by: Kristy Duke

Chills race rapidly across Levi Dunning’s muscular back as he silently steps out of the rusty old green truck that he had stolen only moments upon entering Hazzard. Silently staring around the entrance of the old mine shaft, staring through the dark entry of the thick trees to staring ungrudgingly at the two guards that stand silently near the entry way, their beefy thick arms crossed over the chests. After a short moment of taking in his vast, empty surroundings a slim smile crosses Levi’s handsome face as he allows the thoughts of all the plans the group has made for the rest of Hazzard. Thoughts of the his own plans that he has been silently relishing since the day that they had helped Whinston break out of jail.

Taking a deep breath, Levi slowly steps out of the protection of the truck and is attacked by the harsh wind that tickles off of the bare branches that whip quickly upon the thick trunks of the trees. More chills rush down his neck as Levi slowly makes his way to the dark entry of the old shaft to nod at the two burly guards before being swallowed by the thick darkness of the shaft. For a short moment, Levi stands a foot within the shaft, allowing his vision to adjust to the darkness before he blindly finds the rocky, dirty ledge before swiftly turning around to climb down. After a long couple of minutes of searching and struggling with the iron rungs that had been placed in the dirt, Levi stands upon solid ground. After grabbing an old lantern that hangs upon another rung just left of the stepping rungs, Levi quickly lights it to look down the narrow and long passage way. Down the right lies an a smaller room that they had stored all their extra stolen stuff that they have hidden from Hogg while down the left of the passage way is where they had made home for their prisoners.

Watching the flicker of the lantern dancing upon the dark rocky walls, Levi slowly makes his way through the passage way by walking half sideways. After a long couple of minutes he reaches the end of the passage way and to where the walls widen into a large room with four beams spread apart reaches from the ground to the rocky roof. “Whatchya doing?!” Levi breaks the silence as he enters the icy cold room to force Trent almost off of his chair in surprise.

“Levi!” Trent yells out as he embarrassingly stands up from the old metal folding chair to bump into his lantern that he had hung upon an old rusty nail.

“That’d be me,” Levi smiles smugly as he glances down at the magazine that Trent had thrown down in surprise to find it to be a sports magazine, “what’s Whinston doing putting you down for babysitting?”

Trent rolls his brown-green eyes in frustration before bringing his attention back onto Levi who continues to smile smugly at him for a moment before dropping into seriousness. “Sarge said he couldn’t make it, was sick,” Trentreplies while hugging his thick blue coat tightly against him, “probably because it’s so damn cold down here. It’ll kill us before Whinston gets the chance to kill them.”

“That’s Whinston for you,” Levi shakes his head while turning his attention onto the prisoners who remain as two big black shadows upon the far left corner, tied tightly upon a wooden, splintery beam. For a moment Levi listens to the younger Duke’s irregular and annoying breathing, the wheezing and the harsh coughing before he fades into silence for a long moment, forcing Levi to wonder momentarily if he passed out or worse before another spell of harsh coughing explodes. “Forces you to suffer with his prisoners. How you be the lucky one picked?”

“Well he’s got several men out blocking the roads and a few at the shop,” Trent shrugs as he watches the prisoners as well, “said he had it all planned…said he trusted me with them the most. So here I am…Braiden should be here shortly.”

“If he ever stops flirting with the kid’s cousin that is,” Levi rolls his eyes while Trent nods, “that flirting is gonna land us into trouble…I’ve told that to Whinston and he only says that he don’t blame him. He’d do the same thing if given the chance to.”

“Any man would,” Trent laughs harshly for a moment before coming to a stop, “so what you up to now?”

“Paying them a visit,” Levi motions towards the prisoners with a short movement of his head, “was bored and wanted to have some fun.”

“You know what Whinston says,” Trent warns, “you mess with the prisoners, you mess with him.”

“I don’t give a damn about what he says or who he thinks he is. He’s been in jail for the past twenty-five years and if it wasn’t for us, he’d still be there,” Levi thickly responds as he places a hand upon Trent’s muscular shoulder, “I thought you said you were with me?”

“I am,” Trent pauses as he follows Levi a few steps closer to their prisoners, “I just don’t know if I’m ready to go mess with Whinston…you mess with Whinston, you may find ourselves messing with everyone. You ready for that?”

“I say, bring it on,” Levi smiles broadly as he silently motions for Trent to follow him and Trent silently follows him to the prisoners who sit awkwardly against the board and against each other, their wrists tightly tied behind their back and behind the board. “Well, well Rosco. Long time no see,” Levi grins through the shadows of his lantern while he stops near Rosco, looking down at him, “wasn’t too long ago, that we were on the same side together.”

“Well Levi,” Rosco glares boldly at Levi, refusing to share the fear that throbs deeply within, “that’s where you are wrong. I may have went along with Hogg, but I never had and never would trust you. . .I tried convincing Hogg, but he refused to listen.”

“Too bad, huh?” Levi smirks at Rosco as he harshly kicks Rosco in the side to force Rosco to grunt with the pain that ripples through him. “You know Whinston sent him a ransom note. Sent one to Hogg and one to Luke…I guess we’ll see by tomorrow morning if they figure you both to be worth a million dollars. Though I don’t know why he’s bothered…I mean, I was in town and Hogg and Luke both were acting as if nothing happened. In fact, Hogg’s got himself a new sheriff already.”

For a long moment, the only sound within the ice cold rocky walls that surrounds them is the harsh and intense wheezing as Bo struggles painfully for air, while fighting with the emotions t hat rush through him. “You dumb idiot!” Rosco breaks the silence that had began to build between them before forcefully spitting at Levi, only to be harshly backhanded by Levi. Despite the growing pain and the blood that slowly drips into his right eye from a cut just above his right eye brow, Rosco continues to stare boldly at the two men that hovers closely over them. “You can say any damn thing you wish, but all you are is a bunch of hog wash. Hogg wouldn’t go out and get a sheriff this quickly and Luke -”

“I’d say you could see for yourself, but you’re kinda tied up right now,” Levi quickly interrupts the local sheriff while laughing cruelly at the two prisoner, “and what where you saying about Luke? I saw him this morning laughing about something at the garage with Cooter…didn’t seem like he had a care in the world. Perhaps he was glad to get rid of such a burden as his retard cousin!”

Levi’s excitement seems to accelerate within him as Bo angrily glares up at him with tears of fear and pain in his soft blue eyes while attempting to hide his emotions. After a moment of listening to his harsh wheezing, Levi abruptly sends a kick deeply into Bo’s upper stomach, forcing Bo to sit forward in pain while attempting to cry out in pain. Levi’s excitement quickly fades into dread as Bo’s eyes roll shut as his harsh wheezing and coughing comes to a halt, fading the room into silence; leaving Levi wondering if he had killed Bo by his kick. “Damn it Duke,” he hisses out as thoughts of all that Whinston would do to him when he finds out that he killed one of their key prisoners, the one he had worked so hard to get. After a short moment that lasts an eternity, relief seems to pile upon everyone in the room as Bo’s thin chest shortly heaves up before he begins coughing and wheezing chronically, while spitting up blood while his eyes lazily opens.

“I’m sorry to bring the truth to you Bo…of how he looks at you, as a burden, a retard. I heard himself say it last night at the bar,” Levi quickly speaks up to shatter the silence as Bo glares accusingly up at him, “he was talking toCooter and LB who had agreed. So as I said, I don’t know why Whinston bothered with the ransom note. They don’t seem to care one bit.”

“You liar!” Bo wheezingly yells at Levi as he struggles with the pain and the raw and rugged emotions that continue to rush through his weak and pain-filled body.

At hearing the anger and hatred through the two small words that Bo had yelled out, forces hot anger to rush through Levi and Levi quickly walks around the sheriff and towards Bo. Reaching Bo in thought of striking him once again, Bo throws out a weak leg and Levi quickly and clumsily fall upon the cold rocky ground, landing on his elbows and hitting his head. Ignoring the dizziness that quickly rushes through him, Levi quickly stands up to rush back at Bo and harshly steps upon his extended right leg that had tripped him, forcing Bo to cry out in pain. Keeping pressure upon Bo’s knee, feeling Bo’s kneecap and muscle cave into Levi’s weight, Levi yells, “A liar? Really?” Levi mocks, holding up the lantern up that he had held onto while he had fallen, showing Bo his crazy smile.

“Don’t be too hard on the retard, Levi,” Trent calls out from behind Levi, making himself heard for the first time in a while, “you know he is mentally disabled, he may not know better.”

“He’ll learn real soon then, Trent,” Levi slowly replies while applying more pressure upon Bo’s knee who continues to struggle wheezily for air, “I was there and I saw it. You see Luke as some super hero, some super hero that looks out for you and saves the day. Well he ain’t gonna save your day no more, because he don’t care!”

***LUKE DUKE***

Worry and anxiety thickly rush through my numbed body as I stare silently into my cold watered down beer while my mind continues to silently go through the idea I had thought of only hours ago. Hours that had seemed to drag on for days as we had awaited for the hour that Braiden would show up at The Boar’s Nest. The key in finding Bo and Rosco. I sigh heavily as doubts once again begin to rise thickly within me, doubt of my plan working as vivid images flash through my head of all that could go wrong. Of who else could get hurt or worse in attempt to rescue Bo and Rosco from the hell they must be in right now. Slowly, my thoughts leave my shaky plan to go back onto Bo as my last words begin to rush through me, of telling him to grow up and the anger and hurt that had flashed across his baby blue eyes at my remark. Will that be the last thing I’ll ever be able to tell him? Will the last thing he heard from me be me telling him to grow up? Guilt once again joins my ocean-filled emotions gushing roughly through me, refusing me to forget where we are as of now. Of the situation we find ourselves trapped in.

“Kinda quiet in here tonight,” Cooter dryly comments to break through the silence that had grown thickly between the three of us and I slowly glance up to glance around the bar to find most of the tables and chairs filled. Cooterslowly shrugs as I silently glance over at him and he slowly finishes, “well for a Friday night that is.”

“Still early,” LB joins in while he forces a long drink from his watered down beer before placing it back down on the red and white checkered table cloth. “Give it time, more will come.”

I silently nod as my attention quickly goes back upon the broad shouldered man that sits alone at the bar with his full mug of beer while he watches Daisy with watchful eyes. Anger and hate quickly seethes through me towards him for all that he represents, for who he is. Why would anyone want to hurt Bo for? What has he done? Other than to be related to Jesse, the one that Whinston had silently threatened. And for what? For holding onto him while back up arrived? Or perhaps for not giving into his bribery of money and good fortune in order for Jesse to let him go. Nevertheless, they hold Bo prisoner for something that had happened two years before he was born, for something Bo had never heard of before.

“Why they choose Bo to go after?” LB finally asks as if reading my thoughts, “I mean of what I gather is that they chose him in order to affect Jesse, for Whinston’s revenge on Jesse. But he could have grabbed you or Daisy?” LB goes silent for a second, “Not that, that’s what I want. That’d be just as terrible as this. . .but they had to have some reasoning behind grabbing Bo.”

I slowly nod as I struggle to hide my rugged emotions that struggles to be let out and shown to everyone, struggling to control the emotion from my voice. “Yeah…I can think of several reasons of them choosing Bo over me or Daisy,” I pause as I glare heavily at Braiden before bringing my attention back to LB and Cooter, “one,” I rise my right index finger to being counting them, “is that they’d get more of a reaction if they took Bo over us. Daisy and I mean just as much to Jesse as Bo does, but Bo and Jesse has a special relationship. Two,” I raise my middle finger with my index finger, “is that he’s weaker than me and Daisy due to his illness. Which would give them several advantages…they don’t see him as much of a threat.

“The bottom line is, is that they want to do something that would hurt Jesse the most in order to seek their revenge. Hurting Bo, killing Bo, would hurt Jesse more than if they just went after him alone. They’ve done their homework…they know this town and the people inside and out,” I pause as I drag Bo’s inhaler out, holding it under the table so that if Braiden were to turn around and see us, he wouldn’t see the inhaler, “They all are gonna be sorry they chose Bo to pick on, because like all the kids knew before I left for war, you pick on Bo, you deal with me.”

“And us,” Cooter adds before finishing his beer with a large drink, “don’t forget us.”

I nod heavily as I glance up to find Daisy walking slowly towards us with pitcher full of beer, her own emotions shines momentarily in her dark blue eyes before she chases them away with a wave of calmness. “He just got a call,” she starts out as she steadily pours Cooter’s mug full of beer, “he’s gonna be leaving within ten minutes.”

“Already?” LB asks as he looks down at his pocket watch while she fills his mug, “You said -”

Daisy shrugs. “Not much I can do there sugar,” she turns to me as she fills my mug, “he didn’t say much on the phone, but he told me he’d have one more drink before he had to back to work.”

“Well I guess we’ll see where he takes us,” I force a confident grin at Daisy who silently nods, “Thanks Daisy.”

“You bet,” she forces her own smile, “good luck boys.” With that she slowly walks back to the bar where Braiden stops her to talk to her shortly.

“That put a dent in your plan, Lukas?” Cooter asks sullenly while he readjusts his greasy yellow hat upon his thick brown hair, “Him leaving early?”

“Nah it’ll just speed it up a bit…cutting out our waiting time. Good thing we came shortly after he did instead of waiting an hour as we talked about. Now that would have put a dent in my idea,” I slowly answer while taking a long drink of my beer, feeling the coolness melt down my throat while I continue to watch Braiden sitting on the edge of his chair, talking to Daisy. Looking over at LB and Cooter, I ask, “You all understand what we are to do now?”

“Uh I think so,” Cooter remarks and LB nods in understanding, “follow your lead and don’t mess up.”

“That sounds about right,” I flash a grin at him as I glance up as Braiden stiffly stands up from his stool before grabbing his Atlanta Braves hat from the bar, “Y’all better be ready.”

“Ready as we can get,” LB nods in confirmation as I struggle to sit calmly in my chair, while looking away from Braiden as he slowly walks towards the door before disappearing into the cold dark night without even eyeing us.

“Let’s go,” I abruptly say as I quickly stand up and they smoothly follow me to the door as we find a blue Dodge Intrepid passing by the door with his figure in it. Together we run out to Cooter’s red 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, where I jump into the driver’s seat and LB and Cooter climb in through the passenger door, LB in back and Cooter riding shot gun. “You’ve got this car revved up tonight, Cooter,” I slowly comment as I feel the power yelling at me through my right leg that rests upon the accelerator while pulling out of the parking lot of the Boar’s Nest.

“Figured we’d need nothing but the best for what you have in plan,” Cooter says besides me, “plus it gave me something to work on while waiting.”

I silently nod in the darkness as I begin to follow the blue new looking car at a distance in attempt to hide the fact that we’re following him. Staring at his red tail lights, my thoughts return to Bo, to send my anger accelerating within me towards the men who hold him captive. “Too bad that you couldn’t have brought the General…he coulda done an awesome job as well,” LB says in the back seat as he scoots over to the middle so he can talk to us both.

“He’d be too obvious,” I slowly respond.

*   *   *

“The old mining shaft,” Cooter says in a half whisper in the passenger seat as we watch the blue Dodge make a sharp left turn into the large opening between the wooded area where the opening of the shaft lies. “A perfect hiding place.”

I grunt in disgust as my mind falls back upon this morning of walking to the old Indian Caves that only lies a mile ahead of the old shaft. “Bo musta been on his way to the caves,” I talk to myself as I pull the car to a halt behind a thick layer of trees, “as we had predicted and gotten caught in the process.”

Cooter nods besides me in silent agreement as we watch through the openings of the thick trunks of bare trees as Braiden slowly steps out into the dark cold night. Hugging tightly onto his thick red coat, he slowly walks towards the dark opening of the old shaft before stopping momentarily to talk to the two large guards that surrounds the entry. “You want us to fight those guys?” LB says in disbelief after watching Braiden disappearing within the thick darkness of the shaft, disbelief melts off each word, “They’re huge…and look at those guns!”

I stare harshly at him for a moment and he quickly sits back into the back seat and drops back into silence. “Y’all were warned from the beginning of what may be in store…including big and dangerous men. It’s either deal with them or find Bo’s and Rosco’s beaten and dead body somewhere, where ever Whinston decides on dumping them at,” I pause for a long moment as I watch the guards talk amongst themselves, “Me? I’d rather mess with them than the latter. If you want out, LB, this is your -”

“I don’t want out,” he stubbornly responds sitting back up, “I was just pointing out what we’ll be dealing with. I’m here for Bo just as much as you are.”

I nod silently for a moment as I impatiently glance down at my watch as I wonder how long we’ll be waiting for someone else to come out from the shaft. “OK. Figured I’d give you the option,” I finally respond, “that goes for you too Cooter. It’s not too late.”

“Nuh-uh,” Cooter shakes his head before his eyes fall back upon the guards that continue to watch the perimeter of the shaft, “I’m here for the same reason you are, Lukas. I ain’t going home until we got what we came for.”

“OK,” I silently whisper as two dark shadows come out from the dark opening of the shaft to shake hands with the guards before confidently walking towards the side of the rocky shaft where a dark green truck lies hidden. “Levi and Trent. Looks like them.”

“Yeah it does,” Cooter and LB respond in unison as they start the truck before they drive past us only five feet ahead with their lights off. “Isn’t that Jed Welhcomer’s truck?” LB asks as the truck takes a left upon the old dusty road and disappears over the hill.

“I think it is,” Cooter answers LB as one of the guards run over to Braiden’s new looking car and hops in to drive it over to where the stolen truck was hidden at. “Sneaky, aren’t we?”

I nod as I glance at my watch once again while going over my plan that I had laid out to everyone, praying silently that it all will work out. “Well boys,” I place my hand upon the door, “now is as good of a time as ever to put the plan into gear. Ready?”

“Ready as we’ll ever be,” Cooter slowly responds while staring at the old shaft with un-certainty in his crazy green eyes and LB reluctantly nods in agreement.

“Let’s do it then,” I force them a weak smile before I slowly shove my heavy door open before Cooter shoves his door open and we all climb out into the chilly night before gently closing the door.

*  *  *

Time seems to stand still as we silently creep in between the dark trees while watching the two men who guards the dark entrance into the mining shaft. After a long moment of creeping I slowly come to a halt behind a large, thick tree while motioning LB and Cooter to a stop besides me. “What now Lukas?” Cooter whispers while he intensely watches the two men who guards the entrance, the two men that separates me from Bo, “How we gonna deal with the likes of those two?”

“We wait,” I sigh heavily as I glance down at my pocket watch, praying silently that Daisy has by now gotten the message to call Braiden, “wait and see if Braiden takes Daisy’s bait.”

“Oh yeah,” LB nods as if just remembering something, “I forgot about him.”

I nod quietly before my attention is drawn back onto the shaft as a dark figure slowly appears, stopping momentarily to talk to the guards. From where we stand the shouting from the guards is heard, the anger seeming to roar from them; demanding Braiden to go back down. After a long moment of the angered conversation Braiden forces his way past the two large men and to his hidden car. “Hook line and sinker,” Cooter laughs quietly from behind another tree and I sternly look at him while telling him to hush and he quietly nods, his smile quickly fading.

Slowly I glance away from Cooter and back at the dark shaft as Braiden quickly peels back out onto the street in darkness before sending his expensive car forward while turning on his lights. Once again pressure begins to build within me as I recognize the timing of my plan, that it’s now or never. For a short moment I take in the two men and their guns as they sternly stares forward into space in case trouble may rise. “Well boys, now’s our time to shine,” I whisper as I quickly step over to the tree that they hide behind, “you two can deal with the man on the left and I’ll take on the guy on the right. I’ll try to knock him out, once I achieve that, then I’ll slip into the shaft. There shouldn’t be anyone else in there.”

“Except for maybe Bo and Rosco,” LB pipes in and shrugs as Cooter and I both glare over at him, “well they are the reason we are here, attempting to commit suicide by messing with those two apes.”

“You got your flashlight, Lukas? Looks dark in there,” Cooter wisely observes and I quickly pull out the heavy flash light that I had tucked into my pants and under my coat.

“Right here,” I slowly place it back to where I had it hidden before, “let’s do it.”

They reluctantly nod as we together begin to creep further into the woods before we reach the side of the rocky wall of the shaft where we together come to a stop, staring into the darkened sky ahead of us. Glancing at me, LB breaks the eery silence, “We wait here until you make yourself known to the other guy, right?”

“Right and then attack that guy,” I point to the closest guard, “there. But wait for me to attack the other guy before jumping out.”

“Got it,” Cooter pats me on my shoulder as I slowly make my way past them before reaching the back of the stony cold wall of the shaft. Walking silently, I attempt to listen in hope of hearing something within; instead all I can hear is the silence of the early night.

“C’mon Luke,” I whisper to myself, trying to urge my confidence up as I turn the corner to stand against the side of the shaft. Creeping forward I stare around the corner to watch the two men for a long moment, trying to think of a way to disarm them without getting shot. Saying a silent short prayer I quietly walk around the corner to stand a foot from the guard that stands at least three inches taller than I with thick muscular arms with a broad chest. “Excuse me,” I confidently say as I poke him in his shoulder and he angrily turns around, anger and surprise shine in his dark brown eyes before hatred quickly joins in. My fear intensifies as he steps forward while the large guy behind him begins to angrily walk towards me before Cooter and LB quickly jump upon him, catching him by surprise. “Looks like it’ll just be you and me,” I wink at the large man before I quickly dodge his punch to send a sharp right hook into his solid chest and he grunts softly in the discomfort.

“That the best you got?” the man wickedly laughs as his large gun is quickly thrown into my face, his thick index finger rests heavily upon the trigger. Thinking quickly, I abruptly throw myself harshly down upon the muddy rocky ground just as a bullet is thrown out through the thin barrel of the gun, ricocheting off the hills in the distance. With my heart racing heavily in adrenaline I strongly throw my leg out to throw the large, muscular man down onto the ground next to me as he was struggling to re-aim the gun at me. As he hits the ground, his evil-looking gun clinkers a few feet away before bouncing into the rocky wall of the shaft. “You asked for it now,” the man grunts while he struggles to his knees and I quickly throw myself onto him, knocking him backwards.

“All I’m asking for,” I grunt as I force a couple of angered punches into his ugly face while my thoughts fade back onto Bo, of all that he may be going through, “is for my cousin back.”

“Oh the kid,” the man spits out blood in his evil laughter as he struggles a punch into my chest as he struggles to throw me off, only for me to cling tighter onto him, nailing him to the ground with my weight, “good luck to you, man…the kid’s long gone by now. Saw him this morning and he was pretty much dead already…beaten real bad, tortured deeply. They had a lot of fun with him.”

Anger nestles deeper within me as his words cut deeply within me, forcing my guilt to run thicker through me. Perhaps the last thing I’ll get to say to him, was, telling him to grow up. “Damn you!” I spit at him before elbowing him in the face, forcing him to hit his head on the rocks behind him. Feeling my anger burning deeply within me, I abruptly grab onto his dark coat to yank his head forward and he stares harshly at me with his dark eyes while he grabs tightly onto my arms. “This is for Bo,” I heavily grunt as I throw his head down while ignoring my uncle’s words of wisdom that instructs me not to hurt him. He cries out in pain as the anger and hatred in his dark eyes seems to fade into pain and fear as his grip of my arms lighten a bit, though he continues to hold on. Fighting with my conscience I harshly send my right elbow heavily into his left temple and a slight worm of relief crawls deeply within me as his eyes slowly close shut. Feeling freedom from his tight grip, I slowly check his pulse and his breathing, hoping that he’s alright; I sigh slightly in relief at feeling his breathing and feeling his pulse. He’s fine, except for the headache he’ll be waking up to.

Slowly I force myself to stand up from sitting harshly on top of his stomach, where I had held him down at, to have a thick wave of nausea and dizziness rush through me. Holding onto the wall of the shaft, I glance over to find LB and Cooter dragging their guard into the woods as I had instructed them to do once they had knocked their man un-conscience. For a long moment I stare into the dark night sky while concentrating upon the cold wind that brushes up against my face before I glance down at the guard I had just fought. Pain ripples through my stiffening body from him hitting and beating on me, only to feed off the harsh anger that continues to grow within me. Deep down, I know what he had said was probably mostly said out to spite me, to make me angry, which had worked; but what if there is some truth behind it? Perhaps, instead of finding Bo, I’ll just find his bloody and beaten body. Maybe it’s too late to save him…maybe it’s too late for everything.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly grab my heavy flash light out from beneath my coat as I quickly step into the darkness of the shaft before turning it on. A thick and deep chill quickly melts through me as I step to the edge of the entrance of the shaft where I reach a sharp ledge. Swallowing heavily I direct my beam of light down ward to find the rocky edge to go down about six feet before landing upon a rocky narrow trail way that leads right and left, upon the far wall of the shaft is another ledge; where a rocky surface reaches out a thin foot before dropping down into the narrow trail. Shining the thin beam against the ledge that my foot rests half on and half off, I find thick heavy and rusty prongs of which are meant to climb up and down with.

“Now or never,” I silently urge myself forward while I struggle for the courage to climb down the rugged and rough rocky walls of the ledge. Thinking of Bo, I reluctantly turn around to find the first prong to rest my foot on before climbing down and into the narrow trail. For a moment I stand in the middle of the trail, feeling the icy coolness build within me as I take in how it got measurably colder the further down I went. A moment passes before I slowly raise the flash light to shine it down the trail to my right and down my left, to find nothing but darkness at the end. After a moment of thought of which way to go, I slowly turn towards my right to walk down the narrow trail, walking half sideways and half regularly to slip through the walls.

Walking through the thin rocky trail, sharp rocks scratch against my clothes and skin, rock that stick out of the rocks while old memories of war flood through me. Of all the close and thin areas I had led my men into without knowing what may be waiting for us, of hiding out in small and cold caves.

After a short moment of walking blindly through the thin trail, lost in nightmarish memories of war, I abruptly reach another thick rocky and sharp wall that penetrates my thoughts of war to bring me back to where I stand. Turning around with little guidance from the small beam of light from my flash light, I find a large curving opening left of the sharp wall, an opening leading into another room of darkness. For a while I stand silently in place, staring into the darkness while I say another silent prayer for help and for strength before slowly stepping into the dark, and evil room. Walking deeper into the room, I find card board and wooden boxes lining the sharp walls, boxes stacked upon boxes while a few boxes are stacked in the middle of the room; lending a small amount of room to walk around the boxes in the middle. Gripping tightly onto the metal flashlight, I slowly step over to the boxes in the middle and slowly yank the lid open to the closest box that is lower than the others. Fear ripples through me as large and heavy guns fill the large box mixed with a few grenades and explosives. “Damn it,” I whisper aloud before quickly moving to a box that rests against the wall to tear it open to find it filled with more dangerous weapons. Staring into the box, hypnotized by the evilness and dangerousness of the guns, I am thrown back to when Bo and I had went to investigate the new sports store. Of the guns on display and of the clerk that was willing to sell more secretive and larger guns.

“Bo,” I hear myself speak aloud as my fear multiplies deeply within me as the power and strength that the gang has behind them. Of all that they could be doing to Hazzard, to Bo. Feeling the need to find Bo, I quickly run out of the room and back into the cold and narrow trail before quickly following it to another quick end at a rocky wall. Once again, I find an entrance into a dark room to my right and I quickly walk into it to find the room bigger than the last room with wooden beams holding the rocky ceiling up. Continuing to blindly walk through the cave-like room, I quietly listen to a loud wheezing noise, giving me an obvious hint that Bo is somewhere close. And in pain. “Bo,” I whisper, afraid of being heard by another gang member in case Braiden wasn’t the only one down here. “Bo,” I speak louder while walking forward as my fear grows within me, the fear that builds upon the gut feeling that I may be too late.

Abruptly I am crippled by intense surprise and harsh fear as my foot heavily kicks into something solid, sending my numb body falling quickly and heavily onto the ground. Harshly landing upon the cold and rocky floor I let out a yell of pain as I land upon my right arm and my head is thrown forward, smacking onto a rock. Bright sparks flash behind my eyes within the darkness of the shaft as I slowly sit up only for a thick rush of dizziness to wash over me and I hold onto the wall next to me as I glance over to where the flash light shines upon the wall only a foot away where it had hit harshly against rock, sending a loud noise ricocheting off the thick walls. “Damn it,” I cuss angrily as I slowly place my right hand upon my right half of my forehead to feel a thick warm blood oozing out of a cut, from where I had hit my head on the floor. Pain throbs in my right arm and in my head from where I had landed harshly upon the rocky floor to send pain throbbing throughout my body from where I had gotten beaten from the guard.

“Bo,” I redirect my attention as the wheezing sound stops for a long moment before a harsh and chronicle coughing erupts from where I had tripped at. Grabbing the flash light I direct the beam in the direction from where I tripped to find Bo’s long and thin leg extended out. Fear accelerates as my light goes upon his knee where the denim of his pants are ruggedly torn open and is soaked in thick blood. “Bo,” I say more urgently as I rush over to his side to take him in with a little help from the light. His ghastly white face is bruised and cut open with dried and wet blood dripping from several cuts while he stares blankly across the room, his blue eyes seem as empty and emotional-less as they had been last year after I had rescued him from the killer that held him at gun point.

“Luke,” a familiar voice speaks out besides him and I direct the light to see Rosco, covered in his own cuts and bruises, looking almost as bad as Bo. “Can’t say I ever been this glad to see the likes of you.”

I offer him a smile before I glance worriedly at Bo who struggles painfully for air while his coughing has subsided into harsh and weak wheezing. “Your inhaler,” I place a comforting hand upon his shoulder while I drag his inhaler out of my pocket, the one that is covered in his blood and had been found upon our kitchen table. “C’mon Bo,” I have to force the mouth piece into his mouth before triggering off a couple of sprays before allowing him to breathe and then a couple more puffs. “Damn it. It’s not helping anything,” I mutter in frustration as I go back to take him in, who stares blankly into the wall ahead of him. “C’mon Bo, look at me. It’s Luke.”

“He thinks you’re one of them,” Rosco says from besides him, “he’s been shutting everyone out, everything. That is until they beat him out of his trance or where ever he loses himself to.” He goes silent before nudging Bo gently in the arm, “Bo, it’s Luke.”

For a long moment Bo continues to stare blankly in front of him, refusing to look at me or come out of his trance in fear of another beating. Thick sadness seeps within me at hearing and seeing all that he has went through within a day’s time, since he had disappeared from the farm. “It’s me little buddy, Luke,” I call him what I had called him before I had went to war, hoping he’d hear me and remember. Fear and worry continues to swell deeply within me as I place a hand upon his chest, feeling his weak and painful breathing while feeling his weak heart beat from his pulse at his neck. “C’mon…I’m here to help you.”

A long moment passes once again as I feel his forehead to find him burning up mixed with the coldness of the room, making his cheeks feel ice cold. As I remove my hand from his cheeks, Bo slowly blinks a couple of times before he reluctantly and slowly turns his head towards me. For a long time he stares questionably up at me, unsure of who I am and why I am here before recognition lands into his baby blue eyes which is quickly filled with intense pain and fear. “Lu -” he begins before he is cut off by another attack of coughing forcefully and breathlessly.

Ignoring my thick emotions I place the mouth piece into his mouth, triggering off a couple of puffs before light breaks through the darkness. “Well, well, well Luke,” Whinston’s voice seems to bounce off the thick walls as the face that I had seen in the article Hogg had brought in to show Jesse walks in with Levi and Trent close behind him. “No wonder why the guards are missing and Braiden ain’t here. I shoulda figured it’d be you.”

At seeing Whinston, Levi, and Trent in the room Bo begins to shake in pain and fear as he intensely watches them growing closer to him. “Told you Whinston,” Levi whispers into the powerful man’s ear, loud enough to be heard, “you shoulda grabbed Luke, the smart one, instead of the retard there.”

I glare harshly at them as my anger screams at me to attack him for saying that about Bo, but I quickly remind myself of how out numbered I am, that getting killed won’t help Bo any. “And I told you,” Whinston snaps as he comes to a halt a foot in front of me, “that he wouldn’t grab the attention I needed to pay everyone back with. I saw this coming…one way or another,” he grins at me, “just didn’t figure him smart enough to get past everyone.”

“Well here I am,” I boldly respond, staring him in the eye, “and I’m not leaving without Bo.”

“Fine with me,” Whinston breaks down with laughter once again before he points towards the wooden beam that is behind Rosco and Bo, “why don’t you try to free them.” I stare questionably at him and he motions towards them, “Go ahead and try.”

“Don’t prompt him!” Levi snaps at Whinston who elbows him harshly in the stomach.

“Whose the boss here? I am!” he snaps before he points back at the board.

Stiffly I slowly kneel back down besides Bo, placing a comforting hand upon his shoulder while I crawl behind them to find them tied tightly to the boards by several thin wires with a black box lies entangled within the wires. An explosive. Dread and fear rushes through me as I slowly sit up to find Whinston smugly holding up a small black box with red, white, and blue buttons placed evenly across the box. “You attempt to escape, do something stupid…anything you, Bo, and Rosco will be throw sky high in about a million pieces. You understand?” Whinston laughs, “And don’t under estimate me…I’m gonna die one way or another. Seeing how I was on death row. So I’ll be more than glad to die with y’all, knowing I have accomplished what I came here to do. Understand?”

I nod silently as I sit down besides Bo, my mind racing within me. “Should I tie him up, too?” Trent speaks up as he grabs a roll of wire.

“Nope,” Whinston shakes his head no at him, “he won’t try anything stupid…he knows what’ll happen if he does. I’m just itching to push a button.”

***BOSS HOGG***

Fear and worry thickly washes through my aged body as I stare numbly at the sporting store that stands proudly across the street. Guilt and regret roughly gnaws deeply within me as I think of all that I have done to place Hazzardinto the palm of danger. If I had listened to Rosco’s warnings about Levi and Trent, we wouldn’t be sitting in front of the store in hope of distracting them; in hope of being able to rescue my sheriff, my brother in law. Tears quickly begin to sting in the corners of my eyes as my thoughts float back onto Lulu and how hard she had taken it when she had heard of his disappearance. Demanded to read the ransom note which had brought on another flood of tears while she accused me of his disappearance due to my thoughtless greed. “She’s right,” I break the silence and Jesse slowly glances over at me from the driver’s seat of his old truck, “if I had listened to Rosco about Levi and Trent, he wouldn’t be missing right now. Who knows what they’re doing to him…and Bo.”

“Blaming yourself won’t help matters, JD,” Jesse calmly responds as he directs his attention back towards the new store, “we all know you didn’t mean for this to happen…or knew this would happen.”

Anger once again begins to grow deeply within me at hearing Jesse’s sympathetic and understanding voice in his statement, his statement that was spoken in thoughts of helping me. Instead of helping me, it only fuels my anger and hatred; anger towards them for what they’ve done and hatred towards myself for bringing this onto Hazzard. The city commissioner is suppose to protect and serve for his county, suppose to help make it grow and prosper. Yet I had invited a dangerous gang into Hazzard, a gang that now owns and has control over Hazzard and everyone living within. “No, I didn’t mean for this to happen, but it was I who invited them into Hazzard,” I pause as I take in the familiar store that I had helped build only a month or so ago in hopes of making some extra money while sitting back and watching it grow, “and it was I who refused to listen to Rosco when he had warned me about Levi and Trent. Rosco never liked who I worked with, but he never had the nerve to voice his dislike or distrust of them. Until now and I didn’t listen. I was too busy listening to money to listen to him.”

I fade into silence as my mind wonders back into the current past of his reactions had been towards them after they had beaten Garrett and Ethan so bad. He had seen it as a violent encounter that shouldn’t have had happened while I looked upon it as a mistake. A mistake not to happen again. By the time it did happen again, I was too afraid to stand up against it. “Well it’s too late for regrets and doubts, JD,” Jesse sits straighter up in his seat as he watches the final customer walk out of the store carrying a bag full of sporting equipment, “all we have time for now, is about the future, about what we are doing now. You need to concentrate on what needs to be done.”

I numbly nod as I brace onto the door handle as I silently go through Luke’s plan once again, of what I am going to do. “I hope Luke’s plan works,” I softly speak aloud as Jesse throws open his door and gust of cold air welcomes itself into Jesse’s warm truck and I slowly open my door. Together we walk back to the bed of the truck where Jesse grabs the boxed rifle I had given him as the broken gun while I stuff the smoke bomb into my pockets.

“Yeah, me too,” Jesse softly agrees and I glance up at hearing his voice quiver to spot a trail of tears melting down his cheek before he stubbornly wipes it away, “let’s go.”

Struggling with my own emotions, I quickly nod as I reluctantly follow him across the street where he comes to a halt besides the building, just out of sight. “Good luck Jesse,” I nervously nod at the man I had once considered my best friend. He stares at me for a harsh moment as fear and worry radiates off of his bright crystal blue eyes before he quietly slips around the corner.

Taking a deep breath, I fearfully watch him pull open the heavy glass door before disappearing within the lightened store with his boxed rifle. “Now or never,” I take another deep breath in an failed attempt to calm my raging emotions before I slowly follow the rough brick wall to the back of the building. Out of habit, I stare up and down the dark alley that separates the back of the sporting store and the painting store that connects with an old hardware store. Satisfied with the emptiness of the shadowy alley, I slowly creep alongside the back wall to the heavy dark gray metal door that rests over a couple of cemented stairs. Feeling the heavy sleeping gas nested deeply into my white pants pocket, I confidently walk up the muddy steps to roughly knock on the door.

Fear engulfs me as Levi slowly opens the heavy door and surprise and anger quickly enters his dark eyes and chiseled featured face. “Hogg! What are you doing here?!” his angered voice bounces boldly off of the opposing store’s walls and Levi glances up and down the alley in fear of being over heard. Slowly his attention drawn back at me, his dark eyes seems to penetrate deeply within me as he dryly speaks up again, “You seem to forget the warning you received the last time you visited our store. May I remind you?”

“No, no,” I shake my head while forcing a smile at him despite the raging fear that rushes through me, “I didn’t forget your warning…I was kinda hoping you would forget.” I pause nervously while placing my left foot within the heavy door and he glares threatenly at me, “Look Levi, I came by to apologize for my behavior…for accusing you of Rosco’s disappearance.”

He squints questionably at me for a short moment before a loud rush of laughter erupts from behind him and he glances back at the people behind him before looking back at me. “OK fine Hogg,” he shrugs while rolling his eyes at me, “now if you don’t mind, I’m sort of busy now. We’ve got a big delivery tomorrow to make.”

“A big delivery? That’ll be good for business,” I nervously respond as my mind churns through Luke’s idea, of my end of the idea. Sensing his impatience at my disturbance I quickly change the topic, “OK I’ll get to the point, Levi.” He nods angrily at me before looking over his shoulder and back at me; jumpy. “I want back in.”

“No way Hogg,” he shakes his head at me while disbelief enters his dark eyes, “our patience for you is through. Bye Hogg.”

He goes to angrily shut the door before realizing that my foot is in the way and as he goes to kick it out the way I grab onto the door to make it half way through, stuck in the door way. “Look Levi! I have admitted that I was wrong, I apologized!” I yell out at him only to force his anger to grow through his _expression, “I’m not here asking to be in charge of the store again, because we all know that wouldn’t happen. All I am asking for is to be apart of your operation. All I want is to be in.”

“Who is it Lev?” I recognize Trent’s voice in the background before he glances over his shoulder, his icy blue eyes seem to grow darker in anger and resentment at seeing me, “Hogg? Damn, guess we get our shot at taking care of him ourselves, just as we warned him. Huh Levi?”

A wicked grin spreads across Levi’s handsome face as if thinking of what Trent had just suggestion only to force my stomach to churn roughly within me. A hint of irony passes through me as I listen to my stomach unhappily complain within me at thinking that since Rosco had disappeared, I’ve thought very little of food, if at all. “Nice to see you too, Trent,” I force a grin at him forcing confidence through my voice, before glancing up at Levi, “all I want is be in again…a small percentage of the money. That’s it.”

Levi and Trent laugh simultaneously as they glance at each other before glaring hardly at me as I realize that my clock is ticking. In a few moments my opportunity will close and I will fail to make my end of Luke’s plan or worse yet, I could be forced to meet my Maker face to face. To see what way I’ll spend the rest of eternity at.

“That’s it, huh?” Levi finally speaks up while someone in the background yells for Trent who pats Levi on the shoulder and disappears back into the darkness of the back room. “What’s in it for us? Huh old man?”

I shrug nervously while I continue to think of other ways to get into the back room, in enough to slip the sleeping gas in and to get out. To get past Levi or a way to talk my way in. “You’ll have an inside contact,” I finally respond, “you’ll be ripping people off while you have the law in your back pocket.”

He laughs sarcastically once again. “Why should that matter? You haven’t found Rosco yet, have you?” he laughs louder in my face, his breath smelling of onions and garlic, “So what other law do we have to matter? You andEnos? Pleas…we have nothing to worry about. If you haven’t noticed, we’ve got your small pathetic county in the palm of our hands. So I’m going to ask you again,” his face hardens as he grows serious, “get out of the door and out of my life. You refuse to do so or come back, I’ll allow Trent and the rest devour you into pieces.”

Abruptly anger and hatred replaces the great amount of fear I had only felt a brief moment ago at the sound of him mimicking Rosco’s disappearance, of him boasting of all that he’s connected with. Any doubt of him not knowing where Rosco is evaporates with his smug confidence, with his admittance towards the town’s situation. The situation I had casted upon it by hiring them and their men to deal with the store. “You have a lot of nerve Levi to walk into my county and treat me and my county like crap! I for one ain’t about to sit back and allow you to walk all over us as if we’re the mud on your evil shoe,” I yell at him as adrenaline strongly flows through me, “so you now have to make a choice, either deal with me or work with me. What’s it gonna be?!”

For a moment, Levi stares at me with a mask of astonishment covering his face before he is able to cover for himself by replying, “You’ve got it all wrong Hogg. You’re no longer in control…not of this operation or of this town. We are and I think Trent was right when he said it’s time to finish our end of the threat…you’ve been warned, Hogg.”

“I beg to differ,” I smirk boldly at him as I abruptly ram my left shoulder upon the heavy gray door to send it flying open and out of Levi’s tight grip. With little thought and filled with adrenaline, I quickly walk past Levi to find several men gathered around the card table, sorting out money while a couple talk privately near the half refrigerator with beer bottles in their hands. At my entrance, everyone’s eyes are turned startled towards me before they briskly and angrily walk towards me while Levi joins them only a foot in front of me. Before they are able to get any closer to me, I quickly grab the sleeping gas out of my pocket, covering my face I angrily throw the gas at them. Watching dark gas seep out of the device I had gotten during one of their delivers, I quickly turn and run out and into cold night air. Hearing footsteps behind me, I quickly hold onto the handle of the door for a long moment, holding it closed as someone within desperately yanks on the other side.

As I hear the body on the other side of the door collapse, I reluctantly let go before I climb down to the large metal chain that I had thrown besides the building before I had climbed the stairs. Concentrating on what I am doing, I pull the chain through the large metal handle and loop it under the metal railing that lines the left side of the stairs and lock it into a big lock after pulling it tight.

Climbing back down the stairs, I walk back along the back of the building before reaching the side of the building to find Jesse slowly walking along side the wall. “You OK?” he asks, worry and concern fill his expressions to make him look about ten years older than he did upon entering the building. “You do it?”

Silently I motion him to turn around and together we quietly walk back to his parked truck and as I step into the cab of his truck, I respond, “I’m fine…as fine as I can me,” I pause heavily, “and yes I do it. If the gas worked as it had instructed to, they should all be lost in dream land as of two minutes ago. Let’s hope we can get someone in there to tie them up before they come to their senses…they’ll be mad.”

“Ethan and Daisy should -” he goes quiet as he starts up his truck and a set of lights flash upon us, “are right there…they have it under control.”

“Daisy should be working,” I let my statement linger as I think of how this will work out, no where in Luke’s plan had said anything about tying up the members within the sports store. But if not tied up, they’ll find a way to escape when they come to.

“Jerry took up her shift and gave it to Jenny for the night…Jenny owed Daisy,” Jesse responds and I slowly nod in understanding as Daisy approaches Jesse’s window with Ethan right behind her. Rolling down the window, Jesse says, “Good luck and don’t get caught…there seems to be a few in the back room from what I heard. Am I right JD?”

“Yeah…eight or nine I’d guess,” I respond, nodding numbly, “plus the clerk. You got the clerk?”

Jesse nods hesitantly. “We had a struggle over the gun and he fell. He’s OK other than a headache when he wakes up,” he responds before turning back to Ethan and Daisy, “Tie them up tight and make sure you get out before they wake up. You don’t want to take any chances.”

“Yes sir,” Daisy grimly nods as Ethan backs up to his black truck and pulls out a thick rolled up rope before joining Daisy. “We should go do it now then. Take care y’all…we’ll be back at the farm when we get done here.”

“Watch yourselves,” Jesse warns as he watches through his rearview mirror as they disappear back into the store.

***COOTER DAVENPORT***

Fear seems to multiply deeply within me as I stare reluctantly at my old gold pocket watch, silently watching the thin red second hand slowly tick along. “It’s been a damn half hour Cooter,” LB’s voice is shaky as he stares wildly through the windshield of my Oldsmobile.

I slowly take a deep breath before closing the gold scuffed lid of the pocket watch before I slip it back down my jean pocket. “I know,” I slowly respond before glancing across the seat at LB sitting in the passenger seat continuing to stare through the thick trees at the shaft. “Thirty-five damn minutes.”

Silence once again fills the old car as our attention stares upon the shaft in hope of finding some movement, of some sort. Praying to see Luke climb out through the darkness, followed by Rosco and Bo; yet nothing happens, nothing moves. “Perhaps we should go in,” LB dryly suggests, hope and fear intertwined in each word, “Maybe Braiden wasn’t the only one down there when we arrived.”

“Maybe,” I slowly respond before I stick my old scratched car key into the ignition and as I turn the car on it breaks through LB’s stare as he glances over at me, anger piercing through his green eyes. “Look LB…you heard Luke. He said if he wasn’t out by the time we got done tying the guards that we should leave. Go back to the farm and help Jesse and Daisy.”

“We can’t just leave him down there,” LB stares determinedly at me for a long moment before turning around to stare back at the old shaft.

“I feel the same way you do LB,” I sigh heavily as I slowly back out of the hiding place that Luke had parked my car at, shifting my car we head in the opposite direction of the shaft while I turn my headlights back on, “but Luke gave us direct orders not to go down after him, no matter what. The only reason he wouldn’t come back up,” I pause as my imagination once again runs wildly within me, of all the reasons of why Luke hasn’t resurfaced as of yet from the shaft, “is if he is in some sort of trouble…and going down there will only put us in the same situation, which won’t do anyone any good.” I slowly turn upon another dirt road as the great feeling of loss quickly fills me. “All we can do is go back to the farm and help Jesse and Daisy.”

“And tell them that we just left him,” LB slowly finishes as he sinks farther down into his seat while glaring through his side window. For a long harsh moment we ride in silence as my thoughts fall back upon my cousin’s disappointment, of his anger of leaving Luke in the shaft.. My own anger and fear rushes through me towards Luke’s disappearance while my thoughts slowly once again floods with vivid images of all that could have happened to him. If Luke wasn’t able to conquer the men he had faced in the shaft, how are we suppose to face them and win? Luke always had the plans to get out of sticky situation and the muscle to get out of them, everyone out of them. If Luke can’t do it, no one can.

“We’ll just have to go on with Luke’s plan,” I slowly break the silence as I slowly turn into the Dukes’ drive way to find Brodie and Dobro old cars parked near Jesse’s truck and JD’s Cadillac. “Brodie and Dobro are back.”

LB silently nods as he throws open the door just as I yank the keys out of the ignition and a rough wind of cold air rushes through the cab of the truck. “So they are,” LB responds as we join up at the old porch, he eyes me with his saddened green eyes, begging me to help make things better.

“Let’s go…sooner is better than later,” I slowly shake my head as I open the flimsy screen door and then the wooden one. Stepping into the warm, crowded kitchen of the old farm house, everyone abruptly goes quiet while their attention is thrown onto us. “Hi y’all.” I force a weak smile as Jesse slowly rises from his seat upon the head of the table to take LB and I in, clearly anticipating Luke to walk in behind us.

“Where’s Luke?” Jesse harshly snaps, the worry and fear in his eyes makes him look a lot older since we had last seen him, “Where is he, Cooter?”

“I – I don’t know,” I stutter as LB makes his way around me to stand against the counter besides me, eyeing me under his ball cap, “we had fought off the guards as we were instructed, tied them to a tree in the woods. He said,” I cut myself off at seeing tears running down Jesse’s proud face, tears he would never have allowed to show before “he said if he wasn’t back to the car when we returned…we should go back to the farm and alert you. We waited,” I glance over at LB for help who quickly turns away to stare out through the window, “we waited for a half hour, thirty-five minutes. He never returned from the shaft.” Silence explodes around me as everyone stares harshly at me with fear and sadness melting over their faces. “I’m sorry Jesse.”

“No,” slowly escapes from Jesse’s mouth in a moan before he falls back down in his seat, the little fight he had in him escaping with the heavy blow I had just gave him, “you’re wrong, Cooter. He’s out there,” Jesse points to the open door in mortification, “he’s out there in those dark woods looking for you! You left him!”

“I wish it was that simple, Jesse,” I sadly shake my head at him as I take my hat off to hold it to my chest, “we waited longer than what we were supposed to wait. He told us not to wait, but to go back to the farm if he wasn’t back out when we got back from tying the men up. He didn’t return Jesse…we waited.”

Once again, silence explodes within the crowded room as I slowly take in everyone as they stare in disbelief at me, begging me quietly to tell them I’m lying. “Not Luke,” Jesse breaks the silence, “no, not Luke.”

I shrug heavily, no longer able to think of anything to say, knowing that there isn’t anything I can say to make his grief any lesser than it is now. No way of making things better as of now. “Damn,” Dobro breaks the silence in the entry way of the living room as he glances over at Brodie besides him before looking around again, “If they got Luke,” he pauses momentarily, “if they got Luke, that means there is no way we all can stop them ourselves. How are we supposed to face them and win, if Luke can’t?”

Everyone glares at Dobro before nodding in agreement, pretty much what I had thought before pulling into the drive way. “Wait a minute,” I step closer to them and their attention goes back to me, “I feel the same way y’all do…Luke always had a way to find a way out of a situation and always able to fight his way through. But he’s human just like us,” I gently remind them, “and the one thing he wouldn’t want, is for us to just give up, because we don’t think we can deal with the likes of them.”

“What are you suggesting?” Daisy speaks up from behind Jesse.

“Well we got the guards at the shaft tied up to a tree as of now,” I glance over at LB who slowly turns around, “and don’t y’all have the people at the shop, tied or something?”

Daisy nods before glancing at Hogg who silently sits across the table from Jesse, chewing nervously upon an unlit cigar. “Got ‘em sleeping like babies,” Hogg nods to bring attention onto himself, “while Daisy and Ethan tied them up. Don’t know how much longer the sleeping gas will hold them out for. Eight or nine men plus the front clerk that Jesse took care of.”

“That means we have eleven or twelve of their men tied up at the moment,” I shrug as I struggle to think of where I am taking them to.

“No,” Brodie speaks up, stepping closer to Hogg while running a hand across his thick wiry black hair, “thirteen or fourteen tied up. Dobro and I,” he points back to Dobro, “got caught trailing the first guards.”

“He thinks anyways,” Dobro adds, “the car got away as another car ran into us. We had a struggle with two men who is now tied up in the barn.”

I nod silently for a short moment. “Well we know there is at least two men left of the gang,” I speak up, more or less talking to myself, “which means we should be guarding the men we already captured…they’ll be sprung loose if they are found. Better idea would be to go around and gather the ones that are tied up and take ‘em to the shop. Have someone watch the shop, front and back to make sure no one else comes by.”

“Good idea, Cooter,” Ethan says across the kitchen from me, “never thought of other people coming along spotting them.”

Once again silence explodes within the warm kitchen while everyone’s thoughts seem to remain on Luke missing along with Rosco and Bo. “JD and I will guard the shop,” Jesse stiffly stands up, determination and anger rising in his voice, “y’all gather the men already tied up and meet us at the shop. We’ll go from there.” He pauses momentarily as everyone moves to put their coats on and gather car keys. “They won’t get away with messing with my boys. First Bo, now Luke.”

“We’ll get ‘em Jesse,” I assure him and he stares at me for a moment in sadness before he walks out the door followed by JD. Looking around I say, “We got the two in the barn and the two guards in the woods. Brodie andDobro, take your guys into town, LB and I will go get our boys. Daisy and Ethan,” they both look up at me, “I want you two to follow us to the shaft. Park next to where we stop…I want you two to watch the shaft for any movement.”

“OK Cooter,” Daisy sniffles, “what should we do if we see someone?”

“Don’t move, just call it in with the CB,” I pat her on the back, “I mean that…don’t move or do anything. Just call and report it. LB and I will join you after we drop the guards off at the store. We’ll go from there.”

“Yeah OK,”she nods before she slowly follows Ethan out into his truck, leaving LB and I alone within the silent kitchen.

“Let’s hit it,” I abruptly break the silence before walking back out into the cold night to be followed by LB. Climbing in behind the wheel of my old tow truck, my mind slowly goes through all that I had said to everyone, of what to do. Backing out of the drive way and back onto the road, I hesitantly watch Dobro and Brodie haul the two men to shove them in the back of Brodie’s car.