Frostbite: Blood in the Winter// Third Book of The Frost Bite Series.

Undercover Agents

"Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them now," Steve said sarcastically.

Natasha smirked and shook her head. "Going after him is a dead end. I know, I tried." She then held up the flash drive. "Like you said, he's a ghost story."

Steve took the flash drive from her hand. "Well, let's find out what the ghost wants."

"How?" I asked. "We need access to a computer, we can't go back to the Triskelion, obviously. Our apartment is probably surrounded."

"Why not SHIELD?" Natasha looked at me.

"We're sort of criminals in their eye now," I answered.

"There's an Apple Store at the mall, they have open computers we can use," Natasha suggested.

"Going out in public isn't what I plan to do," Steve said.

"It's called being an undercover agent," Nat replied. "It's our best bet."

"I agree with Nat," I said.

Steve thought for a moment, his brow was furrowed in frustration. "Fine. You two have done this before, I'll follow your lead."

~~~~

I played with the e-cig that sat in my pocket as we walked through the mall. Of course, I wasn't actually going to use the it, it was a prop in case vapor began coming out of my mouth.

Steve kept glancing around, making himself look more suspicious. He was wearing a baseball cap and glasses, I thought this made him look very funny. My hair had been braided into two pigtails and Nat had given me a jean jacket.

"First rule of going on the run is, don't run, walk," Natasha said to Steve.

"If I run in these shoes, they're going to fall off," Steve said and I glanced down at his high tops.

I glanced up at the upper level of the mall and I saw a man who looked like one of the SHIELD agents facing away from us. I took the e-cig and held it up to my mouth before breathing out white vapor.

"What is it, Ellie?" Steve looked at me.

I looked back up at the man, only to see him turn around with a little girl holding his hand. It wasn't an agent.

"Nothing." I pressed the e-cig to my mouth once more and exhaled, calming myself down.

"Ma'am!" I looked over and saw a security guard approach me. "Ma'am, you cannot use that in this building, you will have to step outside if you want to use it."

"Oh, sorry, officer. I'll stop using it." I put the e-cig back in my pocket.

"Damn millennials and their nicotine addictions." The security guard muttered as he walked away.

"I'm older than you, asshole," I mumbled. "Damn Gen-X's and their entitlement."
Steve chuckled and Natasha made a "tsk" sound.

"Jeez, Frosty. You might want to cool it down." Natasha said quietly.

"Sorry, it's been a long day," I replied.