Roscoe lifted his head more, watched Buckle, then settled his muzzle on his front paws, remaining alert as the woman approached.
“This is a fricking disaster,” she said, looking from Millie to Tate to Scott. “Someone apparently really wants you dead.”
“We’ve noticed,” Scott said. “The question is as to the target. We don’t know if it’s Millie, me, or both of us.” He shook his head. “My guess is Millie because of the other case I told you about.” He had made sure the chief shared the case file on Clay Baker with Tate and Buckle. “I wouldn’t assume anything, however.” The last thing he wanted to do was get stuck on one theory and be blindsided from a different direction.
Tate tapped his notebook against his hip. “Agent Frost, let’s hit your workshop and find that recording. As soon as we discover the identity of this attacker, I think we’ll find the hit squad that attacked you in River City.”
Millie hopped off the SUV’s hood, and Scott caught her before she could hit the ground. “Whoa,” she said.
“Take it easy,” he ordered, lowering her. “That was quite a blast you took.”
“We both did,” she said, reaching up to wipe off his cheekbone. “You’re covered in soot.”
The gentle touch careened through him, zinging past his balls and landing in his heart. “So are you.” His gaze automatically scoured the neighborhood for additional threats. “Let’s go view that recording.” Then he planned to have a painful discussion with the driver who’d dared to hurt her.
“Hey,” Tate said, his voice heavy with warning. “You have to let METRO handle this.”
Scott just smiled. The time for waiting for somebody else to handle this had just concluded. After two attempts on Millie’s life, he was done just being her lawyer. What he was, he didn’t know.
Except, whoever had tried to kill her would soon wish they’d made different choices in life. Period.
* * * *
Millie sat in the control room looking through the one-way mirror as Tate Bianchi and Scott sat across from Werner Dearth and his lawyer. It hadn’t been a surprise that Dearth had welcomed Scott’s involvement, so long as he could ask questions as well.
Detective Buckle stood next to Millie in the small room, watching. “The guy’s overly confident,” she said quietly.
The attorney was the same woman who’d been at the trial, and she wore a light green spring suit with a black shirt. Instead of the jewelry she’d worn in court, today it was Van Cleef—and beautiful. Her hair glimmered beneath the yellow lights and her eyes sparkled a startling green, but her catlike smile clawed down Millie’s back and made her want to rush in and smack her.
“What do you see?” Buckle asked.
“What do I see? I see a jackass and his lawyer.”
Buckle shifted her weight. “No, go deeper. When you look at Werner Dearth, what do you see?”
Millie lowered her chin and studied the man. His high-dollar suit had been expertly tailored to flatter his well-fed physique. The true-black fabric contrasted with his gray tie, also streaked in black. His face was ruddy, his eyes beady, and his jowls pressed tight by his starched white shirt. He stared at Scott with a hard glint in his eye.
“I see a narcissist,” she said, looking over at Buckle. “What do you see?”
Buckle tapped a finger against the glass. “I view a narcissist with his lips curled in a smug smile. Even his aura is overconfident.” She tilted her head. “I don’t know that I see him getting his hands dirty and killing somebody, though.”
“I bet he could hire someone,” Millie said.
Buckle nodded. “I think he could definitely hire someone.” She reached over and turned up the volume.
“Run me through that again,” Tate was saying. “Pinpoint your location the night your wife disappeared.”
“My client already answered that question and stands by his statement,” the lawyer said. What was her name? Oh yeah, Lorraine. “He worked from home by himself planning a business trip to Berlin. It’s that simple.”
Tate leaned back. “We’d like to confirm that. Were you planning on your computer?”
“Get a warrant,” Werner said bluntly. He looked toward the mirror as if he could see Millie. “You know, Terentson, I’ve been reading about you lately. You and that hot HDD special agent. Are you back there, Millicent?” he called out. Scott’s entire back stiffened and rippled like a cougar bunching to strike.
Tate clapped an arm on his shoulder. “Calm down or you’re leaving.”
“I’m calm,” Scott said, sounding brutally calm. Millie relaxed. He wasn’t known as one of the best lawyers in the country for nothing. He could take Werner apart inch by inch if he wanted. But for now, apparently, he’d decided to attack with intellect.
“Your boy’s got a temper on him,” Buckle said.
