Frostbitten

Chapter One

by

Rebecca Zanetti

 

Two months later, she wanted to kill Scott Terentson.

Millicent Frost sat in the witness chair, trying to keep from fidgeting. The wooden backrest felt like a hard iron bar that made her back ache all the way up to her neck. For some reason, even though it was only March, the heat in the courtroom had been turned off. She did her best not to shiver her rear end off; it was not yet nine in the morning.

The judge was a man in his sixties with thick gray hair, bushy eyebrows, and beady brown eyes. She disliked him on sight. The bailiff was a tall woman who seemed efficient and economical with her movements. Millie liked her.

It was a bench trial, so there was no jury; at least she had that going for her. That was all she had going for her right now. Being back in a courtroom after all this time made her stomach churn. Hopefully the restroom was close.

The two lawyers spoke in hushed tones to the judge, gesturing wildly as she sat there and tried to listen. They argued over part of her testimony; the questions she refused to answer. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that she was a grown-ass woman who knew how to blow up a boat with frayed twine and an old toaster, not a scared eight-year-old being kicked out of another foster home because she wanted to take apart engines rather than play with dolls.

Scott Terentson and his client, a stunning woman in her fifties with thick black hair, commanded one table, while the investment banker Werner Dearth and his lawyer, a high-powered-looking woman in a bright red suit, occupied the other table.

Unfortunately, in the rows of benches behind them sat HDD Special Agent Tom Rutherford, her immediate boss. As usual, he was dressed impeccably in a blue suit with a white tie. No expression marked his face, but heat rolled off him like steam from a volcanic vent. Scott Terentson had probably just gotten her fired.

She wanted to march across the well and punch him in the nose. It’d be nice to make a lawyer bleed—especially that one.

Memories assailed her of all the lawyers through the years, those working for the state, who wanted her to keep trying foster homes instead of living with her aging great-aunt, until Aunt Mae was the only option. They’d kept her from happiness. Damn lawyers.

The judge whispered something to the two attorneys, then everybody dispersed as if they’d been in a huddle and called, “Go team.”

She failed to read Scott’s expression as he returned to his seat behind the table. His tailored suit gave him the look of a model—one too smooth for her taste. She liked broad shoulders and muscle. Period.

“Now, as I was saying,” the attorney for Mr. Dearth started. Named Lorraine Balbit, her style exhibited smoothness and calculation.

Millie could normally anticipate the direction of an argument, so she tried to trace the pattern of the questions. It didn’t bode well for her.

Lorraine cleared her throat. “So again, you snuck into Werner Dearth’s place of business to spy on him for Julie Dearth and the government, correct?”

Millie swallowed. “No.”

Lorraine stepped back. “Wait a minute. You do work for the government, do you not?”

“Yes,” Millie said. She might lose her job, but she was not going to commit perjury.

“So why were you dressed as an air conditioning repair person on the day in question?”

The lawyer pointed to a screen that showed a picture from the bank’s security cameras of Millie in her bulky uniform.

There was no way out of this.

“I’m sorry,” Millie said, “but I am not cleared to speak about an ongoing investigation.”

In the audience, Rutherford dropped his head to his hand.

“Ongoing investigation?” The lawyer pounced. “Please tell me more.”

“I just said that I couldn’t,” Millie said evenly. She’d never forgive Scott for this.

Lorraine looked at her client, then back at Millie. “Is the bank under investigation…or is my client being targeted?”

“Again, I do not have clearance to speak about an ongoing investigation,” Millie said.

Scott stood. “Objection, your honor. The defense is going beyond the scope of direct examination. The witness was subpoenaed to testify as to what she personally witnessed, more specifically that she saw the defendant engaging in oral sex with his secretary, in clear violation of the prenuptial agreement. Period.”

Oh, Millie never should have said a word to that asshat about what she’d seen.

“My client denies the slanderous accusation, and has a right to understand the reason for the witness’s presence in his building, and more importantly, why she’d lie for the plaintiff’s attorney.”

The lawyer tapped very red nails on her lip. “My questioning directs toward bias.”

“Objection overruled,” the judge said, sounding bored.

Lorraine smiled. “Let’s see here, then. So we know from your earlier testimony, Agent Frost, that you work for the HDD.”

“Yes,” Millie said.

“And you’ve been known to work with Angus Force and his team, have you not?”

Millie didn’t like where this was going. “Yes, I have worked with many teams during my time with the HDD.”

“Many teams. How old are you?” Lorraine asked, her tone mocking.

“I’m twenty-nine.”

She appeared younger than her years, but she figured someday that would be an advantage. Right now, it didn’t seem to be.

The attorney reached for a file and click-clacked on her four-inch heels across the well of the room.

“Isn’t it true that the attorney for the plaintiff has also worked with Angus Force, and what I understand is informally called his Deep Ops team?”

“I believe so,” Millie said.

The lawyer looked up at the judge and then down at Millie as if she couldn’t believe it.

“So you’re telling us that you and the plaintiff’s attorney were not working together in order to entrap my client or, to put it rather more bluntly, blackmail my client into relinquishing his rightful share of property in this divorce?”

“I’m not working, and I have not worked, with the plaintiff’s attorney in pursuit of this divorce case.”

Even the judge displayed a frown.

“Hmm. I’ve got to tell you, I don’t think I like government personnel being used in this type of corruptive manner.”

Lorraine tsked.

Scott straightened his lithe body. “Is there a question there?”

“Yes.” Lorraine moved closer to Millie. “How long have you and the plaintiff’s attorney been lovers?”

“Objection.” Scott shot to his feet. “Foundation, badgering, and damn bad taste.”

The judge lowered his chin. “Objection sustained. Watch yourself, Ms. Balbit.”

Lorraine’s gaze remained on Millie. “I have to ask. Why do you have green streaks in your blonde hair?”

Millie sat back, her ears ringing. “Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day.”

Duh.

The lawyer chuckled, and the sound was both throaty and kind of sexy. “I see. So you expect us to believe that even though you and the plaintiff’s attorney have worked together for the government, you were both at my client’s office on the same day for different reasons?”

She clicked a button and a new picture came up of Millie and Scott outside on the day they’d met, then the screen advanced to show her getting into Scott’s car. The man had pretty much blackmailed her into accepting a ride.

“Yes,” Millie said. “I didn’t foresee running into Scott at the office building, and I don’t see how he could’ve possibly known I’d be there the same day.”

“I find that so very hard to believe. Why did you leave together in his vehicle?”

Millie’s stomach cramped again. “He said he’d throw a fit on the street, and I didn’t want to blow my cover.”

Scott’s gaze hardened. Lorraine looked delighted.

“Excellent. Now, let’s go through this again.”

The woman then proceeded to question Millie about everything from her job to her qualifications to her relationship with Scott. By the end of the testimony, Millie almost believed she’d not only been dating Scott but had tried to set up Werner Dearth with him.

Finally, the judge excused her.

She walked out of the courtroom, a headache brewing behind her eyes. This marked a calamity.

Of course! Here’s your excerpt properly **formatted into standard manuscript form** — clean, professional, ready for submission or use:

—

**FROSTBITTEN**
**by Rebecca Zanetti**

—

Rutherford waited for her, looking big and broad and way too polished in the dark hallway. Along the ceiling, at least five lights had gone dark.

“This is devastating,” he confirmed curtly.

He enjoyed a higher rank in the agency, and he had a standing as one of the Deep Ops handlers. The man didn’t like any of the members. A knot of tension balled up inside her.

“I know.”

“You just told our prime suspect that he’s been under investigation.”

“Agent Rutherford, the minute Scott Terentson subpoenaed me as a witness in this case, Werner Dearth must’ve known he was a suspect.”

Rutherford sneered. “Now nothing will happen. We’re not going to get him on tape, and all those people whose money he stole will go without justice.”

His perfect face flushed red. She blinked. It was the most emotion she’d ever seen from her HDD handler.

“I had to tell the truth.”

“Of course. But you shouldn’t have gotten in that car while on duty, Agent Frost.” His chin lowered.

He was right, and she didn’t have a defense for her actions.

“I’m sorry.”

“Too bad.” Rutherford’s eyes blazed. “I’m going to run this up the chain, and I will be in touch.”

He turned on his very polished loafer and stomped down the hallway and out into the overcast day.

Millie flopped onto a wooden bench, leaned her head back, and took several deep breaths. She normally loved her job, especially when she worked with the Deep Ops team. This undercover op had been her big chance. She’d been nearly guaranteed a promotion, which meant she could’ve chosen the team as her permanent spot, in addition to making more money to send home to Aunt Mae, who needed it.

How was she going to help her great-aunt without a salary?

The woman had saved Millie, and she couldn’t let her down.

All she’d done was talk to Scott that day in January, but she did get into his car, and she had been wearing her uniform. She hadn’t considered that anybody would look at those surveillance tapes since she was undercover as an AC repair person—while actually planting surveillance equipment allowed via a valid warrant.

Dearth must’ve been watching Scott on his company’s CCTV thread.

God, she was an idiot.

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, but soon the door opened and Scott and his client strode out. The woman hurried into the bathroom, sniffing loudly.

Millie looked up. “I take it the judge didn’t like you?”

“The judge hated us all,” Scott said wearily, sitting so close to her she could feel the warmth from his body. “I’ll appeal, but my client might’ve just gotten screwed. I think the judge might be friends with Dearth, but I can’t prove it.”

“You screwed me,” Millie said. “I think I just got fired.”

Scott jerked. “Come on. The HDD can’t be overreacting to that degree?”

“Yes. You have ruined everything.” She closed her fingers into a fist, surprised at how badly she wanted to punch him. “Lawyers are the worst, and you’re at the bottom of that oily barrel.”

For years, her aunt had fought to gain custody of Millie and her brother, and those state lawyers had fought every petition, asserting that her elderly great-aunt lacked the resources to raise two kids. So Millie and her brother had been separated until she’d turned eleven and JT had turned sixteen. Then there wasn’t anywhere else to go. Thank goodness.

“You’re not fired.” Scott reached for his phone. “I’ll call Angus. He has juice with the higher-ups at the HDD after the success of the last couple of cases.”

“No.” Millie held up her hand. What an egomaniac. “I don’t need your help. Go away and forget we met.”

The guy even looked like a rich lawyer. He had thick, dark blond hair and the most piercing and calculating blue eyes she’d ever seen.

Scott sighed. “I’m sorry. Honestly, I had no idea the HDD would be so hypersensitive.”

As if it would’ve mattered. All he cared about was winning.

Scott’s client came out of the bathroom, tears on her face.

“I have to go. I’ll give you a call later.”

Scott seemed to hesitate. “I’ll fix this.”

“Great,” Millie muttered. “I’m sure you’ll just create a bigger mess.”

The jerk had chosen his client over her or what was right, just like a typical lawyer.

Scott tugged a business card from his pocket and shoved it into her hand. “Call me if they really try to fire you before I make amends.”

He turned and strode to his client, put an arm over her shoulders, and escorted her from the building.

Werner Dearth and his lawyer emerged from the courtroom, both laughing.

Millie ignored them and hurried down the hallway toward the farthest exit. She’d almost made it to the front door when Werner Dearth grabbed her arm, swinging her to a halt.

Pulling free, she noted a vacant vestibule around them. Where was his lawyer? She glared.

“What?”

He leaned in, his breath smelling like vodka. “You have no idea what you just unleashed, you bitch.”

Millie took a step back from the vitriol in his voice. He was older than she, less fit, but twice her size.

“Did you just threaten a federal agent?” She could see a bailiff down the hallway and would call out if necessary.

He snorted. “You won’t carry that job title by the end of the week.” His upper lip lifted in a sneer. “I take out my enemies, and you just became one. You won’t see me coming.”

Her phone buzzed and she pressed it to her ear, keeping her eye on the threat.

“Millie Frost,” she answered.

“Millie, it’s JT. We have a problem. Aunt Mae might’ve had a heart attack.”

Millie’s entire life ground to a halt in that second.

“What? Is she okay?” Her lungs stuttered.

JT’s voice carried rough and low through the phone line. “I don’t know. I’m headed to the hospital now.”

“I’ll meet you there,” Millie said.

It was a two-hour drive to the middle of West Virginia, but she could probably make it in an hour. She had to. Mae Frost was the most important person in her life. She’d worry about everything else later.

Dearth tightened his grip on her arm.

“Don’t ignore me,” he snapped.

She shoved him hard enough that he took a step back and released her. “Touch me again, and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

She had to get to Aunt Mae.

Ignoring the bastard, she turned and pushed outside into the frigid air.

 

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