by: RebelYank

For MaryAnne Coltrane, her love of Firebirds/Trans Ams and of Rosco. =)

For Cousin Bonita, who’s interest in my writing (despite having not read any of the rewrite of this story!) helped me to rework this story into what you are about to read. Thank you, Bonita!

Also to Rose, Margaret, Sarah and everyone else who have been waiting so patiently for this story. I hope it was worth the wait! =)

 

The Phoenix bird will leave this world to fly
If the Phoenix bird can fly then so can I.

–Grey Seal
Elton John, Bernie Taupin Copyright 1973

 

Wednesday, August 14, 1985

The man sat in contemplation at his desk in his sparsely decorated office. His empire was crumbling around him at the hands of the ATF and any county sheriff who was in the right place at the right time. Two of his still sites in Chickasaw County had been busted and three of his best drivers had been caught in Atlanta. All in all, it was becoming the worst week of his life.

He looked at his partner who was seated across from him. “I need drivers,” he said. “And I need new still sites.”

The partner paused in thought. “ATF’s all over the place, John. Especially since we killed that agent. They’re not going to rest until they nail us with that. We should just pack up and move out while we can.”

“They have to find his body first,” John said. “And that’s not my concern at the moment. We’ve got other pressures to worry about. Wherever we end up I’m going to need new sites and good drivers, Collin. We have debts we have to pay, and you know to who.”

Collin sighed, running a hand through his dirty blonde hair. “Yeah, I know,” he said. Damn syndicate, he thought.

“We could end up joining the ATF agent we wiped out if we don’t get that money—”

“Alright,” Collin said, cutting John off. “I think I know a place where we can set up some new sites. Getting drivers may not be as easy.”

“I don’t care how hard it may be, I want it done and done soon. My customers don’t care about overhead, they just care about getting the product.”

“I know. I’ll see what I can do.”

“You do that. I don’t want anything getting in our way, you got that? ANYTHING.”

Collin stood up and turned to the door of the office. He paused a moment to pull his handgun out of his back pant waist and checked the clip. He changed the half empty clip for the full one that he had in his jacket pocket. He slapped the clip into the gun, figuring he was going to be using it, whether he wanted to or not.
The following Tuesday, August 20, 1985

When Rosco found her, she was nine years old and damaged. She was a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am dressed in Bucaneer Red paint with a black and yellow Phoenix bird on her hood and her history so far had been short but violent. She was purchased brand new, and originally painted white, in Capital City in the early spring of 1977 by a young college student. That fall, she was stolen and used as a drug runner before being caught along with her illegal owner at the end of a car chase that resulted in her being thrown against the concrete foundation of one of the city bridges. Severly wounded, she spent the next year sitting in the Capital City impound as evidence. After her illegal owner had been convicted and her original owner expressed no interest in reclaiming the car, she was towed to a junk yard just outside of the city to what one would have thought would be her final resting place. But the second chance for ‘life’ and for a new found glory came with the tall man in the black Sheriff’s uniform.

He spotted her parked down the far end of the yard. Rosco had been looking for almost a week for a car, a good car to use for the uncover work the State Police had asked of him and his department. They didn’t care if he bought a brand new car or found one to have fixed, just as long as he found SOMETHING.

Rosco approached the car, staring at the front of it, the dual square headlights and blackened sunk in split grill. Even though she sat slumped to one side, she still looked sharp and looked ready to cut through the wind coming at her while flying down the highway. When Rosco got close enough, he gently touched his fingers to the hood of the red car, picking up the faint layer of dust and dirt that had settled on her onto his finger tips. He walked along the driver side of the car, pausing to look in the window for a moment. Her black interior was imaculate, she had a six speed standard transmission and her dash was still mint, complete with Firebird decals on it.

Rosco smiled and continued to inspect the car. He came around the back and saw now the extent of her damage. His smile only faded a little, knowing that no car ends up in junk yard in good condition. The back window was smashed and her right tail light was gone completly, having been crushed along with the entire back quarter panel. The panel looked like crumpled tin foil and was pushed all the way into the middle of the trunk space. The rear tire was flat and the wheel was bent inwards along with the quarter panel. Her passenger door was bent inwards and scraped badly. Rosco paused and squatted to looked at the lines of color. He flicked away some of the red paint seeing she was originally white underneath. He remained squatted for a moment, putting his elbow on his knee and touching his hand to his chin in thought.

Despite her wounds, something felt right about the car. Something stirred in his soul, calling to mind a time when he was regarded one of the best Sheriff’s in the state.

One of the best…

He’d busted a string of moonshiners back in the late 60’s and early ’70’s. His arrest/conviction ratio was the second highest out of all the county sheriff’s in the state. He was often called in by the ATF or the State Police to assist on cases in other parts of the state.

Could he do it again? It had been over ten years since he last did something like this. But this car…the more Rosco looked at it, the more determined he was to carry out the mission. He smiled again and nodded to himself. This, he knew, was the one.

He stood up straight and gazed at the Firebird decal on the hood.

Definetly the one…

He gave the hood a light tap with his fingers and straightened his shoulders. He then walked back to his patrol car preparing to drive to the junk yard’s office and make a deal with the owner.

Wednesday, August 21 , 1985

Rosco and Enos stood in the impound yard looking at the Firebird Trans Am that Rosco had just towed from the junk yard in Capital City.

“I don’t know, Sheriff,” Enos said. “You sure you can get this car running in a week?”

“It’ll run. I’ve already got an appointment for it tomorrow to get the frame straightened. Then Friday I’m gonna have that back wheel fixed. By next Wednesday this old girl’s gonna be sharp.”

“You gonna get her repainted?”

“Yeah. Grey.”

“Grey?”

“Enos, she’s gonna be a moonshine runner. I can’t be running shine out of a neon sign you know. This red won’t work. She’s gotta be a more neutral color, like grey, black or dark blue.”

Enos nodded. “I see what you mean.”

“Well, we better let the commander know we’ve got a car and let him know what our schedule is.”

“Yeah.”

The Commander was pleased to learn that a car had been found and told Rosco to let expense be no barrier, get the car fixed and get it running at top condition. Rosco replied that that was he intended to do. Enos told the Commander that as soon as Rosco had the car up to running condition he would make first contact with the gang leader. The Commander felt that was reasonable and asked that he be contacted as soon as the car was ready and before contact with the gang leader was made. The Hazzard law men told him they would do that.

Lt. Anna Ferren sat with her fellow State Police officers in Conference room 6 at State Police headquarters in Capital City. Commander Richard Thomas called the meeting to report that he’d heard from Sheriff Coltrane in Hazzard County.

“You really think he can handle this?” Trooper David Holsen asked after the commander finished. “I mean, in the past few years he ain’t exactly been leading material for law man of the year. And everybody down in Hazzard knows he ain’t as honest as he once was.”

Anna threw a cold stare at David. She bit her tongue from speaking, something she had been having to do a lot ever since the long talk she had had with her mother when she let it slip that this case involved the Sheriff of Hazzard County. In a time long ago, her mother knew him. He was a young law man then, full of determination, possibility and promise.

And honesty.

“I know what kind of law man Sheriff Coltrane is,” Commander Thomas said, “and I know what kind of law man he was. It’s that law man he used to be that makes him perfect for this case. He already has a proven track record for nabbing moonshiners, including helping nail Bo and Luke Duke right there in Hazzard.”

“Besides,” Anna added. “He knows the area a heck of a lot better than any of us do.”

“Well, I think he may end up blowing it,” David said. “I think we’re gonna end up having to clean up an even bigger mess than we had to start with.”

“Trooper Holsen, I think I’ve heard enough,” Commander Thomas said sternly. “I firmly believe that Sheriff Coltrane and his deputy are capable of handling this case. We’re here to give them the support and help they’re going to need and I will not tolerate comments like that.”

Trooper Holsen dropped his gaze a bit. “Yes, sir.”

“Now, as you all know, as soon as contact has been set up, I will be sending Lt. Ferren and Troopers Davis and Pearson as a support team.” He looked at Trooper Holsen. “I will not tolerate pseeimissm in this investigation, of Sheriff Coltrane and his deputy or of any other officer.” He now looked at everyone. “Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir,” came the chorused reply.

“Very well then. Dismissed.”
Saturday, August 24, 1985

Cooter Davenport drove into town, coming in on the road behind the courthouse which took him past the impound yard. He glanced over and saw Rosco dressed in jeans and a maroon flannel shirt, wiping his hands on a rag while standing next to the open hood of a 1977 Trans Am. The car was multi colored, the back left quarter panel and passenger door were brand new panels in grey primer, the rest of the car red. Cooter continued on towards his garage and parked his truck and walked back to the impound yard.

Rosco was back under the hood and Cooter heard the familar clicking of a socket wrench. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Rosco P. Coltrane working on a car??

“Hey, Rosco,” Cooter called.

Rosco jumped a bit, and nearly missed hitting his head on the hood. He came out from under the hood and looked at Cooter. “Oh, hi Cooter.”

Cooter chuckled. “Didn’t mean to scare ya.”

“That’s okay. I just wasn’t expectin’ no one that’s all.”

Cooter looked at the engine. “So whatchya doin’? Takin’ this car apart or puttin’ it together?”

“Puttin’ it together,” Rosco replied. “Khee, I know you probably don’t think I know too much about engines, but I ain’t too bad of a shade tree mechanic.”

Cooter smiled. “So why you workin’ on this ol’ girl? You ain’t trying to get a faster car to catch the Duke boys are ya?”

Rosco shook his head. “No,” he said. Before he continued, Cooter noticed there was new light in the Sheriff’s eyes, something he’d never seen before. “This is for something Enos and I are doing with the State Police.”

“Oh? Top secret I s’pose huh?”

Rosco nodded. “All I can tell ya is I gotta get this car running like…” he paused trying to figure the comparison. “Well, like General Lee.”

“Fast?”

“Very fast.”

Cooter smirked a little. “Uh, Rosco sometimes a car is only as good as the driver behind the wheel.”

“Yeah, I know,” Rosco said. Cooter watched Rosco as the Sheriff traced his eyes over the red and grey Trans Am. A little smile came to Rosco’s face and he looked at Cooter. “I ain’t one of them Dukes, I know, but I think I’ll do pretty good with this car tho’.”

Cooter grinned. “I recognize that kind of look,” he said. He glanced at the engine again and noticed a lot of the hardware looked new and then glanced at Rosco. “Who’s paying for the parts for you? Cuz I KNOW you can’t afford some of the stuff you’ve got here.”

“The State Police’s gonna reimburse me.”

Cooter nodded. Then, a mischevious grin came to his face. “How’s she running now?”

“Well, a lot better than when I first got her,” Rosco said. “But, khee khee, why don’t you tell me.” He stepped to the driver door and got into the car. He pushed the clutch down and turned the ignition.

The car kicked over immediately. Cooter listened to the engine and liked what he heard. The timing was off a little bit, but otherwise the engine purred as it idled. He whistled and looked at Rosco with a bit of surprise as the Sheriff turned the engine back off and got out of the car. “What was she running like before?”

“That’s just it, she wasn’t running at all, khee khee!” Rosco was pretty proud of himself for getting the car running and that Cooter was impressed.

“Wait a minute,” Cooter said. “You mean to tell me that YOU fixed this car all by yourself?”

Rosco nodded vigorously. “I did pretty good didn’t I?” he said with a grin.

“I don’t believe it,” Cooter said, pushing his baseball cap back on his head a bit. He shook his head and chuckled.

“It really wasn’t as hard as I thought it was gonna be,” Rosco said. “I just pulled off the parts that weren’t workin and went to an auto parts store in Capital City and showed ’em the part and told what make and model car it came off of. Then I put all the new stuff on and the dang thing started.”

“How’s she drive?”

“Ain’t driven her yet. I think I need new shocks and struts on the back.”

“You think?”

“Well, I ain’t sure. They don’t look very good.”

“Can I take a look for ya?”

“Sure.”

Cooter went to the back of the Trans Am and got down on his knees and then his back and slid under the car. Rosco watched him check one side and then the other.

“Hmmm.”

“Am I wrong?” Rosco asked.

Cooter slide back out from under the car and sat up. “Nope. You’re right. Both struts here look pretty bad. If I was you, I’d replace all the struts and all the shocks at the same time.”

Rosco nodded. “That’s what I figured to do, s’pecially since she’d been sitting for almost eight years.”

Cooter offered to help out Rosco a bit, telling him he had the struts and shocks right at the garage and he’d even put them on for Rosco.

“You gotta promise me one thing,” Cooter said, after he and Rosco moved the Trans Am to the garage.

“What?”

“That I can ride shot gun when you take this lady out for her first run through.”

Rosco cocked his head quizically. “Why the heck would you wanna ride shot gun with me?”

“Because I can’t believe that you, of all people, could take a car that wasn’t running and get it running like you’ve got it. I just wanna see if it’s gonna fall apart on ya.”

It didn’t. Two hours later Cooter found himself hanging on to the passenger seat as Rosco drove the Trans Am through the dusty roads of Hazzard. Cooter had to look several times at the driver to see if it really was Rosco P. Coltrane at the wheel. It was, but there was whole different look about him as he handled the steering wheel and manual shift with never before seen expertise.

Rosco was surprising himself too. He would have never vocally admitted that he wasn’t a great driver, and he knew he wasn’t. For some reason though, this saved-from-the-scrap-heap ’77 Trans Am just felt right to drive. Rosco could anticipate when to turn the wheel to make the high speed turn with finesse, and not have the car going flying out of control on him. He leaped frogged the car over dips in the road and very small streams, testing the shocks and struts. When he returned back to town, he brought the Trans Am back to the impound and he and Cooter remained in the car in silence for a moment.

“Uh, Cooter?”

“Yeah?”

Rosco looked at the mechanic. “Nobody will ever believe you.”

“I was just thinking the same thing,” Cooter said. “Rosco P. Coltrane, how come you don’t drive like this all the time?”

Rosco paused a moment, looking off to the side at the dashboard of the Trans Am and then back at Cooter. Softly, he said, “because I didn’t know I could.”

* * *

Later that day, Bo and Luke stopped at Cooter’s garage while they were in town picking up supplies for Uncle Jesse. Cooter told the boys about finding Rosco under the hood of the Trans Am and that the bumbling Sheriff had fixed up quite a screamin’ machine.

“Really?” Luke said. “Well, I guess that explains why he hasn’t chased us in over a week. Did he say what he has it for?”

“Says it’s for a case he and Enos are workin’ on with the State Police.”

The boys exchanged glances and then looked over towards the impound yard.

“I’m tellin’ ya,” Cooter said. “I don’t know where he learned about cars but he’s got that thing purring. I couldn’t beleive it.”

“Is it over there now?” Bo asked.

“No, he drove off with it a little while ago. I think he’s taking it to get it repainted.”

“How’s he affording to do all this?” Luke asked.

“State Police is paying for most of it. They must have something big cooking.”

“Yeah,” Bo said. “I just hope ol’ Rosco and Enos ain’t in over their heads.”

“Eh, I wouldn’t worry about ol’ Rosco with that car,” Cooter said. “That little lady’s gonna protect him. Y’all should’ve seen the look on his face. You’d have to see it for yourselves, cuz you’d never believe me.”

The boys smiled. And Cooter was right, they didn’t believe him.

* * *

Rosco hung around in Capital City for two hours while the Trans Am was being repainted. He went to the autoparts and accessories store that was just down the street from the autobody shop and browsed through the various accessories.

Spoilers, fancy rims…ooh, look at that, louvers. Craziest things I’ve ever seen, Rosco thought to himself. He walked around to another isle and found window stickers and decals for the various car makers.

Ford, Chevy, Mopars…khee khee, Pontiac. Ooh, what’ s this? A box with a Firebird design caught his eye and he picked it up to look at it. It was a decal kit for a 1975-1978 Firebird Trans Am. Included were Trans Am badges for the doors and tail, pinstriping and the hood bird. The color for this kit was silver. Rosco looked at the other kits there and found one that was black.

Grey car…black hood bird…wonder if it would look right? Rosco did like the Phoenix bird that was on the Trans Am already, but with the car being repainted the decal had to come off. He decided to buy the kit, so the ol’ girl could still have some of her original look, even if it was all in a new color.

He went back to the autobody shop and the car was ready. He showed them the decal kit and asked them if black decals would look okay on a grey car.

“Sure,” the technician said. “We can put ’em on for ya if you want?”

“Could ya? I’d appreciate that.”

And they did. Rosco watched them do it and was surprised to find out that the decals were no more than just fancy stickers. He thought they were stencils and the designs were painted on. But they weren’t, and in a matter of a few minutes, the Trans Am had all her stripes and badges on. Now she looked complete.

Rosco paid cash for the paint job and was about to throw in some extra for the decals when the tech waved his hand for Rosco to disregard it.

“No charge for puttin’ the decals on,” he said and smiled. “Although, I’m surprised you didn’t have the car painted black and put gold decals on it.”

“Black and gold?”

“Yeah, you know like the Bandit Trans Am. Burt Reynolds?”

“Oh. Khee khee, I see what you mean.” Rosco smiled. “Only I ain’t gonna be runnin’ blocker for 400 cases of Coors beer.”

The technician let out a good laugh. “That’s too bad, cuz no smokey could catch you in this thing that’s for sure!”

Rosco grinned. “Thanks.”

Back in Hazzard, the boys were still curious about the Trans Am Rosco had. They watched from across the square and looked bug eyed at the dark grey car with black accents as it came in to town quietly. The Trans Am made it’s way to the impound yard and the boys drove General Lee over to the courthouse. They waited a few moments and figured Rosco went into the courthouse through the back entrance so they climbed out of the General and walked into the impound yard.

The Trans Am was covered up with a black nylon car cover and Rosco was no where to be found. Bo and Luke stepped towards the car and each grabbed a hold of the cover and started to pull it back.

Bo whistled as Luke said, “Would you look at this thing?” They lifted the cover over the roof of the car and they both looked inside.

“Wow…” Bo breathed. “I wonder what Rosco and Enos could be workin’ on that would warrant a car like this?”

“Nothing that concerns any of you Dukes, that’s for sure,” Rosco said, suddenly coming up beside Bo and grabbing the cover. The boys looked at Rosco startled as he covered the car back up.

The boys exchanged glances and gave Rosco sheepish looks.

“Sorry, Rosco,” Luke said. “We just wanted to see your car. Cooter told us how you’d been workin’ on it and…well..we wanted to see for ourselves.”

“Yeah,” Bo said. He then chuckled. “We find it hard to believe the image of you tinkering around under the hood of a car, and then having it actually run better than when you first started.”

Luke laughed as Rosco glared at the two boys. “Well, I told Cooter nobody’d believe him if he told anybody. I s’pose he told you about riding shot gun with me when I first took the car out huh?”

The boys looked at each other. “Um, no actually he didn’t,” Bo said.

“Oh. Well, don’t matter cuz y’all wouldn’t have believed that either. Especially you two.”

The boys were quiet for a moment. It seemed to them that Rosco’s feelings were a little hurt. The car meant something to him, something more than just a vehicle that had to be used for a case. The boys understood that meaning all too well.

Rosco still had the cover in his grip and he looked at the boys. They both looked apologetic and Rosco couldn’t blame them for being curious about the car. So he pulled the cover back over the car and revealed it to the boys again.

“Oh go ahead, take a look,” he said.

They did. Rosco then popped the hood and showed the boys the real source of his pride.

“You fixed this thing yourself?” Luke said.

Rosco nodded. “I had to replace a lot of the parts on her cuz she’d been sitting for so long.”

“How long?” Bo asked.

Rosco paused, trying to remember the history. “About eight years.”

“Wow…” Luke said. He then looked at his cousin and then back at the Sheriff. “Well, now that you’ve got this car running, I guess you won’t be chasin’ me and Bo for awhile huh?”

“Probably not. In fact, I’d appreciate it if you boys should see me around town from now on dressed in civilian clothes to not acknowledge me. Don’t call me Rosco, don’t say ‘howdy, Sheriff,’ don’t say nothin’. Just pretend that you don’t see me and you don’t know me. That goes for Jesse, Daisy and Cooter too.”

“You’re doing undercover work?” Bo asked, a little surprised.

Rosco nodded.

“Is it dangerous?” Luke wondered.

“Not as long as I keep my mouth shut.” Rosco looked at the car and then at the boys. He sighed and said, “Listen, boys, I gotta lot of stuff I still have to get done…”

“Oh, well heck don’t let us stop ya,” Luke said with a smile. He and Bo stepped away from the engine so Rosco could bring the hood down.

“Yeah,” Bo laughed as he and Luke both grabbed the car cover and covered the car for Rosco. “Jesse’s gonna wonder where we are anyway.” They finished settling the fabric over the car and then looked at Rosco.

“Thanks, fellas.”

“Sure,” Luke said. “Listen, uh, be careful huh? With whatever it is you and Enos are involved in.”

“Yeah,” Bo said. “Odd as it may sound coming from me and Luke, we wouldn’t want to see anything happen to ya.”

Rosco was surprised to hear that. “You wouldn’t?”

The boys chuckled. “No, Rosco, we wouldn’t,” Bo said.

“Besides, if something did happen to ya, we’d be stuck with either Enos or Cletus chasin’ after us,” Luke said. “It’s a lot more fun watchin’ you wreck your patrol car than it is them.”

Bo laughed as Rosco rolled his eyes.

“Will you two just git,” he said, swishing his hand in the air, as if to shoo them out of the impound yard. The boys headed to the entrance still laughing with Rosco following behind. The boys continued on towards the General Lee but Rosco stopped by the gate and watched them go. As he watched them drive away and they both waved back at him, neither Rosco nor the boys realized just how dangerous of a situation Rosco was going to place himself in.
Monday, August 26, 1985

While Rosco had been working on the last details of the Trans Am, Enos had begun working on building a business connection with the leader of the gang. State Police information was complete and detailed all the way from the exact location of the gang now in Hazzard County to the profiles and the various members. By merely mentioning a few names, Enos quickly gained the moonshiner’s confidence, yet neither had met each other face to face. Everything was to be done by phone, which Enos explained was how he ‘always’ did buiness. The gang leader, John, gave no arguement saying the arrangement worked out fine for him as well.
With the car ready to go, Enos and Rosco contacted the State Police and were given the green light to offer John a ‘driver’ to carry the moonshine. The driver would be none other than Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane himself, but he would be working under the name of Timothy Hunt. Lt. Anna Ferren, Troopers Burt Pearson and Peter Davis immediately headed to Hazzard to provide back up for Enos and Rosco.

The set up was fairly simple. When Rosco and Enos first learned of the gang moving into Hazzard County from the State Police, Commander Thomas suggested the plan. Enos would act as a contractor looking for someone to make moonshine and offering to provide his own driver or drivers to anyone who was willing to do so. To make it seem plausible, and in case Rosco were to get caught by the gang and questioned, he was make it seem as though the ‘real’ driver Enos had sent had been caught and Rosco had taken the man’s place. That would protect Enos’s involvement in the plan and leave the opportunity to find some else who was willing to take Rosco’s place. The Hazzard law men, along with the State Police were hoping it never came to that.

Especially Anna. Now that the plan was to be set into motion, she couldn’t help but feel the knots in her stomach as she rode to Hazzard County, a place that she had only heard about in stories from her mother and had never been to. Her mother told her before she left to remember that she was going to Hazzard as a representative of the State Police and nothing more. Don’t tell him who you really are…it would only serve to make things awkward and difficult for the both of you.

It wasn’t just that that was making Anna nervous, it was the fact that the gang they were dealing with was dangerous. One ATF agent had already lost his life trying to apprehend them, would a county Sheriff be added to the list as well? Would the list grow? Would innocent people get hurt, not just from the deadly pure-dee poison that the gang makes, but from being caught in the cross fire? All these questions ran rampant through Anna’s mind, along with all the other questions about the man who was the Sheriff of Hazzard County.

After all, he made up one half of her existence…

Anna’s stomach was doing flip-flops as they reached the county line and crossed over into Hazzard. Being the superior officer among the three, Anna got the luxury of being driven down to Hazzard by Trooper Peter Davis. Trooper Pearson followed behind in his patrol car. It was just as well she wasn’t behind the wheel, she had too much on her mind to concentrate on driving.

“Are you okay, Anna?” Peter asked.

Anna was shattered out of her thoughts. “What? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Just thinkin’.”

“About the case?”

“Um, yeah. And other things.”

“I noticed you gave David Holsen a dirty look at the meeting the other day after what he said about the Sheriff here in Hazzard. Do you know Sheriff Coltrane?”

“Um…no, actually. I just think Trooper Holsen was being a jerk, judging somebody like that.”

“Yeah. Thing is, Anna, Sheriff Coltrane ain’t the straight as an arrow law man he once was. Everybody knows that.”

“I don’t care. I believe what the Commander told us, that the Sheriff can do this. And we’re gonna help him all we can, so we can nail that gang.”

“Damn straight,” Peter said.

A few moments later they drove into Hazzard Square and came to a stop infront of the courthouse. The officers exited their cars and walked up the stairs of the courthouse. Anna’s heart was beating faster now and she took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. She had to keep her emotions in check and remain professional and seious. After all, Rosco didn’t know her from any other State Police officer.

They stepped into the booking room and saw the Hazzard law officers seated at a desk at the far end of the room, looking over a map that was spread out. Rosco was pointing out something to Enos and turned his head to see who had entered.

Two sets of matching blue eyes looked at each other and Anna felt like she was looking in a mirror. The black hair she had that wasn’t like her mother, the blue eyes that weren’t like her mother’s…

Were all his.

Anna blinked. “Uh, Sheriff Coltrane? I’m Lt. Anna Ferren of the State Police. I believe Commander Thomas told you we would be coming down?”

“Oh yeah,” Rosco said as he and Enos stepped towards the troopers. They all exchanged handshakes and Anna introduced Troopers Pearson and Davis.

“Commander Thomas tells us that you have a car ready and you’ve made contact with the gang?”

Enos nodded. “Sheriff Rosco here will be making the first run tomorrow.”

“That’ll give us pleanty of time to go over the details, routes and contingency plans,” Anna said. “I know the commander wants us to make sure we have everything in place before you drive into the gang’s hideout.”

Rosco nodded. “We may want to go over those personalty profiles of the gang members too.”

“Yeah, that way you’ll be aware of just exactly what kind of people you’re going to be dealing with.”

“One things for sure,” Trooper Pearson said. “They’re not nice people.”

“No,” Anna agreed. “So it’ll be good to be prepared.”

Rosco nodded. “Speaking of being prepared, would you like to see the car?”

“Sure.”

Rosco gave them the grand tour of the car. Anna couldn’t help but notice the look of pride on his face as he told how he acquired it and fixed it up. He even showed them some of the tricks he put into the car, like two emergancy radios one in the trunk and one under the driver’s seat. He also had a detailed county road map, a medical kit, flares, two spare tires and a change of clothes also in the trunk.

The last ‘trick’ he showed them was for dire emergancies. Tucked up under the back quarter panel on the driver’s side was a pistol secured with break away straps to the sheet metal.

Anna narrowed her eyes in question. “What’s that there for?”

“A last chance,” Rosco said. “I ain’t gonna be going in there with a weapon on me that’s for sure. If they should figure out who I am and get me in a fight, I’m hoping I can just roll over to the car and pull the gun off, although that probably won’t be likely.”

“Won’t be likely that they’ll find you out or won’t be likely they’ll get you in a fight?” Anna asked.

Rosco looked at her deadly serious. “Won’t be likely they’ll allow me to roll near the car to get the gun.”

On that note, the officers convened back in the booking room and Rosco’s office to talk in detail about where the gang was located, when Rosco would meet with Enos to exchange information, back up plans, what routes Rosco would take and what to do in emergancies. The meeting went on well into the late afternoon during which Anna began to feel even more confident about Rosco’s ability to do this undercover job. He was serious in discussing the case but every once in awhile the side of him that never grew up would come out, and Anna would find herself giggling whenever he went, “khee khee!” She really wanted to get to know him and hoped that someday he could know who she really was.

That evening, after settling in to her hotel room, Anna called her mother. She told her how Rosco looked just like she had described only older now. And that his eyes really were an incredible blue.

Her mother sighed. “I always did want you to see him, I just never thought it would happen.”

“Well, now I know where I got my hair and eyes.”

Her mother laughed. “And where you got the itch to be in law enforcement.”

“Yeah, that too,” Anna said with a smile. She then paused. “Momma, do you think that maybe someday he could ever know who I am? After meeting him today, I just wish I could tell him and get to know him.”

“I know, sweetheart, I would love to see the day when he could know about you. But I’m just afraid it would cause too much trouble for him, being the Sheriff and all. Maybe someday when he’s no longer Sheriff. You can understand, that can’t you?”

“Yeah, I can. It’s just going to be a little weird the next couple of days where I’m gonna be worried about a person who’s technically susposed to be just a stranger to me.”

“Well, I know people change, but if there’s any bit of the Rosco Coltrane I knew all those years ago left in him, I think he’ll do okay.”

“I hope you’re right. Because he ain’t going up against a gang of choir boys that’s for sure.”

* * *

“Rosco P. Coltrane doing undercover work??” Jesse said.

The Duke family was gathered at their kitchen table and had just finished grace, when Jesse opened the evening dinner conversation with that question. Bo and Luke both chuckled and nodded.

“Yes, sir,” Bo said as he helped himself to a biscuit. “He told us himself….After he caught me and Luke trying to sneak a peek at his car.”

Daisy giggled. “Since when would you two be interested in any car Rosco would have?”

“Since Cooter told us how he found Rosco fixin’ it up in the impound,” Luke said. He then turned his fork up. “The image of Rosco under the hood of a car rates right up there with Boss entering a body building contest.”

The Dukes all let out a good laugh.

“Anyways,” Luke continued. “Rosco’s got one heck of a car put together.”

“Yeah. And speaking of Boss,” Bo said, “I wonder what he thinks of Rosco and Enos doing this?”

“Assuming he knows anything about it,” Jesse said. “J.D.’s in Atlanta.”

“That’s right,” Daisy said. “He apprently won’t be back until next week.”

“Well now, Boss out of town, Rosco busy with real police work…” Bo looked at his family. “Looks like we’re in for a boring week.”
Tuesday, August 27, 1985

The next morning, the Hazzard lawmen and State Police officers gathered at the courthouse. The town square was quiet and bare at the early hour and parked all alone in front of the county building was the grey Trans Am. After going over everything one last time , they emerged from the building and walked with Rosco to his car. The Hazzard Sheriff was dressed in jeans, a brown and red flannel shirt and a dark blue denim jacket. A few drops of good old Grecian formula helped darken his hair again, but he kept enough grey showing to be convincing.

“I can’t come off THAT young!” he joked. Everyone laughed. Then, as a wind just strong enough to tossle a piece of his hair blew, he looked at the ensembled law officers.

“Well,” he said. “I guess I better get going.”

Enos nodded. He then put his hand out. “Good luck, Sheriff.”

“Thanks, Enos,” Rosco replied, shaking the deputy’s hand. Rosco received wishes of good luck from the two troopers and then looked at Lt. Ferren.

Anna put her hand out to him. She looked at him in the eye and said sincerely, “Good luck, Sheriff Coltrane.”

He nodded and took her hand in his. “Thank you, Lt.” He paused a moment, gazing at her hand as their grip let go and then at her again. “I know this is going to sound strange but…I could swear I’ve seen you somewhere before.”

A firecracker shot through Anna’s abdomen and she gave Rosco a slightly nervous smile. She recovered quickly and cracked, “Well, yes, you saw me yesterday.”

Rosco smiled. “No,” he chuckled. “I mean before yesterday. I thought about it all night last night. I know I’ve seen you somewhere before.” He shrugged. “I dunno, maybe it was a convention or something.”

Maybe you should look in the mirror again.

“Yeah, it probably was,” she said with a smile.

“Yeah.” He looked at everyone now and sighed. He didn’t say anything, because there was nothing more to be said, and he turned to the Trans Am and got into the car.

Nobody said goodbye. They just stood and watched as the Trans Am disappeared out of the town square. And more firecrackers went off for Anna as the Pontiac’s exhaust faded in the distance. Who did he see when he looked at her….and would he see her again?

Be careful….Daddy…
One thing that gave Rosco some comfort as he drove towards the gang’s hideout was that he was on his own roads. He knew Hazzard County like the back of his hand and he hoped it would be an advantage to him. He knew the three routes he’d chosen to Atlanta as well, having traveled them all several times over the years. Unfortunately, those were the only things that calmed his nerves. He hoped he would get by with few words once meeting the gang.

Just get the shine and get the heck out of there if I can.

The gang, however, wasn’t going to make it that simple. When Rosco came around the turn and headed down the road that led, oddly enough, to one of Boss Hogg’s old stills, he was greeted by a man standing in the middle of the road with a rifle.

Rosco slowed the Trans Am to a stop and kept a steady eye on the man. There was no turning back now.

The man looked over the car with apparent approval as he approached the driver’s side of the car. The man then looked at Rosco, keeping the rifle pointed strategically at the Sheriff.

“I appreciate the warm welcome,” Rosco said.

“Step out of the car,” the man ordered.

Rosco complied and stepped out of the Trans Am. The man kept the rifle pointed at Rosco and pulled the walkie-talkie from his back pocket.

“Our runner is here,” he said into the radio.

There was a moments pause before a voice responded back. “Ten-four. I’m on my way.”

A few moments later, an old Jeep CJ7 came down the road. The driver, who was also the gang leader, John, stepped out and approached, taking a drag on the cigarette that hung from his lips.

“Timothy Hunt?”

“Yeah,” Rosco said.

The man nodded. He took another puff and then went about inspecting the Trans Am.

“How many times have you made runs in this thing?”

“Several times,” Rosco said. “Along with a few new paint jobs.”

John nodded. He stopped at the trunk and then looked at Rosco. “Open it.”

Rosco stepped to the trunk and opened it. John looked and saw how Rosco had everything neatly packed with enough room to carry atleast twenty jugs of shine. He then looked at Rosco. “You come prepared,” he said. “That’s good. I like that.”

John put his cigarette back between his lips and continued to inspect the car. “How many gallons can you carry?”

“About sixty.”

John stopped and looked at Rosco. “In one run?”

“In one run.” Rosco walked around and opened the passenger door. He pushed the passenger seat forward and then reached in and lifted the bottom part of the back seat, revealing a hidden compartment that could easily hold twenty one gallon jugs of shine. Rosco had discovered this compartment when he was cleaning the car and the seat moved a little. When he opened it and found the compartment, the trick seat became a nice addition to an already perfect shine car.

John was impressed. He then stepped to the hood and looked at the dramatic black bird spread across it.

“How many horses you got?”

Rosco walked back around to the driver’s side and got in the car to pop the hood. He then got out and the man with the rifle tried to open the hood but Rosco shooed him away.

“Git yer dirty hands off my car,” he said.

The rifle man glared at Rosco, but stepped away from the hood of the Trans Am. Rosco clicked the latch and let the hood come up.

“It’s about three hundred horse power.”

John looked and saw an impressive engine with some new hardware. He nodded, deciding that the runner was legit and he looked at Rosco. To the surprise of Rosco, John put his hand out.

“Welcome,” he said. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll show where the shine is.”

Rosco nodded, smiled and returned the handshake. “Alright.” Rosco then threw a glance at the rifleman as if to say ‘na na!’ and got into his Trans Am and followed the Jeep.

Rosco breathed deeply, trying to slow his heart down. He knew he still had to be careful, but atleast he got through the first hurdle in being accepted by the gang. It would not, however, be the last.

As the Jeep and Trans Am came into the clearing, all the gang members stopped what they were doing and turned to see the new recruit. Rosco saw that atleast six men were armed with rifles.

One false move and welcome to the big sleep…

When the Jeep stopped, Rosco stopped his Trans Am and watched John. When the leader got out of the CJ and started to walk to the Trans Am, Rosco got out of the car.

John took a last drag on his cigarette before tossing it off to the ground. He stopped and stood looking at Rosco while the other men started to gather around. Rosco’s senses became acute as a bunch of stranger’s deathful eyes looked at him. He looked at John, for some kind of answer.

“What would you do if you were confronted by a ATF agent or a deputy sheriff?” John asked.

“Run like hell,” Rosco replied.

John smiled. “That’d be great. But what do you do if he’s right behind you.” John pointed his finger and Rosco swung around to a man wearing a dirty ATF jacket holding a loaded pistol. The man gave a twisted smile and chuckled.

“Now what do you do?” John asked.

“Yeah, ya slimeball moonshiner, whatchya gonna do now?” the man in the dirty ATF jacket asked, pulling the safety back on the gun.

Rosco swallowed and stared at the gun. He then looked the man in the eye and the silence in the clearing was thick. Without preamble, Rosco threw himself at the man, grabbing the gun and holding it outward. The gun discharged before they hit the ground and the role playing ATF agent found himself flat on his back. Rosco got to his knees and grabbed the man by the front of the jacket and landed a punch square in his jaw. But the man was unfazed and he grabbed at Rosco’s throat.

Rosco gasped when he realized the man’s grip was real. They rolled around and Rosco found himself flat on his back. He hit the man’s arms with all his strength desperately trying to break the hold. When it did, Rosco had no time to recover and he stayed on the offensive, pushing the man off him and then grabbing a hand ful of the rocky sand he threw it right in the man’s face.

“Ahh!” the man cried, covering his face with his hands. Rosco didn’t stop for pity. He quickly crawled over to where the gun was lying on the ground and picked it up. He couldn’t stop. He grabbed a hold of the man and shoved the barrell up under his chin, cocking the gun and lightly touching his finger on the trigger.

“Alright that’s enough!” John exclaimed, seeing that Rosco was ready to blow the man’s head off. “Drop the gun, Tim, ya passed the test.”

Rosco held firm for a moment, still feeling the residuals on his neck of when the guy tried to choke him. He was in natural self defense mode and the adreniline was still running high. Suddenly, Rosco realized what he was close to doing and he took the gun away from the moonshiner’s neck and let the safety back on. He then pushed the man away and dropped the gun, not believing he had almost killed someone.

Oh God… he thought. What am I turning into?

“Nicely done, Tim,” John said. “That’s almost like how Chet here got rid of that ATF agent.”

Rosco looked up at John.

“The guy was undercover. We figured out who he was and he paid a price.” John put his hand out to Rosco to help him up. Rosco took it and stood.

“So that’s where you got that jacket?” Rosco asked.

“Yeah,” another man said, coming up beside John. “I took it as a keepsake.” He looked at the other man on the ground. “Although it don’t look as good on ol’ Butch here.”

The gang members all laughed.

“Oh shut up,” Butch said, still rubbing his eyes. “You wanna put this damn thing on and fight the new guy here?”

“Naw, I seen enough,” Chet said. He then came up beside Rosco. “If we should find anymore undercover stoolies I’ll know who to ask for help in finishing them off.”

Rosco looked at the man. He gave a half smile and said, “Aw hell, I was just defending myself.”

Chet looked Rosco in the eye. “So was I.”

Rosco hid his shudder by rubbing his hand on his neck. He watched Butch stand up and saw the dried blood on the bottom of the jacket. He looked away quickly and drew in a deep breath.

“Well, let’s help Tim load up so he can get the hell out of here,” John said. “You alright, Tim?”

“Yeah. I just didn’t expect to be in a blatant choke hold my first day on the job.”

John chuckled. “You’ll have to forgive ol’ Butch here. It’s the only hold he knows. C’mon, I’ll give ya hand.”

Rosco followed John and Chet to where the whiskey was stored, not quite feeling like himself anymore.

When the car was loaded, Rosco didn’t waste much time for see-ya-laters. He told John that he would return later that afternoon with the gang’s cut after the shine was delievered. John nodded and Rosco got into his Trans Am and drove away.

Rosco didn’t exactly get a chance to relax. He glanced in his rear view mirror and saw a brown sedan was keeping a good distance behind him. He slowed the Trans Am down a bit, letting the brown car catch up a little. But it too, slowed down.

Rosco rubbed his hand on the side of his face, realizing he was being tailed. He knew he couldn’t let them follow him to where Enos was waiting, but he couldn’t let them know he knew that they were following him.

Atleast, not right off. They’d know I was purposely watchin’ the mirror for them to do that and that might make ’em suspicious.

Rosco decided to let them follow for a ways. So, he made like he was heading for Atlanta and got on to Route 35 when he came to it.

Rosco drove past the county line and checked his mirror again. The brown sedan was still there and Rosco wasn’t too interested and taking the whole one hour drive to Atlanta. So he let the following continue for another twenty minutes and just before he got to the interchange that took from Route 35 on to the Interstate Highway he swung the Trans Am around in the middle of the two lane road way and barrelled back towards the brown sedan.

Chet was bug eyed. “What the hell–?” The Trans Am turned across the road and Chet brought the sedan to a stop. Rosco jumped out and marched over to the other car.

“Real cute,” he said as Chet and a couple of other men got out of the car. “You fellas gonna follow me all the way to Atlanta? Why don’t you just run the damn shine yourself if you’re gonna do that?”

“Hey, take it easy Tim,” Chet said. “We were just providing a little insurance for the shine that’s all.”

“A little insurance,” Rosco said. “Gimmie a break. I was hired to do a job, I have my own insurance policies to accomplish it. I don’t need any additional insurance. So why don’t y’all get back in your car and turn around and go back to the still. Have a couple of drinks to calm your nerves.” Rosco crossed his arms over his chest and stood like a Pinkerton guard.

Chet looked up and down the road and saw that cars were coming in both directions. The last thing they needed was for someone to call the cops because there was a grey sports car blocking the road. A grey sports car very loaded with moonshine, so he nodded.

“Alright,” he said and gestured to the other two men to get in to the car. Chet said nothing more to Rosco and got into the car. When the brown car was turned around and heading back in the other direction, Rosco went back to the Trans Am and continued on in the direction to Atlanta.

“Not that any insurance policy is gonna keep you out of jail,” he said and looked for the exit that led to Route 71, that would take him back to Hazzard the back way.

* * *

John looked up when the brown sedan cleared the woods and came into the clearing of the still site. He frowned as Chet and the other two men approached.

“What the hell you doing back here?” he asked.

“Tim spotted us following him,” Chet explained. “He sent us back here.”

John smiled and then started laughing.

“Oh shut up,” Chet said. “He could have blown the whole thing the way he blocked the road.”

“Chet, drivers like him work alone,” John said. “I could tell by the way he has his gear in the trunk. He didn’t need no help, and I told you that before you left after him.”

“Well, I was just trying to insure our lively hood is all,” Chet said. “After that ATF agent infiltrated here we can’t be too careful, you know.”

“I understand your concern, Chet. If you’re worried about Tim being a stoolie or an undercover agent, why don’t you tell him a little story when he gets back.” John eyed his friend.

A sinister smile spread across Chet’s face. “Yeah,” he said. “I’ll do that.”

“And if you’re worried about him being associated with the local law, why don’t you and the boys here take him out for a celebratory round when he gets back, at that road house that’s not far from here.”

Chet nodded. “If he’s a local yocal and undercover, he’d be worried about blowing his cover.”

“Right. If he declines or accepts, that should quell some of your suspicions either way.”

* * *

Enos saw the grey Trans Am pull in off the road and he watch as his superior officer brought the car to a stop. Enos got out of his patrol car and walked over to Rosco, who stepped out of the car, looking haggard already.

“You okay, Sheriff?” Enos asked.

Rosco sighed. “Yeah, I’m alright.”

“What happened? Did you have any trouble getting the gang to believe you?”

Rosco shook his head. “No, they just had one heck of an initiation, that’s all.” Rosco walked to the back of the Trans Am and opened the trunk.

“What did they do?”

“They got me in a fight with one of them….” Rosco shook his head as he remembered how he nearly came close to pulling the trigger. “I don’t wanna talk about it, Enos. Not now.”

“Alright,” Enos said and watched Rosco grab one of the boxes and carry it over to the patrol car.

Enos said nothing more to Rosco and the two officers silently went about moving all the moonshine from the Trans Am to the patrol car. After the patrol car was filled, Enos counted out two thousand dollars to Rosco for him to bring back to the gang as part of their ‘cut.’

Rosco pocketed the money and looked at Enos. The deputy was looking at him with concern.

“Enos, I’ll be alright,” Rosco said. “I mean, I’m talking to you now aint I? I can handle myself.”

“Well, just remember that you can back out when ever you think it’s getting to dangerous.”

“I’m afraid it’s not that easy, Enos.”

* * *

After Rosco returned and gave the money to John, Chet came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder, walking with Rosco to the Trans Am.

“Do you know Hazzard County fairly well?” he asked.

Rosco shrugged. “Yeah, pretty well.”

“Do you know where Old Highway Six is?”

“Yeah.”

“Desolate area ain’t it?”

Rosco stopped walking and looked at Chet and saw the hidden meaning behind the man’s eyes. “Yeah, it is.”

Chet nodded. “Yeah. Wouldn’t be a nice place to die…would it?”

Rosco’s heart skipped a beat. He took in a breath and said, “No, it wouldn’t.”

“No…” Chet paused briefly. “There was an ATF agent who thought he was smart; tried to infiltrate the gang here. He goofed and it cost him, dearly. That jacket you saw Butch wearing is about all that’s left of him. I’m sure the swamp out past the old highway took care of what was left.”

“Yeah,” Rosco said, feeling a little sick to his stomach. “Yeah, it probably did.”

“Well,” Chet said, suddenly changing the subject. He gave Rosco a pat on the shoulder. “We should celebrate your first run for us. There’s a roadhouse not too far from here called the Boar’s Nest. Beer’s not too great but there’s a real pretty girl that works there, I’m told. Ya interested?”

“I dunno, your little ‘warning’ if you want to call it that, didn’t leave me to postitive for a glass of beer.”

Chet chuckled. “Well, I apologize, but we can’t be too careful you know?” He then grinned. “But I bet seeing a pretty girl would lighten your spirits a bit. Whadya say huh? I’ll even pay for the beers.”

If you go, you could blow your cover. If you don’t go, you could blow your cover. Pick your poison, Rosco.

“Alright,” Rosco said. “When?”

“Why don’t you meet us there at 9? The place closes at 11. You know how to get there?”

“Where is it?”

“It’s on Highway 30, about 6 miles from here. Can’t miss it.”

Rosco nodded. “I’ll be there.”
* * *

The Boar’s Nest was pretty crowded that night, with only two hours until closing time. The crowd, though, was good for nobody to recognize Rosco. Who would have? Seeing as he wasn’t in uniform, and dang near nobody in Hazzard County recognized Rosco without his uniform.

Bo, Luke and Daisy, however, did spot him and the boys decided to hang around the Nest for awhile to keep an eye on things. Daisy decided to give Rosco a little bit of help, by giving him non-alcoholic drinks or just straight water. Rosco noticed this and looked at Daisy cautiously. She just flashed a pretty smile at him and gave him a wink, hoping to tell him without words, “Don’t worry sugar, I won’t blow your cover.”

After she delivered the drinks, she walked back to the bar with four sets of eyes watching her. Rosco hated the fact that Chet picked to come here. These were the kind of men where seeing a pretty girl like Daisy Duke could cause a lot of trouble and that was something Rosco did not want to see.

“Mmm, she’s sweet looking,” Chet said.

Oh boy, Rosco thought.

“Don’t you think so, Tim?” Chet asked, slapping Rosco on the back.

“What? Oh, uh, yeah, she’s very pretty.”

Chet laughed. “I think she likes you. I saw her give you that wink.”

“Eh, doubt it,” one of the other two men said. “Tim’s too old for her.”

Chet laughed.

“Too old?” Rosco said. “Well, shoot I ain’t dead!”

The three men laughed.

“Well, alright then!” Chet exclaimed. “Then why don’t you go over and talk to her?”

“Uh…” Rosco turned his head and looked at Daisy as she was filling orders behind the bar. She glanced up and around the bar and caught a glimpse of Rosco, gave him a smile and went about her work.

“Heh, heh. I’m tellin’ ya, Tim, she likes ya. Go on, go over there.”

“Uh…” Actually it was a good opportunity for Rosco to get a message to Enos, if he could pull it off. He knew Daisy could handle a shuck and jive, he’d seen it many a time, but how was he going to let the boys know that he wasn’t purposely causing trouble?

“If you don’t go talk to her, I will.” Chet said. Rosco turned and looked at him and saw he was serious. If there was one thing Rosco didn’t want was for any of these jokers to approach Daisy.

“No,” Rosco said firmly. He hestitated a bit, realizing he spoke a little to sternly. “I’ll go talk to her.”

Chet smiled. “Alright.”

Rosco glanced at each of them and then got up and started towards the bar. Bo and Luke saw him and watched him step up to the bar.

“Can I get you something, sugar?” Daisy asked.

Rosco leaned on the bar towards Daisy a bit. “Can you help me pull off a shuck and jive?” he asked quietly.

Daisy kept her pleasant poker face on. “Sure,” she replied. “What do you need?”

“The fellas over there were eggin’ me on to try to pick you up.” Rosco turned his eyes toward the ceiling slightly. “It’s up to you as to whether I’m successul of not but I do have to get a message to Enos, if you can atleast help me with that.”

Daisy smiled and in a little louder of a voice, she said, “Well now, sugar, I don’t see where that would be problem. Besides, I do need a ride home. Can you hang around for another hour until closing?”

Rosco smiled. “Sure…and thanks,” he added softly.

Daisy winked. “See ya later.”

Rosco slid off the bar stool and went over to the booth where the other three men were seated. They congratulated him and told him they heard how she needed a ride home. Rosco, however, didn’t fell particularly victorious.

Daisy kept up her end of the jive when she delivered another round of drinks. Rosco’s drink was another fruitjar filled with water, the other three were real liquor. She smiled sweetly to Rosco and he watched her walk away.

I hope Enos doesn’t find out I’ve been looking at Daisy like this. Jit jit!!

Daisy told the boys what was going on. They told her they would keep an eye on the Boar’s Nest from outside when she closed up.

“I’m sure Rosco won’t let nothin’ happen to ya, but we’ll keep an eye on ya don’t worry,” Luke said.

An hour later, Daisy announced that it was closing time and the remaining folks in the Nest shuffled out of the door, with the three members of the gang. Chet gave Rosco a good-ol’-boy slap on the shoulder before heading to the door. Rosco stayed behind and after the door closed and they were all out of sight, Rosco let out an incredible sigh of relief. He stood in the middle of the Boar’s Nest and closed his eyes for a moment. He heard Daisy step toward him and he opened his eyes to look at her.

“You okay?” she asked.

Rosco nodded. “Yeah. Daisy, I’m sorry for puttin’ ya on the spot like that, but I didn’t want of them jokers to approach you.”

“Oh Rosco, it’s okay,” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I appreciate you lookin’ out for me like that.”
She smiled. “Now, what’s that message you want me to give to Enos?”

“Oh…yeah.” Rosco’s expression clouded over a bit. “It’s not exactly pleasant but, uh, I need you to tell him I know where Agent Fieldman’s body is buried.”

Daisy’s eyes became as big as saucers. “Rosco…” she said softly.

“Yeah, I know. They killed him, Daisy. He’s been missing for over a month, everybody pretty much figured he was dead but they could never find the body. But I know where it is and it’s buried right here in Hazzard.”

“Where?”

“Out past old Highway Six. Somewhere in the flood plain for the river.”

“Good lord… Rosco, are you sure you know what you’re doing? If you’re not careful you may end up out there next!”

“I know, Daisy, I know. And I’m being careful, as much as I can. But don’t worry about me, just get that message to Enos, okay?”

“I will, but Rosco—”

“Lost Sheep calling Bo Peep, you gotcha ears on?” Luke’s voice suddenly came over the airwaves of the CB radio. Daisy looked at the CB set and then walked over to it.

“Go ahead, Luke.”

“You may want to tell Bear that the out of towners are still waiting outside.”

“Not surprised,” Rosco mumbled.

Daisy looked at Rosco. “Do they follow you a lot?”

“Yeah, they’re still suspicious of me a little.”

“Well, I guess you give me that ride home after all.” She lifted the mike. “Ten-four, Luke, I’m gonna go ahead and let him drive me home.”

“Alright. We’ll stay behind a ways and see ya at the farm.”

“Okay. I’m gone.”

Rosco watched Daisy put the mike down.

“Daisy, you don’t have to do this. I could just walk out of here and leave. I’ll tell them you….uh….”

“That I turned you down?” she said with smile.

“Uh, yeah.” Rosco looked at Daisy apologetically. “Daisy, I hate doing this to you. Bo and Luke probably wanna kill me for this.”

“No, they don’t. We’re all worried about you and Enos and if we can help you out somehow we’ll do it. There’s no need to apologize, Rosco. This gang being in Hazzard affects all of us, not just you and Enos. And you KNOW that if we can help nab ’em, we’ll be there!”

Rosco smiled. “Yeah, I do know that.”

Daisy gave him a wink. “Alright. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable while I finish cleaning up. I think you can use the peace and quiet for a bit.”

Rosco gave a nod. “Yeah.”

While Daisy finished cleaning up, Rosco relaxed for a bit at one of the tables. She was right, he did like having the chance to relax for a minute, despite the three waiting outside.

He thought about Agent Fieldman. The ATF agent had been doing the exact same thing Rosco was doing now. When he was found out, the gang didn’t like and sent a clear message when Fieldman disappeared. Rosco knew that the gang telling him of the grizzly crime was supposed to be a message too. And Rosco understood it loud and clear.

He sat and closed his eyes, listening to the sound of Daisy bustling around. He really hated having her involved and he felt guilty having done it. But by the same token, the other three would have approached her if he hadn’t. And that would have made things a lot worse and make Rosco feel even more guilty.

“Okay, Rosco, I’m all set,” Daisy said as she came back around the bar one last time with her purse. Rosco opened his eyes and looked at her and nodded. He got up out of the chair and turned it up on the table, the last one that had to be turned up for the night. Daisy hit the master switch for the lights and met Rosco at the door.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Yup.” She wrapped her arm around his. “Let’s give them a show.”

Rosco took a breath and then pushed open the door and out into the parking lot they stepped. Five sets of eyes watched them. The three gang members and Bo and Luke. Daisy and Rosco walked to Rosco’s Trans Am and Rosco opened the passenger door for her. He then went to the driver side and got in, bringing the Trans Am to life. The car drove out of the parking lot and the threesome followed.

Rosco didn’t see them at first, but the boys did. Luke started the General and brought him out of the woods and followed a safe distance behind the gang members.

“They’re stickin’ to him like glue,” Bo said.

“I know,” Luke said. “And we have no idea what channel his CB’s on either.”

Rosco continued to drive and then glanced in his rearview mirror.

“Uh oh,” he said. “We’ve got company and it ain’t the boys.”

Daisy turned in the passenger seat and looked out the window. She saw the car, despite if not having it’s lights on.

“Oh Rosco,” she said, turning back in her seat. “They don’t leave you alone do they?”

“‘Fraid not. Because I’m a stranger, they’re apt to think I’m another smokey undercover, which is why I have to be careful of who I talk to and where I go and all that rigamaroll.”

“What do we do?”

“I don’t know, but I ain’t takin’ ya to the farm that’s for sure.” Rosco sighed and looked at the car behind him again in his mirrors. “We could end up driving around all night.”

Daisy paused a moment in thought. “Well, look, we ain’t too far from Densen Field. Just pull off into the field and make it look like we’re gonna park.”

“What?!” Rosco exclaimed. “Daisy!”

“Just pull off into the field. They ain’t gonna know one way or the other.”

“Well, if they follow us into the field I’m gonna have the fits.”

“Why?”

“Because it means they’re looking for nothin’ more than a front row seat!” Rosco shook his head. “Disgustin’.”

Rosco drove to Densen Field and pulled off the road, down the incline and into the field. The threesome followed.

“What did I tell ya?” Rosco said. He drove the Trans Am over towards some brush and brought the car to a stop. He shut the lights off and he and Daisy watched the other car, that was parked twenty feet away now.

Bo and Luke didn’t pull into the field and watched from the road.

“Well, I think he spotted them following him. Thank God he didn’t take her to the farm,” Luke said.

“Yeah,” Bo agreed, “but what’s he gonna do now?”

“Dunno.”

In the Trans Am, Rosco and Daisy sat and continued to watch the car for a couple of minutes.

“We ain’t sittin’ here all night,” Rosco said finally. He was about to throw the switch on the lights and start the car when Daisy stopped him.

“I don’t think we’re gonna have to,” she said. “They’re getting out of the car.”

Rosco turned to look and saw the brief shine of light as the driver door opened. He saw the three shadows approaching the car.

“I ain’t hangin’ around. Hang on, Daisy,” he said. He let the three take a couple more steps then brought the Trans Am roaring to life. The three men stopped and Rosco slammed the accelerator, sending dirt and grass flying back into the night and the three. He tore down the field and then swung the Trans Am around and headed straight back for the three men.

The dual square headlights were blazing in the dark and kept a piercing focus on the three. When they realized Rosco wasn’t bluffing they dove out of the way of the car as it went screaming past.

Neither Rosco nor Daisy looked back and the Trans Am bounced back onto the road. Luke started the General and followed after the car.

Chet got up off the ground and brushed himself off. “Damn,” he said aloud. “Guess he don’t like to share huh?” Even though he was trying to make a joke, Chet couldn’t help but wonder about this stranger and his grey Trans Am.

Like how he knew he’d been followed this time.

Rosco made it to the Duke farm in record time. He drove so fast that even Luke couldn’t keep up with him in the dark. Rosco didn’t even relax when he pulled into the Duke farm, because when he saw the General, he nearly jumped out of the driver’s seat. He caught himself when he recognized the orange paint of the General that shown in the glow of the light from the porch and then he relaxed.

Rosco and Daisy got out of the Trans Am as the boys approached.

“You two okay?” Luke asked as Daisy rushed up to him and threw her arms around her cousin.

Rosco watched Daisy hug her kin and felt guilty all over again. He averted his eyes to the ground as Daisy answered.

“Yeah, we’re all right, Luke,” she said and let go of him. The three Dukes looked at the Sheriff.

“Rosco?” Luke queried.

Rosco looked up at the young faces looking at him. “Listen, fellas I understand if y’all are mad at me for this. I never intended to put Daisy in harm’s way.”

“Really, Rosco?” Bo said, quickly becoming hot under the collar. “Did you bother to think of that before you walked up to the bar?”

“Bo, stop it,” Daisy said. “If Rosco hadn’t approached me one of those other men would have and all hell would’ve broken loose in the Boar’s Nest. Rosco here was protecting me.”

“Daisy’s right, Bo,” Luke said. “She was safest with Rosco, believe it or not.”

“Y’all know I’d never let something happen to Daisy,” Rosco said.

“Well…why did you have to go to the Boar’s Nest?” Bo asked. “I mean, you risked blowing your cover by going there.”

“I know, but it wasn’t my idea to go there. They wanted to go there to “celebrate” my first run. I couldn’t say no.” He paused and looked at Daisy. “I am sorry,” he told her. “Be sure you get that message to Enos, okay?”

“I will, Rosco, don’t you worry.” Daisy stepped up to the Sheriff and gave him a hug. “Please, just be careful.” She let go and looked at him. “The boys here don’t know what you told me, but please don’t let what happened to that ATF agent happen to you.”

“I don’t intend to,” Rosco said. Atleast, I don’t intend on having them bury me somewhere where nobody’s gonna find me…

 

Rosco spent a restless night trying to sleep in the back seat of his car. He wished he could go home and he missed Flash. The basset was always there to lend an ear, so instead Rosco found himself staring up into the darkness of the roof of the Trans Am talking to the Lord.

He wondered if he was in over his head. He wondered if he was going to end up as the next casualty in this investigation and if so, would his final resting place be the bottom of Hazzard Swamp?

“What if I do end up like Agent Fieldman?” he whispered. “And nobody finds me for weeks?”

Guilt still weighed heavy on his heart as he thought of what happened earlier in the evening. He knew though, like Daisy said, that if the three had approached her, all hell would have broken loose. Then somebody really would have been hurt.

“But why doesn’t that make me feel any better?”

Because you didn’t want to get anyone else involved…

Rosco closed his eyes and sighed. He hoped this wouldn’t have to go much longer. With the words of Chet still ringing in his ears about what happened to Agent Fieldman, Rosco drifted into fitful sleep.

Wednesday, August 28, 1985

The next morning, Bo and Luke accompanied Daisy to the courthouse so she could give Enos the message from Rosco. She had told them what Rosco told her and they believed that Rosco was potentially in serious danger, even more than they realized before.

Anna and Troopers Pearson and Davis were already at the courthouse. As the boys and Daisy approached Rosco’s office they heard Anna say, “If he can just make it through today, we can finally nail ’em all.”

The Dukes paused by the open door and Enos looked up.

“Um, Enos?” Daisy said. “We’ve got something to tell you. About Rosco.”

Enos got up from his chair. “Come on in,” he said. He then gestured to the State Police officers. “This is Lt. Anna Ferren and Troopers Burt Pearson and Peter Davis of the State Police. This is Bo, Luke and Daisy Duke.”

Everyone nodded and greeted one another and then Enos said, “So what’s on your mind?”

“We saw Rosco last night,” Luke said, “at the Boar’s Nest with some of them moonshine gang members.”

“What the heck was he doing there?” Enos asked. “He could have blown his cover.”

“He wasn’t there by his own choice,” Bo said. “Apparently it was the gang banger’s idea.”

“Rosco approached me,” Daisy said. “The other guys were tryin’ to get him to try to pick me up. I went along with it because if I hadn’t, the other three would have tried and Rosco didn’t want to see that. He also had a message he wanted me to give to you.”

“Must be important if he couldn’t wait until later this afternoon,” Anna said.

“It is,” Daisy replied. She then sat down in one of the two remaining chairs and looked at Enos. “He said he knows where ATF Agent Fieldman’s body is buried.”

All the law officers in the room suddenly looked at Daisy. Fieldman had been missing for over four weeks. They all knew the gang had something to do with the disappearance and they figured the agent was dead but now they would have proof, if they could get Rosco back alive to testify to it.

“Where, Daisy?” Enos asked softly.

“Out past old Highway Six, somewhere in the flood plain.”

“Right here in Hazzard?” Anna asked.

Daisy nodded.

“That only narrows things down a little bit,” Enos said. “We might as well be told to go find a needle in a haystack.”

“Why’s that? Is it a large area?” Anna asked.

“Well, it’s a couple of acres at least,” Luke said. “And it’s pretty swampy kind of land.”

“So it’ll probably take another four weeks before we actually find him,” Anna said.

“Possibly,” Enos said.

Anna sighed. “Well, first things first. We’ve got to make sure that Sheriff Coltrane gets through what he has to do first and that nothing happens to him. Then we can add another charge to our list for the gang: The murder of a law officer.”

 

Jesse looked up from his newspaper as his two nephews and neice came into the farm house. They were quiet, which was unusual for them. Usually they came in laughing and talking. But not this time. Jesse got up from his chair when he saw the forlorn looks on the kid’s faces.

“You kids okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, we’re allright,” Luke said, although he sighed as he spoke.

“Believe it or not, Uncle Jesse, we’re worried about Rosco and Enos,” Daisy said.

“Ohh,” Jesse said, sympathetically. He folded his newpaper up and waved a finger at the cousins. “Come here, I want to tell you something.”

Bo, Luke and Daisy stepped into the living room and all sat on the couch and Jesse sat in the old brown chair across from them.

“First, I’m glad that you’re worried about Rosco and Enos, because what they’re doing is potentially dangerous. But Enos, he served out there in California for a year and as for Rosco, he’s done some things similar to this before, although it was several years ago.”

Luke chuckled. “Before we were born, huh?”

“Nope. Actually, you were all small at the time. See, Rosco wasn’t always crooked and back when he was a legitamate law man, he was pretty good one.” Jesse paused in thought. “I think that part of him has always been with him, it’s just been dormant for several years, after what J.D. did.”

“Yeah, but Jesse, that’s just it,” Bo said. “It’s been dormant for so long, we’re wondering if maybe he’s gotten in over his head.”

“You should have seen him last night,” Daisy said. “I think he’s scared!”

“Well, who wouldn’t be?” Jesse said. “He’s only human.”

“That’s true,” Daisy said softly. “But, Uncle Jesse, he seems like whole different person right now.”

“Yeah,” Luke said. “To be honest, I’d give just about anything right now to have everything back to the way it was and have him chasin’ after me and Bo, trying to give us a speedin’ ticket.”

“Yeah,” Bo agreed. “And Enos too.”

 

After the Dukes had left the booking room, Anna remained seated in her chair, staring at the floor, deep in thought.

Duke…Duke…where have I heard that name before?

Enos stepped in the office from the booking room. “Lt.?” he queried, bringing the officer out of her concentration.

Anna looked up. “Oh, sorry Enos. Um…” She stood up and looked at the deputy. “What were those young folks’ names again?”

“Duke,” Enos said. “Bo, Luke and Daisy Duke.”

“Bo and Luke Duke…” Anna said softly to herself, dropping her gaze.

“Is there something wrong Ma’am?”

Anna creased her eyebrows and then looked at Enos. “Is that the same Bo and Luke Duke that Sheriff Coltrane helped catch running moonshine almost ten years ago?”

“Um…yes, Ma’am.”

“How come they’re not in jail?”

“They received probabtion,” Enos explained. “Their Uncle Jesse agreed to not make anymore moonshine in exchange for the boys not going to jail.”

Anna nodded. “Enos, I know I probably have no place to say this, and that you know the folks around here better than I do, but I find it kind of odd that two convicted moonshiners would come here and, in a sense, help the very man who helped try to throw them in jail.”

“No, I understand,” Enos said. “And I apologize for being a bit forward, but, there’s a lot of things here that you don’t understand because you don’t live here in Hazzard.”

Anna wasn’t offended, although her first thought was, I think I do wish that I lived here. She actually chuckled and said, “Fair enough. You’re right, Enos, and there’s no need to apologize.”

“I think you’re gonna find that a lot things are done differently here in Hazzard.”

 

Rosco only had to make it through two more runs and twenty-four hours. Then months of investigating and gathering evidence would be complete and one of the most notorious moonshine gangs in the state would finally be brought down for good. It seemed fairly easy. Just pick up another couple loads of moonshine, drop it off to Enos and then have the calvery come swarming in to make the arrests.

Simple.

Not so simple. Because just when the officers thought they had everything all set, something went terribly wrong….
Thursday, August 29, 1985

Bo and Luke arrived in town in the General Lee, with Luke at the wheel. With things having been quiet in the past few days the boys were getting restless. Besides, not having Rosco chasing the Dukes was not normal in Hazzard and the boys hoping things were going to get back to normal soon.

As Luke brought the General around the corner of the courthouse, they spotted Rosco’s grey ’77 Trans Am, parked just outside of the impound with it’s hood up, and Rosco looking at something in his hand that had come off the engine. Luke brought the General to a stop by Rosco, prompting the Sheriff to turn and look.

The boys climbed out of the General after the car came to a stop and stepped toward Rosco and the Trans Am.

“Don’t tell us she quit on ya already?” Luke asked, being careful not to say ‘Rosco.’

“Yeah,” Rosco muttered. “Dang fuel line ruptured.” He showed the busted fuel line to the boys.

Bo looked at it first. He bent the line to see the split. “Wait a second,” he said. “looks more to me like it was cut.” He handed the line to Luke.

“What?” Rosco said.

Luke examined the line. “I think Bo’s right,” he said. He then looked at Rosco. “It is cut. Rosco what’s goin’ on?”

Rosco took the fule line back from Luke. “Nothing that concerns any of you Dukes,” he said. He looked at the split fuel line and then at the engine, wondering if anything else in his investigation had been sabatoged.
The boys noticed the look on Rosco’s face.

“I’m afraid you got us involved when you had Daisy help you the other night,” Luke said.

“That’s right,” Bo said.

“Look, I said I was sorry,” Rosco said. He then looked around the square. “Will you two just get the heck out of here?” he ordered.

“Rosco, are you in trouble?” Luke asked.

Rosco looked back at the boys. “No,” he said. Not yet, he thought. “Listen, you boys know it’s official police business, so why don’t y’all just be movin’ along?” Rosco turned and brought the hood down and then started to walk over to Cooter’s garage.

The boys watched him go unsure of how to react. They’d never seen Rosco quite like this.

“He’s in trouble, Luke.”

“No doubt.” He and Bo watched him disappear into the garage. Luke then looked at Bo. “Why don’t we follow him, see what he’s into?” Luke suggested.

“Alright.”

The boys went back to the General and climbed in. They moved the General to the square and watched from there for Rosco to return to the Trans Am and leave town. They watched as Cooter went to the car with Rosco and lifted the hood to replace the fuel line. After Cooter walked back to his garage, Rosco got into the car and drove out of town.

The boys followed. Rosco led them to one of Boss’s old still sites past Groverson Gully where it looked like an operation was already set up.

Luke parked the General and then he and Bo approached the site for a closer look. They watched as Rosco drove in and the Trans Am came to a stop.

One of the men approached the car as Rosco stepped out. “You’re late,” he gruffed.

“Yeah, well, somebody cut the fuel line on my car,” Rosco replied accusingly. “That does take a few minutes to fix.”

“That’s not my problem. My problem is that shipment is supposed to be in Atlanta at 3 p.m. and it’s already ten past one.”

“It’ll get there,” Rosco said. “With time to spare.” He walked to the trunk of the Trans Am and opened it. Some of the other men started loading the boxes of moonshine into it as Rosco stepped back to the apparent leader of the operation. At that point the conversation became quieted and the boys could no longer hear anything.

“I don’t believe what I’m seeing,” Luke said.

“Neither do I,” Bo said. “Luke, if they’ve figured out who he really is he’s gonna get himself killed before he has a chance to make the arrest.”

“You got that right, cousin.” Luke paused, watching the scene. “Despite what Jesse said, I knew Rosco was way out of his league in trying to do this.”

After the moonshine had been loaded into the Trans Am, Rosco got into the car and drove away from the still site. The boys returned to the General and followed him again.

They ended up at the intersection of Route 7 and Highway 9 where Enos was waiting, parked in his patrol car off the side of the road underneath some trees. Rosco pulled the grey car off the road and parked beside Enos and reported in.

The boys figured they’d seen enough. They turned the General around and drove back to the farm unaware of the brown sedan that was on County 21, a road that ran parallel to Route 7 and had clear view of the patrol car and Trans Am.

* * *

“You boys think he’s in trouble?” Jesse asked after the boys told him what they had seen. The Duke men were all gathered in the barn and Jesse leaned on his pitchfork and awaited the boys to answer.

“Yeah,” Luke said. “Somebody cut that fuel line and he knew it. I think the gang’s on to him, or atleast they’re very suspicious of him.”

“We followed him and saw him pick up the shine from the gang,” Bo said. “He then dropped it off to Enos. If they’re watching him, then they’ve seen the same thing we did. And I don’t think they’re going to be to particular in having their shine delievered to the law.”

“Maybe you boys should go see Enos,” Jesse suggested. “He may or may not know what you fellas know, but it seems to me that maybe Rosco should get out of what he’s doing and fast.”

While the boys were talking to Uncle Jesse, the brown sedan was pulling into Boss Hogg’s old still site after being on a fact finding mission.

The driver, Mark, emerged from the car and approached the leader.

“What did you find out?” John asked.

“Well, he ain’t just in cahoots with the Sheriff’s department here in Hazzard,” Mark said. He then crossed his
arms over his chest. “He IS the Sheriff.”

The leader looked at his associate stone faced. He eyebrows creased in anger. “You sure about this?”

Mark went back to the car and pulled out a folded newspaper. He handed the paper to his leader, with the side displaying a photograph showing. The leader grabbed the paper and looked at it.

It was a snapshot photograph, most likely taken when Rosco wasn’t paying attention. He was standing by his patrol car keeping an eagle eye on the traffic in Hazzard Square. The caption read, “Sheriff Rosco Coltrane awaits another traffic violator in Hazzard Square.”

John threw the paper back at the driver and paced away for a moment. He stopped and brought his hand to his chin in thought.

“It would appear that our information on the Sheriff being a nitwit was incorrect,” he said. He paused a moment. “When’s he due back here?”

“Not til tomorrow morning,” Chet answered from behind John.

John smiled. “Fine,” he said. “That’s just fine.” He turned back to his men. “Chet, Donnie, I want you to get a couple of the boys together. I have a job for you.”

* * *

When the boys came into the booking room, they saw Anna was sitting by the radio near the holding cell.

“Hi,” Luke said. “Is Enos around?”

Anna nodded. “Yeah. He’s in the Sheriff’s office.”

“Thanks.” Anna watched as the boys approached the door and Luke knocked. Enos opened the door and looked at the boys.

“Hey, fellas,” he greeted. “What’s up?”

“Did you talk to Rosco?” Bo asked.

“Yeah.”

“Did he tell you about his fuel line?” Luke asked.

Enos regarded the boys for a moment. Rosco had said nothing about the fuel line on his car. “What about it?”

“Somebody cut it,” Bo said. “We think he might be in trouble.”

Anna got up from the booking desk at this point and came down to join the conversation.

“You think the gang may know who he really is?” Anna asked.

Luke turned to her and nodded. “It’s possible they did that to see where he’d go to get it fixed.”

“He came to town,” Enos said.

Luke nodded. He then paused in thought. “Come to think of it, if they were watching him, they probably saw me and Bo talk to him,” he said, glancing at his cousin.

Bo hesitated. “Luke, he told us not to do that.”

“I know,” Luke said. “Damn….here I was thinking Rosco had blown his cover, when we probably went and did it for him.”

“Wait a minute. You boys just went right up and approached him?” Anna said. “When he had specifically told you not to.”

“Um…yes, Ma’am,” Bo replied. “We followed him too.”

“You followed him?!” Anna exclaimed. “For crying out loud what do you think this is a scavenger hunt or something? This gang doesn’t goof around! If they’ve figured out who he really is, he may end up just another name to add to my list of officers killed during this investigation!” She narrowed her eyes. “You boys sure make good use of yourselves around here don’t you? God damn probation…” Anna spun around and stormed out of the booking room, leaving the boys and Enos in silence in the booking room.

Luke ran a hand through his dark hair. “Damn…” he whispered.
Friday, August 30, 1985

Rosco never knew what hit him really. He was driving along at a leisurely pace on Peachtree Lane the next morning when the brown sedan came out of nowhere behind him. The car cut to the side of him and pulled ahead of him, turning in the road and forcing Rosco to slam the breaks and turn the Trans Am to avoid T-boning the other car. When everything came to a stop, he looked up.

Four men came jumping out of the car and surrounded him, pointing rifles.

“Out of the car!” Chet exclaimed.

Rosco recognized the four men and at that moment knew his cover and entire investigation had been blown. He tried to look surprised and got out of the car.

“Hey, Chet, what’s the meaning of this?”

“Don’t jive me, man. We know who you really are. You’re the damn Sheriff.”

Yup, blown to smithereens. Nice goin’, Rosco.

Rosco sighed.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Chet. “We were following you and saw you talking to the deputy. At first we though you were just a stoolie, but it turns out we were wrong. And that’s too bad for you, because you see, you’ve made John really mad and there’s only one thing we can do to make everything right again.”

Rosco hesitated. “What’s that?”

Chet smiled. “Kill you.”

Rosco’s stomach turned. Oh lovely…

“Donnie, get the keys. I’m gonna enjoy this.”

Donnie stepped to Rosco and pushed him away from the car. He grabbed the keys out of the ignition and went to the trunk and opened it.

“What–what are you gonna do?” Rosco asked.

“Shut up,” Chet said.

Donnie opened the Trans Am’s trunk and started throwing stuff out of it. He broke the emergancy radio, threw the flares off into the field, ripped the clothes and then punctured both spare tires.

Then it was four on one and Rosco was sure he was at the end. With the four rifle barrells pointing at him, he knew he couldn’t bend down to get the gun, not without ending up full of holes. So he stood, his hands spread back behind him against the grey Trans Am, waiting for the final moment. His heart was pounding wildly in fear and adreniline. He swallowed hard as Chet raised his rifle and aimed at his head.

“Good bye, sucker,” Chet sneered. Before the trigger was pulled though, Rosco ducked and tackled Chet to the ground. The rifle went clattering to the ground and the other three men all jumped back and watched, too shocked to think to use their rifles to shoot the Sheriff.

Chet and Rosco rolled around in the dusty roadway, then Rosco finally threw the moonshiner off him. He got to his feet and grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at Donnie and one of the other men. The blinding dust attacked their eyes and two more rifles dropped to the ground. Rosco turned to the last man and was greeted by the butt of the rifle crashing into his ribs. Rosco buckled and fell to his knees and suddenly had Chet on his back. Rosco managed to get his elbow between him and Chet and rammed it into the killer’s abdomen, which dazed him long enough for Rosco to look up into the barrell of a rifle of the last man with a weapon.

Rosco raised his arm wildly, knocking the gun out of the line of fire and sending bullets off into the sky. Still on his knees, Rosco grabbed the man by the leg and pulled it forward, sending the man to the ground flat on his back.

There was no time to recover. Rosco turned to get to his feet to dive to the back end of his Trans Am and get his gun. But Chet had picked up his rifle and he aimed at the traitor. Before Rosco could get to his last ditch effort to save his own life, he was suddenly assualted with pellets of metal.

Rosco hit the ground hard. He rolled over once, took another bullet in the back, and reached with all his strength for the pistol. The straps broke free and Rosco pulled it out from under the car and aimed at Chet, taking the man down in one shot.

Down the road, a motorist heard the gunshots and sped up the road to see what was going on. The one man who didn’t have dirt in his eyes or a gunshot wound in him saw the car and he called to his friends. The other man and Donnie grabbed up Chet and they all hurried to their car. The lone motorist saw the brown sedan as it drove off down the other way and brought his car to a stop just behind the Trans Am.

The man got out of the car and ran to Rosco who had stopped moving at this point.

“Oh my Lord… Rosco!” The man got to his knees and touched the Sheriff on the side of the face and looked at the wounds Rosco had.

Rosco opened his eyes when he felt something touch his face. His side felt numb yet was screaming at him pain at the same time. His mind swirled in dizzyness and he looked at the person who was beside him.

“Oh God…” he choked.

“Hang on, Rosco, I’m gonna call Enos.” The man stood up and leaned into the Trans Am and grabbed the CB mike. He changed the chanel to the police channel and called for Enos.

“Enos! Enos, this is Amos Wilson. Somebody just shot Rosco!”

In the booking room in town, Enos and the State Police officers all looked at the radio set on the desk. Enos ran up to it and grabbed the mike. “Amos, what happened?”

“I don’t know. All I saw was these men in a brown sedan drive off after I heard some gunshots. Enos, for God’s sake, call an ambulance, he’s been shot more than once!”

“Where you at, Amos?”

“We’re on Mill Road, about three miles from Cutter Junction. Enos, please!”

“Ten-four. Tell Sheriff Rosco to hang on!” Enos quickly changed the radio channel and put in the call to Tri-County.

Anna, meanwhile, ran out of the booking room after hearing the location. She had been studying the county road map enough that she knew the spot where Rosco was and she jumped into one of the Hazzard County patrol cars and tore out of the square.

“What in tarnation…?” Enos wondered aloud.

* * *

Bo and Luke were under the hood of the General when Daisy suddenly came rushing out of the farm house. They looked up as their cousin came over to them and they saw her eyes were red with tears.

“I just heard Enos on the CB,” she said. “Somebody shot Rosco….” She brought a trembling hand to her face as she looked at her cousins. “Rosco…” she whispered.

The boys were out from under the hood in a flash. Luke stepped toward Daisy and gave her a supportive arm. “Daisy, are you sure?”

She nodded. “Amos Wilson found him. Said he’s been shot…more than once,” she cried. “Oh God, fellas, how could this happen?”

“Daisy, did Amos say where he was?” Bo asked.

“Mill Road. Three miles from Cutter Junction.”

The boys looked at each other.

“We’re gonna go see if we can help him,” Luke said. “Tell Uncle Jesse where we are when he gets back okay?”

Daisy nodded. “Please be careful,” she pleaded.

“We will. Come on, Bo.”

The boys climbed into the General and Daisy watched them drive away, wiping the tears off her face.

Amos had no more than found the med kit in the trunk of the Trans Am when he saw the white Plymouth Fury come speeding up the road. Anna stopped the car and jumped out, running to where Rosco lay.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Amos said, “because I don’t know how to use this med kit.”

Anna nodded and got down on her knees. She took her trooper hat off and placed it on the ground between Rosco and the car then gently touched Rosco on the forehead with her right hand, smoothing his hair back.

“Hang on, Rosco, help’s on the way.”

Rosco opened his eyes and looked up at her with absolute fear in his blue eyes. “Anna…” he whispered.

“Enos called an ambulance and is on his way. You’re gonna be okay.” Anna proceeded with taking gauze packs out of the med kit, and then undid Rosco flannel shirt and carefully untucked it. Rosco flinched a little, and closed his eyes hard to the pain. Anna knew she had to keep him distracted from the pain so she asked him what happened.

“They figured out….who I really was,” he said, struggling to breathe. “And they didn’t….like it.”

“How many of them were there?”

“Four.”

“Four? You fought off four of them?!”

“Yeah…” Rosco smiled a little. “Takes more than that….to bring down ol’ Rosco P. Coltrane….”

Anna smiled as a tear escaped her eye. She adjusted the guaze pack inside his shirt and gently applied pressure with one hand, while using the back of the other to wipe away the tear drop. Rosco watched her, her profile recalling a fuzzy memory. But the physical pain was too much to allow him to concentrate on what it was that she reminded him of.

“Rosco, are you shot anywhere else?” Anna asked.

He nodded meekly. “They got me…in the back too…”

“Dear Lord…” Amos breathed. “Oh Dear Lord…”

“I got one of ’em tho’….” Rosco continued. “The same one….that killed…Agent Fieldman….”

“Yeah, we got your message,” Anna said. She wanted to ask him why it was that the Duke boys and their cousin had been the messengers, but now wasn’t the time. She held the guaze for a moment and grabbed another package from the med kit. She handed it to Amos and asked him to open it. He did and she took the new one and replaced the bloody one with it. Anna trembled as she looked at the dark crimson on the cloth and she put it down before she thought she was going to become sick.

“Not pretty….is it?” Rosco asked.

Anna looked at him. He was pale now, and his blue eyes were pleading to her. I don’t want to die…

“I don’t handle blood to well,” she said, and with a tiny smile added, “I can’t even handle having a paper cut.” She stared into his eyes. “But, you’re gonna be okay, Rosco. I’m not going to let you die, you hear me?”

Rosco nodded and managed to get a corner of his mouth to turn up in a smile. “I’m glad…” He was still looking at her when his eyes went out of focus and his eye lids drooped.

“Rosco?” Anna said urgently, touching her hand to the side of his face.

Amos just sat there and watched, thinking for sure he was about to witness Rosco’s death. Rosco tried to keep his eyes open for a moment longer, but there was nothing to see. When they closed, they stayed closed.

“Rosco?” Anna said.

The Sheriff didn’t respond.

“Rosco!” Anna gently placed her hand at the back base of Rosco’s head.

“Oh my Lord…” Amos said softly. “He’s dead ain’t he?”

Anna checked for a pulse and then shook her head. “No, no…he’s just passed out.” Anna closed her eyes and hung her head.

In the distance the wail of a siren could be heard and Amos put a comforting hand on Anna’s shoulder. Anna couldn’t stop the tears and the kind stranger gave her a shoulder to cry on as the ambulance arrived.

The Duke boys and Enos arrived at the same time, just after the ambulance. Enos went to see how the paramedics were doing and if he could help, while the boys joined with Amos and Anna who were standing away from the situation. Anna’s tears had dried a little, but she stared blankly at the ground, wondering if she was going to lose Rosco before having the chance to let him know who she really was.

“What are you boys doing here?” Amos asked.

“Daisy heard you call for Enos over the CB,” Luke said. “We thought we’d come out to see if we could lend a hand.” Luke looked at Anna. “Are you okay, Lt.?”

Anna looked up at Luke, startled. “Oh, um…yeah I’m okay.” She then looked over to where the paramedics were working on Rosco and watched as Enos got up and walked towards her.

“Lt.,” he said. “They’re taking him to Capital City hosptial. Uh…they think he’s going to be okay tho’.”

Anna nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Um, Enos, I’m sorry I took off like that, but I just….I mean…”

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said. “It was a shock to me too.” Enos put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “But Sheriff Rosco’s a survivor, he’ll….get through this. He’ll….be okay.”

Anna gave Enos a tiny smile and nodded.

“Listen, I’m gonna give Cooter a call and have him tow in the car and then you can come with me to the hospital if you want?”

“Alright.”

“Okay.” Enos turned and walked to his patrol car. He had lied to her. The paramedics were very concerned about Rosco’s condition and said they were going to do everything they could to help him, but told Enos he should be aware of just exactly how serious of a condition Rosco was in, and what could possibly happen.

Bo and Luke picked up that Enos didn’t seem to be quite truthful. They followed after him, to find out what was really going on.

Anna remained where she was and turned to Amos. “Mr. Wilson,” she said. “I want to thank you for your help. I’m sorry I’m not acting quite like a cool and collected State Police officer right now.”

“It’s okay, Ma’am, and you’re welcome. I wonder tho’, if I had just been a few moments faster, maybe I would have spooked those men away and Rosco wouldn’t have been shot.”

“Maybe.”

The boys, meanwhile, caught up to Enos.

“Enos, can we talk to you for a sec?” Luke asked.

Enos turned to his friends.

“Is Rosco really going to be okay?”

The deputy paused. He glanced at the ground and then finally let his eyes meet with the boys. “They don’t know,” he said softly. “He was shot with a rifle, twice. You tell me what kind of condition you think he should be in.”

The boys looked at Enos with sympathy.

“But Enos, why did you tell the Lt. that he’d be okay?” Bo asked.

“I don’t know. Just like I don’t know why she took off out of the booking room when the call came in.”

“She did?” Luke said.

Enos nodded. “Yeah. Maybe she was just shocked. Heck, I know I was.”

Bo and Luke turned to look at the dark haired State Police officer. She was now leaning against the white Hazzard County patrol car, deep in thought. The way she stood with her arms folded infront of her, it made her look familar to the boys, but they couldn’t place who she looked like right away.

Luke patted Enos on the shoulder and the boys let Enos go and call Cooter. They then walked over to Anna. She looked up as they approached.

Luke smiled warmly. “You holding up okay?”

Anna nodded. “Yeah.” She then chuckled. “I realize that my reaction wasn’t very becoming of a State Police officer.”

“Well, you certainly surprised Enos,” Bo said. “He said you took off out of the booking room as soon as the call came in.”

“Yeah, I did. I…I don’t know why, I just…” she shrugged. “Oh I can’t believe this is happening!” She looked at the patrol car. “I don’t even know who’s car I took.”

The boys looked at the patrol car and then looked inside it.

“Looks like Rosco’s,” Bo said off-handedly.

Anna’s throat tightened and her eyes stung with tears. She turned away from the boys and buried her face in her hands, not being able to stop the sobs. The boys looked at each other suddenly and then gave supportive arms to Anna.

“Hey, we’re sorry,” Luke said. He then looked at his younger cousin, as if to say, ‘what did you have to go and say that for?’

Bo looked chagrined. “I’m sorry, Ma’am, I didn’t mean to say anything to upset you.”

The boys, however, were at lost as to why Anna was so upset. They were all upset, certainly, but the State Police Lt. seemed to be taking the situation especially hard.

“Do you know Rosco?” Luke asked. “Is this why you’re so upset?”

Anna removed her hand from her face and looked at Luke. The tears flooded from her eyes, but she nodded. She then drew a troubled breath and said, “He’s an old friend of the family’s.”

It was the only way to explain it. She couldn’t hide her emotions anymore, but she refused to let on about who he really was to her. So now she was going to have to come up with an elaborate lie.

If I wasn’t such a damn cry baby…

“Yeah, he’s an old acquaintance of ours too,” Luke said.

Anna looked at him, her suspicions of the boys suddenly breaking through her emotional state. “Yeah, I bet he is,” she snapped.

The boys gaped at her.

“I don’t understand something,” she said. “Why would two ex-moonshiners such as yourselves who were caught with the help of Sheriff Coltrane be so damn interested in what happens to him now?”

“Well, it’s–” Luke started.

“And another thing. Once again, you two have gone to the trouble to make yourselves useful with this investigation, why I don’t know. Not that you’ve been particularly that useful, seeing y’all yourselves said that maybe you blew the Sheriff’s cover.” She glanced at the ambulance as it drove away and jerked a thumb toward it. “Happy now?” She gave each cousin a final cold look and then walked off to Enos.

The boys watched her go and then Bo slammed his hand on the trunk of the patrol car.

“Dammit, Luke, she thinks we’re trying to purposely mess everything up! She thinks we wanted to see Rosco get shot!”

“I dunno, Bo,” Luke said, equally as mad as Bo, but holding it in check at the moment. Neither of them ever wanted or wished for anything like this to happen to Rosco. “She obviously knows that Rosco helped the ATF catch us on the that last run.”

“Well, if you ask me, she don’t know nothing! Yeah, so he helped bust us back then and ever since he’s been trying to land us in jail on trumped up charges. He may drive us nuts, but for crying out loud I don’t want to see him dead!”

“I know, Bo, I know,” Luke said, putting a comforting hand on the shoulder of his young cousin. Bo sighed heavily, trying to get back in control. “Sorry,” he said. “You’d think I was her, the way I seem about to fall apart.”

Luke smiled. “It’s okay. I ain’t too happy about what’s happened here either.”

The boys were quiet for a moment, Bo staring down at the ground, Luke gazing at the grey Trans Am. They were alone on the road way now, Enos and Anna having already left, as had Mr. Wilson. Each Duke was lost in his own thoughts of the Sheriff. Bo thinking of all the times when Rosco chased after them in General Lee, Luke thinking of a time when the Sheriff was a different kind of law man. One thing was clear, which Bo vocalized this way:

“We gotta prove to her that we didn’t want to see this happen,” he said and looked at his cousin.

Luke nodded, still gazing at the Trans Am. “Yup,” he said and looked at Bo. “And we ain’t gonna let that gang get away with this, either.”