by: Marty Chrisman

It took longer than Luke anticipated getting the bond posted at the courthouse. It was almost five o’clock before he made it to the Atlanta jail to get Shelby released. The jail was housed in a huge red brick building that took stood four stories high and took up over two city blocks. There was a small exercise yard with a high fence and three strands of razor wire strung across the top. The jail housed everything from petty thieves to murderers. It was a rough place where a person could easily get hurt. Luke knew. He had a scar on his chin from a fight he’d been in when he was there.

Luke walked into the small vestibule and rang the bell, waiting impatiently for the guard to unlock the door to admit him to the main lobby. When the buzzer went off, he pushed open the heavy glass door and stepped into the lobby. A middle aged heavy set guard sat at a desk to Luke’s left. “May I help you?” he asked Luke in a bored voice

“I’m here to get Shelby Lynn” he said, handing his copy of the bail papers to the guard. The guard examined the papers carefully, and then nodded “It’ll take a little while. Just have a seat.”

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by: Marty Chrisman

         Luke was in the barn helping Bo clean out stalls when Daisy opened the back screen door and called his name. When he looked up to acknowledge that he’d heard her, she said “Telephone. It’s your friend, Norm, from Atlanta.”

“Tell him I’ll be right there.” Luke called back. He leaned his shovel up against the side of the one of the stalls and grabbed his shirt, slipping it on and buttoning it up as he headed for the house.

Inside the house, he went into the living room and picked up the phone

“Hi, Norm.”

“Sorry, it took me so long to get back to you but it don’t seem like anybody wants to talk much about this case.” Norm told Luke. It had been almost a week since Luke had called him asking for help finding out more information about the article in the newspaper.

“What did you find out?”

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by: Marty Chrisman

Jesse awoke and stared into the darkness. He heard a noise downstairs and realized that someone was up and moving around in the kitchen. Jesse had always had a sixth sense when it came to knowing if one of his kids was upset or in trouble. Even as he shoved himself to his feet and went downstairs to investigate, he already suspected who he would find down there.

And he was right. Luke was sitting at the kitchen table drinking a glass of milk. Jesse opened the refrigerator and poured himself a glass of milk too. Sitting down beside his oldest nephew, he looked at him and said,

“Can’t sleep?”

“No….” Luke said shaking his head.

“Are you thinking about Shelby?”

“She didn’t do it, Jesse. I know she didn’t.” Luke said firmly “Something just don’t sound right about the whole thing.”

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by: Marty Chrisman

Jesse Duke pulled his battered white pickup into the barnyard behind the weather beaten two story frame house where he had been born and raised. The farm where Jesse lived with his two nephews and his niece had been in the Duke family for over 5 generations. Parking the truck and turning off the engine, he climbed out of the cab and walked towards the screened in back porch.

Jesse was sturdily built man in his early sixties but he had the energy and spring in his step of a much younger man. He had a headful of shaggy white hair and a full white beard with faded blue eyes that still held a friendly twinkle. He pushed open the back door and went into the kitchen of the old farmhouse.

His niece, Daisy, was standing at the stove cooking supper. She was a pretty girl in her mid twenties with big blue eyes and long reddish brown hair. The only girl in a houseful of men, she grew up a tomboy and stayed that way to a certain extent. She glanced at her Uncle as he came into the house, her eyes troubled and worried.

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by: BlackJack Murphy

(Rosco’s POV)

Rob was still poking that damn rifle in my back. It hurt. It really hurt. We kept walking and I still didn’t see anybody. Maybe they didn’t see us. Maybe they wouldn’t until it was too late…maybe….

Maybe it was finally all over.

I suddenly felt very tired. It was all over. Who was I kidding? Rob would get his way, I’d drive him away from here and then he’d leave me in a ditch somewhere. I hoped somebody would find me…

I blinked away the thought. Stop it. Use yer brain. This is NOT over yet…

I looked at the patrol car as we came closer to it.

“Guess them hicks are smart,” Rob said. “Either that, you ain’t worth much…”

I snorted in reply. If it weren’t for the hand over my mouth I’d have—

I abandoned my thoughts of a witty retort and realized I still had a chance. Albeit a risky one. A chance that if I didn’t do it right, I’d pay for it dearly. After all the rifle was aimed point blank at my back.

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