Chicago private eye V.I. Warshawski knows from the start that Consuelo Alvarado`s baby is trouble. Consuelo is sixteen. Diabetic. And the daughter of a friend. When she goes into labor too early, even V.I.`s wild drive to get her to the hospital can`t save either Consuelo or her child. Soon V.I. is investigating possible malpractice at the emergency room--and falling for a doctor who works there. Mixing business and love is always bad medicine, but V.I. finds herself listening to her heart, not her head. And when a brutal murder and the violent destruction of a women`s clinic put her at the center of a very dirty conspiracy, justice may be the only remedy for a hurt that cuts deep...and chills right to the bone....