A/N: As promised, here is the last story in my trilogy. This one's a tear-jerker, trust me. Might want a box of tissues for some parts, 'cause I sure did at some parts :( I don't know when I'll get the next chapter up, it probaby won't be until next week b/c I'm overloaded with doctor appointments and class schedules, aauugghh!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deliver Us From Evil
Prologue
"Jailbreak! Jailbreak!" the guards were shouting up and down the hallways of Bonner State Prison. Armed officers went running about to secure the area. How the prisoners had managed to escape was beyond them, but they intended to find out as soon as they were back behind bars.
"Out front!" someone yelled from the outside. "They're gettin' away in a dark Lincoln!"
Guards and officers scurried towards the outside windows, aiming and shooting out into the night in attempts to blow out the tires of the Lincoln. They missed however, and the car went plowing through the fence surrounding the prison base, escaping into the dark.
"Call all the stations in Georgia! Tell 'em we got potentially dangerous criminals on the loose!" a seargant ordered.
Chapter One: Up in Flames
Balladeer: Welcome back to Hazzard, folks! Been exactly a year since y'all dropped in an' I'm sure y'all miss all our friends here. Y'all are all just in time to attend little Chelsea Duke's first birthday party—that would be Bo an' Rachel's young'un in case y'all don't recall. We're at Bo's house right now, in case you're wonderin'. Ain't Chelsea cute?
Little Chelsea was having a squirming fit as she sat in Bo's lap. The blonde-haired boy was bouncing her on his knee trying to get her calmed down. Rachel finally swooped her up in her arms and carried her in the kitchen to see if she wanted a cup of apple juice.
"Joys of parenthood, eh Bo?" Luke asked as he sat with his wife Ali on the couch. Ali and Rachel were sisters, so that made Bo and Luke not only just cousins, but cousins-in-law as well.
"Don't be so cocky," Bo grinned, nodding at Ali. "It'll be your turn pretty soon."
Ali was eight months along with her and Luke's first child, and neither could wait for it to be born. She rubbed her swollen belly and felt the baby kick.
"Soccer player," she said with a smile. "Definite soccer player."
"How do you know that? It might be pretendin' it's a race-car driver an' playin' like it's puttin' the pedal to the metal," Luke grinned, rubbing her belly as well.
"Just what we need around here," Uncle Jesse mumbled good-naturedly from the recliner.
"Yeah, a new generation of hot pursuit material, kheekhee!" Rosco had to add, getting the elbow from his wife Eve was sitting curled up next to hi m on the sofa. He gave her a feigned hurt look and she patted him on the face with a lopsided smile on her face to show she didn't mean it. Eve was Ali and Rachel's older sister, so that explains why Rosco was there.
"That would be Bo's kid, not mine," Luke chuckled.
Rachel came back to the living room with Chelsea, who was walking and sucking on her sippy cup full of juice. The little brown-haired girl with pigtails made a beeline for Bo and crawled back into his lap. Ali smiled and laid her head on Luke's shoulder. She couldn't wait to be a mom like Rachel.
"I wonder what's holdin' up Daisy an' Enos?" Jesse asked no one in particular. "They shoulda been here by now."
"You want me an' Bo to go look for 'em?" Luke asked, running a hand through Ali's still boyshort hair.
"Naw, I'll do it," Jesse said, getting up from his seat.
"I'll go with ya, Uncle Jesse," Rachel told him. "I forgot to pick up Chelsea some more juice. That's all she's got left, what she's drinkin' right now."
"No, I'll go, Rach. You stay here," Bo insisted, but Rachel gave him a look that implied that she needed to go so she could have a break from everybody. "Yes, ma'am," he told her, as if she had just ordered him to stay seated where he was.
Balladeer: She's got him trained purdy good, don't she?
Jesse grabbed his coat and Rachel's too to hand to her. "If we don't pass 'em anytime soon, we'll call in on the CB," he told them as they closed the front door.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"There they are!" Rachel pointed out the window at the sight of Enos's truck stopped on the side of the road. They had gotten a flat tire and Daisy was hard at work putting the spare tire on, Enos handing her appropriate tools. She gave them a "okay" sign with her fingers to show that they were all right.
Jesse and Rachel passed the couple, all four waving at each other. Jesse sighed with relief. "Well, at least we know they're on their way," he said, continuing in the direction he was heading so Rachel could get Chelsea's apple juice from town.
About ten minutes later, they came to a curve in the road going left. Jesse put on the brakes to slow down at the sharp turn but he suddenly realized that something was terribly wrong. The brakes weren't working. He couldn't slow down.
Balladeer: Uh-oh, this ain't lookin' too good . . .
"Rachel, ya might wanna hang on to somethin'," he warned her, keeping a tight grip on the steering wheel. "My brakes are out!"
The girl held on to the door grip and shut her eyes as Jesse tried to swerve to keep the truck on the road as they attempted to make the turn. If they failed to turn, they would go over the cliff that the road was made to bypass. Jesse tried the brakes again but nothing was happening. The truck went out of control and skidded as it changed its direction, turning over on its side. Rolling now, the truck went tumbling over the edge of the cliff, Jesse and Rachel trapped inside. The truck finally landed at the bottom—a loud BOOM was heard and flames burst to life . . .
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daisy and Enos arrived at Bo's house at last, getting a comical round of applause from everybody. Daisy went straight over to Chelsea who was still sitting in Bo's lap and "stole" her away for a few minutes.
"Y'all see Uncle Jesse and Rachel on the way up?" Bo asked as they sat down next to Luke and Ali.
"Yeah, we passed 'em," Daisy answered, playing with Chelsea's pigtails. "About fifteen minutes ago."
"They're probably just gettin' to town then," Luke noted. "They'll call in when they get close to the house."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Twenty more minutes passed by. Jesse and Rachel should have been back by now, and everybody knew it. Everybody was starting to get worried that something might have happened to them. Luke nodded at Bo to come with him outside so they could use the CB in the General Lee, which had been driven by Luke in order to keep the engine from dying due to non-use.
"Lost Sheep to Shepherd, come in Shepherd," Luke called out, using the appropriate handles. He switched off and listened for a response, but he didn't get one. "Lost Sheep to Shepherd, ya there?"
Bo was getting antsy. "Maybe we should go look for 'em, Luke. They might be in trouble."
Luke didn't want to agree that the two might be hurt somehow, but he did agree they should go look for them. "You stay put, Bo. Chelsea might have a cow if you're not here. Get Rosco out here, we'll go in his patrol car."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rosco and Luke were driving down the road in the squad car, going slow enough to glance through the surrounding trees to see if maybe they'd gone off the road. Luke was starting to get aggravated.
"Try the radio again," Rosco suggested, hoping nothing major had happened.
Luke grabbed the mike. "Lost Sheep to Shepherd, where are you? Is everything okay?" Still no response. Luke tossed the equipment, and for once Rosco didn't reprimand him for abusing county property. "I don't get it. It ain't like him not to answer. He knows how it feels when we don't answer."
"They probably stopped to talk to someone, Luke," Rosco said calmly, trying to convince himself as well. Something didn't feel right about this. His cop instincts were telling him that something was majorly wrong here.
The two men looked up ahead and saw where the road turned to go past the cliff up ahead. Luke got a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Rosco, you see what I see?"
Rosco squinted, using his hand to shield the sun from his eyes. "Not really."
"Looks like someone went crashing through those bushes," Luke said in a shaky voice. "An' didn't stop at the cliff . . . stop the car!"
The sheriff hadn't even pulled off the road when the young man jumped out and went tearing out down the road to where the curve came close to the cliff. Rosco got tangled up in his seat belt and started calling for Luke to slow down, but Luke wasn't listening. His heart beat in his ears and he slows himself down at the edge of the cliff. He looked down and saw what he feared he would see. Jesse's truck—totaled. Fire leaped form the engine and smoke circled above it. There was no way anyone could have survived that.
Luke fell to his knees on the ground. Jesse—Uncle Jesse. The man might as well have been his father. And Rachel—poor young sweet Rachel. She had a whole life ahead of her. Bo would be devastated. Tears came to his eyes but he refused to break down. He couldn't let this get to him---he had to stay strong for everyone else's sakes . . . there would be enough crying without him adding to it.
Rosco finally made his way to where he was. The sheriff was out of breath from running after the more physically fit young man and looked down to see what it was Luke had seen. He choked back a sob at seeing the wreck down below, knowing how painful it must've been for Luke to see that and how upset the family would be. He had known something had felt funny about Jesse not answer his CB earlier, but he wasn't expecting that.
The wind whipped through Luke's dark hair, messing it up some. Rosco held onto his hat and shivered, pulling his jacket closer to him. He gave Luke a sorrowful look.
"I'm so sorry, Luke," he said softly, putting a hand on the boy's shoulders. "I'll go call an ambulance." Rosco took one last look at the wreck before going back to his squad car to call in the accident. God, he wasn't looking forward to being the one to tell everyone the news---the downside to being sheriff.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And so it begins . . . I don't know when I'll get the next chapter up due to my moving back into the dorms, but I will try very hard not to keep y'all waitin'...be patient...:)