Elizabeth Goddard - Freezing Point

From behind, a hand clamped her shoulder.

Her heart ricocheted. Casey jerked around to see a man with piercing blue eyes staring back. Though the look on his face was anything but friendly, relief swept through her. This man didn’t have the look of a crazed killer. She should know. For a fleeting moment, she had feared Will Tannin had caught up with her. Her breathing slowed, if only a little.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

Taken aback at his guarded tone, Casey struggled for words, something that didn’t happen often to her as a journalist.

“You shouldn’t be here. Let’s go.” He glanced over her shoulder at something behind her, a sense of urgency in his eyes, and grabbed her arm. “The loading dock is off-limits. It isn’t safe. You could get hurt.”

Casey sensed that this story had just got a lot more interesting.

Dear Reader,

Often we find ourselves in a difficult situation and we wonder why. Many times, the answer to that is a simple one—our own choices have taken us on the course to unhappy circumstances. That’s exactly what happened to both Casey Wilkes and Jesse Mitchell in Freezing Point. Although their choices and the resulting circumstances are different, their paths cross, and they are each given an opportunity to do something different this time, to make better choices.

Casey realizes that digging too deep for a story sent her into hiding. Jesse knows he can’t stand by again and watch others be hurt because he’s working undercover. We can’t change the past, but we can always make different choices for the future.

Thank goodness our God is a God of second chances, or we’d all be in trouble. I love writing stories about characters who learn from their mistakes and grow. After all, if we’re not learning and growing, then we’re not living. I pray that you look to God to direct your path in all your ways.

I enjoy hearing from my readers. You can contact me through my website at www.ElizabethGoddard.com and sign up for my newsletter to receive updates.

Elizabeth Goddard

ELIZABETH GODDARDis a seventh-generation Texan who grew up in a small oil town in East Texas, surrounded by Christian family and friends. Becoming a writer of Christian fiction was a natural outcome of her love of reading, fueled by a strong faith.

Elizabeth attended the University of North Texas where she received her degree in computer science. She spent the next seven years working in high-level sales for a software company located in Dallas, and traveling throughout the United States and Canada as part of the job. At twenty-five, she finally met the man of her dreams and married him a few short weeks later. When she had her first child, she moved back to East Texas with her husband and daughter and worked for a pharmaceutical company. But then, more children came along and it was time to focus on family. Elizabeth loves that she gets to do her favorite things every day—read, write novels, stay at home with her four precious children, and work with her adoring husband in ministry.

Freezing Point

Elizabeth Goddard

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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As always, my stories are dedicated to my loving husband and my four beautiful children.

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and

my fortress; My God, in Him will I trust.

— Psalms 91:2

I couldn’t have written this without help from

Mindi Smith, a twenty-year veteran with the FBI.

Thanks, Mindi, for your invaluable assistance

and sticking with me on this project.

Thanks to Ken Ackerman of Dryiceinfo.com

for explaining how to make dry ice work

for my story, and to Dale Pierce of Creative Ice

for answering questions about ice sculpting.

To my critique partners (you know who you are),

and to Ellen Tarver, thank you for making my

stories shine. A special thank you to my agent,

Steve Laube, for believing in me, and to my editor,

Emily Rodmell, for believing in this story!

Beautiful … but dangerous.

Jesse finished shoving the last block of dry ice into the back of the specially designed truck—well insulated, yet ventilated to allow for sublimation—the melting that would give off deadly CO 2gas.

The solid form of carbon dioxide would be used to create the snow effect around the ice sculptures along with fog—a mysterious yet stunning display.

He tugged off the gloves used to protect his hands from ice burns or, worse, frostbite. Because his father was a chef and master ice sculptor, Jesse had learned a few techniques of his own, even entering competitions during his college days.

That’s what made him the perfect candidate for this covert operation, and the only reason Robert McCoffey, his superior, had pulled Jesse from the desk job and visits to the psychiatrist and put him back into the action. Working as an undercover agent for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Jesse had nearly blown his last assignment and thought he’d never get the chance to restore his reputation and career.

But ICE’s bulk cash and smuggling division decided Helms Ice and Trucking Company was hot—laundering money for the Mexican cartel—and they wanted someone on the inside. Since the trucking company also had a catering side business specializing in ice sculptures, Jesse was it.

He shoved his hand through his hair. God had some sense of humor.

Miguel grinned as he assisted Jesse in closing off the back of the truck. He signaled to the driver that the truck was ready to go, and it lumbered away from the loading dock.

“You okay today?” Miguel asked.

“Everything’s great,” Jesse lied. With his superiors breathing down his neck, he had to come up with something and soon. He’d already been working undercover too long for his own good.

“You’d better get back to your hole. You got another gig in a few days.” Miguel strode over to a counter and grabbed a pack of cigarettes.

Though Miguel referred to the ice-sculpture competition that Jesse needed to prepare for, Jesse was concerned about a far different gig, and that’s what had him on edge today. He was desperate to get in on what he believed would be the next transport of bulk cash. As the truck departed, Jesse fought the tensing in his gut. Could this truck be driving off with millions in cash tucked away behind or in the ice, and Jesse had somehow missed it?

Carlos returned from his break. “We expecting another truck in a few?”

“You’re not going anywhere. Jesse’s got his own work. You’re lucky he was here to cover for you,” Miguel said.

Carlos gave a halfhearted snarl. Jesse didn’t like the guy. After years spent working undercover assignments, Jesse had learned there were some people you met while undercover that you grew to care about and others you grew to hate. Carlos was someone to hate. He had no doubt that Carlos was capable of much worse than smuggling cash. He might have committed the murder on the loading dock that occurred several months ago, bringing the police down on this place and the cash smuggling operations to a complete halt for a few weeks.