by: Kristy Duke

Shawn Graham’s dark green eyes cautiously scans across the open farm land that surrounds the dusty dirt road as dark moody storm clouds sends dark shadows spreading across the green land. For a moment, he watches the darkness steadily growing before a dented forest green road sign catches his attention several feet away to awaken a rush of adrenaline to race through his numb body. “Welcome to Hazzard,” he hears himself speaking aloud, breaking the silence that had entered the car upon leaving Atlanta. “Home.” Surprise registers deeply within him as pride and excitement washes over him, pride and excitement towards returning to the place he had so eagerly left behind over twelve years ago.  Watching the old familiar sign passing by his passenger window, big droplets of rain begin to rhythmically drop from the dark threatening sky to land harshly upon his windshield, only to remind him even more of the day he had left town without looking back. It had been dark and raining as he had climbed into his old muscle car on his way to a new life full of adventure. . .

Abruptly, his thoughts of his past are interrupted by the loud shrill ring of his small black cell phone that rests tightly in it’s holster upon his belt to send his heart racing in surprise at the interruption. “Damn it,” he cusses in annoyance as he grabs the phone from his hip to reluctantly glance at the caller ID screen to send dread and guilt drowning out the excitement and pride he had momentarily felt. “Shawn,” he hesitantly replies after flipping the phone open and placing it to his ear, his thoughts swiftly changing from his innocent past to the dreaded future. “I’ve just reached Hazzard.”

“You just reached Hazzard?!” the caller hisses angrily over the phone to send chills climbing up Shawn’s back, “You told us that it would take an hour to get from here to Atlanta. . .you left an hour and a half ago!”

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by: Kristy Duke

Walking stealthily into the large living room, Liam Brock’s heart skipped a beat in a rush of excitement as he eyes the large furniture that lies scattered across the mahogany flooring. Large picture frames filled with smiling faces spread across the dark wooden walls while a large stone fire place lies directly in front of Liam.  A sense of awe rushes through his tense body as he takes in the large gold and silver ornaments that line the stone ledge that hangs over the hearth, silver and gold screaming of the wealth that lies within the large house.  “Wow,” he hears himself speak aloud to break the silence that had built between the six of them since they had entered the house only minutes ago and a couple of the others sends angry glances at him. Angry glances at him for breaking the plans of working in silence, a plan they had thoroughly planned and went through several times in the last month or so since Andre got this crazy idea.

“Get moving,” a tall broad figure snaps into Liam’s ear and Liam jumps back to find Andre standing behind him, his black nylon bag held tightly within his gloved hands. “or get out. We aren’t going to get slowed down by you.”

Liam nods as his heart slowly slows back down from the rush of surprise that Andre had thrown through him before he opens his own bag he holds onto within his own gloved hands. Moving towards the large stone fireplace, for a short moment, Liam’s thoughts flash back into the past of the poor farm he had grown up on. A  poor farm where he had been forced into working at a young age in order to survive and in order for his old man to keep his prized farm that had been handed down to him. A grin spreads across his handsome face as he grabs a gold ornament that is shaped into a tall angel and places it carefully into his bag. A grin of pride at getting out of his old hick town and out of the farm when he had and at becoming who he has became as he his mind flashes forward of the riches they will withhold when they exit the mansion and return to their own hideout.

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by: MacSas

“Quiet please. This pre trial hearing is simply to decide if there is sufficient evidence to charge one Lucas. K. Duke retired Admiral of the United States Naval and Marine Corps, with attempted murder. The charge pertains to the shooting of one Alessandro Conelli, commonly known as Lex Conelli. The alleged incident took place in Room 18 on floor 4 of the Tri County Hospital, a room that was occupied by Daisy Amanda Duke. When witnesses are called to the stand, they are to answer all questions directed to them, to the best of their ability. There will be no jury at this time. It’s just me”

The Judge gave a small smile as he added the last words. He finished his instructions with a warning against outburst in the courtroom. He then looked over at the attorneys expectantly. “When your ready, Mr Richard’s”

The older of Lex’s attorneys stepped forward. He took a moment to button the jacket of his silk suit. He looked well paid and exuded confidence. Pacing in front of the Judge, occasionally looking down his nose at the Duke’s, Richard’s laid out the base of their suit. Daisy listened to his opening gambit, mentally replacing his figure with that of a proud peacock strutting to and fro. There was no doubt Mr Richard’s enjoyed hearing is own voice. Daisy rolled her eyes as he wrapt up his speech some ten minutes later. If he thought the Duke’s and their friends were impressed he was wrong. “And all he really said was, Luke did it” Bo stage whispered to his row. A smattering of giggles caused Mr Richard’s to glance down his nose, once again, at the opposition. “So, your Honour” he concluded. “We intend to prove that Mr. Duke took his military regulation weapon to the hospital that day, with the sole intention of killing our client. We will also show that the alleged attack on Miss Duke was the result of a lover’s argument that ended tragically. At the end of this hearing, we feel confident that you will find in our favour, that there is ample evidence against Mr. Duke and that a jury should judge him on that evidence. Thank you”

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by: MacSas

Luke stood in the doorway of Daisy’s room and allowed the feeling of relief at being back at the farm to warm him. As he entered her room and looked at the little knick knacks she’d collected over the years, he realised it hadn’t been that long ago that he’d sat in this room and waiting. Waiting to hear if his cousin was alive or dead. He’d had a lot of time to think while he’d been sitting on her bed waiting. And one thing he had decided was that Lex had to die. He wasn’t ashamed to admit it, to himself at least, but he would have preferred to have made his one shot a kill shot. The only thing that stopped him was Daisy being in the room. She had already seen too much violence, lived through too much anger. Killing a man in front of her had seemed too brutal. It would have been so easy though, he acknowledged now, and it would have solved a lot of problems. Least of all being the one he now faced. Luke had been told that the lawyers working for Lex were screaming premeditation. They believed that Luke had every intention of killing their client; that he had used his vast knowledge of the justice system in order to maybe get away with attempted murder. Luke wasn’t an egotistical kind of guy, but he knew that there was no way that he would be found guilty. Lex’s high priced lawyers were right. He had operated inside the law, just enough, to be a free man at the end of any trial. He frowned. There was no way he was stupid enough to tell anyone that though. Bret had told him to talk to no one. That suited Luke fine. He had nothing to say anyhow. As far as he was concerned, what had to be done was now done.

As he sat on Daisy’s bed he wondered at how things had turned bad so quick. Luke knew that Daisy had been devastated when she and Jeff had parted ways. He had taken many early morning calls from his teary cousin, needing his assurance that life would go on. She still kept a photo of her and Jeff in happy times on her bedroom cabinet. As Luke gazed at the amateur shot, he felt a small burst of anger at Daisy. How could she have let Lex fool her? She was smarter than that. At least Luke had thought so. Now he wasn’t so sure. Look at all the damage that had been caused by one silly mistake!

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by: MacSas

“This looks cosy” Martin said, as Daisy and Bret turned to face him.

“Marty” Daisy smiled, still holding Bret’s forearms for support.

“Didn’t hear you knock” Bret said, by way of greeting.

“I didn’t” Martin said, looking pointedly at Daisy’s hands on Bret’s arms; Bret’s hands on Daisy’s waist.

Bret fought the urge to launch into a ‘this isn’t what it seems’ speech. Let Martin be jealous. And he was jealous. Bret could tell by the look in the other man’s eyes that he didn’t care for how close the lawyer and his lady were. Bret sighed inwardly. If only Martin knew how bad Daisy had tunnel vision when it came the Mountie. She truly saw no one else. And Bret could honestly say that he himself had tried just about everything to catch her eye, and on many occasions. No luck though. For her, it was all about Martin. Bret knew it wasn’t worth him wasting his time looking for a sign that would never be there for him. He knew it had been pointless the first time he’d seen Daisy and Martin together in Calgary. They interacted like an old married couple, in tune with each other so finely they made it seem like they’d been together forever. They were so comfortable in each other’s presence they didn’t need to fill silence with talk. They enjoyed companionable silences. That was rare, and Bret could only envy them their bond.

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