Page 2 of 25 Alive

“Out where?” I asked her.

“He took the car,” she said.

Yes, I love her with all my heart, but this complicated daughter of ours is smart as well as so damned cute, she gets away with maddening behavior—all the time.

“Julie, this is what we cops call ‘pulling teeth.’ Just tell me where Dad went and why. Please.”

“Huh? What does ‘pulling teeth’ mean?”

“‘Pulling teeth’ means someone is saying as little as possible about what they know, so the other person must really work hard to get their little girl to tell.”

“Ohhhhh,” she said. “So, you want me to say that Daddy took Martha to the vet and he’ll bring breakfast home after?”

Talk of my elderly border collie, Martha, and her veterinarian in the same sentence turned my heart into a fist. I’ve known Martha longer than I’ve known Joe. I’d adopted her from a dog rescue, and it had been love at first sight for both of us. Lately, I’d been consciously ignoring signs of her aging, of her mortality.

I was scared, but I had to ask.

“Why did Daddy take her to the vet, Julie?”

“I’m not pulling your teeth, Mommy. Daddy didn’t say why. He just picked Martha up and said he was taking her down to the car.”

“Okay. That sounds … I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” Julie asked me.

“For—grrrrr—snapping at you. Okay, we’ve got to get dressed and eat something, then I’m taking you to the school bus.”

“I don’t know what to wear,” Julie said, bouncing out of bed and running for her room.

CHAPTER2

I KNEW WHAT to wear. Pushing worry for Martha into the back of my mind, I stripped the dry cleaner’s bag from one of my half dozen pairs of blue trousers. I did the same with a blue striped men’s tailored shirt, and once dressed, stepped into my regulation brown lace-up shoes.

I called Joe’s phone. No answer. Fear was back, morphing into panic. I pressed Redial again. I got his regular upbeat outgoing voicemail message.

I was in the bedroom brushing tangles out of my hair when I heard the front door open and Julie call out, “Daddddddddyyyyy!”

Joe was home, thank God. But Martha wasn’t with him. I came into the kitchen and saw he was scowling as he set a bag of pastries down on the kitchen counter.

“Hon? What’s wrong with Martha?” I asked.

He said, “Don’t know. She just seemed … lethargic. Doc’s going to run some tests on her.”

I sucked in a breath and Joe came over to give me a bighug. “Tests are good. Martha is having a CAT scan … I’ll call Dr. Clayton later.”

Julie reached her arms around her father’s waist and said, “Dogs get CAT scans?”

Joe was beginning to explain when my phone buzzed.

The text from Claire was brief and urgent.

Call me.

I tapped my phone right away and Claire picked up mid-ring.

“Linds. There’s been a murder. You should come before we move … the body.” She yelled away from the phone, “Hey. Step back.” Claire Washburn, San Francisco medical examiner and my BFF, sounded rattled. She came back on the line and told me she was on the path by the Lily Pond in Golden Gate Park, and that I should hurry.What the hell?

“On my way,” I told her. Now that Joe was back home, he could handle getting Julie off to school.

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