Free Bluegrass Undercover (Bluegrass Brothers) by Kathleen Brooks Page A

tried to keep her thoughts focused.
    “Thanks. It was sloppy and some players need more work, but I saw promise.” Cade watched her closely. She was really good. She didn’t give anything away. He had known what she was doing the past couple of weeks. She was bringing in players and questioning them. The added benefit was his players thought she really was interested in them and came out with a little more confidence. She was actually a really good guidance counselor.
    “Thanks for coming to the game. It really means a lot to me.” He gave her a smile and watched as she blushed again. It was really cute when she did that. It made him want to know more about what was underneath her tough DEA cover.
    “To you?” she stuttered.
    “Yeah. You’re supporting the team and that’s really great of you.” Cade was enjoying himself. He liked making her feel as discombobulated as she had made him feel.
    “Oh! Yes, the team. Anything for the team,” she mumbled. Cade smiled. Something about this woman made him feel as if he could do anything. He looked up and saw that most of the parents had picked up their kids and headed out. The parking lot was quickly becoming empty.
    “Can I walk you back to your car?”
    Before she could say no, which he knew she would, he put his hand on her back and gently pushed her forward. He stopped in front of her dark green convertible. He had to focus on keeping his hand still. He desperately wanted to run it up and down her back to feel every inch of such an intriguing woman.
    “Thank you, Cade.”
    They stopped and he watched her dig around her purse for her keys. Well, it was now or never, and if he didn’t do this, Miss Lily would be mad at him and tell Miss Daisy not to feed him the next time he went to the Café.
    “I was wondering if you’d like to go out to dinner with me?” Cade could swear his heart stopped beating. Was it a good sign or bad that she wasn’t answering right away?
    “Cade! Look out!” she screamed and tried to grab him, but it was too late.
    A van skidded to a halt next to him, almost running him over. The van door was open and two men with shiny shaved heads looked out. He shoved Annie hard against her shoulder. She fell backwards against her car and out of reach of the hands grabbing him from the van. In a split second, Cade had assessed the situation. These guys were idiots.
    They had fumbled when they grabbed him. They had blindfolded him, but they did such a bad job that he could still see everything. They had tied his wrists, but he could easily get out of them. It was then that he decided instead of escaping, he’d see what they wanted. He looked around and took in the guy with a broken nose and a guy in the passenger’s seat with a cast on his leg. Ah, these were the same geniuses that had tried to rough him up. He had to admit, he was curious to see what they wanted.
    The van was a standard utility van. There was industrial carpet on the floor. No seats except the front two. There were three men in the back of the van with him. They were all burly guys who looked like they had been using S2 themselves. So many men thought the bigger the muscles the better the fighter, but that just wasn’t true. Sure they may be able to lift more weight than he could, but being a good fighter meant that you had strength, speed and precision. These guys were so bulky they’d never be able to keep up in a fight. He had a feeling though that this wasn’t about fighting. This was about drugs, and he had was pretty sure he was about to meet one of the key players in the drug trade. Annie would be very happy with this news.
    He watched the scenery change as they drove into Lexington. Horse farms with rolling bluegrass gave way to commercial shipping centers, subdivisions and shopping malls. They drove round and round, trying to confuse him. They thought he couldn’t see, and the length of the trip would make it impossible for him to tell where they were. Well, except