Bluegrass Undercover (18 page)

“
And that message would be?” she asked politely.

“
That he needs to remember the agreement he made and keep his mouth shut. Now, this will only hurt a minute. Sorry about this. You seem like a nice enough lady,” Larry told her as he advanced toward her.

“
It’s okay. I guess you’re just doing your job for….” She arched her eyebrow questionably at Larry.

“
Mr. Gaylen.”

“
Shut up!” Moe hissed as he hit Larry.

“
What? How is she supposed to know who the message is from if we don’t tell her?” That caused Moe to pause, and he looked to Curly who nodded as if it made all the sense in the world.

“
Is Cade going to remember this agreement? I mean, he does all this work at school and then with the team and on his farm. He makes agreements all time. Maybe you should tell me what the agreement is so I can remind him. I’m sure he didn’t mean to forget it, but he just has so much going on.” She watched the guys look at each other again and shrugged. This was going to be easier than she thought.

“
Tell him to keep his mouth shut about the drugs or his mother’s next. Now, come here and don’t scream. We’ll just make it worse if you scream.” Larry took another step toward her.

“
I’m afraid I am rather frozen in place by fear. You are very scary men, and I fear I can’t come to you.”

“
Thank you, we’ll come to you then.” Larry gave Moe and Curly a nod and waited for them all to get on the small porch. They had to walk single file to where she was standing at the railing.

She tightened her hand around the priest gnome’s head and waited for Larry to reach her. One more step. Now! She tossed her hot chocolate mug at Larry’s face.

“
Ow!” The mug hit him square in his large nose. Using her left hand, she swung the priest gnome in a large arc and connected with Larry’s receding hairline.

Larry dropped instantly to the ground. Using the momentum of her swing, she brought the little gnome back up with an arcing backhand, hitting Curly under the chin and dropping him unconscious to the ground on top of Larry.

“
Amen,” she said to the little priest. “I told you. You should have taken the fact that you tripped over the Virgin Mary as a sign.”

Moe looked a little hesitant, but was tougher than she gave him credit for. He launched himself over his downed comrades and hit her square in the stomach. The impact sent her flying backwards onto the wood porch floor as the priest gnome sailed through the air and into the bushes.

“
Umph.” The wind was knocked out of her as all two hundred and fifty pounds of dumbass landed on her. She opened her mouth to suck in some air as Moe got to his feet. With one booted foot, he pulled back and struck out at her midsection.

She curled into a ball and the hit reverberated up to her arms. He brought his leg up, intending to stomp on her side. She waiting until his leg was high in the air, making him the most unstable. She kicked out with her upper leg and made contact with his knee. Not having both feet on the ground, he teetered and fell backwards.

Annie didn’t waste any time. She scrambled to her feet and leapt over the pile of dumbass, trying to grab the chair to swing at him. Before she could reach it, he dove and caught one ankle, sending her crashing to the ground just short of the chair. She kicked out, making contact with his face, but he didn’t let go. He got to his knees as she continued to kick as hard as she could at the arm holding her in place.

He may be stupid, but he was strong. She couldn’t pull free. He leaned over her, and she made contact with his gut only to have him punch her. She had been able to throw up a block that deflected the punch from shattering her nose, but she’d have one heck of a bruise on her cheek. Her teeth even hurt after that punch.

Thinking he had brought her into submission, Moe stood and reached down to pick her up. She brought her knees to her chest and quickly kicked out with them. She hit him hard, square in the chest. The force sent him stumbling backwards and into the railing. Arms pinwheeling, Moe lost the fight with his balance and fell backwards off the porch.

She went to stand, but everything swam in front of her. She prepared for another attack from Moe, but it never came. She grabbed the chair to steady herself as she slowly stood. When the swimming stopped, she made it to the rail and looked over.

The Virgin Mary stood resolute over the immobile Moe. A smudge of red blood on top of her head was the only evidence of what had happened. She had told him it was a sign. Annie found herself crossing herself again. Living in a priest’s home was starting to affect her, she decided, as she reached for her phone. She narrated what she had seen and then stopped the recording.

She punched in the number to Romero’s cell and waited for her boss to pick up. “This better be important,” was his gruff answer.

“
I just had a visit from three of Gaylen’s men.”

“
And?”

“
And they are unconscious on my porch. What do you want me to do with them?”

“
Depends. Did you get anything good out of them?”

“
Yeah. I recorded it all. Even their saying what the deal was between Davies and Gaylen.”

“
Good. Email it to me then call local authorities. Have them arrested for trespassing only. They’ll get bailed out with little fuss. I doubt they’ll tell what really happened and that will help keep Gaylen in the dark. If the police say anything about assault, tell them you found them like this and just assumed they were drunk. Assaulting a lady will make too much noise, and Gaylen will most likely lie low for a while.”

Annie paused for a second and listened to the background noise. It sounded like he was watching a British film. “Hurry up Vin. this is the best part,” she heard a woman shout.

“
Sir, are you watching
Pride and Prejudice
?”

“
No!”

“
Really? ‘Cause it sounds like Lady Catherin de Bourgh just arrived at the Bennett house and that really is the best part, well, besides the whole Colin Firth in the pond scene.”

“
Shut up, Blake. It’s date night. Call the police, email me the recording, and don’t mention this again.” Before she could tease him more the line went dead.

Just three minutes later a Keeneston County Sheriff’s cruiser pulled to a stop in front of the cottage where she sat on the steps waiting. Two men emerged from the cruiser. One was tall and lanky, probably early forties. The other was younger but much shorter and had the beginnings of a mustache.

“
Hiya, ma’am. What happened here?”

“
Hi, I don’t really know. I think the men were drunk and came here for some reason. Maybe they expected Father James and wanted to confess. Well, two are passed out up there, and this one looks like he tripped, and when he fell, hit the Virgin Mary.”

They looked at her strangely, and she was worried for a minute they were going to question her further or ask why her cheek was swollen and starting to turn color.

“
You’re Annie Hill aren’t you? Cade’s girlfriend?” the short one asked. “Well, we’re right pleased to finally meet you! I’m Dinky, and this is my partner Noodle. We’ve heard so much about you.”

“
You have?” They wanted to talk to her about Cade and not about the three unconscious men? Maybe she had gotten hit harder than she thought and was hallucinating.

“
Can I ask you a serious question, ma’am?” Noodle asked in a slow voice full of twang.

“
Um, sure.” Okay, here was the interrogation she was expecting.

“
What do you think of March? It’s such a beautiful month to get married. Just the start of spring, new beginnings and all that stuff.” Annie stared at Noodle and could hardly blink. Apparently wedding pools were big business in Keeneston.

“
Um. What about these guys?” She gestured to the men who were starting to stir, their moans reaching their ears.

“
Oh, don’t worry about them, ma’am. Dinky, can you take care of them?”

“
Sure, just talk loud so I can hear ya'.” She watched Dinky head off to the men and start to cuff them as he read them their Miranda warning.

“
So, March is a nice month, isn’t it?”

“
Seriously? Why does anyone care who Cade’s dating?” This really was very puzzling to her.

“
Well, geez ma’am….”

“
For the love of God, stop calling me ma’am. It makes me feel old.”

“
Yes, ma’am. I mean, yes Miss Hill. Anyway, Cade has been chased after by ever girl in the county from the ages of sixteen to eighty. Probably half the ladies over in Lexington too.”

“
He’s what they call a catch,” Dinky yelled over. Annie rolled her eyes and sat back down on the step as Dinky started to load the barely conscious men into the cruiser.

“
See, he never dates seriously. In fact, he and his brothers usually run in the opposite direction of any single lady.” Noodle became serious, or at least she thought he did. He leaned closer to her and in a hushed tone asked, “So, how did you do it? How did you catch him?”

“
I don’t know. But, maybe it had to do with the fact that I was never chasing him to begin with.”

“
What she say?” Dinky yelled from placing a slightly bloody Moe into the cruiser.

“
She said it was because she wasn’t chasing him,” Noodle shouted.

“
That’s deep,” Dinky mumbled as he closed the fully loaded cruiser.

“
You know, that makes sense, ma’am. I mean Miss Hill. It’s just like noodling a catfish. You wiggle your finger, but it’s the fish that has to come to you.”

“
Dang, Noodle. That’s very philosophical.” Dinky came to stand next to Noodle, his hands resting on the big, black utility belt around his waist.

“
Excuse me? Noodle, fish, finger?” What the hell were these guys talking about? Whatever it was, they apparently thought it made perfect sense.

“
You know, noodling.” Noodle looked at her as if she were speaking a foreign language.

“
Yeah, noodling,” Dinky chimed in ever so helpfully.

“
I’m sorry, boys. It’s been a long night. Maybe you could tell me what noodling is.”

“
She is from Miami. It’s not like it’s really the South,” Dinky told Noodle, who readily agreed.

“
It’s when you catch a catfish with your bare hands. You find their hole and stick your hand into it, wiggle your finger so the fish bites it, and then you pull the catfish out.” If he had been a teenager, he would have added, ‘like duh’.

Annie didn’t know how to respond, so she didn’t. She just found herself looking back and forth between the two of them. They reminded her of golden retriever puppies, and she had the odd sense to pet and cuddle them.

“
Do you think that’s why I have trouble dating, Dink? Maybe I just need to let them chase me.”

“
It’s worth a shot.”

“
Thanks, Miss Hill. I’ll give it a try. If it worked on Cade, it’s good enough for us to try, huh Dinky?”

“
Sure ‘nuf.”

“
Have a good night, ma’am. Shoot, Miss Hill, don’t forget, March is the perfect month for a wedding. Just make sure it’s after the NCAA tournament. I think we’ll go far this year. Go Big Blue!”

Annie waved good-bye as they got into their cruiser and took the Three Stooges off to jail. She needed a drink. What was Big Blue? She had been afraid to ask after stupidly asking what noodling was. All she knew was she wanted to get inside, get warm, and put an ice pack on her swollen cheek.

Chapter Fifteen

Cade ran the film again for the players. They had been there for two hours and it was close to midnight. Coach Parks had gone outside and told all the parents that the team wanted to stay and work on preparing for the playoffs. Between upperclassmen and the coaches, all the kids without cars would be driven home.

“
Coach? Your phone is buzzing again.”

“
Thank you, Hall. Just ignore it.”

“
But, Coach, it’s the third time it’s gone off in under a minute. It’s probably important.”

Cade snatched up the phone and looked at the caller ID. He didn’t know who was calling, but it was a local number. “Yes,” he snapped as he pressed the answer button.

“
Cade? Noodle.”

“
Kinda busy here. Can I call you back tomorrow?”

“
Oh, sure, sure. I didn’t really need to talk to you. I just thought I should let you know I just came from haulin’ three big fellers off Miss Hill’s property. She was fine, but there was one heck of a bruise forming on her face. Looks like something real nasty went down there although she’s only claiming trespassing. I figured it was best not to push.”