Bluegrass Undercover (Bluegrass Brothers)

and pinned his arms back. The remaining man tied the blindfold over his eyes, poorly, again. He contained his sigh at these amateurs only because he knew Gaylen was trying to be intimidating. He didn’t want to fracture his ego. He was a gentleman after all, and he needed to get back to Keeneston as soon as possible so he could find Annie. He had played enough games with her these last weeks, little innuendos and taunts trying to get her flustered and wondering if he really knew who she was. Well, the time for playing was over. He needed her help to protect his team.

Chapter Seven
     
    Annie couldn’t believe it. The bumbling idiots had gotten Cade into the van although he didn’t put up much of a fight. Maybe his military record was forged? He always seemed to need saving. She had tried to follow them, but her damn keys had been eaten by her purse. She had to toss the whole thing on the hood of the car to find them. By that time the van was gone and she stood alone in the large parking lot.
    She’d tossed all her junk back in her purse and headed home. She drove through the church parking lot which was sprinkled with cars for some sort of Bible study or singles dance, or whatever they were scheduled for tonight. There may not be many people in Keeneston, and there may not be that much of a night life, but St. Francis could throw some kicking parties.
    Annie parked next to the small wood cottage house and leapt up the stairs to her front door. Unlocking the door she ran to where her computer still sat on the kitchen table – the only place she could fit it – and booted it up. She may not know where Cade was now, but she could find out where he would be when it was over.
    She typed in his name and found his address. She entered it into the mapping system and stared at a dot in the middle of a field. The system said it couldn’t find the location. Flipping open her phone she dialed the only number she had bothered to learn since moving to Keeneston.
    “Blossom Café. What can I do for ya'?”
    “Is this Miss Daisy or Miss Violet?”
    “This is Miss Violet, dear. What can I do for you, hon?”
    “This is Annie Hill. I need to know how to get out to Cade’s house.”
    “Oh, bless your heart, I won! I won! I never win! Daisy Mae I won!”
    Annie had to hold the phone away from her ear as Miss Violet shouted out into the Café.
    “What do you mean you won? Who is it Violet Fae?” she heard Miss Daisy shout.
    “It’s Annie. She wants to know how to get to out to Cade’s house! I won the pool! Today was my day!” There was a chorus of groans as the patrons of the Café checked their dates in the pool and even through the phone Annie bet they could see her red face. “Thank you, dear. It was about time the two of you got together. You’ve been circling each other ever since you got to town.”
    “I got twenty on a June wedding!” someone shouted.
    “What?!” Annie shouted into the phone. “Miss Daisy, what was that?” Annie’s stomach had flipped at hearing the word wedding. Talk about a commitment-phobe. With her history who wouldn’t be?
    “Oh nothing, dear. Now, you want to know how to get to Cade’s. Easy. Turn right out of your house onto Main Street and keep going for about five miles. You’ll see his parents’ stone gate entranceway on the right. Go a half mile further and turn left into Fire Gate Nineteen there. Then make a right on the first dirt road you come to and take that for about a mile. It’ll stop at his house.”
    “Seriously, there are still dirt roads? And what’s a fire gate?”
    “You’ll see it. There’s a break in the fence line, like a driveway, and there’s a white wood marker that has the number 19 in red on it. That’s the fire gate. Of course there are still dirt roads, honey. His house is almost a mile from the road. You know much that would cost to pave? Now, would you say you like the month of July or September better?”
    “Neither. I’ m partial to January.”
    “Isn’t that a little soon? Oh well, why waste time is what I say. Have fun tonight!”
    Annie closed her phone and stared at it for a full minute. She could just see Miss Violet putting twenty bucks on a January wedding that was never going to happen. Not that a wedding to Cade would be bad, but those were just fantasies. First she needed to make sure he was still alive.
    Annie missed the fire gate twice and the dirt road once. A mailbox or a light would be helpful. She turned onto the