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coming from the scanners rose in volume and he stopped under an overhead light to listen. There were no more reports from the scene of the killings at the building. Moving forward, he frowned slightly, and she noticed the dark bruise shadowing his strong jaw.
    The resemblance to his two older brothers was unmistakable. They were all tall with a powerful build. Deke, the youngest of the three Bannons, was every inch as masterful as his older brothers.
    “Thanks for coming over.” Kelly waved him into her office, shutting the door. She gestured to a chair by her desk. “It didn’t take you very long to get here.”
    “I wasn’t far away.”
    He didn’t elaborate and Kelly changed the subject as she sat, turning gracefully to him and leaning forward slightly from the waist, clasping her hands over one knee as she demurely crossed her legs. “Mind if I ask how you got into the parking lot?”
    Deke shrugged. “I flashed a badge at the guard. He raised the barrier just like that.”
    “I see.” Kelly made a mental note to find out, one way or another, what kind of badge, state or federal. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t have any problems.” Deke was still standing. “Please sit down. May I take your jacket?”
    There was a flash of a smile. “No. But thanks.”
    Deke settled himself into the chair, moving gingerly as he stretched out long, muscular legs in front of him. His grimy jeans had had most of the cement dust slapped off. He crossed one leg over the other at the ankle with a barely perceptible flinch. Kelly remembered with chagrin how hard she’d kicked him.
    “First of all, I just have to say thanks,” she began. “For everything. That doesn’t seem like enough considering you probably saved my life, but—”
    “More than probably. And you’re welcome.”
    So much for that. He really didn’t seem interested in her gratitude. And he didn’t react when she leaned toward him ever so slightly, keeping her gaze open and warm. The I-am-fascinated-by-you position worked like magic for news interviews. Deke Bannon seemed indifferent to it.
    She sat up straight. “So—how did you get to be a guardian angel?” Kelly asked lightly. “Isn’t that what you called yourself?”
    He smiled. “Figure of speech.”
    Deke seemed disinclined to answer the question. She didn’t push it. Professionally, her method had always been to take her time, let the other person relax. Except he didn’t seem to, ever. His gaze moved around the office, aware and alert as a wolf.
    Dark eyes dashed with gold met hers. Kelly didn’t look away. His slight smile cut a lean line into his cheek as he surveyed her desk. “A flatscreen and a laptop and a Twitter feed and—did I miss anything?”
    She touched the keyboard to her office computer and the flatscreen lit up. “My official blog on the station website. The publicist writes it for me. I don’t have time.”
    “You’re connected.” There was a wary edge to the comment.
    “I have to be.”
    Even sitting down he radiated a controlled strength that was making her a little edgy. Down, girl , she told herself. It had been too long since a man had intrigued her the way this one did, Kelly realized. Deke Bannon was a force of nature in dirty jeans.
    There was an awkward moment of silence. “I guess RJ told you where to find me,” he said at last. “Didn’t you two know each other back in the day?”
    “Casually, yes.” Kelly saw no need to get into that. “But I didn’t ask RJ or Linc for your number.” She didn’t see a need to explain about the helpful detective. “After what happened, I really wanted to talk to you privately first. The station management doesn’t know that I was even at the scene. We just heard about the fatalities.”
    “Over the scanner?”
    “Yes.” She leaned in just a little more and lowered her voice fractionally. “Can you tell me more?”
    “Before this conversation goes any farther, are we off the record?” He looked down at