Bluegrass Undercover (Bluegrass Brothers)

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