By Brazeau

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.

As often as the unexpected happened in Hazzard, some of which eventually became run of the mill, more often than not on a quiet fall evening it was the ordinary everyday occurrences that kept the local Sheriff busy.  A call into the Boar’s Nest about a fight, breaking up races on some back country road, or supervising Cooter as he pulled his deputy’s car out of a ditch, pond, or what have you. Yep, it was those quiet fall evenings where the ordinary undertakings had a way of lulling a man into a state in which he wasn’t quite prepared for anything beyond the commonplace. And this night just so happened to be one such night.

Sheriff Rosco Coltrane was just returning to his patrol after being called into Boss’ office at the Boar’s Nest for yet another tirade concerning Enos’ lack of understanding when it came to the shadier side of Hazzard politics. Rosco had had just about enough and was about to voice his opinion when the Boss’ phone rang and he was dismissed. There was something about the crisp night air, the smell of the leaves, and the harvest moon that always took Rosco back to his early days in uniform, back when he put justice before money. As he walked out through the Bar and saw all the Halloween decorations Daisy had put up, and the little Cat costume she had on, Rosco decided he better do a run through town to make sure the youngest members of Hazzard were enjoying their night in a safe manner. Nothing every happened on Halloween in Hazzard and Rosco aimed to keep it that way.

As he slid into the driver’s seat of his patrol car and started it up he grabbed the cb mic and called Enos.

“Enos, you got yer ears on? Come back.”

He didn’t need to wait long for the reply.

“Right here Sheriff.”

Rosco rolled his eyes. “Where’s here, Enos?”

“I’m in town square, keepin’ an eye on all the tricker-treaters, Sheriff.”

“Alright. I’m gonna do a pass through town before I head out to do mah regular patrol. Have there been any problems?”

“Well, one little ghost tripped and spilled their candy but it was nothing that I couldn’t handle.”

Rosco could practically hear Enos smiling through the cb. “I’m gone.”

Rosco pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road back towards town, the wind was blowing clouds past the moon, alternatively bathing the county in cool light and darkness. Rosco couldn’t suppress the shiver that ran up his spine but he dismissed it as being due to the weather.

 

It wasn’t long before Rosco’s patrol car was slowly cruising the streets of the town, the soft glow of pumpkins adding much needed warmth to the night. He smiled as he watched the children making their was eagerly from house to house, comparing their respective hauls, jumping out at each other from behind bushes, and chasing each other across lawns. Rosco rolled down his window to warn a cowboy and an angel not to run out into the street. They smiled and said “Yes Sheriff.” in chorus; the little angel offered him a candy which he gladly took.  Laughter and playful screams carried on the cool autumn breeze as Rosco finished his drive through the town. He pulled even with Enos who was parked next to the town square, the deputy has a wistful look on his face.

“You wish you were still allowed to tricker-treat, don’t you?” Rosco asked with a smile.

“Yah.” Enos responded.

“Keep a close eye on those little ones, boy.” He reached out and patted his deputy’s arm. “I’ll be out on patrol.”

“Yes Sheriff.”

 

As the lights of town faded and then disappeared from his rear view mirror Rosco flipped on his high beams and rolled his window back up as the breeze wiped past and nearly drew tears from his eyes. He sighed as he looked at his watch and counted the hours until he could be home in bed. The roads were nearly deserted and the few he did pass were headed down their laneways after picking up their children from town. Besides it being Halloween the evening was shaping up like any other, if not quieter. Rosco had driven these roads so often that he barely paid any attention, he knew every twist and turn by heart, his hands turned the wheel exactly as needed and not a bit more.  Rosco liked having this time alone with his thoughts, though the Boss would accuse him of never having any; it was one part of the job that even Boss couldn’t deny him.

Rosco realized he had become lost in his thoughts when a huge gust of wind kicked up a swirl of leaves and dust, momentarily blinding him. Rosco slowed his car and tried to figure out just exactly where he was when a figure came tearing out onto the road in front of him. Rosco slammed on his brakes and breathed a sigh of relief when he narrowly avoided hitting the person. He then jumped out of the car and started towards the person who was standing like a deer frozen in the headlights.

“Are you outta yer mind? Running out in front a mah car?” Rosco half yelled as he approached. “You coulda got yerself killed with a stunt like that.”

When the person didn’t respond Rosco reached out and touched their arm, the motion seemed to stir the person from their trance and they grasp the startled Sheriff by the arms and turned two frightened blue eyes upon him.

“You have to help me! They’re after me!” The person screamed in near hysterics.

It was at that point that Rosco realized this was a woman. She was in a terrible state, her hair and face matted with dirt and blood. Tears cut a swath through the filth on her cheeks, her eyes were red and swollen, her clothes in tatters, and her feet were bare and bleeding. She continued to cry and ramble until Rosco found his voice again.

“Hold on a minute, who’s after you?”

The woman clutched the Sheriff’s arms tighter as the wind howled past; causing the leaves to created an incredible racket in the absence of all other sounds. “Those men! Please help me!” She pleaded, burying her face in his chest.

Rosco suddenly felt very vulnerable standing out in the open on the road and illuminated in the brightness of his head lights. He began to guide the woman to his car when the sounds of someone crashing through the underbrush drew a terrified scream from the woman who clung to the sheriff as though he were the only thing standing between her and death. For all Rosco knew that may very well have been the truth.  Rosco tried to usher the woman to his car but she seemed frozen in terror.

“Get in the car!” He urged her, pushing her in that direction as turned to face whatever threat was rushing down the hillside towards them. He pulled his revolver from his belt, readied it, and sought the protection offered him by standing behind the front end of his patrol car. A quick look over his right shoulder told him the woman had not moved an inch.

“Either get in the car or get down on the ground!” He yelled returning his attention back to the hillside. Rosco couldn’t see a thing, the moon had slid behind a cloud and they were blanketed in shadow. The sounds had stopped but Rosco could feel eyes staring down at him. He scanned the side of the road but was unable to make out any shape that would resemble a human being. Branches and bushes rustled in the wind, obscuring his view of the woman’s assailants.

“How many are there?” Rosco asked turning back to the quaking woman, hoping she had sense enough to answer. But the woman he saw barely resembled the woman who had ran out onto the road moments ago. She was no longer a shaking, weeping mess.  Her hands no longer trembled as she raised the blackjack above her head, the moon light washed back over them in time for Rosco to see the grim smile on her face just before the blackjack connected with his temple. Lights sparked in his vision, and then there was only darkness.

 

The woman stood over the form of the fallen sheriff, bathed in the pale blue light of the moon. She wiped her bloody hands on her tattered shirt; the blood came off easily, leaving no trace of injuries below. She ran her sleeve across her face to rid herself of the fake blood as a man emerged from the cover of the trees on the roadside.

“That went well, wouldn’t you say?” The man said, coming to stand next to the patrol car.

“He never had a chance.” The woman smiled back. “Get him in the car. We have work to do.”

The man hauled the unconscious Sheriff into the back seat of the patrol car, tossing his black Stetson in after him, and pocketing the pearl handled colt. The woman climbed into the passenger’s seat as he slid in behind the wheel.

“Where to, Jo-Dee?” The man asked flashing a roguish smile to his counterpart as the Fury tore off.

“You know where to Dale. This ain’t a time for messin’ around neither.” Jo-Dee snapped back, she was using the passenger mirror to try and clean up her face. “I want to be long gone from this county before sunrise.”

“We will be. We got the sheriff and more importantly his key ring, which translates as insurance and success in mah books.” Dale said. “We’ll be in and outta that bank before Boss Hogg knows what hit him.”

Dale slowed the patrol car as they approached a small path and came to a stop. Both he and Jo-Dee jumped out, Dale pulled Rosco from the back seat and slung him over his shoulders. Jo-Dee headed off down the path and Dale followed. Just out of sight from the road they stopped in front of a tan sedan, Jo-Dee opened the back door for Dale who dumped the sheriff inside.

“Put his cuffs to good use, why dontcha?” Jo-Dee suggested.

“You belted him pretty good Darlin’. I ain’t sure he’ll be up so soon.” Dale mused even as he was moving to carry out her suggestion. He cuffed Rosco’s hands behind his back and slammed the door. “You almost ready?” He asked Jo-Dee.

“Hold yer horses!” Jo-Dee was using a bottle of water to rise the grim from her hair and skin. She quickly towelled off and changed into some clothing more conducive to robbing a bank. “Alright, let’s go.”

The sedan pulled out on to the road, leaving the patrol car in their dust. Jo-Dee pulled a blanket out from under her seat and threw it over the prone body of the sheriff as Dale steered them towards Hazzard.

 

Back in Hazzard Square Enos was getting ready to call it a night. The children were long off the streets as it was nearing midnight and almost all the jack-o-lanterns were either burnt out or extinguished. He parked his car in front of the court house and locked it up for the night. He jogged up the court house steps and into the Sheriff’s Station. Enos dropped his log book off at his desk and was about to head home when he decided he should call the Sheriff and check in one last time. He walked over to the cb and tried to raise Rosco.

“This is Deputy Enos Strait calling Sheriff Rosco Coltrane. Come in Sheriff.”

Enos waited a minute but when no reply came he tried again. “You got yer ears on Sheriff? Come back?”

Once again there was no reply. Enos took a deep breath to steady his quickly fraying nerves and headed to his patrol car having decided to trace the Sheriff’s patrol route before raising an alarm. He hoped the older man’s cb was simply on the fritz.

 

Jo-Dee and Dale had heard the Deputy trying to raise the Sheriff and realized their time frame for robbing the bank was shrinking by the minute. When they didn’t hear Enos try and call for help they concluded that the Deputy was most likely going to try and find the Sheriff himself.

“It won’t be long before he finds that empty patrol car.” Dale stated.  Their car had just pulled onto the main street and the town was deserted because of the late hour. He drove slowly through the streets in an attempt to not draw any attention to themselves and came to a stop in the alley adjacent to the bank.

“Let’s do this.” Jo-Dee smiled. “Better bring him … just in case.” She instructed as she removed Rosco’s key ring from his belt. “I’ll get the door.” Jo-Dee quietly exited the car and, checking to see if anyone was around, stepped up to the side door and used the Sheriff’s master key to open it. She slipped inside and held the door open for Dale as he carried in Rosco.

“Where are the tools?”Jo-Dee asked Dale as he laid Rosco down by the vault.

“I left them in the trunk. I’ll be right back.”

Jo-Dee took a look at the vault they were about to break in to and let out a low whistle. “This could take longer than he thinks.”

 

The first thing Rosco became aware of was the pounding pain in his head. He squeezed his eyes tight before trying to open them. He blinked several times to try and clear his vision and hoped the buzzing in his ears would soon pass. As it slowly faded out and his vision became clear he realized he was lying on the floor of the Boss’ bank. He tried to bring a hand to his head but found he was unable to move them. ‘Handcuffs?’ Rosco questioned. ‘Why am I handcuffed?’

“Did you know how state of the art this vault was, Dale?” Rosco heard a woman say.

‘What on earth is going on?’ Rosco wondered. At this point recognizing that is was best to remain silent.

“No, Jo-Dee, I did not.” A man replied. He heard a crash as what sounded like a bag full of tools hit the floor.

Rosco’s thought process was a bit laboured at the moment. His head was throbbing. He couldn’t figure out how he had come to be laying, handcuffed on the floor of the Hazzard bank. These two were clearly intent on breaking into the vault; all Rosco could see was their feet at the moment as Boss’ desk was obscuring them from his view. He tried to think back to the last thing he could recall before coming to. He remembered going out on patrol, nothing out of the ordinary there, the roads were deserted … had something ran out into the road … an animal? Just then the woman stepped far enough round the desk that Rosco caught sight of her face and it all came rushing back. Her face in his headlights contorted by fear and then moments later her face in the moonlight wearing a sadistic grin, right before she had knocked him cold. She turned to look at him and Rosco quickly closed his eyes, feigning unconsciousness.

“Just get to work, Dale.” She hissed.

Rosco heard her moving closer and then felt someone kick his boot.

“Hurry up, Dale! I wanna get outta here. I don’t want a repeat of what happen in Sommerville.”

“Having to shoot our hostage?” Dale asked a slight tone of pleasure in his voice.

“No you idiot! Not getting away with the money!”

“Right.”

“Let’s just be done before anyone catches onto us this time.”

While Rosco tried to control his heart as it hammered against his ribcage he sent up a silent pray that someone already had.

 

Out on the road Enos had had no luck in finding Rosco. With every turn he made he hoped he would find the Sheriff on the other side fixing a flat or something of that nature, but so far each turn had only helped to heighten his anxiety.

“Where are you, Sheriff?” Enos wondered aloud, wringing the steering wheel with his hands.

As he made the next turn his heart leapt as his headlights bounced off the familiar white of a Hazzard County Patrol car. Enos pulled up alongside and looked around but there was no sign of the Sheriff. He put the car in park and unsnapped the safety clip on his holster before exiting the car. Something didn’t feel quite right. The first thing the Deputy noticed was the set of tire tracks leading out from the small path next to the Sheriff’s car. It looked as though they were headed towards town. Enos pulled his flashlight off his belt and shone it into the patrol car and what he saw in the back seat made his stomach drop. The Sheriff’s black Stetson lay on the floor and there was blood on the back seat.

Enos immediately ran back to his car and grabbed the cb. “This is Deputy Enos Strait calling Boss Hogg.” Enos tried several times before realizing that the county commissioner was most likely fast asleep at this time of the night.

“Enos, this is Luke Duke. What’s so urgent that you’d risk waking Boss up over?” Luke’s voice crackled across the radio.

“Luke, the Sheriff is missing. I just found his car here on South Hollow road. His hat is here and there is blood on the back seat. There’s a set of tire tracks leading back towards town.”

The cb was silent for a moment before Jesse Duke’s voice filtered through. “Enos this is Uncle Jesse. Just stay calm; Bo and Luke are coming out ta meet ya. Me and Daisy will go tell Boss.”

“Thanks Uncle Jesse.”

 

Not ten minutes later the General Lee Slide to a stop behind Enos’ patrol car. Luke and Bo wasted no time in jumping out of the car and running up to their worried friend.

“Any sign of Rosco?” Bo asked.

Enos shook his head. “No, I checked the woods over here, there are some foot prints leading that way and then the tire tracks heading off yonder but no sign of the Sheriff.”

Luke was leant over in the back of Rosco’s car. “Maybe they took him with them, which means they must need him for something.”

Bo knelt down next to the tire tracks; “These do look like they’re headed towards town.”

“Well, then that’s where we start looking.” Luke straightened up and leaned on the hood of the car. “Why would someone take Rosco back to Hazzard?”

“What could he possibly have that they’d need?” Bo questioned.

Luke snapped his fingers. “Maybe it’s not something he has but something he has access to!”

“Like the court house?” Enos asked.

“Or the bank!” Bo and Luke exclaimed in unison.

And with that discovery the three climbed into their respective cars and tore off towards Hazzard.

“Should we risk using the cb to warn Jesse and Daisy?” Bo asked his older cousin as they raced towards town.

“No. Whoever has Rosco could be monitoring it, we don’t want him in any more trouble than he already is.” Luke replied. “We’ll just have to pray they don’t get tangle up in this before we have the chance to warn them.”

 

Jesse’s pick up pulled up alongside the curb in front of J.D.’s house and Daisy made to hop out real quick when her uncle grasped her arm.

“Best let me do the talking, Daisy. We don’t know what’s happened and don’t want any one assuming the worst just yet.”

Daisy nodded. “Right. Lulu can never handle these things all that well.”

“That’s why I am only fixin’ on tellin’ J.D. at this point.”  Jesse replied.

And with that the two made their way up to the Commissioner’s house and knocked on the door. Jesse was prepared to wait for a few minutes for a response so when the door flew open almost immediately it caught both he and Daisy by surprise.

“Oh J.D., you almost gave me a heart attack.” Jesse said holding his hand to his chest.

J.D.’s scowling face didn’t soften as he stood there in his night shirt. “What do you mean by rapping on a man’s door at this hour, Jesse? You’re interrupting my evening snack.” He took a bite out of the chicken leg clutched in his hand.

“Before I start, J.D. is Lulu awake?”

“Not unless your knocking woke her, no.”

“Rosco is missing-“

“Don’t come tah my home in the middle of the night to complain about that pea-brain.” J.D. started to close the door but Jesse forcefully stopped it.

“J.D. you better listen closely! Enos found Rosco’s car out on South Hollow road. There was blood on the back seat and no sign of him.”

“This ain’t one of your shuck n’ jives is it, Jesse?” Boss asked, his chicken leg quickly forgotten.

Jess merely shook his head.

“I didn’t think so.”

“Enos said there were car tracks heading back inta town.” Daisy supposed aloud. “Maybe someone found him and brought him back to the courthouse and he just ain’t called in yet to let anyone know.”

Jesse looked at Daisy. “I suppose that’s possible.” He turned to J.D. “Do you want to go and check it out?”

“Just let me get some pants on.”

 

Back at the bank things weren’t going so well for Dale and Jo-Dee, which meant things weren’t looking good for Rosco.

“Damn! I just can’t make a dent in this thing!” Dale cursed as he tossed the blow torch he was holding at the floor.

Rosco winched as it struck his leg but kept quiet as he didn’t want to become the next outlet for the man’s anger. They hadn’t so much as given him a second thought and he wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. He kept hoping that this was some bad dream brought on by Halloween and he was really just at home in bed, but with each passing minute that became less and less of a  possibility.

“I heard he was the most crooked and cheap Boss around, why is this taking you so long!” Jo-Dee fumed.

“This ain’t no two-bit safe, Jo-Dee! Fort Knox has less sophisticated stuff than this!”

Rosco couldn’t help but smile at their frustration. Boss was cheap alright, except when it came to protecting his investments. Rosco’s smile fell from his face at Dale’s next words.

“Is he awake yet? Maybe he knows the combination.”

Rosco tried not to let his body stiffen up as they approached him but to continue to appear unconscious.

“Hey!” Jo-Dee yelled in his ear.

It took all of Rosco’s concentration not to flinch. He didn’t resist as he was rolled onto his back.

“Try slapping his face.” Dale suggested.

As the woman started slapping his face none to gently Rosco realized he wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long. He soon decided that it would be better for him to ‘wake up’ sooner than for them to continue to get angrier and angrier with him. He slowly opened his eyes after one particularly hash slap and tried his best to look confused.

“Hey Sheriff. Have a nice nap?” Jo-Dee asked as she grasped his collar and pulled him up so that he was leaning against the desk.

Rosco’s head swam at the sudden change in position. He tried to blink away the fog that was currently clouding his vision as Jo-Dee continued to talk, his collar still clutched tightly in her hands.

“Do you know the combination for this safe, Sheriff?”

When he didn’t answer straight away she jerked him forward and slammed him back against the desk, making his already aching head pound painfully.

“No.”

“You lying ta me, Sheriff?” She asked, distain dripping from each syllable of the word ‘sheriff’.

“No.” Rosco cleared his throat.”Why would I know the combination ta the bank vault?”

“I dunno,” Dale said as he sauntered towards them. “Maybe cause it might just save yer life one day.”

“I don’t know it.” Rosco repeated. “Besides even if I did, it’s on a time lock system and won’t open til nine in the morning.”

Jo-Dee shot a look of fury at Dale before turning back to Rosco. “You just think yer so smart don’t you?”

Rosco did not like where this was headed.

“Look lady, there ain’t nothin’ I cin do ta open that safe and there ain’t nothin’ you cin do ta me that will change that.”

“You think we won’t wait here, huh? You think we’ll just give up now and leave without that cash? We’ll just wait here til nine and when the person with the combination comes in then we’ll get what we came for.” She said with a look akin to insanity in her eyes.

“Hold on a minute, Jo-Dee. I don’t think that is a good idea.” Dale said. “We should just get outta here now and find some other podunk town to rip off.”

Jo-Dee finally released Rosco’s collar and turned on her partner. “I ain’t leavin’ here without mah money!”

Dale raised his hands in defeat and backed up a few paces. “Awright. We stay and wait.”

 

Jesse, J.D., and Daisy quickly made their way up the steps of the Hazzard Courthouse and hurried into the Sheriff’s station only to find that no one was there. The look of hope that Boss had worn all the way there quickly fell as his eyes searched the darkened office.  Daisy put a consoling hand on his arm.

“I’m sure he’s fine Boss.” Daisy said, trying to sound as reassuring as possible.

Jesse was about to speak when the sound of footfalls echoed through the empty hallway and Bo, Luke, and Enos burst through the swinging doors.

“Uncle Jesse! I am glad to see you here.” Luke stared, trying to catch his breath.

“What’s goin’ on?” Jesse asked.

“Have you found Rosco?” Boss demanded.

The three younger men exchanged a glance before Luke proceeded. “We think we might have figured out what’s going on. We just need to make sure we’re right before we go any further.”

“What on earth are you talkin’ about?” Daisy questioned.

“We think that someone or some people grabbed Rosco to get access to somewhere only he and a few others can.” Luke explained.

A huge intake of breath could be heard. “My bank!” Boss exclaimed.

“Exactly. Now we figure they took Rosco because they think he knows how to open the vault … or as insurance of some sort.” Luke continued.

“Which means they are probably all over there at this very minute.” Jesse finished.

Luke nodded. “We need to figure out how to get Rosco out of there safely, how many people are in there, and how dangerous they are.”

“Well how on earth do you propose we do that?” Boss bellowed.

“Take it easy J.D.. Now if I know my boys they will have some kinda shuck n’ jive all lined up.” Jesse stated turning to face his nephews. “Don’t cha boys?”

“Well,” Luke started.

“Not exactly. At this point it’s more of a …  vague outline.” Bo finished.

“We’re gonna need some more hands in on this. Daisy could you go get Cooter?” Luke asked.

“On my way.” Daisy said, already making her way to the door.

“Boss, you, Enos, and Uncle Jesse stay here. Bo and I are gonna go and see if our hunch is right and how many folks we’re dealin’ with here.” Luke said, patting his cousin on the arm as they turned and set off for the bank.

“You boys be careful now.” Jesse warned.

“When aren’t we?” Bo smiled and the door swung shut behind him.

“Is he serious?” Boss cried in exasperation.

 

Once outside Bo and Luke stopped in front of the courthouse and tried to figure out the safest way to go about seeing into the bank. They settled on going around the town square and coming up from behind by Rick’s pool hall, believing they would be less likely to be seen by this route. It took them only a few minutes to make their way around and they were soon crouched beneath one of the bank’s windows.

“That car looks about the right size to have left those tire marks.” Bo surmised.

“If there’s blood on the backseat it’s a sure thing.” Luke commented.

Taking his cue from his cousin, Bo crawled over to the car and peeked in the back window. The light from the street lamp showed a large red splotch on the tan fabric. Bo swiftly ducked back down and slid back over to where Luke was waiting.

“It’s the car alright.” He whispered.

Luke nodded and cautiously peered into the bank. The shades were almost drawn completely shut and he couldn’t make out anything definitively. He motioned for Bo to follow him and the two made their way in a crouched run to check the other windows. They were back on the courthouse side before they had any luck. Luke was able to see a dim light shinning and two people standing by the vault but nothing else.

“What’d ya see?” Bo asked.

“There’s two people in there by the vault. I can’t see Rosco but I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts he’s in there.” Luke slid out of sight of the window and ran back to the courthouse, Bo close on his heels.

 

Rosco wasn’t feeling very optimistic about his current predicament. The more time seemed to pass the less stable Jo-Dee appeared to be. He tried to keep quiet and as out of the way as he could but every so often she just seemed to boil over with rage and come at him again, accusing him of withholding the combination from her. The latest round had left Rosco’s ears ringing and his nose a bloodied mess. She’d eventually given up and turned her anger against the vault, which Rosco much preferred. It was then in the reflection of a knocked over lamp that Rosco had seen what he was sure was Luke Duke’s face. He didn’t believe it at first but sure enough there it was. Rosco had almost smiled; when he realized that Dale’s gaze was following his. Rosco nudged the lamp ever so slightly with his foot so that Luke’s reflection was no longer visible.

“What’s so interesting, Sheriff?”

Rosco shrugged. “Got a hankie?”

Dale shook his head and turned his attention back to his partner’s attack on the vault.

Rosco let out a breath of relief. He sat back against the desk and tried to relax and gather his wits about him.  If the Duke’s were involved now he was going to have to be ready for anything.

 

Boss was growing impatient. Not only was his brother-in-law (and friend) in danger, but there were people trying to rob his bank at that very moment. He had almost charged out twice while waiting for Bo and Luke to return but Enos and Cooter had stopped him.

“Hold yer horses now, Boss.” Cooter soothed. “They’ll be back in a minute.”

“They’d better be. Knowing them boys they’re in on in! Yer all in on it!” J.D. hollered.

“J.D.! You know full and well my boys would never do a thing like that. Now you sit down and shut yer yap. They’ll get here when they get here.” Jesse remonstrated.

As if on cue Bo and Luke entered the office.

“Well?” Jesse asked.

“There are two people in there, a man and a woman. They most likely have Rosco with them.” Luke said.

“What do you mean ‘most likely’?” Cooter asked.

“The car that sitting out front has the right wheel width and there is blood on the back seat.” Bo explained.

“But?” Jesse prodded.

“Luke didn’t see Rosco in there so they could have…” Bo let his voice trail off.

No one in the room needed to have that possibility explained to them.

“But Luke reckons they keep him, for insurance purposes, we just couldn’t see in past the bank’s balustrade.”

“So now what?” Cooter prompted. “How do we get ol’Rosco outta there?”

“I need to think.” Luke said, much to the disappointment of everyone in the room. But after only a few minutes he snapped his fingers. “Enos, you got any recent mug books?”

 

After twenty minutes of pouring over the mug books and more recent hot sheets Luke found what he was looking for.

“This is them.” He held up a hot sheet with the photo of a man and a woman on it but it was the writing below that caught everyone’s attention.

Dale Mitchell and Jo-Dee Winters wanted for 4 counts of armed robbery and one count of first degree murder. Suspects should be considered armed and dangerous.

“How does this help us?” Daisy asked.

“We can use this against them. Look here, it’s the name of the man they murdered. Harold Green. I think I just came up with a plan.” Luke grinned.

 

Back in the bank Rosco was watching the clock and wondering if he hadn’t just imagined Luke’s face. He had taken more than a few blows to the head recently. Thankfully Jo-Dee had seemed to tire herself out and was sitting with her back against the now chipped, scratched, and charred face of Boss’s vault. If it wasn’t obvious that this woman was unstable before it sure was now. She seemed caught up in a fit of hysterics, rocking and crying as Dale tried to comfort her.

“Why doesn’t anything ever work out the way I want it to?” She bawled. “I try ma best.”

“I know you do Darlin’.” Dale said trying to pacify her. “It’ll be mornin’ soon and we’ll get that vault open and you’ll get exactly what you want.”

Rosco could have almost laughed at the scene if he wasn’t so alarmed. As it was he was just praying he would make it out of this in one piece. He could see the clock on the bank wall from where he was sitting, it was almost four in the morning, and knew it had been almost two hours since he had thought he had seen Luke.

“Would it make you feel better if you got to shoot the Sheriff?”

Rosco head snapped round as he heard Dale speak these words.

“We need him alive or else no one will give us the safe combination.” Jo-Dee countered, though she visibly cheered at the thought.

“You don’t have to kill him. You could shoot him in the arm or the leg.” Dale suggested, pulling Rosco’s gun from his waist band and holding it out for her.

Jo-Dee reached out and took the gun from Dale’s hand, turning it over and running her fingers along the barrel and handle.

Rosco sat up a bit straighter and pulled at the cuffs that held his wrists together behind his back. “Now wait a minute here! You don’t wanna do this.”

“Why not? You’ll live… at least until midday.” Jo-Dee smiled, a strange peace replacing the earlier hysterics.

“Go ahead Baby, pick yer shot.” Dale urged, moving out of the way so the woman had a clear path between her and Rosco.

Jo-Dee stood and moved closer to the Sheriff, the gun clasp tightly in her pale hands. “I need to be close enough to make sure I don’t miss.”

A million thoughts were racing through Rosco’s head; could he run, kick the gun from her hand– Any further thoughts were dashed from his mind as something was pressed against his temple and the sound of a gun hammer being pulled back filled his ears.

“Don’t move a muscle.” Dale whispered, leaning over the back of the desk.

Rosco had no choice but to comply as Jo-Dee stood over him with the gun weaving back and forth as she tried to decide on where she was going to shoot him. Rosco squeezed his eyes shut and prepared for the searing pain he was sure was about to come when instead of a gun blast his ears were met with the sound of shattering glass.

Rosco opened his eyes and saw that all the bank windows had shattered simultaneously. Dale and Jo-Dee had ducked for cover, Rosco thought he might be able to make a break for it when Dale grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back down behind the desk with himself and Jo-Dee.

“Stay where you are Sheriff.” Dale’s voice betrayed his fear but the hand that held his gun was steady.

The lights in the bank went out abruptly, just long enough for their eyes to adjust, before the remains of the shades were torn down and incredibly bright lights blast in from outside effectively blinding them. Rosco ducked his face away when suddenly a loud voice spoke, breaking the silence.

“Jooo-Dee, Daaaale”. The voice had an ethereal quality to it. “This is Harold Greeeeen speaking.”

The two robbers exchanged a confused glance behind Sheriff’s back while Rosco smiled as he realized that this scenario had Duke fingerprints all over it.

“Harold Green?” Dale asked. “Wasn’t that the-”

“Do you remember me? From Sommerville?”

“It can’t be?!” Jo-Dee asked, terror creeping up on her features, edging her voice.

Smoke started to drift in across the floor and the lights began to flash as rumbling filled the air.

“I’ve come for vengeance, you two need to pay for your crimes!”

Rosco hoped Luke wasn’t laying it on to thick, but chances were these two were just about gullible enough to buy it.

A ghostly figure appeared in amongst the smoke and lights. Immediately Dale and Jo-Dee started firing at it, Rosco saw this as his opportunity to put some distance between himself and his abductors and began to squeeze out from between them and make for the nearest exit. He held his breath as he scooted backwards while Dale and Jo-Dee continued to shoot at the gliding figure and were confounded as to why the bullets seemed to just pass through without doing it any harm.

Seeing that they had yet to notice his distancing himself from them; Rosco pushed himself to his feet and started to run when he tripped over the blow torch that Jo-Dee had thrown during one of her fits of rage. Rosco caught himself at the last minute but so had Dale. Rosco tried to run but Dale tackled him to the ground.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Dale asked, pressing Rosco to the floor, amoungst the broken glass and other debris.

Rosco decided that he had one chance and he needed to play along with the Duke’s plan. “Are you crazy fella? That ghost out there is after you and yer lady friend! Lemme outta here!”

Dale elbowed Rosco in the face and tried to return his attention to the ‘ghost’.

“Dale!” Jo-Dee screamed. “I’m out of bullets!”

Dale pointed his gun at the figure and pulled the trigger but all that he was rewarded with was the clicking of an empty barrel.

“This is your last chance! Surrender quietly or I will be forced to come in and get you.”

Jo-Dee and Dale looked at each other as they tried to figure out how to proceed but made no move to give in.

Rosco decided he needed to help finish this. “They’re out of bullets!” He yelled as loud as he could.

Immediately the noise stopped and Cooter, Enos, Bo, and Luke charged in through the blown out windows. Dale pushed himself up off of Rosco and tried to make a run for it but at the sight of Enos’ gun he drew up short. Bo and Luke easily over powered Jo-Dee and hauled her outside along with Dale.

“Are you alright, Rosco?” Cooter asked as he helped Rosco onto his feet.

“Once you get these handcuffs offa me I will be.” Rosco replied as Cooter helped him out to where the others were waiting.

“Rosco!” Boss stepped up to the battered Sheriff and seemed at a loss for words. Rosco was sure he was going to get yelled at for Boss having to nearly destroy his bank but instead the shorter man wrapped his arms around him and gave him a hug.

Rosco couldn’t return the gesture as his hands were still pinioned behind his back but his smile said it all. Once Boss had released him and Enos uncuffed his hands; he searched through the faces of those gathered around him until he found the one he was looking for.

“This has got to be one of your shuck n’ jives Luke Duke and I sincerely thank ya for it.” Rosco said, firmly shaking the younger man’s hand. “Thank you all.”

“Aw we had to Rosco; it just wouldn’t be the same around here without you.” Bo grinned, patting the sheriff on the back.

“Now don’t everyone go relaxin’ just yet. We gotta get these hoods over ta the prison and get the Doc out here to take a look at Rosco’s head.” Jesse reminded.

“And don’t you forget, someone’s gonna have ta fix up mah bank!” Boss fumed. Now that Rosco was safe he realized the mess they’d made of his building.

“This ain’t comin’ outta my pay is it?” Rosco asked in all seriousness.

Everyone couldn’t help but laugh at how quickly things returned to normal in Hazzard.

“Trick-or-treat, Rosco.” Daisy said planting a kiss on his cheek.

Rosco sighed “Happy Halloween.”

THE END