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I slipped off my shoes and, with painstaking quiet, unlocked the back door and turned the knob, as slowly as I could.

“Shh,” I heard somebody say. Not me.

I was lifting my Glock toward the sound, ready to squeeze off a shot, when the lights went on.

“SURPRISE!” said a couple of dozen voices in unison.

I’ll say! Jesus God, it was my friends and family. The female ones, at least. By some miracle, I didn’t fire a round. Thank goodness for safe-action pistols.

I gaped at the Mylar balloons, the green-and-yellow-wrapped presents, the three-wheel yuppie jogging stroller parked in the corner.

It wasn’t a home invasion after all. Not bad news or tragedy.

It was my baby shower!

And judging by the number of hands that shot up over open-mouthed, blood-drained faces, I guessed it had been a real surprise all around.

I lowered my sights from between my elderly Aunt Lucy’s eyes. She started breathing again.

“Look, Mommy,” my sister Michele’s four-year-old daughter said in the dead silence. “Auntie Lauren has a gun.”

“It’s all right, ladies,” Paul said, smiling as he hurried forward and helped me to reholster my weapon. He gave me a hug to help me recover.

“Why did you plan the shower for now? I’m only eleven weeks,” I whispered as he kissed me on the cheek.

“I wanted to make sure you got a shower before the move,” Paul said, turning back toward the crowd. “Now, smile. Big smile. Enjoy your party.

“It’s all right,” Paul repeated. “Just another day in the life of a hero cop. Thank God we have a fresh supply of diapers, huh? Who needs a drink?”

Chapter 95

THE SHOWER WAS A BIG SUCCESS — happy times for all, but especially for me. I had such good friends, and even my relatives were mostly nice. Life was finally starting to make some sense again. And then —

“Hey, stranger!” Bonnie Clesnik said, dropping her menu and almost knocking the table over as she hugged me in the middle of the Mott Street Dragon Flower the Sunday after the baby shower.

I looked around at the overly bright restaurant. There were cloudy-looking fish tanks everywhere. When my old CSU sergeant friend Bonnie called me to come out with her, I was thinking pub grub, home fries, a couple of Virgin Marys maybe.

I blinked as I picked up the menu and saw the picture of a turtle and a frog. Wow. Sunday brunch in Chinatown. I guess Bonnie had never had morning sickness herself.

“I can’t believe I missed your retirement party and your shower,” Bonnie said as we sat. “Someone on third shift called in sick, and wouldn’t you know it? I got the call.”

“Save the regrets, Bonnie,” I said, smiling. “It’s me here. This is great. Perfect.” As long as I can keep the Chinese food down.

“So,” Bonnie said midway through the dim sum. “All of a sudden, it’s so many changes for you. I would have thought they’d have to pry you off The Job with a hammer and a crowbar. I’m so happy for you and Paul, of course, but . . . I don’t know. I’ve seen how you work cases, Lauren. The glow in your eyes. How fearless you can be. I’m not the only woman cop you’ve inspired, either, by the way. I guess it’s hard for me to see you turn it all down and walk away. Somehow, I can’t see you as a soccer mom.”

Gee, Bonnie. Thanks for the vote of confidence, I thought. Wasn’t this supposed to be a celebration? Let the good times flow?

Suddenly, Bonnie laid down her chopsticks.

“Before I forget,” she said. “I have a gift.”

Bonnie removed a large manila envelope from her bag and handed it to me. I opened the flap.

“Just what I’ve always wanted,” I said, looking at the pages and then staring at my friend quizzically. “A computer printout.”

What was going on now?

“I received that on Friday from the FBI lab,” Bonnie said. She dabbed at her mouth with her napkin and looked into my eyes with kind concern. “It’s the results from the DNA sample I found on the tarp Scott Thayer was found wrapped in.”

The world whited out for a second as a sudden heat flash sizzled through me.

Our goddamned Neat Sheet! I actually remembered the picnic where Paul