Bluegrass Undercover (Bluegrass Brothers)

him. After all, he was in charge of recruitment. He was upper management, and with a nice share of the profits also came the responsibility of having control over middle management.
    Miami had sales that were skyrocketing in the last six months. Just last month he’d gotten praise for it, but now some street soldier had messed things up for him. Hopefully, Boss would know he had nothing to do with this and let him live.
    “Gaylen,” he said into the phone.
    “What the hell happened in Miami?” the digitally disguised voice asked. Yup, Boss was pissed.
    “I don’t know. The reports I’ m getting from management is that a soldier sold S2 in front of a DEA agent and then sold her drugs. When she went to arrest him, he clocked her, and then there was something about sexually assaulting her, but no one is really clear on that.”
    “How much did he know?”
    “Management swears he only knew the name of his supplier.”
    “I don’t want to risk it. Order a clean sweep of the Miami franchise. No one left alive. For God’s sake and yours, find a stronger manager who knows how to handle his soldiers.”
    “Done. I have had my eye on someone for expansion, but he’ll do well as a new manager. He has a strong cocaine ring that’s been running for seven years. He’s stable and knows his business.”
    “Good. Make sure everyone is gone by the end of the night. And, Gaylen?”
    “Yes?”
    “I don’t want any more screw-ups or I will hold you personally responsible, understand?”
    “Yes, Boss.”
     
    *      *     *
     
    Cade Davies couldn’t decide when to teach meiosis in his freshman biology class. He sat at his desk at Keeneston High School and stared at his lesson plan. He ran his fingers through his dark blonde hair and decided to teach it with photosynthesis before he tackled Mendel. Football camp started Monday and he wanted to use these two days to get all his teaching plans for the year ready.
    He looked up from his desk when he heard a grunt from his bearded collie Justin, then noticed his friend Will Ashton trying to push the door to his classroom open. Justin liked to lie against doors, and fifty-eight pounds of dog was hard to move. Will pushed harder, and because of Justin’s long black and white coat on the slick tiles, Justin slid along the floor like a mop as the door opened.
    “Hi, Will. Am I missing a coaches’ meeting?”
    “Nope. But, I did want to talk to you about the team.”
    “Sure, what’s up?” Cade asked his longtime friend.
    Will Ashton had played football at Keeneston High and then went on full scholarship to the University of Kentucky. He was a standout quarterback who got drafted into the NFL and played for years before his father had a heart attack. He left the NFL at the end of the season, as the number one quarterback in the country, in order to run the family thoroughbred farm. He had succeeded at that too, with back-to-back Kentucky Derby winners in his stable. On top of running the farm, he was also the volunteer head football coach at the high school. Having grown up in the same town, they had known each other since they were knee high.
    “Well, now that the trial is done, I want to focus on Kenna. You know she is due in six months, and what with recovering from the shooting and all, I just really want to help her out with getting ready for the baby. She’s trying to do it all: working full time, helping out with the farm, a nd getting the nursery ready. I’m telling you she’s out of control.”
    Poor Will. He was frantic over the prospect of having a child. After having his wife shot and then having her as the star witness at the center of a major corruption and murder trial, he didn’t want her more than five feet away from him. It didn’t matter that McKenna was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.
    “So, I am resigning at head coach.”
    “What? You can’t do that.”
    “I know I will be letting the kids down, Cade. We have a very young, very inexperienced team this year, but I can’t give them my full attention. It wouldn’t be fair to them. I have talked to Margaret, and as principal she agreed to the new hire already.”
    “New hire? Who is it?” He watched Will straighten up to his full six feet two inches and smile.
    “I’m here to officially offer you the position as head coach.”
    “Me? But, I’m not qualified. I’ve only been an assistant for a couple of years and no head coaching experience.” Cade was