It was dark...dark and quiet as a tomb. The only sound was the muffled tick of my Timex and the piston pounding of my heart.I was cornered like an alley cat. I reached out to touch the wall with my left hand and felt...nothing. It was a hallway leading to the back of the bungalow. Still crouching, I duckwalked into the passage, bracing for a slug in the guts that didn't come. I moved slowly down the hall toward a dim but lighter area... I stopped, seeing a figure in the doorway in profile. I placed the snout of the Beretta against her forehead."Drop it."

The pistol clattered to the floor. I fumbled for the switch, found it. The grimy room flooded with light. She stood in front of me, her green eyes wide with terror. She had long raven hair, full lips...she looked like Salma Hayek's more attractive sister."Who the hell are you?" I asked.

"I'm sorry..I..I thought you were someone else." Tears rolled down those amazing cheek bones. "I'm Mrs. Gentry! My husband was murdered yesterday!"

My mind locked up for a second, a little message appeared This program has committed a fatal error and will be shut down. It took 30 seconds to re-boot my brain. "And you are...?"

She pulled me tightly to her. "Baby Gentry," she whimpered.