Acquiring Trouble

that?” Morgan whispered, trying again to push her way to look out.
    “ That would be your everyday gun- to ting granny , Edna.” Miles looked back around the corn er and saw that the elderly women had Brady confused. He kept looking where Miles and Morgan were , trying to decide if he should advance further , or take out the white - haired , pot - throwing mafia.
    Brady de cided against the women in the c afé and walked toward Miles and Morgan as he continued to pull the tri gger in steady succession . Miles stepped fully in front of Morgan and prepared for hand-to-hand combat.
    As Miles tensed for attack , the sound of a second gun shook the earth. It sounded as if a cannon had gone off. He felt it in his f eet as the heavy noise reverberated up the street. Miles looked around the corner to see little Edna with the long barrel of a 500 Smith and Wesson Magnum p ropped up in the window of the c afé. Miss Daisy and M is s Violet were each bracing Edna against the power of the gun as Miss Lily was in turn bracing her sisters .
    Brady looked shocked. He was frozen in place as he stared at the women. Mi les didn’t hesitate as he sprang from behind the wall and sprinted full speed into Brady. They crashe d to the ground, Miles grappled with Brady as they both tried to reach the dropped gun. They rolled and Miles stood up, dragging Brady with him by his collar.
    Miles landed a solid punch and saw Brady’s head snap back. But Brady wasn’t out yet. Miles was advancing on him when Brady lashed out with a kick to his midsection. Miles exhaled on the kick and felt a rib crack, but it wasn’t enough to bring him down. Not when he was protecting the woman he loved.
    “That’s enough!” The time it took to recover from the kick was enough for Brady to grab his secondary weapon from behind his back. Miles growled as he studied the best angle for attack. “You try it and I shoot her.” Brady shifted his gun to point directly at Morgan who had come around the side of the wall. Miles held up his hands and took some big steps backward trying to get in position to protect Morgan from a shot.
    W ith tires squea l ing from behind , Miles jumped back to block Brady’s shot as he watched Morgan scrambl e behind the wall. Now that Morgan was safe, he ran as fast as he could away from Brady , as a silver minivan sped toward them. It flew by him , too fast for Miles to see who was driving . All he could see w ere four white stick - figure stickers and a Dale Jr. sticker as it roared by him.
    Miles turned back around just in time to see the driver steer toward a shocked Brady . With his mouth and eyes wide open , the minivan hit him. Brady was launched high into the air. He landed on top of the minivan and bounced a couple of times before t he vehicle slid to a stop . Brady was trying to anchor himself to the hood, but the momentum was too much . He couldn’t hold onto anything and went sailing through the air , landing on the ground with a grunt. The door opened and Pam Gilbert stepped out of the minivan.
    Morgan raced to Miles’ s side . “Holy crap ! Your sister just ran Brady over,” Mi les said in amazement as he wrapped Morgan in a fierce hug.
    “Well b less her heart.”
     
    William Brady opened his eyes slowly. The world was out of focus, but seemed very bright. The last thing he remembered was a minivan barreling toward him. He blinked his eyes until t he blurriness focused into four little white heads. It was those damn women! He must have died and gone to Hell. One was holding a wooden spoon, one a spatula, another a broom , and the last one held a very large Smith and Wesson Ma gnum pointed right at his head.
    “You just got r u n over by a socce r mom —b et that hurts worse than knowing you’re going to jail,” the one with the broom laughed.
    “Did you see him flying through the air?” t he one with wooden spoon chuckled.
    “ Real tough guy, that one,” t he woman with the spatula laughed.
    “You made my day, punk” t he lady with the gray hair said as the targeted FBI agent stepped into his view wearing a huge smile , surrounded by sheriff deputies. 
    “Mr. Brady, the FBI is requesting your presence at our office for a nice long chat. Let me introduce myself. I’m Special Agent in Charge , Cole Parker , and you’re under arrest.”

 
Chapter Twenty-Two
     
    Morgan stood with her mouth shaped into a perfect O as her sister jump ed out of the minivan , now with a considerable dent on the