Page 73 (2/2)

The sun grew brighter as Bannon drove through town, turning left at a ss on the other side of Wainsville Someone had made an effort to landscape around headquarters—yellow daffodils, the eye-popping yellow of crihtness He bet the chief of police approved

He parked in what had once been his slot and switched off the engine, looking up at the narros under the eaves They were too high to see in froht where they usually were Except him

Out of habit he used the reflection of the wire-gridded glass to look behind him as he went up the front steps What would it be like, he wondered, to not feel compelled to check every corner, every shadow, every er? But the habit of constant watchfulness had been drilled into him the hard way

Bannon spared a fraction of a second to check himself out before he opened the door His dark hair indblown and his jaas outlined with stubble after two days up at the cabin Forget the unifored-up leather jacket that had served him out in the woods Too bad He was here and he was on time Chief Hoebel would have to deal with him the way he was

His boots were old and they didn’ttile floor of the hallway as he walked down to the young officer on desk duty Fair-haired and freckled, Kyle Rasuy, a fact almost anyone could conclude just froun belt, laden with forty pounds of regulation-issue junk

“Can I help you?” Rasmussen studied him with curious, almost innocent blue eyes

It took Bannon a second to realize that the new cop didn’t recognize hi a word, he reached inside his jacket and flashed his badge The officer shrugged, looking a little surprised, and went back to reading a binder with bulleted lists and line illustrations, a manual on police techniques that no one took seriously Bannon suppressed a smile and headed down the hall where the chief’s office was locked

When he reached the outer office, Bannon flicked a glance at the closed door to the chief’s inner sanctum then focused on Chief Hoebel’s assistant behind the desk The blond and blue-eyed Jolene Summer had the phone cradled to her ear—with both hands That, and the low flirty tone of her voiceto her boyfriend

Looking up almost indifferently, she cupped a hand over the o out He said to leave your paperith me”

Irritated that he’d come this far to hear that, Bannon smiled at Jolene anyway and passed her thehis steps, he headed back to the front Near the door to the baselanced at it then hesitated when he read the sign on it

DORIS RAWLING CASE FILES MANAGER

An ie height, slimly built, iron-dark hair with stylish streaks of silver-white, warm brown eyes and lips that were always ready with a smile for him

Bannon looked at the new title again, realizi

ng she had been promoted from evidence clerk so she hated being stuck in the less base cement floor

As he opened the steel door, he called out a greeting and descended the studded metal stairs When there was no reply to his call, he ventured forward The floor-to-ceiling rates that enclosed the Evidence Control Unit closed off the lines of sight Bannon looked through the around a corner, spotting the top of Doris’s head at atable half-hidden by the bulging file folders stacked on the station’s long table