Bluegrass Undercover (Bluegrass Brothers)

she threw caught Annie right in the ribs and sent her falling back. Not letting go of Stephanie’s hair, Stephanie rolled with her as they both landed on their sides and scrambled up to their feet.
    Annie grabbed more hair to pull Stephanie closer, and Stephanie kicked out at her. Pain shot up her lower leg where Steph’s heel caught her. Okay, enough playing around. Annie pulled harder on the clump of hair in her hand while sliding her other arm around Stephanie’s throat and squeezed. Stephanie dug her nails into Annie’s arm. She felt warm blood bubbling up from the claw marks and screamed, but didn’t let go. She squeezed tighter as Stephanie fought more frantically.
    Annie released Steph’s hair and put her in a proper choke hold. Stephanie dug her nails in again and slammed her heel onto Annie’s foot. Annie saw spots in her vision but held on. Her foot was on fire, and she was sure it was broken. Through the pain, she realized that Stephanie’s struggles were weakening. If she could just hold on a little longer.
    Annie shifted her weight to her good foot and applied more pressure. Stephanie clawed again, but it wasn’t as strong. She tried to reach behind her but never could reach Annie. Annie felt when Stephanie lost consciousness and let go. They both collapsed to the ground. Annie sucked in ragged breaths as she crawled toward Cade.
    “Here we are, back at the beginning,” she mumbled as she found an old scalpel to cut the tape tying Cade down.
    “How so?”
    “I’m saving you again.”
    “There’s no one else I’d rather be saved by.” Cade opened his freed arms, and she managed to climb into his lap before her foot gave out. Cade stroked her hair and held onto her for dear life.
    “Freeze!”
    “It’s okay, Noodle,” Cade called out as Annie raised her head from his chest to look at the room filling with the local sheriff’s department and Cole Parker. “It was Stephanie. Call an ambulance, Annie’s foot is probably broken, and she has some nasty cuts on her face and arms from Stephanie.” Cade held on tightly to her until the EMT’s arrived. If he had things his way, he’d never let her go again.
    Annie hated what she was about to do, but she had no choice. She left the warmth and comfort of Cade’s arms and struggled to stand on one foot. She had a crime scene to control.
    “Cole, can you call Special Agent Romero at the DEA’s office and tell him to get down here with a prisoner transport?” She reached into the back of her jeans pocket for her badge, but Cole stopped her.
    “Already done, Agent Blake.”
    “You know who I am?”
    Cole looked slightly embarrassed. “I figured you for a cop the second we met. I ran you through the system and figured it out. When you put in place enough cover identities as I have, you can spot one from a mile away. Would you care to have the honors?” Cole gestured to a now cuffed and waking up Stephanie being held by Noodle and Dinky.
    “Nothing would give me more pleasure. Stephanie Long, you have the right to remain silent.” Annie grinned down at the once spotless and perfectly perky Stephanie. “Agent Blake, we can now call you that, right?” Dinky looked to Noodle who shrugged.
    “Wait. What do you mean now? Did you both know who I was too?” Dinky looked nervous but kept his back straight and his eyes on hers.
    “Yes, ma’am. We knew who you were the night we arrested all those guys at your house. Between the two of us, we’ve dated or tried to date all the school teachers around here, and none of them could beat up three men. So, we looked into it, put two and two together and came up with fed. A little more digging and we came up with your name down in Miami.”
    “Why didn’t you say anything?” Unbelievable. She had a topnotch, undercover identity, and now here were all these people who had known who she was the whole time.
    “We may work in a small town, but we both graduated top of our class from Eastern Kentucky University. It has a great criminal justice program. We may seem laid back, but we keep our eyes and ears open.”
    “I’ m really impressed. But, you don’t need to call me Agent Blake. Annie is fine. Thank you, all of you, for having my back. Is that how you got here so quickly?”
    “I saw you race out of the house while I was on patrol. Your gun was attached to your hip so I knew it wasn’t good. I called Noodle and Cole as I followed you. I lost you once inside the school though, or I would