Unbidden Garden — Baer Charlton

Life is splashing along for Hooker, as he cruises the South end of San Jose in his custom built 1959 Marmon tow-truck with his trusty side-kick Box, snoring between the seats. The serious end of fall has settled into a myriad of jumpstarts and drivers re-learning how to park in the middle of rain washed freeways. Blood ally is working overtime on its name. A rash of "suicide by oncoming car" takes over as IBM starts another round of layoffs that runs a cold blade through the lower ribs of the indentured Santa Clara valley. Mudslides make recoveries of wrecks over cliffs-dicey; and the unusual cold has done unkind things to many people. But for Hooker and the local police-it is just another fall with colder rain. A car recovery over a muddy cliff turns up a dead body; or more exact-four skeletons, and bags of curious jewelry and gold statues. It would all be a "walk away" for Hooker, but one of the skeletons is sporting a watch and dog tags that make it personal; very personal. And then Hooker desperately wishes for the warmth of summer.