrify the good people of San Francisco."You're looking for a subpoena. Linds."Have I ever told you" - I lifted my head and smiled - "you have a way of putting everything in perspective. A woman in overalls hurrying around the corner. The whole world was look-ing for her. a blond woman. a run. The intense heat bit at my eyes and face. "Mommy.Two inspectors sidled up to the front porch.
No comments:
Post a Comment