Bluegrass Undercover (Bluegrass Brothers)

the spell broken, the kids scattered and he was left in silence as he made his way to his classroom.
     
    *     *     *
     
    Gaylen wiped the sweat from his face. It was a good thing they were on the phone and Boss couldn’t see Gaylen reacting to the threats. He was rather partial to his balls and would like to keep them if at all possible.
    “You’re failing, Gaylen. You know what happens to people who fail me, don’t you?
    “Yes, Boss. They disappear.”
    “But not before they beg for death,” the voice whispered over the phone. Gaylen felt his Adam’s apple lodge in his throat. From the orders he’d carried out on behalf of his boss, he knew that was the truth. “I want to know why Austin has stopped coming to the gym, and I want that reason taken care of. Do you understand?”
    “Yes, Boss.” Gaylen sighed in relief when he heard the phone disconnect. He took out the handkerchief in his black suit’s front pocket and dabbed at his forehead.
    He needed to appear under control before he paged Devon. A man didn’t rise to his position by showing weakness or fear – no matter how well deserved. He moved away from his desk and over to the bank of windows looking out over his empire.
    It was the middle of the day, yet his gym was full. He had millions of dollars of product arriving tomorrow and a team of soldiers to do his bidding for him. His suits each cost over a thousand dollars. Not too bad for a kid who grew up on the streets of Glasgow, one of the most dangerous cities in the world. He had fought for every penny he stole and every trinket he had gotten by mugging tourists.
    He was never scared those dark, cold nights spent trying to keep warm, not like he was now. Now he knew what wealth and reputation were, and he didn’t want to lose them. He was betting with his life that he wouldn’t. He turned back to his desk and hit the intercom.
    “Hen, be a dearie and send Devon up when he gets done with his client.” Gaylen released the intercom and sat back down in his leather chair. He needed to move some money around and develop an exit strategy, just in case he couldn’t pull this one off. He didn’t want to stick around to see what the boss had in store for him.
     
    *      *     *
     
    Cade listened to the band play the fight song and took one last look around the jammed packed parking lot before heading into the locker room. He had been in his office studying the playbook until he had made his way through the whole thing. They had a chance to do the impossible tonight. If they won, they would come in second in the division and make the playoffs. They had an inexperienced team, a leader who for most of the season was on drugs and so out of control the team almost imploded, and a brand new coach. It seemed impossible to him, especially with only three starting seniors.
    However, here they were on the cusp of the playoffs. It was the last game of the season, and the team’s seven seniors were being honored. He hung out by the door, taking one last look around as the cheerleaders got in place with the paper banner for the boys to run through, and then headed inside.
    “Our season doesn’t end tonight. It starts tonight!” Cheers erupted from the group of players surrounding Trey and Austin as they stood on the wooden bench in between the lockers.
    “We may be the underdog, but we’ve been the underdog all year,” Trey continued. “And you know the thing about underdogs? No one sees ‘em coming!”
    “We’re going to be firing on all cylinders tonight, boys. We’re a clean, new engine, and we’re going to work as a team tonight. I know it was my fault that we weren’t a team before, but we will be tonight and we will be when we win State!” Austin yelled as the team broke out in chants of ‘State’. They turned to each other, hitting their shoulder pads before jumping up and down in a circle around Trey and Austin.
    “I guess I don’t need to do a pre-game speech,” Cade said to Coach Parks. He turned to his boys and raised his voice, “Your time is now, gentlemen. Go out onto that field and take it!” Sometimes less was more, he thought, as the boys ran past him onto the field.
     
    Annie clasped her hands nervously and then rubbed them on her thighs as she waited for the start of the fourth quarter. So far it had been back and forth with neither team holding the lead for long.
    “Here you go. I thought you might like some.” Paige handed her a hot