Cade thought the steam coming from his ears was visible. He had never been met
with such indifference before. Yes, it was hotter than a billy goat in a pepper patch,
but it was August in Kentucky and it's always hot and humid. You just say, "Damn,
it's hot," and move on. But his players were lagging. They weren't even trying to
run the drills at full speed. Shoot they weren't even running them at half speed.
Some of the freshmen were trying and Trey Everett was trying, but that was it.
"Okay. Players with the last names E-H go with Coach Parks for drug testing.
First strings get on the field. We're going to try to run a play at full speed." Cade
blew his whistle and watched as the starters meandered onto the field.
Center Lee Faust snapped the ball to Austin Colby, the junior quarterback, who
handed it off to Trey for a run. Trey blew through the defense and scored. Cade
blew his whistle and tried to remember they were just kids.
"Bonner, get over here!" He watched as Corey Bonner sauntered over with a bad
attitude written all over his face. "What is the matter with you? This is a simple
play and you blew it. You didn't even try to tackle Everett."
Cade watched as all two hundred and twenty-five pounds of Bonner went from
cocky teenager to pissed-off teenager.
"What do you know about it? You've never coached before. You can't tell me
what to do. I'm the only all-state player you got on this team, and I'll do whatever
the hell I feel like doing. Now step off." Bonner turned to go back onto the field and
Cade snapped.
"Bonner, get your ass back here. You leave when I tell you to. Now, you will
stand here, listen to me, fix your attitude or ride the bench all year."
Cade knew when someone was itching for a fight. After four years in special ops
you could tell the second someone decided to fight, and by the set of Bonner's
shoulders, he had decided in favor of it. Cade watched as Bonner spun around and
shoved Cade with all his might. Bonner may outweigh him by fifty pounds, but
Cade had stayed in special ops condition. He took the hit but didn't budge.
"See, if you hit lower like you were supposed to, you could have moved me."
Cade wasn't given the chance to continue with his lecture. He saw Bonner's hand
close in a fist and stood still, waiting for the punch to come so he could deflect it.
"What do you think you are doing?" Cade took his eyes off of Bonner as a red
headed woman jumped in between them. Bonner didn't react fast enough and let go
with the punch intended for Cade. Cade lunged forward, but the woman had already
handled it. She easily blocked the punch with her forearm and grabbed Bonner by
the front of his football jersey.
"You want to try that again, kid?" Annie asked him as she got up in his face.
Here Annie was just coming out to get a group of kids for their orientation and she
walks in on a fight. Clearly this coach couldn't take care of the matter, so it had
been up to her. She looked into the boy's eyes and wasn't surprised to see them
dilated and crazed. He was much taller than she was, so it was easy to look at his
pulse in his carotid artery. It was pumping feverishly and slightly erratically. His
face was beet red and his body clearly agitated. She had just found her first lead.
This kid was definitely on S2. Bonner slapped her hands away and took a step back,
staring down his coach.
"Yo, this bitch just saved you. Next time you try to chew me out she won't be
around to save you."
He turned and headed into the locker room, leaving the field momentarily stunned.
Cade was a badass and everyone on the field knew that, except Bonner and this
woman apparently. Cade couldn't believe this curvy spitfire thought he couldn't
handle a teenager. She had put herself right in the middle of a highly volatile
situation with someone two times her size.
"The better question is what do you think you are doing? Do you know how
idiotic it was to get in between us?" Cade's hands went to his hips as he stared
down into the dark green eyes of the woman in front of him.
"Well, excuse me for saving you from an embarrassing ass beating from a
teenager." She mimicked his stance.
Who was this woman? Whoever she was, she was very amusing. Cade smiled as
he rocked back on his heels. Confusion clouded those beautiful eyes, and that gave
him a bit of pleasure he realized.
"Do you really think he'd beat me up?" Cade asked as his smile grew.
"Yes, " she answered without hesitation.
Cade's smile slipped and he felt his ego deflate under her withering stare. She
should be an interrogator. He bet she could make any man feel so low that he'd say
anything to get back into her good graces. She was beautiful, but in that
unassuming way that just made her even more desirable. She was normal height, fit,
but not like the actresses Hollywood pushed out. She was strong, curvy, and quite
voluptuous. He never understood that old description, but now he did.
"He's a rabid dog. You better take care of him or he'll take your whole team out."
Annie quickly lowered her eyes to check him out. He was tall, probably six one.
Dark blonde hair slightly longer than a buzz cut. His hazel eyes conveyed that he
was not just some dumb jock. And a body, well, he had a body that reminded her it
had been almost two years since she had been… oh never mind. She raised her eyes
in a span of a blink, but he had noticed. Most men were so caught up in her chest
they never noticed when she was surveying the area or even them. But he did, and
by the cocky smile on his face, she guessed he knew she liked what she saw. Just as
fast as the smile came, it went.
"I just drug tested him this morning, and after what I just saw, I'm pretty sure we
both know how that test is going to come out." Cade knew he was about to lose his
star defensive player, but why? He had a spectacular season last year, and there was
no way he was on drugs then. Why now?
"Test the levels of magnesium. If it's very high, then you know you are probably
dealing with S2. It's a new drug on the market for athletes. Have you heard of it?"
Annie watched his eyes to see his reaction, but there was none but curiosity.
"No, I haven't. But, Keeneston isn't really known to be on the cutting edge of
anything, especially a new drug I haven't heard of before. It's most likely plain old
steroids."
"But see, the high levels of magnesium, which is used for the prevention of
muscle cramping, is a sign it's not plain steroids. If it shows up high, you'll need to
send it out for a chromatography/mass spectrometry reading. It's the only way to
test for S2. It will come up looking like steroids, but is masked by heavy doses of
probenecid, which prevents excretion of the steroid into the urine."
"I have two questions." Cade watched her become slightly hesitant before she
nodded her head for him to continue. "First, who are you? Second, how do you
know this?"
"Oh, sorry! I'm Annie Hill, the new guidance counselor. I just came out here to
gather some of the freshmen for their orientation."
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Hill. I'm Cade Davies, head coach and also the biology
teacher." Cade stuck out his hand and she shook it. "Now, how did you know all of
this?"
"I saw it at my old school. One of our kids died from a heart attack after using it.
He was sixteen. The school had run a regular urine test and didn't detect it. If they
had run the chromatography/mass spectrometry, they would have. It's an expensive
test, but if you have a hunch that a player may be taking it, it's the only way to
prove it."
"I'll order it for the whole team then." Cade ran his hand through is hair in
frustration. These were good boys. What were they doing hooked on drugs? He
then turned his attention to her.
"Thanks, but I need to get back to practice. Hurry up with the orientation. We're
behind schedule." Cade turned back to the field to see his receiver miss another
catch.
"Hey, Coach." Cade turned back to Annie when he heard her call out to him. "Tell
your QB he's focusing on his target receiver too soon."
Damn if she wasn't right. But she turned around on her heel, and he watched what
could only be described as her mesmerizing backside as she walked away from
him. Who was this woman?
* * *
Cade tossed a bottle of beer to his older brother Marshall and took a seat on the
new couch in his living room. Actually, most everything in the house was new. He
had been living with Marshall while his house was being renovated and updated.
His brother lived two pastures over, about a mile or so to the south. His parents
were another mile to the southwest, and his oldest brother Miles lived about two
miles to the west.
His family was very large, six children, and very tight knit. He, Marshall and
Miles had gone off after 9/11 and joined the Army Rangers. Two years later they
signed up for a classified elite Delta Force. All three of them had made it in after a
rigorous test and training period. He had helped in rescue missions of dignitaries
that no one had ever known about, or would ever know about. He had rescued,
killed, and garnered intelligence for his country for four years before coming home,
completing his education and becoming a teacher.
His other brothers were surprised when he chose to teach instead of going into
business with one of them. While they were overseas in the Army, Miles had
started buying up small tracts of property surrounding his parents' farm. He and
Marshall liked the idea, and so they too started buying small tracts whenever they
came up for sale. As a result, the Davies family now had a huge spread in
Keeneston, where his parents raised vegetables and he and his brothers had a cattle
ranch. But, like his brothers, it was just a hobby. Miles was a corporate tycoon who
helped small family farmers fight against the big corporations, and Marshall owned
his own security firm in Lexington. His younger brother Cy was the black sheep.
No one knew what he did, and Cy hadn't felt like telling them yet. He technically
had cattle on the farm but was hardly ever around to take care of them. As a result,
he shared the profits with his brothers who took care of them for him. His youngest
brother Pierce was a graduate student in agriculture at the University of Kentucky.
He liked to plant things and watch them grow. Finally, there was his sister Paige
who was going to be the first one of the Davies' kids to get married. Her fiancé
Cole Parker was a good guy – FBI, but more importantly cared for and loved his
sister.
Now Cade's mother had gotten it in her head that all her kids should marry and
settle down. She'd even made a wager with the Rose sisters at the Blossom Café
about when Paige and Cole would have a baby. Every Sunday night the whole
family gathered for dinner, and her mother always had a new "friend" she wanted
one of the boys to meet.
"Mom said she has a new friend she wants me to meet," Marshall complained.
Marshall slumped on the couch and sighed. He was an inch taller than Cade, and
instead of having his dark blonde color, he had the same brown that ran in the
family. All the brothers looked similar, the differences being their facial features.
They all had hazel eyes, but Cade had sharp angles to his face, giving him an old-
fashioned, aristocratic look compared to Marshall's more square face complete with
a sharp nose that was slightly crooked.
"Where did this friend come from?"
"A dental hygienist from when she got her teeth cleaned yesterday. Apparently
she has a sister…" Cade groaned, so that was why his mother had called him earlier
today.
"I think I already got a call about that. Speaking of women, I met the most
confusing, frustrating, sexy woman today." Cade took a drink from his beer and
slouched back on the couch with his brother.
"Really? Don't tell Mom or she'll reserve the church. So, who is she?" If Cade
didn't know his brother so well, he would think by his posture he didn't care, but
his eyes were the giveaway. Marshall was dying to know.
"Annie Hill, the new guidance counselor."
"What did she do?
"She walked right into the middle of a Corey Bonner steroid-induced meltdown.
Sent him packing when he threw a punch and then, well, then she told me she was
protecting me!"
Marshall choked on his beer, "She said she was protecting you? From a kid?"
"Yup, she said she didn't think I was able to protect myself. I couldn't believe it."
Cade shot him a glare as he started laughing. "Stop laughing, Marsh. It, um, gets
worse." Cade ran a hand over his face, embarrassed to tell him the rest.
"How could it get worse?" Marshall said between chuckles.
"She identified the problem with my quarterback on the pass plays in under a
minute." Cade hung his head as Marshall's chuckles turned into laughter.
Cade took another drink of beer, but he had a feeling that it did not matter how
much he drank, Annie Hill had taken up permanent residence in his mind.
Annie tossed her car keys onto the small, worn kitchen table and carried the bag
of frozen dinners to the freezer. She needed to hurry and check in with her boss.
She should have done it yesterday, but she kept putting it off.
She jammed the meals into the small freezer and dug out her cell phone from the
back pocket of her jeans. She scrolled through her emails until she found Special
Agent Romero's phone number.
"Romero," her boss barked into the phone.
"Hi, sir, this is Agent Blake checking in."
"About time. Welcome to Kentucky. We need to set up an appointment to meet in
person. I think…" Annie about jumped out of the chair when she heard the knock at
the door. It must be Father James. She didn't know anyone else.
"I'm sorry, sir. Can you hang on?" She waited until he grunted his approval and
went to the door. She opened the door and stood staring at a woman dressed
perfectly in black trousers, and a pink button-up blouse accessorized with a
casserole dish.
"Hiya! I'm Pam Gilbert, the PTA President," she said as she smiled at Annie and
held out the casserole dish. "I wanted to welcome you to town on behalf of all the
parents." Annie took the dish in her hands and stared at it. Homemade food? She
couldn't remember the last time she had homemade food.
"Thank you, Pam. It's nice to meet you."
"Well, I won't keep you, but if you need anything just give me a shout." Pam gave
a little finger wave and went back to her minivan.
"Blake!" Annie shook her head as she watched the minivan with the Dale Junior
sticker on the back window, next to the white stick figures of a dad, mom, and two
boys, peel out of the church parking lot.
"Sorry, sir. Just meeting the locals." Annie closed the door and headed to put the
casserole into the freezer.
"As I was saying, I was hoping we could meet in person on…" Annie pivoted in
the small entryway when the doorbell rang. "Was that the doorbell?"
"Yeah, sorry. Hold on for just a sec." Annie balanced the casserole dish on her hip
and the phone on her shoulder as she opened the door. She looked out and then
down to a trio of white-haired ladies.
"Hello, dear. We're the Rose sisters. I'm Lily Rae. This is my sister Daisy Mae."
The leader bobbed her head toward the thin, wiry looking sister with her silver hair
pulled back into a tight bun, with a couple pencils poking out of it. Annie realized
that she had seen when she had driven past the Café. "And this is Violet Fae." The
small, round woman grabbed her around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug
that had the casserole dish teetering and the cell phone coming close to getting lost
in Violet's puffy cleavage.
"Bless your heart – you are a skinny thing! Thank goodness we brought you some
food. You must be starving!" Violet clucked as she looked Annie over.
"Thank you for the food. Someone named Pam just dropped off a casserole. This
is all very nice of you."
"Dang it! Pam beat us here. We'll never hear the end of it." Daisy shook her head
and shifted the large basket hanging at the crook of her arm.
"But I bet she didn't stay to give her a proper welcome. She had to pick the boys
up from soccer practice," Lily pronounced. "We won't run out on you so quickly.
Come and sit for a spell and we'll get know one another." The sisters pushed past
her and into the small kitchen before Annie could stop them.
"I'm sorry," she said as she trailed after them. "I do not mean to be rude, but I'm
on the phone." Annie paused at the kitchen and watched as they looked around.
"That's okay, dear. Give us that casserole and we'll just put the food away. I'm
sure you want to finish your call with your…boyfriend?" Lily asked as she reached
for the casserole.
"I don't have a boyfriend." Three white heads swiveled around and smiles
appeared at once.
"Well, love your heart! It's lucky we stopped by then. We know plenty of men.
Now don't be rude and keep that person waiting on the phone. Don't mind us!" Lily
put the casserole in the fridge, turned to her sisters and started pulling out covered
dishes from the basket. Annie looked down at the phone and cringed.
"Sorry about that. The welcoming committee is here."
"I guessed that. Now about our meeting." The doorbell went off again and her
boss dropped the f word.
"I got it, dear!" one of the sisters shouted from the kitchen.
"Go ahead, Romero. But, you may want to make it quick." Annie looked to the
door to see a pretty woman her own age with a handsome man who had Fed written
all over him. "Sir, do you have anyone else in town?" she whispered, looking away
from the couple.
"No, why?"
"A fed just walked in. I would bet my life on it."
"Details."
"Thirty, dark hair, silver eyes, six feet, no visible tats. He's with a woman in her
mid to late twenties, brown hair." Annie waited as she heard the keys of Romero's
computer tapping as he ran a search.
"I think I got it. Cole Parker. He's the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's
Lexington Office. I heard through the cop-vine he just got engaged. If you need
anything and he's nearby, you get him to help. He's the one that just took down that
corruption ring out of New York and D.C. Now, before we get interrupted again.
Jesus, was that the doorbell again?"
"Yes, sir." Annie was sure she heard the whistle of steam coming out of his ears.
"Meeting, tomorrow, seven in the morning at the office. Got it."
"Yes, sir." The doorbell rang again and Romero hung up while rattling off a string
of curse words. They really did have a lot to discuss. Annie tucked away her phone
and turned to see her small house filled up and people hanging out on the porch.
Who were these people and why where they here?
"Oh, good, you're off the phone. Come meet everyone!" Lily took her hand and
dragged her over to the FBI agent and his fiancé. "This is Cole Parker and Paige
Davies."
"It's so nice to meet you. I heard all about you and I just had to meet you!"
"Heard about me?" She shot a glance at Cole. Maybe he knew somehow who she
was. The look she got back said he didn't, but he was smart enough to figure it out.
"Yes! Marshall told me all about you and my brother. It was so funny that I had to
meet the woman who didn't swoon at his feet."
"Sorry. Paige forgets that not everyone knows her family tree. The brother to
whom she is referring is Cade Davies. He's the biology teacher and football coach
at the high school."
"Oh! The guy that needs to learn self-defense. Yeah, I know who you're talking
about. It's nice to meet you both."
"Annie, come meet this young man. He's single too!" Wow, Lily was sure one for
subtlety. "This is Ahmed. He's not from here either."
Annie looked at the hard man and cringed. Was everyone here a fed? At least the
feds here were hot. Ahmed was shorter than Cole, but was built. His body showed a
life dedication to training and she bet she could bounce a quarter off his…well, his
everything.
"So, what do you do for a living?"
"I am the head of security for Mo," he said in a heavily accented voice. Middle
East somewhere she guessed.
"Mo?"
"The Prince of Rahmi. Well, and now also his fiancée Danielle." He nodded to the
couple now talking to Cole and Paige. "So, Miss Lily has put you on the must need
to be married list."
"It appears so. Never really wanted to be married. My lifestyle doesn't support it."
"Hmm. Guidance counselors have tough schedules." He gave her a look that said
he knew way more than she wanted him too. "If you ever need help…guiding
someone, let me know. We single-don't-want-to-be-married people need to stick
together." With a quick bow of his head, he turned and headed out the door. Who
were these people? She needed to hook up her computer as soon as she had her
meeting with her boss, get her new login to the database and run a search on the
whole town.