Feeling the power of the big truck through the thin leather steering wheel, I feel a small smile creep upon my face as I follow the maze Hogg had sat out for us. Despite the trapped feeling Hogg had installed yesterday after spending the night in the cold jail cell after his corrupt fight, I can’t help but to feel a little excited at the new job aspect; of being in charge of such a big vehicle. Slowly turning in between two large orange cones, my mind vaguely leaves the past couple of days to think of my favorite movie: Smokey and the Bandit, and all the truck scenes it had entailed. Perhaps we can’t be the bandit, but we can play snowman. I let out a small laugh at the thought of comparing my life to a movie, at picturing us as the Bandit’s buddy who had blocked several cop cars with his big semi.

“What you find so funny?” Ethan slowly asks in the passenger seat to break the silence between us and I glance over to find him watching me with interest.

“Nothin,” I silently shrug as I glance ahead at the rest of the maze we have left to finish before reaching Rosco and Hogg, “just thinking of Smokey and the Bandit. We get this job as Hogg’s truck driver, we can be Snowman…we just need a dog for company.” I laugh once again before adding, “Never mind, I don’t need a dog…I got you.”

“Well gee thanks,” he rolls his eyes at me as he glares out of his passenger window, “if we get to be the snowman and I take it that Rosco is the Smokey, who’s Bandit?”

“Bo…who else? Bandit’s name was Bo,” I shrug weaving between a couple more orange cones before turning a corner sharply, quickly inching towards the finish line to where Hogg and Rosco watch.

“If I am going to be forced to ride along with you from now on,” Ethan slowly speaks up, “I really hope this isn’t what I get to look forward to…being compared to ‘Smokey and the Bandit’. Driving a semi doesn’t give you the title of Snowman, because the instant you try some of those moves, I’m gonna jump out of the truck and run for help or insist that I drive.”

“If you say so…I think I could do a damn good job blocking ol’ Rosco or Enos with this here truck,” I slowly reply before silence returns to the cab of the truck. Listening in to the silence that continues to build between us, my mind returns to our situation, of Kristy’s concern of Hogg’s future plans. “You’ve had your turn to drive, what you think?”

“I think I have you to thank for bringing me into this mess,” he answers sarcastically as I reach an abrupt halt a few feet ahead of Rosco’s parked patrol car, “but it’s a job that pays…maybe now I can catch up on my truck payments.”

“You’re welcome,” I grin sarcastically at him only to receive an harsh glare before he slowly opens the door to step out onto the dusty dirt track that Hogg had set our test drive out on.

“Well, well,” Hogg grins up at me as I slowly open the heavy door to step out onto the metal step before stepping down, “you both drove it like a natural, the job is yours.”

I silently nod while twirling the keys in my left hand as I momentarily scan the near future, the future of driving for Hogg.  “You better not mess up, Duke,” Rosco pauses to glare harshly at me before glaring at Ethan, “ Ethan. Or I may have to cuff and stuff ya all over again.”

“Thanks Rosco,” I nod toward him before eyeing Ethan to find him staring at the semi’s trailer, taking it in. The trailer is painted brown with Hogg’s chubby face in the middle of it with a yellow banner hung over and under his face. The top banner reads: WELCOME TO HAZZARD while the bottom banner reads: HOGG STYLE. “Fancy artwork you’ve got, Hogg.”

“You better be enjoying it, because that’s what you’ll be driving,” he glares harshly at me through hardened dark brown eyes over a thick cigar that is stuffed in his mouth before he drags it out, allowing thick cigar smoke to float into our faces, “You are scheduled to pick up your first delivery at one this afternoon in Choctaw County…that leaves you with two hours before your pick up time. I will be waiting for you at two thirty at the new store in town…’Hazzard Sport Shop and More’. You aren’t there then, I’ll be led to believe you’ve stolen the truck and the goods -“

”We’ll be there when we are told to be there,” I harshly snap at him to send a shock look upon his face, surprise that I would overstep his authority with my own anger. “We’ll see you then, Hogg…Rosco. Let’s go Ethan.”

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Staring up at the old shack-like building that stands weakly in front of where I had parked the semi at, disbelief quickly rushes through me to send me glancing at the scheduled lists Hogg had given us before setting out. Slowly I read the address that Hogg had printed on the white computer paper before glancing up to take in the road signs and the numbering on the old building, the black spray painted numbering has faded with the harsh summer sun over the years. “Are you sure this is it?” Ethan quietly asks from the passenger seat while staring through the sun at the thick tree line that surrounds the shack.

“The numbers match up,” I shrug handing him the metal clipboard as the old wooden door squeaks open from the wooden building to catch our attention. Looking up I find a tall broad shoulder man with a thick black beard that hangs an inch from his chin and greasy black hair pulled back in a pony tail. He wears an torn sleeveless white shirt to show the dark tattoos that line his thick arms while he watches us with hardened black eyes, his skin seems to be deathly pale under all of his black hair.

“May I help you?” he finally asks before spitting out a wad of tobacco upon the sun-bathed dusty ground.

I reluctantly nod before throwing open the heavy door to slowly step out into the warm spring afternoon, stopping near the grill of the truck, a few feet away from the large and heavy set man. “We’re Hogg’s drivers,” I nervously respond, shoving my hands into my pockets, “this is the address that is printed on our -“

”You got the place,” the man shrugs eyeing Ethan who hesitantly steps out of the truck, “it’s not much, but this is what we got to work with…we’re just the middlemen.”

Silence surrounds us for a long moment as Ethan joins me where I stand and the man glares harshly at us, as if trying to make an decision about us. “OK boys,” he slowly drawls, motioning us with a tattooed covered right arm towards the building, “the boxes are in the shack, but first we…I mean, I am going to have to check you two out. It’s a custom policy here…we check out everyone.”

Once again, Ethan and I make eye contact before I move out in front of him to lead the odd man towards the ground leveled porch that surrounds the front portion of the building. Questions and regret run through me as I listen to my heart booming within me, questions of where this is leading to, if we will be able to leave as we had arrived. I had envisioned a business-like building with garages and pick up areas for semis, perhaps a friendly and welcoming face. Now that we are here, I doubt we will get any of that.

“Lift your arms up, all the way up,” the man motions towards the thin wooden roof of the porch as I meet him at the front door and I hesitantly do as I am told. I find myself holding my breath as he harshly pats my chest down to my waist and down my legs before he motions me to step to the side. Silently I watch him do the same thing to Ethan who refuses to look at me, but up towards the several white fluffy clouds that linger in the bright blue sky. “Follow me,” the man gruffly says as he finishes patting down Ethan. Slowly I follow Ethan and the man into the open door way to walk into a dark and large room, the old weak walls are surrounded by large boxes of all sizes and shapes while in the middle lies a large card table with several fold up chairs. The table is holds a large metal money box that is heavily locked, a stack of playing cards lies on the left lower corner while three empty beer bottles rest around the metal box; while the chairs remain empty.

“Hey Vern,” the bearded man yells, his voice echoing off the weak walls. A short moment passes before the thin door that rests in the left upper corner of the wall opens and a short wiry man with thinning gray hair slowly walks out. Bright blue eyes stare at us through thin glasses that hang loosely upon his thin, long nose. “These here boys,” the man blurts out as he watches the older man with impatience, “are here for the Hogg delivery. Hazzard County, right?”

“Right,” I boldly respond, eyeing the man that he had called Vern for a long moment before eyeing him, “Hazzard County…Boss Hogg.”

Silence fills the room as the older man wobbles slowly over to the card table where he picks up a wooden clipboard and squints down at it. “C’mon Vern,” the bearded man says impatiently, “we don’t have all day.”

“I’m comin’ as fast as I can, Coop,” Vern quickly replies as he shuffles away from the card table to glance around at the boxes that are scattered around, looking lost or as if he had lost something. Abruptly his eyes brighten up as he eyes the boxes that lies in the right corner, a few feet away from us, before he slowly walks over to where we stand. Silently he eyes Ethan for a long moment before eyeing me in with his bright eyes while chewing on his bottom lip. “I’m going to have to have a signature from both of you,” he finally speaks up to hand me the clipboard and he points out Hogg’s section of the paper with a wobbly thin finger, showing me where to sign. I nod in understanding while signing my name and the date and hand it over to Ethan where he signs silently under my name. Vern looks down at our names for a short moment, “Garrett Duke,” he looks me over again, “Ethan McKleen,” wise eyes scan over Ethan before he nods towards the right corner, “Follow me.”

We follow him in silence for a couple of moments before he abruptly comes to an halt in front of the large boxes that line the wall and are stacked on top of each other. “Here’s the boxes you are to deliver,” he looks down at his paper, “to ‘Hazzard Sporting Store and More’.”

“All of these?” I question, motioning over the thick boxes.

“All of them,” he nods in agreement before coughing harshly into his hand, coughing something up into his hand and he takes a moment to examine it for a moment and then wipes his hands on his thin overalls. “Coop there will help you load ‘em into your truck…for security reasons. Y’all have a nice day now.”

He grins almost wickedly at us before he slowly turns and shuffles back to the closed door where we watch in silence until he disappears behind the closed doors. “Let’s get th is over with,” Coop breaks the silence with his harsh voice before he shoves past me to get to the nearest box. Ethan and I watch him pick up two boxes at the same time to balance them to the door before we pick up one box, finding them to be heavy.

*          *          *          *          *          *

I gasp in surprise as I am harshly thrown awake as I feel the truck reach an abrupt halt, the tires and brakes squealing angrily with the pressure that’s applied. “Garrett,” Ethan’s voice is filled with intense panic, sounding thick and distant as I struggle to fight off sleep and to become alert. Glaring through my thick passenger window, I take in the bright green grass that fills the pasture of cows before taking in the dark threatening gray sky before I slowly glance over at Ethan. Ethan sits silently behind the wheel, his hands pried tightly around the thick leather steering wheel forcing his knuckles ghostly white while he stares in disbelief out through the rain splattered windshield.

“What is it, Ethan?” I slowly ask as I pull myself up right before glancing ahead to find The General Lee parked across the road, blocking our way through. Two men in sky masks pull themselves slowly out through the open windows before reaching in, both men bringing out a metal baseball bat. Watching the two men walking threatenly towards our truck, my mind runs numbly within me, attempting to make sense of what is happening.

“The General,” Ethan gasps in shock as the shorter, muscular man reaches his closed door while the tall lanky masked man reaches my door. Both men are dressed in tight light blue jeans, a leather belt, black cowboy boots, and a thin flannel shirt with a black sky mask covering their heads.

“OK Ethan,” I hear the man outside of Ethan’s door slowly speak up, muffled through the closed door, “I want you to slowly open your door and step out; nice and easy-like.”

“He’s got a gun,” Ethan slowly turns towards me, his voice quivering silently. Ethan jumps noticeably as a loud banging noise explodes outside his door, of the metal baseball bat hitting his closed door.

I sigh heavily as I glance out my window to find the man standing out my window holding a black hand gun, waving it at me for me to see. “You too,” he says through his mask, “nice and easy and no one gets hurt.”

I slowly nod at the man, but also at Ethan as I gently begin to open the door to force the lanky man to step back a step into the weedy grass before he quickly moves into me, grabbing me by my thin t-shirt. “Easy now,” I grunt as he slams me into the truck, taking away my breath. He seems to smile evilly at me behind the mask, his blue eyes flaring in adrenaline to send my mind flashing back a couple of nights ago, of the pain I had put on Bo.

“I don’t know who y’all think you’re fooling,” I over hear Ethan mumble on the other side of the truck, “I mean anyone could pick you out driving the General. An orange car? No way to escape in that thing. Bo or Luke?”

The two men fade into silence for a moment as the man in front of me continues to hold me against the truck while his left hand clings onto the gun and onto the metal baseball bat. A short moment passes before Ethan yells out in pain as I overhear the bat hitting bone a few feet away. “What you think we should do with ‘em Bo?” the muscular man yells across the truck and Bo glances up for a moment, “I think after what they done the other night to you, we should have a little fun with them. Watch them suffer, see how they like it. What about it?”

Bo grins broadly at me and I am stung in confusion as my mind continues to fight to an understanding of what is happening. I made Bo and Luke upset at me the other night by my actions and I have upset them in the past, but they never resorted to revenge after the fact. Luke has fought me to protect Bo, to get his point across, but not like this. Yet their beloved stock car lies parked only a few feet away and the boys’ body figure seem to match up along with their clothing. “Sounds good to me, Luke,” Bo pockets his hand gun into his waist band before swinging the bat in circles to his side, making a whoosh with the motion. “I’ve always been keen on baseball.”

“Let’s do it, cuz,” Luke laughs crazily from the other side for a short moment before smashing the bat upon Ethan, forcing Ethan to cry out once again.

“You’re turn,” Bo winks at me as he harshly drags me away from the truck to toss me onto the muddy ground and I quickly roll away as he goes to swing the bat at me, the bat making a harsh impact upon the ground. “Strike one,” Bo whispers to me before quickly moving in on me while I fight to stand up. I yell out in pain as his metal baseball bat carves deeply into my chest, to send me falling back upon the ground, rolling down the small ditch.  Pain and fear quickly dances harshly within me as I fight desperately for air, each breath I receive, my pain flairs deeper within. Listening to the man’s heavy footsteps, I momentarily wonder if this is how Bo’s attacks feel, if this is what I forced him to go through the other night.

Sensing his light shadow casting over me, I quickly roll away from another blow before I quickly get up onto my feet to send the world spinning quickly around me. “What,” I begin to gasp as I struggle to keep ahead of him while walking towards the truck once again, “you want?”

“You,” Bo answers steadily behind me before he grabs a handful of my shirt, slamming me harshly back into the truck, to send pain racing up my back to my neck, and to my head and I gasp harshly for air. “and your truck. How’s it going, Luke?”

“It’s going,” Luke mutters back from the other side as I listen to Ethan struggling against him mixed in with sharp cries of pain as Luke succeeds in hitting him with the bat. “You?”

“It’s gonna be easier than I thought,” Bo smiles at me as he grabs a handful of my hair to yank my head down while his boney knee goes up, kneeing me harshly in the head. I yell out in pain as my head hits his knee before he throws me back into the truck to hit me in the stomach with his bat, swinging it like a baseball player. Struggling against the threatening blackness that slowly seeps within me, I feel myself fall sluggishly upon the muddy road as blood begins to pour from my nose and down my lip from where I had hit his knee.

“No,” I gasp as the bat once again falls upon my stomach once and then again before he quickly steps upon my right hand that had landed upon the mushy grass, pressing pressure with the heel of his boots. Pain shudders across my body as the blackness seems to grow closer within the second while I quickly reach over with my left arm to grab tightly onto the man’s muscular right leg only for him to harshly hit it away with the bat. “You’re not Bo,” I softly grunt as my mind continues to rush through me, comparing them to my brother, to my cousin. Listening to the man stepping harshly upon my hand, I hear no wheezing nor does his chest heave in and out as Bo’s seems to do as he struggles for air. “and he’s not Luke.”

“Who says?” he questions as he presses harder upon my hand through my plugged ears, I hear bones snapping to send more pain rushing through me.

“And that’s not the true General,” I continue, hearing myself wheezing with pain as the bat rushes down to land bluntly upon my knees, “the true General has the white and checkered flag decal on the trunk…your’s don’t and yours is a different shade of orange..lighter shade.”

“You’re sharper than what I thought,” the man snaps and I yell out in pain as the bat smashes into my right arm, the arm that he holds down with his boot, “and for that, you’re gonna hafta face the consequences.”

Fear accelerates within me as my thoughts abruptly switches from the past, to the present, and to the future. This is the first time in a long time that I had allowed myself to be ganged up on and to lose a fight so poorly without much of a struggle. “You won’t,” I grunt through the pain as I quickly kick up my bruised legs to struggle to kick him, to hit him, to do something to him, “get away,” I yell out as the bat lands upon my right shin and then back down upon my chest to send me coughing up blood. “With…this.”

“Oh sure we will, Garrett,” he grins down at me, his boot weighing down upon my numb hand as my mind eases to worry about Ethan, wondering if he’s still alive or what’s going on with him. Listening to the imposter’s words, my mind rushes back to Kristy’s warning last night when she had heard of our new job, her words laced with her own worry for this trip. “We got the law on our side this time…we have no room for failure now.”

A sense of hopelessness sinks deeply within me at hearing his statement, listening to his evil laughter, while he sinks the bat into me once again, this time the bat lands upon my left side of my neck.  “C’mon cuz,” Luke calls out for the first time in a long time, “I’m about done with Ethan,” he pauses for a moment, “and we’re about out of time. You almost done?”

“I’ve got a couple minutes left,” he grins down at me as he swings his bat once again, swinging it harshly in vertical circles only an inch above my chest, “and I’ll be done.”

Through blurred vision I watch the bat swinging faster and faster while growing closer and closer to my chest before it strikes harshly and I feel bones breaking within to force my breathing to worsen. “You’re too fun,” he grins through the mask as he strikes me with the bat to the stomach once again and my yell in pain is cut off by my lack of air, “but Luke’s right…we’ve got to go before we’re seen.”

Once again, I attempt to hit at him with my left hand only for him to hit me with the bat, knocking it back down once again before he swings the bat wildly, hitting me continuously for a moment. “Time’s up, Bo,” Luke hollers as his dark shadow moves into view in front of the truck, “Bo! We’ve got the truck…you done your damage!”

“Back off Luke!” Bo’s voice is thick with irritation as his back lands deeply within my left side, breaking ribs, “I’m almost done.”

“You’re gonna kill him!” the man’s voice quivers in surprise to see what is going on, “We’ve had our orders…we were only to take the truck, shove them aside! I didn’t mean kill him when I said to have some fun!”

The two men fade into silence as he swings the bat high and my fear rises within me as the bat lands harshly upon my left side of my head, to send my pain accelerating quickly within me, blackness quickly kidnaping me. “He figured us out,” the tall imposter snarls glaring down at me before the bat hits me in the head once again as he fights to finish me off.

“I don’t care!” the Luke-imposter snaps harshly as he steps close to his friend to shove him off of my hand while grabbing the bat away from him, “We’re gonna be toast when the boss hears we overstepped our orders! Let’s go!”

“He’ll be just one more name to our list,” the lean man pleads as he walks past his muscular friend to quickly kick me in the right side of the head with his boot and I fade into blackness for a moment.

Slowly I open my eyes despite the pain that rushes through me as I hear the diesel truck starting up to watch through darkened vision the dressed up car drive away with the semi behind it. “Ethan,” I slowly say only to come out in a soft, whisper as I cough up blood before I fall into thick darkness, while fearing death.

***LB DAVENPORT***

Disappointment quickly begins to settle in as I silently watch the thick droplets of rain quickly splatter upon my mud splattered windshield. Thunder quietly rolls across the angry sky as my thoughts slowly revolve around the plans I had made for tonight, to bring Kristy and the kids to the park, to help them feed the ducks that swim lazily in the small pond. Now that it’s raining and thundering, it will surely be cancelled for an indoor afternoon, as it has been for them for the past few days. “Damn it,” I gently hit my steering wheel out of frustration before I slowly bend down to turn up the radio that begins to play an Alan Jackson song as the rain quickly picks up to beat harshly upon my truck.

Following the road around the corner, I continue to stare through the haze that lingers within the rain before two still bodies come into view, one on each side of the road. My heart races quickly within me as I shove my old tow truck to a stop a couple of feet away to jump out into the chilly rain.  Running to the man that lies the left side of the road, lying on his left side while his left arm lies out in front of him, his right arm is shoved back; dread fills me as through the blood and bruising I recognize Ethan McKleen. “Ethan,” I sigh as I slowly bend down to catch a soft pulse as rain pours down my face. Slowly standing up, I slowly glance across the road at the man that lies silently on his back as I fearfully realize that it must be Garrett; remembering the new job they got with Hogg.

Running across the street my heart freezes in fear as I glare down at the man lying silently still on his back who is covered harshly in blood, mud, and is starting to bruise. Bending down I can barely make out Garrett’s identity through the thick blood that covers his face, mixed with mud and dark bruising. “Damn it!” fear grows within me as I barely catch a small pulse from his wrist, his chest barely moving to breath. “C’mon Garrett,” I slowly urge him while I quickly get up to run to my truck as my mind revolves around Kristy, wondering how she will handle this.

Throwing open the door, I quickly grab my CB to urgently call in, “Sheriff Rosco.” A low hiss of static returns my call as another loud roll of thunder echos off of the hills in the distance. Fear and frustration rolls through me as I watch the rain beat upon Garrett’s silently still body, praying silently for him and Ethan to be OK. “Sheriff Rosco!”

“Sheriff Rosco,” the sheriff finally responds, his voice thick with irritation, “what you want?”

“LB Davenport,” I identify myself, “I think you need to come out to Crystal Road…there’s been some sort of,” I pause fighting for words to describe it over the radio, “a fight or an accident. Something.” I pause once again as emotions rush over me, “and bring an ambulance…there is two people down.”

“D-down?” Rosco’s voice is now awake and alert, “As in -“

”Injured!” I quickly interrupt him, “And hurry!”

“Ten – four LB.”

***SHERIFF ROSCO COLTRANE***

A harsh wave of disbelief and fear abruptly washes over me as I angrily throw my CB handle down upon the old torn leather seat besides me. “Please no,” I hear myself speak aloud, my voice low and quivering in the cold fear that runs deeply within me, fear that sends me gasping for air in my stuffy patrol car. Staring blankly through my mud-splattered windshield my mind quietly replays LB’s panic-filled message that he had sent in only moments ago, moments that seemed to have been forever ago. Two men down on Crystal Road. Silently I glance down at my old gold watch to send the fear accelerating within me; 2:15. “Damn it,” I harshly yell into the silence as my mind reviews Hogg’s plans he had for today, plans he had for Garrett and Ethan. Garrett and Ethan were set to meet up at Hogg’s new store fifteen minutes ago, but Hogg had a plan to interfere with that. He had hired his new associates to interfere with their delivery on Crystal Road with the instructions to leave them be and to grab the truck. Once again, I am reminded of the mistrust my instinct had been yelling at me in Hogg’s office the other day, mistrust of Trent and Levi, but also of the rest of his associates. His associates he had formed to build his new sports store.

“Damn it,” I cuss once again as I harshly force my old patrol car into a sharp left turn onto Crystal Road with my sirens piercing through the hazy rainy afternoon. Somewhere close, sirens of the ambulance I had called in screams out in reply. Growing closer to the destination of LB’s call, my mind absently imagines Ethan’s and Garrett’s still bloody body spread across the dirt road covered in the afternoon rain, imagining all that Hogg’s men had done to them in order to get the truck. “No,”I abruptly speak aloud again as I attempt to put a halt to the horrid thoughts racing through me while I struggle with disbelief.  LB didn’t mention any names, just said that two men were down and injured in some sort of a fight or accident; it could be anyone. Coincidence? Despite my attempt to believe it has to be someone else, my gut continues to scream Ethan and Garrett forcing myself to believe that it is too much of a coincidence if it was someone else.

Quickly following the muddy road around a sharp corner, LB’s dirty dark tow truck comes into view only a few feet away, parked vertically across the road to block any traffic to go past coming this way. Sliding to an abrupt halt only a few feet away from LB’s parked truck, I quickly push my car into park before turning my sirens off to yank my car into silence once again while I struggle with the harsh emotions rushing through me. “Sheriff Rosco!” LB’s voice is thick with grief as he quickly runs across the front of the grill of his truck, his tall lean figure is soaked with rain and covered in dirt.

“What seems to be the problem, LB?” I slowly ask as I stiffly pull myself out of my patrol car and into the pouring rain, silently trying to brace myself of what I am about to encounter, “What happened?”

“I – I really don’t know what happened,” LB stutters as he puts an urgent hand upon my shoulder, ushering me along his truck, “I was just on my way to a call when I came here and found them lying in the road…I checked them out and ran to my truck to call you.”

I numbly nod as we walk around his grill where I instantly find Ethan lying on his side with his left arm underneath him stretched outward into the wet grass while his right arm his hung back behind him. My heart comes to abrupt halt at seeing the blood running down his face from a thick cut on his right temple, his face is also covered in thick blood mixed with mud as dark bruising begins to form. His clothes are torn and soaked in blood and in cold rain water that continues to race upon him while his right black cowboy boot lies a foot away from his bare foot that dangles in the mud. “Ethan,” LB slowly mutters as he kneels down to run a wet lock of hair from Ethan’s closed eye to force a shudder down Ethan’s still body, “I think he’s knocked out…his breathing is ragged and slow as is his heart beat. But it’s there and noticeable. I mean,” he pauses to look up at me, his crazy green eyes seem to search me, pleading me to help, “I am no medical expert, that all is my opinion.”

“The ambulance should be here soon,” I slowly respond, standing behind him while looking over my shoulder. Listening to the ambulance’s siren that screams louder as it grows closer my emotions seem to grab a tight hold of him as anger and hatred rush through me, anger towards Hogg for not listening to me and a hatred towards the men that had done this, that Hogg is working with. Hogg has worked with some pretty questionable characters throughout my career in his route to earn more money, but Trent, Levi, and the others that Hogg has hired seem a lot worse than what he’s done before. Trent and Levi have already crossed Hogg’s rules, have stranded Hogg’s instructions to go their own route during their fight with Garrett; now this. Looking at Ethan, fear rises within me, if they done this to Ethan, what all did they do to Garrett? What will they do in the future? Hogg surely isn’t the one in control here, not any more. Hogg just set a pack of killers free in our little town, killers that seem set to act on their own, to do as they wish. Chills quickly creep up my spine as I stare silently at Ethan’s still body, watching his thin chest slowly moving up and down in his attempt for air, my mind stuck on Hogg’s new partners.

“That’s Ethan,” LB says once again, his voice trembles in worry and fear as he slowly stands up to eye me once again, almost as if in surprise to see me standing behind me. “Garrett,” his voice seems to grow weaker as he mentions Garrett’s name while he quickly eyes the ground in attempt to hid his own emotions, “Garrett is over here.”

I numbly nod as I slowly follow him across the muddy road where a Garrett’s muscular body lies silently still on the other side of the road, his body half way upon the muddy road and halfway down the small ditch. My heart abruptly comes to an halt as I look down at Garrett who lies silently still on his back, his closed eyes glaring up at me through thick blood. Through the harsh dark bruising that has already began to form and the thick blood oozing out of harsh cuts across his face, I can barely recognize him. The only recognizable aspect of Garrett is his long thick scar that races down his right side of his neck that is covered thickly in blood and surrounded by bruising. His right arm is limply extended out where blood oozes down upon the ground while a dark muddy boot print lies clearly upon his palm and down the inside of his wrist, looking as if someone had solidly stood on his hand. His clothing is harshly torn and stained with blood while his left leg is twisted in an odd angle down upon the slant of the ditch. “No,” I barely hear myself say aloud as I watch LB bending down to check his pulse from his bloody neck.

“He,” LB slowly speaks up as the ambulances siren screams louder as it quickly turns the sharp corner, parking a foot behind me, “I’m not so sure about…I can barely pick up a pulse and his chest isn’t moving very much to breathe.”

Silence comes between us as the thin needles of rain quickly sinks into me to send chills across my body and my wet uniform sticking to my body as I stare in disbelief at Garrett’s still body. “Sheriff,” a thick voice calls to draw my attention to where three paramedics race across LB’s truck and I slowly turn away to meet t hem in the middle, “we got another ambulance on the way, it should be here within a couple of seconds.”  As if to confirm his statements more sirens scream through the hills, coming closer as time passes, “In your opinion, sheriff, who is in the most need of medical help?”

He looks helpless from one still body to the next before staring at me with hardened dark brown eyes, great urgency is spread across his leathered face. “Over here,” I slowly motion him as everything seems dream-like, “is Garrett Duke. This here is LB who had found them and called it in…he says he can barely find a pulse and the chest is barely moving.”

“OK,” the older paramedic motions the two paramedics to join him where Garrett lies and he quickly kneels down to be at LB’s level, the other two brings the stretcher on the other side. I watch as they pull the board from the stretcher and with team work they slide it underneath Garrett’s still body and lock him in with the cloth straps. “On the count of three, we lift him. One…two…three,” slowly and carefully the three paramedics lift the board onto the stretcher where they strap him in again with cloth straps before placing the stretcher on level ground.

“He’s got a thin and slow pulse, barely breathing,” the youngest of the three says after checking Garrett’s bloody body, “he seems to have lost a lot of blood.”

The older guy nods before ushering them to take the stretcher to the ambulance while the other ambulance comes into view before parking along side the other ambulance. Three other paramedics jump out from the second ambulance while the other one races off with the sirens screaming as it begins it’s way to Tri-County.

“Damn it,” LB quickly breaks the silence between us as the second ambulance quickly heads in the same direction as the first one had gone, “When Kristy hears about this -“ he fades into silence as he stares over my shoulder for a long moment before looking at me, “you’ve got to find who did this, Rosco …find them and punish them; good.”

“I-I plan to,” I stutter as I quickly walk away from him to distract myself, pacing back and forth from one side of the road to another. Heavy footprints dig into the mud, halfway traceable and halfway washed away with the rain while the semi’s heavy wheels are engraved in the mud.

Walking back to where Garrett had laid half in the mud and half in the soaked bright green grass, I silently stare at the thick blood staining the green grass and the blood shining in the mud. Thoughts quickly wash through me of the past that has led me to where I am, from Hogg hiring his new associates to build an illegal business to finding Garrett and Ethan harshly and violently beaten. If only Hogg had trusted my instincts, if only had listened…

Allowing my thoughts to rush through me, I slowly follow the foot prints that trample around Garrett’s blood to be led down the ditch where a black leather wallet lies rested in the soggy grass, being beaten on with the rain. For a long moment I stare at the black wallet as disbelief washes through me once again as I am reminded of Hogg’s details of his plan was for a couple of his new business men. There were to get the truck, leave Garrett and Ethan alone, and ditch the wallet that Hogg had ripped off of Bo Duke during his last probation meeting. A simple frame up, a frame up that would earn him more money and get rid of the Dukes he has been searching to get rid of as long as I can remember. But now, all that has changed. If I go through with Hogg’s plan, I’ll be blaming Bo and Luke of hijacking the truck as planned, but with assault to Garrett and Ethan; possible homicide if things take a turn for the worse.

“Aren’t you going to get it and bag it as evidence? Aren’t you going to look at the wallet, sheriff?” LB’s voice rises with emotions as he stares at me, pleading me to do something with his saddened green eyes, “It could belong to the people that had done this to Garrett and Ethan.”

“I’m gettin’ to it,” I slowly answer as I force myself to walk slowly down the ditch while placing on latex gloves in order not to smear my finger prints on it. Guilt quickly washes over me as I envision LB’s reaction is going to be when I say it belongs to Bo Duke, how everyone will take it. Take the beating and then blaming Garrett’s own twin and cousin for the assault, of which I know they didn’t do or wouldn’t do, but have no chance but to do. I can’t rightly not look at the wallet with LB standing right there or without riling up Hogg and getting me fired nor can I not charge Bo when his wallet is at the scene. If only I had stood up to Hogg, to his new business associates to stick with my instincts. . .

“Well sheriff,” LB prods again as he follows me down into the ditch, glaring harshly at me before glancing down around the wallet where thick foot prints show through the grass to show some sort of struggle, “it’s evidence…maybe belonging to the person that did this!”

“I’m getting to it LB! I am evaluating the crime scene,” I harshly snap at him as I feel the pressure of my own guilt while feeling his pressure, his emotions breathing down my wet neck, “if I don’t evaluate and take it step by step, everything could be messed up and everything tossed out the window. You don’t want that, do you LB?!”

“No,” he steps back while looking down and around, “sorry. I just know how Kristy will react when she hears about Garrett.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I sigh as his apology digs my guilt farther within me, “it’s hard, especially when it is someone close to you.”

Abruptly I am reminded of my past, of Rachel, and of the newspaper article I had read over and over again since yesterday of her killer’s escape. Fear seizes me as I once again wonder if Hogg’s new partners have anything to do with him, with his escape, if Whinston is back in town. Chills of fear rushes through me as I recall Whinston and all he had done before coming to Hazzard and silently compare it to how Hogg’s partners have been acting. Whinston wouldn’t think twice about beating someone as bad as Garrett and Ethan was beaten; he’s done worse before. “Sheriff,” LB breaks the silence once again and I jump as he extends a caring hand upon my tense shoulder, “you ok?”

“As ok as I can be,” I sigh as I force myself to leave Whinston in the past for now, to concentrate on what is at hand now, “I guess.”

“Yeah,” he slowly replies before I take a step away from him, attempting to control my emotions once again. Glancing nervously at LB for a moment we make eye contact before I pull it away to kneel over the abandoned wallet, the black leather had been shiny and smooth, now it is covered in mud and blood. I sigh heavily before I slowly pick it up with a gloved hand and stiffly stand up to find LB glaring at me in anticipation. Bracing myself for LB’s reaction, I slowly open it to shuffle through the money first to count fifteen dollars; two fives and five one dollar bills. A spare key to The General is tucked neatly into a small pocket along with an old family picture that is severely crinkled with age and wore and I silently imagine Bo looking at it in sadness and grief while Luke was away; living on old memories of his cousin while he was away fighting wars. “Who…whose is it?” LB asks besides me, taking a step closer to me.

I nervously swallow before looking down at Bo’s license where he smiles innocently in his picture before reading his information. “Bo Duke’s,” I answer in almost a whisper, bracing myself for his reaction.

“Yeah right,” he hiss as anger crosses his eyes and I slowly show him his license, “this has to be a damn frame up or something! You know damn well that he wouldn’t do such a thing to Garrett or Ethan! He wouldn’t do it to anyone, not alone family!”

“I just tol’ you who the wallet belongs to,” I sigh heavily.

“This is the lowest you or Hogg has ever sunk to!” he yells as he makes a swipe to get the wallet from him and I quickly place it into a bag away from him, “First you get Garrett and Ethan attacked and then you have the nerve to blame it on Bo?! This is gonna kill Kristy…I hope you know that…Kristy and Jesse. If they aren’t going through enough right now!”

I helplessly shrug as he forces my guilt to grow within me while reminding myself that I had little to do with this, the only thing I had in it is the arresting part of Garrett and Ethan the other night and the fact that I didn’t do anything to stop Hogg. “Maybe Garrett had Bo’s wallet for some reason,” I shrug again, “maybe Bo left it at your house and he was planning on giving it back to him, it fell out of his pocket or something.”

“That’s a pretty lame excuse Rosco,” LB snaps taking several steps back to the road, “but you pretty damn better hope that is what happened! Meanwhile…you better get the jackasses that did this!”

“Yeah,” I shrug once again as I watch him walking angrily to his truck, “where you going?”

“To get Kristy,” he yells over his shoulder as he climbs into the truck, “and then to the hospital.”

*                      *                      *

The gold door handle stings coldly on my clammy hands as I stare into the foggy glass window that leads into Hogg’s office, staring through only his dark round shadow shows sitting behind his desk. Probably counting money. A long moment passes as I watch him through the dark tinted window as I am paralyzed by fear, fear of facing Hogg with what all had happened on Crystal Road. Silently, I envision how he will react towards the news, towards me and then towards his new business partners. Boss has never cared too much for the Dukes, but he would never want them or anyone else hurt or worse; deep down he cares. Duke or not.

“Boss, we’ve got a problem,” I abruptly open the door without knocking and Hogg quickly closes his metal money case before glaring up at me angrily over his half lit cigar with his dark brown eyes.

“Rosco!” he harshly snaps as he forces his round body off his leather chair, flames of anger flare in his dark eyes, “Don’t you ever, ever, come in here without knocking like that again! You understand me? How am I to know it’s you and not some punk trying to rip me off?!”

Silently I take a deep breath as I fight my own anger that rages within me, anger towards him, anger that I have never felt towards him before. If he had only listened to me, if only he would stop thinking of himself and money, Garrett and Ethan wouldn’t be in the hospital; Hazzard wouldn’t be in trouble. “Well maybe if you didn’t run around with criminals all the time, you wouldn’t have to worry about some punks ripping you off!” I harshly reply and his angered eyes turn to surprise for a moment before returning to anger, “You can be angry all you want, but it’s true!”

Silence welcomes itself into the smokey room for a short moment as Hogg slowly sits back down upon his leather chair, his dark eyes still studying me. “What’s gotten into you, Rosco?” Hogg cautiously asks as he slowly stumps out his cigar into an plastic ash tray, his eyes still planted on me seeking answers.

“What’s gotten into me?!” I raise an eyebrow at him as I struggle to ignore my heart that beats loudly within me, fed by my adrenaline, “I’ll be damn glad to explain what’s gotten into me! For years I have been on your side with your money making schemes, when you hired new business partners to fill in your schemes. Business partners that always seem to turn against you. You have gone pretty low before, but I think now is the lowest you have ever gone!”

“Oh,” his face fades into disappointment, “you’re still on that.”

“No, I’m not still on that. When I told you how I felt about them yesterday, I was going on a hunch, on a feeling…it ain’t no feeling any more!” I yell, my voice ricocheting off his thin walls, “You get your truck?”

“Of course I got my truck,” he smiles smugly as he grabs another cigar, “right on schedule and as plan. So what’s the problem?”

“The problem? The problem is what your new associates did to get your damn truck!” I continue to yell, letting out my frustration, “I got a call this afternoon…from LB Davenport, calling in an emergency,” I pause for effect, drawing in his attention even more so, “Your damn business associates beat the crap out of Ethan and Garrett . . . especially Garrett. You can barely recognize Garrett through the blood and bruising by the time I got there…they could hardly find a heart beat on him, barely breathing! Ethan isn’t much better!”

Silence quickly comes between us as Hogg holds his cigar half way to his mouth with his other hand holding onto the match, disbelief flares in his dark eyes. “What are you talking about, Rosco?” he asks, his voice quivers in emotion, “I – I told them not to even touch them.”

I shrug. “Well they obviously didn’t listen to you . . .again,” I slowly say as I slowly let go of the anger that controls me, the anger that had forced me to leash out on my brother in law, “this time, someone did get hurt…and bad.”

“Damn it!” Hogg abruptly jumps out of his chair as he walks over to his window to glance out for a moment before glancing back at me, “How…how are they? Garrett and Ethan?”

I shrug once again. “I called before walking in there and the doctors still hadn’t come out with news on either one of them. All I can say they both looked pretty bad…badly beaten with something.” I pause before pulling out Bo’s wallet, “They did drop Bo’s wallet for you, but I can tell you this much, I am not going to be the one to pursue him or any of the Dukes for this. I agreed to go along because you said no one was to get hurt, well it’s too late for that.”

He glares at me for a long moment before he lights his cigar while he silently thinks of what to do next. “Yes you will pursue him and the Dukes. It is too late not to,” Hogg slowly says, “I don’t like what happened as much as you don’t, but the ball is already in gear. We can’t just not arrest someone and they are already on their way to finish out the plan -“

”Well then you better damn stop them!” I yell as I take a step back towards the door, “Because I am not going to arrest Bo or Luke for beating Garrett or Ethan…they wouldn’t do that or steal the truck!”

“You’ll do as I say, Rosco,” Hogg slowly regains his posture, “and I say we will go along with this. Meanwhile, I’ll deal with Levi and his men…we all had a deal.”

I glare harshly at him for a long moment as I feel my anger throbbing deeply within me towards Hogg and his partners. “How can you rightly go on with this? We had a deal and they broke it…now Garrett and Ethan are in the hospital and badly injured, because of the men you deal with! I warned you Hogg!” I yell taking another step closer to him.

Hogg glares harshly at me for a long moment before sucking desperately onto his fat cigar as he slowly walks back to his desk to sit back down in his leather chair. “As I said, I’ll deal with Levi and his men,” he slowly says as he allows a hint of fear to glimmer within his dark eyes despite the bold act he is displaying towards me; fear towards his new business associates while he thinks of what they did to Garrett and Ethan. “While you go and search the farm, gather your evidence and then arrest them Duke boys! You can’t just ignore the evidence that is stacked against them. . . their argument they had with one another at the Boar’s Nest the other night will only show motivation.”

“But they wouldn’t do such a thing,” I quickly argue, “and you know it! Bo and Luke wouldn’t hurt anyone, especially family, no matter how upset they are; especially after the fact!”

“I don’t care Rosco! If I say arrest them, you arrest them!” he snarls at me while he points towards the door with his cigar, motioning that our meeting is over, “I don’t care what excuse you have for proving they did it, you are going to do it! If not, you will be out of a job and I’ll find someone else that will arrest them! Is that understood?!”

“Yes sir,” I glance towards the floor before slowly leaving his office, forced to decide on what to do next.