Silent Fall

few days off. Vacations were for people who wanted to relax, to think, to philosophize, and he wanted to do none of the above. Too much time on his hands would only make him feel that much more reckless.
    "I'm fine. I don't need a break," he said.
    "I figured you'd say that. By the way, that P.I. friend of yours stopped by the paper today. Want to tell me what you're working on?"
    "It doesn't involve the paper."
    "So it must have something to do with why you surprised the hell out of me by actually accepting my job offer and leaving Chicago," David said, obviously fishing.
    "Could be."
    "We've been friends a long time, Matthew. I'm going to have to pull rank on you and insist on the truth."
    Matt laughed. "You can try."
    "I can do my own investigation."
    "If you were any good at investigating, you'd be writing the stories instead of editing them."
    "Now that hurts. Did anyone ever tell you that you wield honesty like a blunt instrument to the head?"
    "And your point is?"
    Matt's attention drifted as David launched into a long-winded reminder of how any investigation Matt was involved in could ultimately affect the newspaper. Matt didn't bother to interrupt. He simply stared out at the lights of San Francisco weaving like drunken sailors up and down the city hills. It was a staggeringly good view, but most days he wondered what had possessed him to take this tenth-floor apartment in PacificHeights. The burnished hardwood floors, the big bay window, the ultramodern kitchen felt wrong. This wasn't him. He was back alleys and bad neighborhoods, Chinese take-out and cigarette smoke. But somehow David had convinced him that a new location might change his perspective.
    "How's Jackie?" Matt interrupted, knowing if there was anything guaranteed to distract David, it was his wife.
    "Whining about getting fat. She asked me today if she looked like a glowing pregnant woman or a fat penguin."
    'Tell me you chose glowing pregnant woman."
    "Glowing penguin wasn't good enough?"
    "I hope you like sleeping on the couch."
    "It's warmer than our bed these days. Sometimes I wonder why I ever wanted to have a kid."
    "Well, you'll need someone to mow the lawn someday."
    "Thanks for the reminder. That might get me through tonight's cravings. Jackie usually gets hungry just about the time I'm falling asleep." David paused. "You know, I must have babies on the brain, because I can almost hear one crying."
    Matt frowned and turned his head toward the door as the crying grew louder.
    "It's not your imagination. I hear it, too." Another shriek made Matt pause. "I'll talk to you later." He put the phone down and walked to the door. The only other tenant on this side of the L-shaped building was a single woman he had yet to meet. He opened the door, but there was no one there. Actually, there was someone there, way down there...
    On the floor, in a car seat, was a tiny baby with a few strands of fuzzy black hair on its head, red cheeks, teary eyes, and a mouth that screamed in fury. "What the hell?" Matt looked around the empty hallway, wondering where on earth the baby's mother was.
    "Okay, just be quiet for a second, would you?" He squatted down next to the baby and patted the baby's head, which only seemed to make him -- or was that her -- more angry.
    "Where is your mother?" Matt asked, the uneasy feeling returning to his gut.
    He looked at the door across the hall and hesitated. There appeared to be a light on, but it was almost midnight. Still, what choice did he have? Leaning over, he pounded on the door. A moment later, a female called out, "Who is it?"
    "It's your neighbor."
    "I can't see you," she said warily.
    Matt stood up and looked straight into her peephole. "I'm here."
    "What were you doing on the floor?"
    "Looking at your baby."
    "My what ?"
    "Open the door, would you?"
    "I don't think so."
    "Look, we have a problem out here. Someone left a baby in the hall."
    Silence followed, then she said, "All right. But I have my phone, so if you're trying something funny --"
    "I'm not."
    Another brief pause, then the door opened the width of a security chain. A woman's face appeared in the crack, a vision of blond curls, white lace, and some sort of filmy veil.
    Matt blinked rapidly, wondering if he'd conjured up a bride to go with the baby on his doorstep.
    The woman pulled the veil away from her face, and he saw that her cheeks were flushed, her brown eyes overly bright. "What do you want?" she asked, a breathless note in her