by: Sarah Stodola

 

At seven o’clock sharp, the first time in months that the Dukes had been exactly on time for anything and not either early or late (usually the latter), Luke, Bo, and Candy came through the door into the driver’s club at the track. There was quite a group of men there, and Luke cast around for a familiar face.

“Hey,” one of the men sitting at the nearest table greeted Candy. “How’s it goin’, kiddo?”

“Hi, Ted, fine,” she answered. “Hi Jerry,” she waved at his drinking buddy.

“Nice to meet you,” Luke pushed his way into the hellos, smiling and holding out his hand. “I’m Luke, and this is Bo, and where’s Frank?”

Ted and Jerry both shook his hand, and then Bo’s. “Heard you’re drivin’ on our team,” blond Jerry commented.

“For a while, yeah,” Bo nodded, grinning.

“Aren’t you a bit young?” red-headed Ted came in next.

The teenager’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“He’s a great driver,” Luke cut in quickly, forestalling any displays of Duke temper. Changing the subject, he asked, “Are all these men here on the Brandon team?”

Ted shook his head. “Nah. There’s only ten of us… twelve now with you two. The team’s gonna meet in a bit in that back room over there,” he pointed to a half-open door in the far wall. “You’ll meet everybody then. Can I buy you boys a drink?”

“Thanks,” Luke accepted, pulling a chair up from another table. Bo did likewise, and Candy jumped up into Jerry’s lap. Ted ordered beers for the boys and a soda for Candy. “So, how long have you been driving with Brandon?”

“Nearly all my career,” Ted shrugged. “Jerry here too. We’re cousins, the pair of us, and go pretty much everywhere together.”

“Hey, that’s the same with me ’n Luke!” Bo exclaimed with a grin, and everybody laughed.

“How long have you boys been driving?” Jerry asked the Dukes.

Luke shrugged, smiling at the waitress who brought their drinks and running a finger along the outside of the wet glass, leaving a trail. “Depends on what you mean. We’ve been racin’ on tracks for almost three years now, but I’ve done a lot of hard fast driving myself before that, when Bo was young. Dirt races and the like.” He wasn’t going to actually mention ridge-running unless he was sure the men would be okay with the thought. He hadn’t been any stranger to the occupation when he and Bo had started a few years ago; before Uncle Jesse had died, he’d been the best moonshiner in the hills, and Luke had been his runner.

“Guess you taught him all he knows, huh?” Ted grinned.

“Actually,” Luke admitted, “he figured out some tricks himself that he’s taught me. He’s got an instinct for the wheel like I’ve never seen before.” He felt like bragging on his cousin a little tonight, flashing Bo a smile as he said the last. The teenager grinned back but didn’t say a word, his mouth full of popcorn. He’d raided the next table for a full bowl.

“So, where’re you guys from?” Jerry asked, leaning his chair back on two legs.

“Hazzard. Georgia.” Luke took a sip of his drink and raised one eyebrow. Not too bad. A little better than what Boss served back at the Boar’s Nest. Of course, Boss always bought the cheapest of everything. “We’re a little county, up in the hills on the Tennessee line.”

“They live on a farm,” Candy chimed in helpfully.

“Yeah. It’s hard work, but it’s worth it. The land…” Luke shrugged. “It’s in our blood.”

Jerry nodded thoughtfully, taking his red baseball cap off and dropping it on Candy’s head, grinning when she made a playfully annoyed face at him. “Me and Ted grew up in the same town in Arizona. We raced anything we could find, including horses and bicycles, until we were old enough to drive and join the circuit.”

Bo laughed. “We did that too.”

“But racing together for us was postponed by the military,” Luke finished. At the other cousins’ questioning look, he added, “I was drafted into the Marines some years back.”

“Oh… Look,” Jerry grinned, “we don’t even know each others’ last names, here! We’re the Raftans, and you?”

“Dukes.” They shook hands all around, and Luke reached for a handful out of Bo’s bowl of popcorn. Then he thought of something. “By the way, uh, would you happen to know what David Brandon’s so nervous about? We couldn’t help but notice.”

“Not really,” Ted shook his head. “He’s been jumpy the past couple weeks or so, but today was worse than normal.”

“Didja know he left?” Bo asked.

“No! He did?”

“Yeah.” Luke sighed. “Left Candy with us. Why he trusts us in particular I don’t know. We’re the new kids on the block around here.”

“He said somethin’ about her bein’ in danger,” Bo added. Candy leaned back against her friend Jerry’s shoulder, looking a little worried now herself. “Would you know anything about that?”

Both Raftans shook their heads. “No.”

Luke frowned, playing with his glass. “This just don’t make sense. Even Candy don’t know what’s up. But somethin’s obviously wrong.”

“An’ we Dukes got a curious streak that won’t quit,” Bo stated, eyebrows up.

“That’s right,” his older cousin agreed, smiling just a bit. “We’re kinda known for stickin’ our noses into things.”

“Like detectives? Like the Hardy Boys?” Candy spoke up, eyes shining.

“Well…” Luke knew what those mystery books were; he and his cousins had read enough of them as kids. “Sort of. But we don’t do that kind of thing all the time… just when we meet somebody who really needs help. Our upbringing, I guess.”

“Gosh.” Candy shook her head, grinning and tugging the cap farther down over her bangs. “You two.” But then she hesitated, almost hopefully. “Hey, do you think you could find my dad? Bring him back?”

Luke looked at Bo. Dark blue eyes met his light-colored ones, and wordless understanding passed between them. “We could try,” he finally said. “We certainly could try.”

“Would you? Please?” The twelve-year-old wasn’t begging; that almost seemed below her. She had too much pride. But honest worry was half-hidden in her eyes, so like Bo’s in color but so different in attitude.

Luke took a deep breath, and looked at the Raftan cousins. The two drivers only appeared curious, and somewhat sympathetic to their young friend. “Okay,” the older Duke finally agreed. “We’ll try to find your dad. Tomorrow, maybe?”

She nodded, suddenly grinning again. “Okay.”

“I’m sure your dad’ll be all right,” Jerry spoke up with a smile. “He’s smart, he is. Right, Ted?” When his cousin didn’t answer, he gave the red-head an elbow in the ribs. “Hey, buddy, wake up!”

“Uh, yeah,” Ted hurriedly said, nodding. “He sure is! And I bet these two Georgia detectives here will get him back in no time.” He gestured toward the Dukes with a grin.

Candy seemed to relax completely then. “Okay.” Then, as if the conversation was no longer important, she asked, “So Jerry, how do ya think you’ll do in that race tomorrow night?”

At that, Luke decided it was time to move on. He stood. “It’s been nice meetin’ you fellas.”

Bo looked at him blankly for a second, then caught on and stood too, grabbing his beer and a last handful of popcorn. “See ya. You comin’, Candy?”

The girl bit her lip, thinking. “Well… I’ll meet you guys later, okay? I wanna talk to Jerry and Ted for a while.”

Luke shrugged. “Suit yourself. I told you I’d give you your freedom. Just don’t leave the building.” Candy nodded, and Luke started off across the room, aware of Bo’s presence closely behind him. “They’re nice fellas.”

“Yeah. They are.”

“But, you know, I still feel that something’s wrong around here. I’m tryin’ to figure out what it is, but…” He shook his head. “I wonder if Frank will know.” Then he suddenly felt the younger boy not there anymore. He turned and made a patient face. “Bo, c’mon, will ya? There’ll be enough time to look at the scenery later.”

“Umm.” Bo sighed and turned back to his cousin. Slowly, a wide-eyed smile spread across his face. “Why don’t we both just go sit over at the bar? Frank will find us better if we stay still.”

He had a point, Luke had to admit. But he also knew that whenever the eighteen-year-old got that particular innocent look on his face, he had something up his sleeve. “Bo, you just wanna go over there because of that blonde you’ve been watchin’.”

Bo shrugged, not denying it.

“All members of the Brandon racing team please go to the back room, all members of the Brandon team please go to the back room!” someone called out.

“C’mon,” Luke started off. “Let’s get to know the guys, and see if we can figure out what’s up.”

“Right behind you.” The younger Duke quickly finished off the contents of his glass and set it down on the nearest table before jogging after his older cousin.

They pushed their way through the crowd to the room Luke had spotted earlier and grabbed folding metal chairs, setting them up into part of a circle. Luke glanced around for Candy, and found her next to Frank. Good. Just so long as she was with friends.

One man, a small, muscular individual with sandy hair, stood and knocked on his chair, trying to get everyone’s attention. Nobody seemed to take notice. The Duke cousins looked at each other. The man knocked again, but Luke stood and, cupping his hands around his mouth, hollered, “Quiet!”

There was instant near-silence, and everybody turned to stare at him. Smiling to himself, he sat down again. Bo grinned at him.

“Well.” The small man nodded in their direction. “Thank you. But I’m afraid I don’t know who you are..?”

Luke stood again, motioning Bo to come along, and stepped forward to stand in front of the apparent leader. “I’m Luke Duke, and this is my cousin Bo. We’ve joined this team for a couple of months.”

“Hello.” The man grinned and shook his hand vigorously. “I’m Caleb Haroldson, glad to have you boys aboard!” The others, Luke had counted eight, including Ted, Jerry, and Frank, nodded and offered their greetings as well. Bo just waved around, grinning. “You’ve got an accent… Southern?”

“Yep,” Luke agreed, smiling. “Georgia.”

“Well,” Caleb gestured widely to the whole group, “who’ve you met so far?”

Bo spoke up. “Well, we met Frank Atkins, and the Raftan cousins. And you.”

“Well, lemme introduce you.” He pointed around the circle, rattling off names. “Kevin Oswald, Hank Barnes, and Ned and Jake Maren, they’re brothers. And…” He seemed to cast around, frowning slightly. “I haven’t seen Greg Kenley all day, who knows where he’s at, but didn’t I see Jennifer out there earlier?”

Bo leaned over to quietly ask, “There’s a girl on the team?” Luke just shrugged and motioned for him to be quiet.

“Yeah,” the man whose name was apparently Kevin, a tall man with nondescript brown hair and eyes, spoke up. “I was talkin’ to her just a little bit ago.”

“I’m right here,” came another voice, this one very definitely female. Luke felt a poke in his ribs, and turned to complain to his younger cousin, only to follow his surprised gaze to the door, where the same blonde girl Bo had been eyeing earlier stood leaning against the frame. Of a small, wiry build, and not all that much older than Bo, she also looked like she was quite capable of taking care of herself. Somehow, she inspired a sense of respect. The girl, Jennifer, straightened and walked into the room. Green eyes flicked over her apparent teammates briefly, then came to rest on the Dukes. “So, you’re the new boys in town, huh?”

Luke pushed himself to his feet, holding out his hand with a slight, surprised smile. “Hello. I’m Luke Duke, and this here’s my cousin Bo.”

“Howdy!” the blond teenager grinned.

“Yeah, we’re new here. I… didn’t know there were any girls on the team,” Luke went on, a little uncertain.

“Hmm.” Jennifer looked the pair up and down quickly, then turned to walk over to commandeer a free chair. Before sitting down, she looked back at them, with an almost haughty gaze. “You think girls can’t drive or something?”

“Um, no,” he quickly tried to cover his mistake. “No, we know a few that do… It’s just unexpected, that’s all.”

“Hmm.” With a slight, disapproving frown, she sat down and turned her attention to the leader, Caleb. Bo elbowed his cousin as they sat down, and he glared at him.

“Cut that out.”

“She didn’t think you were so hot, huh?” the younger boy whispered teasingly.

Luke rolled his eyes. “I’ve already got a girlfriend, Bo. I was just tryin’ to be friendly. I’ve never met a good girl driver outside of Hazzard.”

“How do you know she’s good?”

“She’s on this team, ain’t she?”

Bo seemed to think about that. “Oh. Yeah.”

“Okay, okay,” Caleb brought the meeting back to order. “I assume you two know Candy?” At the Dukes’ nods, he nodded too. “All right, then the introductions are made. Oh, by the way, Candy, where is your dad tonight, anyway?”

The twelve-year-old shrugged. “I don’t really know,” she admitted. “He took off earlier…” Then she shrugged again, her statement left short and unfinished. The nervousness in the girl’s voice was fleeting, but Luke noticed. He glanced around that room to see a few others give Candy quick, gentle glances. But no one said anything.

“He said he was going on some trip. Left Candy with us,” the older Duke cousin added.

“Well, all right,” Caleb finally said. The compact man glanced around at his team, and seemed satisfied. “He’ll be back soon then. Okay, men, let’s get down to business.”

Luke sat down with the others, Bo close behind. He could feel the surprised or disapproving stares of some of the more seasoned drivers, and wondered again why Brandon hadn’t left his daughter with one of them instead of the newcomers.

Unless… it was because they were newcomers. Was something going on at the track? Was there some reason why Brandon didn’t trust his own men? Greg Kenley was missing from the group… Had something happened to him? Luke stored the thought away for further pondering and settled in to listen as Caleb started briefing them all, for the hundredth time probably to judge by the groans, about the big race the next evening.

The Dukes would sit this one out, just get the feel of how the team worked. Also, he noted, apparently they wouldn’t be in Houston long; they’d be heading up to San Antonio before the Hazzard cousins actually hit the track in a real race, leaving in only a few days as a matter of fact.

Luke wished for the meeting to be over. He could feel Bo’s curious eyes on him, sensing like the cousins seemed able to do with each other the older one’s restlessness. He gave him a quick glance and tiny smile, but didn’t say anything.

After the meeting, the team went back out into the main room to have dinner together, everyone paying their own way but enjoying the company of the others. Luke got involved in a conversation on building engines with most of the other men, but couldn’t help but notice that Frank Atkins, though he chatted casually enough with Caleb off to the side, seemed a little jumpy, on edge. The thought struck the young farmer that just maybe he might know something about David Brandon, and possibly where he had gone. Those two seemed thicker than fleas on an unwashed hound.

He also kept an eye on Candy, who was going back and forth between their conversation and Frank and Caleb’s, and on Bo, who had rather surprisingly given their first encounter already managed to get on good terms with the girl driver, Jennifer, whose last name semed to be Garret. The two blond teenagers were over by the bar, watching everybody else and chatting quietly. His younger cousin seemed to be behaving himself, so Luke figured he’d just let them be. Candy looked a little jealous about losing Bo’s attention, though. She probably didn’t understand why her new friend was suddenly acting just like all the other adults, not like a kid anymore. Luke had to smile a little. Not too long ago, Bo wouldn’t have been able to blend in like this. But he had learned very well how to hide his strong inner feelings, and Luke was proud of him for it.

He glanced back at Frank, thinking to himself that he was going to have to talk to the man, then returned his attention to his own table just in time to laugh at a joke.

**

Luke left the club a couple of hours later right after Frank Atkins, Bo and Candy close behind him. He was walking fast, trying not to lose sight of the older man.

Bo jogged up alongside. “Luke? What’s up? I know you couldn’t tell me in front of everybody, but-“

Luke held up a hand to cut him off. “C’mon and you’ll find out.” He started running, hearing his companions follow him. “Frank!” he called out. “Hold on!”

He nearly collided with the man in the dark, and stumbled back before regaining his balance. Frank frowned. “Yes?”

He took a deep breath and decided to cut right to the quick. “Frank, did somethin’ happen to Greg Kenley?”

Gray eyes widened. “Why would you think I would know?” But the startlement in his voice was a split-second too late.

“Because even though Caleb back there led the group, you seem closest to David Brandon,” Luke stated. “Did he tell you anything? Like why he left without any warning today?”

Frank shook his head abruptly, starting away. “You’re here to drive, not play detective.”

Bo reached out and grabbed his arm as he went by. “Please. Is Luke right? Did something happen that nobody’s talkin’ about?”

Candy jumped in front of her friend, catching on now. “Please, Frank. Is Dad in trouble?” She was worried, almost scared, Luke could hear in her voice.

The older Duke sighed. “Frank, we just wanna help. Believe me, we’ve handled trouble before. All kinds. We’re ridge-runners, remember? We’ve been dodgin’ other runners, as well as the law, for years.”

The driver was silent for several seconds, then finally seemed to sag, nodding. “All right. Greg Kenley turned up missing last night after the race he won. Never even got to collect his prize money; I had to do that for him. Dave was talkin’ to me, gettin’ worried, because he’d been getting notes that said he’d lose the team if he didn’t sell it. Now people are turnin’ up missing… Greg was the first driver, but a couple mechanics have disappeared over the past few weeks, too. Whoever this is is followin’ us, because the men disappeared one at a time in the last two cities. We called the cops finally last night, but they couldn’t find a thing. Nothing.”

Bo stared quickly over at his older cousin. “Luke… you think somebody kidnapped ’em? Like me back before that first race with the General?”

Luke caught Frank’s curious glance from the corner of his eye, but decided he’d explain later. “I don’t know…” he said slowly, sighing. “It’s more likely-” He cut himself off abruptly, not wanting to say it. He’d seen too much death in the war; he didn’t need to think about any more. Besides, the situation might not actually be that bad.

But Bo’s quick mind understood what Luke hadn’t said. He bit his lip, trying visibly to hold his emotions in, and met the older Duke’s eyes. “Why?”

“Money.” That was Frank. “The Brandon team is well on its way to becoming famous. Nearly every race we enter, we win. Dave and mine’s guess is that whoever this guy is, he wants to own the team, because then he’ll get the profits.”

“Low-down dirty rotten polecat,” Bo muttered, looking down and away.

“I could think of a lot worse things to call him.”

“So could I,” Luke interjected, “but I try not to encourage that kind of language at our house. Have you told the men? They seemed pretty relaxed.”

“Not yet,” Frank admitted. “We didn’t want to worry them. Even Caleb don’t know. I’ll have to tell the team soon, though. We’ve managed to cover up the mechanics’ disappearances, but they’re gonna start wondering where our buddy Greg went.” He sighed. “I hope they take it well.”

“Will anybody want to quit?” Bo asked. “I mean… that would cause a lot of trouble. Kinda do the bad guys’ work for ’em.” Luke had to agree with his worries; it seemed a very real problem.

But to his surprise, Frank smiled, shaking his head slightly. “Maybe a couple might think about it, and I know everyone will be sorta nervous. But we’re a family, boys. It’d take more than that to tear us apart. Naw, we’re fighters.”

Bo smiled. “Nice.”

His older cousin agreed. “Yeah. I bet that diffuses a few worries. But what will you do, then?”

“I guess we’ll just…” The older man sighed and shrugged. “Be stubborn. Wait for Dave to get back and give him a good tongue-lashing. There’s nothing else to do right now. Later maybe we can worry about how to get ahold of whoever’s behind this.”

Luke leaned back against the wall behind him, crossing his arms and pursing his lips in thought. “Do you have any idea who it might be?”

Frank shook his head. “No; that’s why Dave took off. “He was actually gonna be still hangin’ around somewhere, trying to do a little spy work of his own over the next few days. He’ll be back by the time the team packs up to leave Houston. At least he hoped so.”

“Daddy…” Candy murmured, sounding a little scared. She spun around so that her back was to them, and took a few steps away, hugging herself.

“We’ll find him,” Bo told her, then met Luke’s gaze again, voice steady but eyes imploring. “Won’t we?”

Luke understood. Her mother was dead; the thought of losing her father too would be too much. “Yeah. We sure will. I promise you that, Candy.” No response. He sighed and walked over and around to stand in front of her, putting both hands on the girl’s shoulders. “Hey. Candy.” She finally looked up at him, tears in her eyes. “We’ll find him. Honest. And we’ll keep whoever this nut is that’s threatenin’ the team away from him and the rest of you.”

She tried to hide a sniffle. “Ridge-runner’s honor?”

He nodded, seriously. “Ridge-runner’s honor.”

“But you’re just kids… at least Bo is. How can you really do that?”

Luke sighed, trying to think of what to say to make her feel better. “Candy, remember what you said earlier, about the Hardy Boys? You like those books, don’t you?” At a slight nod, he went on, “They’re just kids, about Bo’s age. Right?”

She slowly nodded again. “But that’s imaginary. This is real life.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Bo ordered, coming up beside Luke.

“Huh?” she frowned.

“Don’t you get all cynical on the world. You’re too young for that. It ain’t all like the big city here in Houston, or the other cities you’ve been to. For instance, Hazzard. Sure, we get a little wild, but nobody usually ever gets hurt. Besides,” he grinned briefly, eyes twinkling visibly even in the dark, “if we Dukes can outrun revenuers, help catch bank robbers, and drive the local police half-nuts tryin’ to catch us, don’t you think we can outsmart one city boy?”

Luke sighed, half-smiling. Bo had a bigger opinion of themselves than he did, but that confidence was what Candy needed to hear right now. “Yeah. Bo’s right. It’s late anyway tonight; I doubt anything’s gonna happen until tomorrow.” He refrained from saying that nighttime was probably the most active time for lowlifes. They would need some good, uninterrupted rest if they were going to go chasing somebody. “Let’s head back to the motel, and we’ll start out looking around in the morning to see what we can find, okay?”

Frank was still standing there, silent. Bo tapped him lightly in the arm with a balled fist. “C’mon, Frank, have a little faith. Dave’s a smart guy. Ain’t he, Candy?”

The girl smiled, just barely, but pride for her dad was shining out anyway. “Yep. The smartest.” She seemed to shake off something, then stood straight, smiling more. “Luke and Bo are right. We’ll catch that guy!”

Luke sighed quietly to himself. He heard sudden trust and maybe a bit of hero-worship in that last. Candy looked to the two Duke boys now not only to keep her safe, but find her father and whoever was responsible for the threats and disappearances. He just hoped that she wouldn’t be proven wrong. They’d never dealt with a big-time city criminal on his own turf before. It was always their own back roads and woods. He had to admit it — he was a little nervous about all this himself.

“Well,” he finally shrugged. “Let’s go, you two. It’s getting late. We’re gonna need some sleep. See you tomorrow, Frank.”

“See you.”

As he started out of the track grounds, Bo jogged up quickly to walk beside him, almost touching. “Luke, what’re we gonna do first to try to find Brandon?”

“Yeah,” Candy seconded, running up too.

“Well,” he gave each a fleeting glance, “first we start at the simplest, and only, place we can. We try to see if anyone’s seen either David Brandon since this morning, or any unusual characters hanging around.” At Bo’s slightly cynical noise, he sighed again. “Look, cuz, I don’t see much else to do.”

“I know,” was the quiet answer after a while. “I just don’t want anything to happen to Candy’s dad. Like it did to our parents when we were little. And like-” He broke off abruptly, but Luke had heard the quick, sharp pain in his voice, one that would never die fully in either of them. He stopped and reached out to the shadow that was his younger cousin, pulling him into a hug, ignoring the few stares he got from passersby. Bo needed him, and that was all he cared about.

“Shh. I know.” ‘Like Uncle Jesse’, he knew Bo had been about to say. “I know.” He was aware of Candy’s curiosity, but she kept silent. Luke turned halfway and put an arm around the twelve-year-old’s shoulders as well. “Nothin’s gonna happen to David Brandon. Or the team. We’ll make sure of that.”

He only wished he really was that certain.

 

*     *     *     *     *

 

“Yee-haaa!” “Yahooo!!”

Luke glanced up at the twin yells to chuckle as Candy and Bo took simultaneous flying leaps off a low roof to land, again, in a deep pile of tires. Candy seemed a lot more at ease today than she had been yesterday, especially since she had apparently decided that Bo was her new best friend, even if he was a lot older than she was. Luke wasn’t sure if her dad would have let her jump around like that, but the Dukes had grown up living and playing rather rough and wild, even their cousin Daisy, and it had only served to make them tougher, more capable. He figured that it wouldn’t hurt Candy either. She certainly seemed to be having a lot of fun.

Bo scrambled up out of the tires and cocked his head up toward the sky as a plane went overhead, low toward the airport, then trotted over to a nearby drinking fountain for a some water. There was not a cloud in sight, and the sun was bright enough to hurt the eyes when Luke looked at something white. And they’d thought Georgia summers were bad. At least they had some moisture in the air at home. This was hot and dry; hot enough that the younger Duke had chosen to just go shirtless all day. Luke didn’t complain as long as Candy didn’t, just hoped that nobody, one younger cousin of his in particular, got too badly sunburned.

He returned his attention to the man he’d been talking to. “Well, thanks… Leon,” he said after checking the name patch on the janitor’s coverall. “Appreciate it. Look, if you do see Brandon anytime, tell him that Luke Duke wants to see him, and now. Okay?”

“Sure thing,” the smiling gray-haired man nodded, shaking the Georgian’s hand. “I’ll do that.”

Luke turned away as Leon went on with his sweeping, and waved a hand in Candy’s direction, than looked around for Bo, who had disappeared. “Hey you two! Come over here!”

He felt the presence behind him just in time to spin around and grab his cousin by the shoulders, chuckling. Bo scowled. “How do you always know when I’m there?” he complained. “I wanted to sneak up on you.” The teenager’s eyes were dancing, carefree as though nothing were wrong. But there was a flicker, deep in the center, that was serious, still thinking at least a little about the importance of what they were doing.

Luke shrugged. “I’m not sure how I know. I just feel you there. Hey, Candy,” he smiled down at the third member of their party as she came up. “Look, we’ve been askin’ around all morning, or at least I have,” he half-jibed lightly, “so why don’t we get in out of this heat and get ourselves some ice cream or something?”

“Ice cream sounds good,” Bo nodded.

“Inside sounds good,” Candy spoke up. “I think it’s even hotter than yesterday.”

“I believe that,” Luke agreed, wiping his forehead.

“It’s the dry season down here,” the girl went on. “When it does rain though, it rains for a little while, really hard, every day. We almost get flooded out sometimes!” She almost seemed to have forgotten that there was any trouble, that anyone had disappeared, that her father had ever taken off. Her attitude was completely carefree, completely cheerful… too cheerful, Luke had decided. He was pretty sure that it was a put-on to convince everyone, including them, that she was just fine, when inside the twelve-year-old was understandably frightened. Every once in a while he could see a flicker in her eyes, a far-off look when she thought no one was watching. He knew that she had to be a very troubled little girl. Bo had commented quietly, in one of those strange moments of sudden maturity that the blond teenager had, that he was worried about her. Personally, Luke concurred, but they had agreed together not to bother Candy, to play along that her facade was working.

Therefore, the older Duke was doing the detective work, and Bo was trying to keep their young friend too busy to think about her dad being in any danger. And small talk, any subject but the team’s problems, was a near-constant. Like now. “When it’s rainy season in Hazzard,” Bo informed the girl as they struck out for the club, “we don’t get rained on like that. We just get cloudy sky and off-and-on drizzles for days at a time. And we never get this dry even in the summer!”

“Georgia’s farther north, and east,” Luke nodded. “We get different weather patterns. It’s good for the young plants, though. Try to imagine farming in the desert.”

Bo made a face, wrinkling his nose playfully. “That’d be hard.”

“Well they do, further west,” Luke reminded him. “And north of here, in the Midwest, it gets pretty dry too. We’re kinda lucky for having as much water as we do back home.”

“Yeah.” Bo grinned at Candy. “We got rivers and streams everywhere. Great for swimming.”

She frowned slightly. “Why don’t you just go to the swimming pool?”

“There is none in Hazzard,” Luke explained. “We tend to live sorta natural. We eat pretty much whatever we grow or raise or hunt, and our plumbing comes out of a well, and we swim in the pond in the woods back of our land.”

“Speaking of swimming…” Bo’s eyes were glinting as he shot his cousin a sidelong glance, “can we go down to the beach today? Please?”

“Well,” Luke frowned, thinking, “we’ve got that race to attend tonight. And we’ve still got to do a little more searching.”

“Aw, c’mon,” the blond Duke pleaded. “We only got a couple days here.”

Candy looked torn between hunting for her father and a swimming trip. Finally she nodded. “If Dad doesn’t want to be found, it’ll be almost impossible. And it’s so hot, and we’ve been talking to people all day. Let’s go. The nearest edge of Galveston Bay isn’t too far away. Just a couple hours..?” The begging question was obvious.

Luke frowned, but even he, the one who tended to get his teeth set into an idea and hang on with bulldog tenacity, had to admit that a little time off would be nice. Besides, Bo had never been to the beach. “Okay,” he finally gave in. “After we get some ice cream, though. And head back to the motel for swimsuits and towels and stuff.”

“Okay!” Bo jumped in the air, laughing. “Hey, why don’t we take General Lee? Give him some dirt, or at least sand, to run on instead of all this pavement. And we’ll get there faster too.”

“Of course we’ll take him; the other cars ain’t street-legal. We can’t speed, though,” Luke admonished.

The younger cousin pulled an unhappy face, but finally nodded, sighing. “Okay. But can I drive anyway?”

“He’s all yours.”

Bo grinned widely. “Let’s do it!”

As Luke watched the younger pair run ahead on the way back to the motel, he couldn’t help but worry a bit, not only about David Brandon, but also about his young daughter. Besides, something was nagging at him, something was wrong… something wasn’t as they were expecting it to be, here. But he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

 

*     *     *     *     *

 

When Hank Barnes came running into the club that night in a panic, Luke knew that his sixth sense had been right once again. The driver skidded to a halt by grabbing onto the back of an occupied chair, and looked around at all his teammates. Everyone except Caleb and Jennifer had been having dinner together.

“What is it?” Jake Maren asked, looking puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

“Kev… Kevin,” Hank gasped. “He’s gone!”

There was an instant of silence, then chaos erupted. “What?!” “How..?” “Hey!” came a chorus of angry shouts. Finally Frank stepped forward and hollered, “Quiet!! Sit down!”

There was instant obedience. The team, except for the senior driver, returned to their seats, grumbling. Jake’s brother Ned spoke up this time. “What happened, Hank? Wha’d’ya mean, Kevin’s gone?”

“He’s… gone,” Hank said again, hands in the air helplessly as he shifted nervously in his seat. “He and I are roommates. I went to take a shower, and when I came out, he was gone. I figured he’d just stepped out, until I found this.” He handed Frank a small piece of paper. The older man glanced it over, and sighed.

“What is it?” Luke nudged impatiently.

“A note. All it says is, ‘Brandon give up’.”

“What in the heck does that mean?” Ted Raftan complained.

“A note,” Bo spoke up. Everyone turned to look at the blond eighteen-year-old, surprised. He didn’t often push his way to the forefront of the group. “One of those threats. Right, Luke? Least, that’s what it sounds like.”

Candy, who’d been sitting a little ways away, whimpered very quietly before biting her lip to hide the sound, and got up to come lean on Luke’s chair. The dark-haired Duke put an arm around her, not sure what else he could do. “What about Daddy?” she whispered in his ear.

He said the only thing he could. “Whoever this is seems to be here. He’s out there somewhere. He’s probably safe.” She didn’t look convinced, though. He really couldn’t blame her.

“What threats?” someone in the back insisted.

“Well…” Frank hedged. All eyes turned to him, and he shifted on his feet, looking uncomfortable. “All right. I guess I should have told you before. Those mechanics… they didn’t walk off the job. They were taken. So was Greg Kenley. Someone wants Mr. Brandon to sell this team, and he’s using force to make his point clear.” He went on to explain everything else, not leaving out a single detail.

When he’d finished, no one said a word for several seconds, but then a babble of angry comments filled the air. Although his main attention was on watching Candy, admittedly worried about her, Luke could pick out a few names being called, like ‘rattlesnake’ and ‘skunk’. The team seemed to have the same opinion of this as he and Bo had. Finally Ted raised his hand to get everyone’s attention. “Shouldn’t we call the police?” he asked. A chorus of agreements echoed his statement.

Frank shook his head. “We did call the cops when Greg disappeared. They couldn’t find anything. And the officers were less than friendly about anyone else tryin’ to help. Dave said not to bring the police in again, that this was our fight. He don’t want them involved.”

“But what can we do?” Hank protested. “We have no guns to defend ourselves, no training in law enforcement. How are we supposed to stop all this? How could anyone?”

Luke came to the senior driver’s rescue, standing up and stepping forward. He could feel Bo’s defiant, supportive presence behind his left shoulder. All eyes instantly looked to the Dukes. “Back where we come from, in Georgia, there’s a county named Hazzard,” he began, as if telling a story. “It’s our home, and we love it. But if you can’t handle taking care of yourself, defending your own home, family, and friends, its name is apt. Life there can be very hazardous. We can’t even depend on the local law enforcement; that consists of a crooked county commissioner and a stooge sheriff.” He mentally sent an apology Rosco’s way; he really did sort of like the man, however annoying he could be. “So, you ask how anyone can stop criminals from running over them, ruining their lives. Well, the answer is pretty simple. Do it yourself.”

Bo took up the sword. No one else was saying a word. “Me ’n Luke, and our buddies… we’re some of the people that do that. We keep Hazzard safe. And not one of us has a badge or official police training. Except our friend Enos, but he’s only a deputy and can’t help us very often cause he’s under orders. Nobody’s got the kind of weapons the crooks have, either. Some folks got shotguns, and some have bows and arrows, but nobody wants to kill anybody, or even seriously hurt them. So we’re as good as unarmed. But…” The blond teenager let the word dangle for a moment, then grinned. “But with smarts, sneakiness, stubbornness, and some dang good driving, we nearly always win. An’ I bet this team could do the same… that is, if any of you fellows think you’re man enough.”

The deliberate jibe made more than one back stiffen, and more than one set of eyes flashed in indignation. Finally Ted stood up. “All right, mister, I’ll show you who’s a man. I’ll help get these guys. Who’s with me?” One by one, every man on the team nodded and murmured agreement. The red-haired driver smiled tightly. “We’ll rescue our friends, and save this team. Without a single cop.”

Bo just nodded. But when his older cousin caught his gaze sidelong, the eighteen-year-old’s eyes held a glint of sheer satisfaction. Luke sighed and shrugged inwardly. It was a childish taunt, but if it worked… he wasn’t gonna knock his cousin’s methods.

But he still felt a little uneasy. He glanced around at the suddenly-plotting group, then stood and headed for the door. After a few seconds, he heard the door swing open again, and Bo ran up behind him.

“Lukas! Wait up!”

He turned and waited for his younger cousin, eyebrows raised. “It’s okay if you wanna stay. You did start the whole thing, after all. I’m just gonna go back to our motel.”

A youthful face set into a mask of stubbornness. “No! Not alone! It’s night, it’s dangerous.”

Luke thought about that. Bo was right, he had to admit. “Candy ain’t ready to leave yet, is she?”

“No. ‘Uncle’ Frank’s peelin’ her off the ceiling. She’s even more scared about her dad now that Kevin’s missing. Course, you know that.” He paused, glancing off into the darkness. “Come walk with me,” he invited.

Luke hesitated, but finally sighed and nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Okay.”

The two young Dukes wandered across the grounds. Neither said a word for a while, but finally Bo spoke up again. “What’s wrong, Lukas?” His tone, his words, his body language, all said that he wasn’t putting on a show at the moment. Right now he was being completely himself, with all the weaknesses but strengths too that that implied. Somehow, the older cousin felt more at ease talking to him now than he would otherwise.

Luke sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t know if I can really put it into words, cousin. Trouble. I sense trouble ahead, but I can’t figure out what it is.”

“Is it because Kevin got kidnapped?”

“Maybe. Partly. I guess it’s just something that’s been buildin’ in me for a while.” He suddenly stopped and turned, Bo moving back to avoid running into him, eyes wide and startled. “I’ve suspected the involvement of someone on the inside ever since this all started. And this, much as I hate to admit it, only makes me more sure. I mean, who could sneak up on somebody without being suspected but someone he trusts?”

“You mean you think it’s one of the drivers?”

“Or mechanics or somebody. I hate to say it, but…”

Bo nodded, sighing. “Yeah. It would make sense.”

Luke turned and started walking again, his mind now going a hundred miles an hour. “But who?” he thought out loud. “Brandon thinks that all his people are loyal to him. The way he talked about them yesterday said as much. He’s proud of his team.”

“He’d be heartbroken if somebody betrayed him,” Bo said softly.

Luke glanced at him. The eighteen-year-old was looking at the ground, his hands in his pockets. As if he felt the older one’s gaze, he raised his head, blond hair catching a slight breeze and lifting up, shimmering slightly in the light of a nearby lamp. Luke smiled when their eyes met, suddenly very proud of his little cousin. He was so fragile and volatile emotionally, yet so very strong too. He’d make it through this. He might even be Luke’s hidden strength. Huh, wouldn’t that be a switch? But then his thoughts turned darker. Bo… he was maybe one of the best drivers on the team right now. If this kept up, he would be in danger. Suddenly the older Duke felt a something cold settle in his middle, and swallowed. They had to catch whoever was responsible. For not only Brandon’s sake, but their own as well.

“What?” Bo asked when he didn’t say anything.

Shaking his head a little, Luke reached out and grabbed the teenager’s arm, pulling him close enough for a hug. “Did you know I’m so very proud of you?” he whispered, emotion, no matter how much he would normally try to hide it, coming up in his throat to choke him anyway. “And that I love you very, very much?”

The younger boy giggled slightly, pulling back with a wide, playful smile. “Of course I know that! Why would you think I wouldn’t?” But then he seemed to pick up on his cousin’s serious mood, and the laughter faded. “Hey. Whatsa matter?”

Luke stepped away, shrugging. He didn’t want to tell Bo his thoughts, didn’t want to get him worrying too. “Nothin’. Don’t worry about it. Let’s go back now. We need to find Candy and get some sleep.”

But Bo grabbed his arm as he started off, his grip, even if not the rest of him, every bit as strong as his older cousin’s. “Luke. Tell me what’s wrong.” When Luke didn’t answer, he came around to the front and caught his eyes with his own, the dark blue worried but gentle. “Lukas. Tell me.”

Had he ever been able to say no to those eyes? He thought back as long as he could remember and couldn’t find one time he had ever been able to just turn away, at least not without feeling guilty about it. He sighed and gave up. “I’m worried. If this keeps up, who knows what will happen next? Who else will we lose?”

The reply, when it came, was soft, not only in volume but in tone as well. “Are you scared of losing me?”

Swallowing again, and inwardly wishing that Bo had never noticed, he nodded. “Yeah. I guess I am.” He looked up quickly. “If somebody’s tryin’ to make the team fall apart, the best way to start is to take out the best drivers. That group includes you.”

Bo stood still for a second, then suddenly stepped up and hugged him fiercely. Luke could feel almost-but-not-quite hidden shivers running through his lean frame. The younger boy was scared himself, but determined not to show it. “It’s okay, Lukas,” he said fervently. “You ain’t gonna lose me. I’m a Duke, I’m a ridge-runner. I can take care of myself.”

You’re also only eighteen years old, Luke thought to himself. And, more than that, you’re… you. But he didn’t say any of it, just returned the embrace. “Shh. Settle down. Just cause I’m worried don’t mean anything’s really gonna happen. I’ve been in charge of you for six years, and especially the last three. I guess old habits, like worrying, die hard.”

Bo pulled back and smiled. “Yeah. And you know what? I worry about you too, sometimes.”

“Me? Oh, c’mon, Bo, I can take care of myself!”

“That’s what I said!”

“But you haven’t been through all the things I have. Like the Marines. Or watching out for you — hey, sometimes that was almost as hard!”

His teasing made the younger boy laugh, and he grinned himself, so very glad that they had each other. What would either of them have done alone?

“C’mon,” he finally started off, feeling more than even hearing Bo run up to follow close behind. “Let’s go back and find Candy, and see what the men are doing. That was quite some jab you made, suggesting that they weren’t acting like men.”

“Well, it was the only way I could see to get ’em thinkin’ our way,” his blond cousin defended.

Luke chuckled. “Well, it seemed to work. I guess sometimes logic don’t work in some situations. Gettin’ under somebody’s skin, now, that always gets some kinda reaction!” They laughed together, then he paused mid-step and turned to glance at his companion. “Oh… don’t mention my theory about an inside man being involved, okay?”

“Course not,” Bo made a slight face. “I’m not stupid. It’d make everybody not trust each other and the kidnapper get nervous. And more dangerous.”

Luke nodded. “You got it.”

When they stepped into the club again, the only ones still there were the Brandon team, huddled over in a couple of corner booths. The Dukes joined them, Luke quickly glancing over the group to make sure they were all there. He noted that Jennifer had showed up finally; someone must have called the drivers that hadn’t been there before. But when the count came out wrong by two, he frowned.

“Where’s Hank and Caleb?”

Ned waved a hand. “Hank went back to his room to check for clues, and nobody could even find Caleb. The last couple of days, he’s been taking off a lot.”

Luke frowned, eyes narrowing. But before he could voice another question, the door flung open and Caleb Haroldson himself rushed through, breathing hard and looking worried. The team leader ran over to the others, and panting, declared, “Hank’s missing!”

The entire team leaped to their feet, except for those in the rear of the booths, who tried and hit their thighs on their tables for their efforts. Frank reached out and snatched a piece of paper identical to the one they’d looked at before out of Caleb’s hand, scanning it, then looked up, his face suddenly very serious and a bit ashen. “He’s right.”

“Give me that.” Without waiting long enough to say ‘please’, Luke grabbed the note away and read it, read it again, then dropped his arm. Slowly, he closed his eyes and let out a big sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He was starting to get a headache. “Where did you find this, Caleb?”

“On Hank’s door. I heard about what happened, and went to go make sure he was all right. But he didn’t answer my knock, and when I first found this, I thought he’d left me a note saying where he’d gone. Turns out someone sorta did… only it wasn’t him.”

“What is it, Luke?” Bo asked, trying to read over his shoulder.

He glanced back at his little cousin, then lifted the paper to reading level again. Out loud, he read, “You didn’t listen, did you? No one does. The more you try to find me, the farther away you get. Give me what I want, and the men will be returned. Otherwise, I am not responsible for anything that might happen.”

There was silence, then Candy pushed her way through from the back to wrap her arms around Frank’s waist and bury her face in his shirt. The senior driver rubbed her back reassuringly, and looked back up at Luke. “Just like before. A man gone, and a threat note. No leads whatsoever!”

“No, wait a minute,” Bo, who’d been for the most part thoughtfully quiet up until now, spoke up. “Look what it says there.” He pointed over Luke’s shoulder. “‘The more you try to find me, the farther away you get.’ That’s gotta mean somethin’!”

“If we know what to look for,” Jennifer sighed. “What does that mean?”

“Well, maybe whoever this is is followin’ the team around or somethin’. Or is involved with the track,” Bo argued as close to what the Dukes had talked about earlier as he could. He looked to his older cousin for support. “What do you think, Luke?”

Luke chewed briefly on his lower lip, then shrugged, looking up from the note. “I ain’t sure what to think. I’m workin’ on it.” That line Bo had quoted, though, seemed to be pointing to his suspicions being true. He couldn’t help but wonder which of these worried people was the traitor. If there was one at all.

“Do you think Daddy’s okay?” Candy asked, looking like she was fighting admirably to hold back tears. Luke sighed and reached out to her. She came willingly into his hug.

“I don’t know, sweetheart,” he said softly. “But worrying ain’t gonna do anybody any good. What we need to do is keep racing, keep looking… and keep praying.”

Caleb nodded. “There isn’t much else we can do.” He turned to glance around at the rest of his team. “Anyone have any suggestions?”

“Yeah,” scowled Jake. “I think we should have gotten out of this while we could.” But then he sighed. “But we’re committed now. We gotta find our friends. And we’re gonna have to look out for each other, too, so that this don’t happen again. Everyone travels in pairs from now on.”

“I still wish we could call the cops,” Ted grumbled. But then he nodded. “But you’re right. This is personal. It’s our battle, and somehow we’ve gotta fight it.”

One by one, quiet agreements came in, although some were reluctant. Frank looked around at the team, and Luke could see a hint of what almost looked like pride in his gray eyes. “Sounds good to me. Let me at ’em,” he growled softly, clenching his hand in the other palm and holding them out. Without a word, the other drivers all made the same gesture. The last ones to respond were the Dukes. Luke had learned early on that this was a team signal for when they planned on beating another team on the track and doing it thoroughly. But to his surprise, the fiercest one of all was Candy, who stepped forward to slam her fist into her hand with eyes aglow with angry fire.

“We’ll get this guy, and get him good,” she growled. No one said a word, surprised at her attitude. The twelve-year-old stood in the middle of the group for a few more seconds, looking openly defiant of anyone that might oppose her, before moving back to stand next to Frank.

“All right,” Caleb finally spoke up again. “It’s late tonight; we’re all too tired to do anybody much good right now. We’ll go back to the motel as a group, and everybody lock their doors and don’t let anyone in until we all meet in the morning.” Everyone nodded their agreement, and without a further word, Caleb turned and led the troop out of the building.

Candy stayed between Frank and Luke, for some reason seeming to trust them in particular to protect her, until they reached the Dukes’ room, when she went in with them. Talking about everyday things, pretending for a little while at least as though nothing were wrong, the three got ready for bed, and crawled between their sheets.

 

*     *     *     *     *

 

He was… somewhere. He wasn’t even sure where. Then things started swimming into focus, and he recognized the track. He was standing next to a racecar, and so was another man. But there was a sense of more than readiness for a race in the air. There was a tenseness… and then he remembered. The men. Disappearing. Trouble. But a trouble they could deal with. They were from Hazzard, after all, he chuckled to himself. They were used to handling things like this. It’d probably take some time, and caution, but in the end the bad guys would be behind bars.

But then everything went dark. Blackness surrounded him, so thick and heavy it was almost tangible… as though he could reach out and touch it. He shivered, although it wasn’t cold, and strained his eyes to see something, anything, in this midnight world.

He stood there for what seemed ages, wondering where, who, why, what, and all those other things people wonder when they can’t decipher their surroundings. Finally, a slow light began to grow, on the horizon like a sunrise. Only this wasn’t sunrise… the light was silvery, with colors rippling through it almost like the northern lights. It was beautiful, really, and for a moment he was captivated, smiling. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he could see, at least. He was standing in an open plain of gray. No trees, no grass, no hills, no nothing. Mist surrounded the edges, shapes seeming almost to form within it but constantly changing.

Then a wave of something else swept over him, as the light display grew closer, and he felt a sudden shudder of fear. It was dark. So dark, so… Not in color, but how it just felt. He took one step backwards, wanting nothing more than to run from whatever evil it was that he was sensing. He took another step, glancing around frightenedly for something that he could understand, and to his great surprise and relief saw a familiar face. Letting out a held breath and grinning, he waved and started toward the other figure standing not too far away. But then, as if triggered by his movement, other figures suddenly emerged from the mists, marching toward his cousin. They were dressed all in black, and their faces seemed blurred out. They sent a cold shiver through him, and he called out the other’s name to alert him to the danger. Couldn’t he see?

But he just stood there, apparently unaware of both the warning and the enemy. The black-clad soldiers, for that’s how they seemed, came up to him, and in a quick, precise motion handcuffed him. Then their prisoner suddenly seemed to come alive, and fought his captors with all the fierceness of desperation. The watcher struggled to move, to run to the rescue, but somehow he seemed to have been frozen. He couldn’t move, not even a finger. He couldn’t make a sound. A wave of fear rose up into his throat, making it hard to even breathe!

The enemy subdued their captive, and started to lead him away, leaving a frightened observer behind. But then the picture suddenly changed, and he was standing in some sort of… it almost seemed like a palace. Delicately carved wooden furniture, draperies of fine velvet. He stood, amazed, looking around… and then he felt it again. The same sense of terrible danger, evil, was here as had been on that plain before. And behind it… deception… nothing was as it truly seemed!

NO!

With that single mental shout, he leapt backwards, and a tether seemed to snap. Abruptly he was tossed out of the room, through a doorway…

 

And he woke up. Breathing hard, he sat up, shivering, and with wide eyes looked around. Then he relaxed; he was here, where he was supposed to be. He was safe. A quick glance at his deep-breathing cousin confirmed his presence. Luke was sound asleep, in no danger of going anywhere. The whole world seemed oblivious to the turmoil going through Bo’s mind. And really, that suited him just fine.

He was here, safe. To his surprise, he didn’t feel panicked; he hadn’t even when first waking up. But he still felt so cold inside… almost sick. Biting his lower lip, he pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, curling up as if to protect himself. He started to shiver with reaction, and wanted nothing more in the whole world than just to crawl into Luke’s embrace and let him be his strength. But he couldn’t wake his cousin up. That would be cruelty at this hour, especially just for a dream. Besides, he didn’t want to wake Candy. He glanced over at the other bed, and the small girl stretched out peacefully on her side. The kid needed her sleep.

With a shaky sigh, he uncurled and slipped out of bed to go find a place where he could be alone for a while.

**

Luke opened his eyes to blackness, and lay there for a moment, wondering what had woken him. Then he became aware that something wasn’t as it should be. Worried, he sat up, trying to figure out what. The answer came the moment he realized that his normally out-like-a-light bedmate was missing, and had been for some time.

His eyes fell on the clock on the bedside table. Two a.m. Yuck. But he slid out from under the covers and went hunting for his cousin anyway. There wasn’t much place to hide in a motel room, so in less then thirty seconds he knocked very lightly on the shut bathroom door.

“Hey, Bo? You okay?”

When he didn’t receive any answer, he turned the knob and peered in. His eyes swept across the small cubicle, half-lit by outside lights, and easily found the blond teenager sitting in a corner, knees drawn up to his chest, arms wrapped around his legs, and face buried in the middle.

Luke sighed and opened the door the rest of the way, then shut it behind himself before kneeling down beside his younger cousin. Bo didn’t respond to his presence, so the older Duke reached out and gently brushed thick, somewhat sleep-tangled hair away from his face. “Bo, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

Finally the other’s head came up, and Luke was surprised to see the wet streaks of tears down his face. Worried now, he put a hand on his shoulder, suddenly aware how very vulnerable the eighteen-year-old was right now. He pondered over what he should do. Bo wasn’t a little boy anymore… yet he still was, in some ways, inside. Finally he simply pulled the unresisting teenager close and put his arms around him.

“Shh, little cousin. It’s all right. Shh, there…” He sat there on the cold, hard bathroom floor and murmured quiet reassurances for a couple of minutes, before Bo’s chest suddenly heaved and new tears started to dampen his older cousin’s shirt. Luke didn’t care. He was too worried about what was wrong. He just kept talking, telling Bo that he loved him, that he was safe now. It had been years since something like this had happened, since he’d had to respond on such a deep, simple level. This was a surprise.

Finally, though, the tears abated, and Bo sat curled against Luke’s chest, head down and apparently unwilling to move away. The older Duke wasn’t going to make him, though. He stayed quiet, just being the strength his little cousin needed, until finally Bo whispered, almost inaudibly, “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, no. Don’t be sorry. Just be you.” Luke ran his fingers through the tangled blond mop again, smiling to himself. He had to lighten the mood somehow, if he was ever going to learn what was wrong. “It’s okay. I don’t mind. Look, you’ve put me through a lot worse than wakin’ up at two in the morning. Remember the time you went out night fishin’ in the woods and forgot to tell me, and me and Cooter got a whole search party together?”

A sniff, then a slight giggle. “Yeah.”

“Or what about when you were kidnapped? I would have sworn I lost five years worryin’ about you.”

“Yeah.” Bo swallowed, then brought one hand up to rub his eyes. “I remember. I was sorta scared too. More mad than scared, though.”

“Well, that’s normal for you. Someday, that temper of yours is gonna get you in trouble.” Despite his scolding words, he hadn’t stopped the soothing movements of his fingers. Almost all the tangles were out of Bo’s hair by now.

“Yeah. I know.” Finally, the teenager sat up, pulling back and giving his older cousin a wavery smile. “Thanks, Lukas.”

“Of course.” He sighed and rubbed at his eyes, letting out some of his own tension. “What happened, anyway?”

Bo looked at the tiles and shrugged very slightly. “Nothing really, I guess. Just a dream.”

“Just a dream wouldn’t have sent you to hide out in here. Come on, tell me.” His gentle coaxing brought a slight smile to the younger boy’s face.

“Okay… I guess I can tell you.” He paused, and Luke waited. Finally words came again, very quiet. “It started normal. I dreamed about being here, everything like it is now, with the troubles the team is havin’. But it wasn’t scary, just…” He shrugged. “Like it is. You know?”

Luke nodded. “Yeah. Then what happened?”

The teenager’s face took on a haunted look, and his eyes grew distant. “It was so real… I was suddenly… somewhere. It was just a flat, gray place, and it was kinda scary. But then I saw you, and I tried to call out to you, but you couldn’t hear me. Then the crooks came, Lukas. They were all dressed in black, and they really scared me. They came right up to you, and you couldn’t see them until they grabbed you. Then they just dragged you away with them, and no matter how much I yelled, nobody came, nobody heard me. Nobody saw. And I couldn’t even move to help you, it was like I was frozen! Then it changed again, and I was in some kind of rich place… and there was danger, Luke.” His dark blue eyes suddenly gained fervor as they swept up to capture the other’s gaze. “Terrible danger.”

“What kind of danger?” the older Duke prompted when he said nothing more.

Bo shook his head and glanced away again, looking puzzled through his obvious fright. “I don’t know. Like… deception. Betrayal. Nothing seemed wrong on the outside, it was beautiful, but there was something evil underneath. I woke up then, and it wasn’t like coming out of most bad dreams, yellin’ or nothin’. I was pretty calm. But I felt awful inside, almost sick, and I didn’t want to bother you, so…” He trailed off.

Luke sighed and rubbed his forehead, not sure what to make of all that. “That’s some dream.”

“Yeah. Weird.” He shivered visibly. “But it was so real…”

The older boy hugged him again tightly, and Bo wrapped his arms around him like a lifeline. “Shh, now. It ain’t real, Bo. I’m here, I’ll always be here. That could never happen, it goes against all the laws of reality. For one thing, if you yelled, people would hear you. And there’s no way I wouldn’t see it if I was gonna be attacked.”

“I know… in my head. But deeper, it’s hard to remember that.”

Luke found himself yawning. “Come on, cousin. Think you can go to sleep now?”

The teenager rubbed his nose, and after a moment nodded. “Maybe.” As Luke made to get up, he grabbed at his sleeve. The older cousin turned to look back at him. “Luke? Did Candy wake up?”

He shook his head. “Nope. Still as a log.”

“Good. I wouldn’t want…” He gestured to himself somewhat embarrassedly. “I wouldn’t want her to see me like this.”

Luke had to chuckle, reaching out to take his younger cousin’s hand and pull him to his feet. “Oh, Bo. It’s okay, really. Look, don’t worry about your ‘adult’ image. Nobody but me will ever know I found you cryin’ in the bathroom. And why would I tell anybody?” He stifled another yawn, smiling back at Bo’s half-indignant, half-laughing look. He’d added the slight humor on purpose. “C’mon, let’s go back to bed.”

“Okay.” Bo smiled slightly, still looking unusually vulnerable, and followed his cousin out of the bathroom. Once they’d both crawled back under the covers, the lateness of the hour caught up with the older Duke, and yawning, he started to drift back towards sleep. He was drawn back by a single soft word, his name. “Luke?”

He sighed. “Yeah?”

“Why do you think I had that dream?”

He hesitated, then shook his head. “I really don’t know, Bo.”

“It was so real, almost like… like…” He suddenly sat up, turning around to face his cousin, quiet terror in his voice. “Like something that’s gonna happen, Lukas. Like something that’s gonna happen.”

Cold ran through Luke’s middle and down his spine. But he tried to ignore it. He didn’t believe in premonition. It didn’t make logical, sensible sense. “Go to sleep, Bo,” he finally said. “Don’t worry about it. It was just a dream.”

“…Okay.” The word was almost inaudible. The eighteen-year-old lay back down, shivering. Sighing again, Luke reached out and put an arm around him, drawing him closer. Bo shuddered hard once against his side, then seemed to calm, and with his older cousin’s protective presence his breathing evened out again in only a couple of minutes.

But Luke lay awake for a long time, thinking, pondering… and despite himself, feeling a strange sense of foreboding.