Thank you to everyone who commented on the first chapter! I'm glad you enjoyed it. :) Just so you all know—I DO have the entire story written, so I promise it will all be posted eventually. I'll just be posting one chapter at a time as I go through it for the final edit.

Oh, also…the finished story ended up being a lot different than the song that inspired it. I never planned to copy the plot from the song verbatim, but when I started writing, things just went in a different direction than I thought they would. You know how it goes. ;)

- Flynne

Chapter Two

"Something is Rotten in the State of Georgia"

"You're holdin' Luke for murder? That's crazy!" Bo sputtered.

"Not crazy," Carl corrected. "Cautious."

Luke's strong hands curled around the cell bars and he took a deep breath to calm himself. "Look here, Cook. I don't know what in blue blazes you're talkin' about, but don't you think it's time we set the record straight? What's goin' on?"

Carl sighed. "I need to read you your rights first."

"Don't bother. I've heard 'em often enough to know 'em," Luke said dryly. "Just talk."

Carl raised an eyebrow at Luke's answer, but continued. "Where did you stay last night, Mr. Duke?"

"We told you. The motel at the east end of town."

"And did you at any point leave the motel room in the middle of the night?"

"No!" Bo broke in irritably.

"Yes," Luke said quietly.

That brought Bo up short. "Huh?" He looked quizzically at his older cousin. "You did?"

Luke shrugged uneasily. "Too hot in the motel room to sleep. And you were snoring. I got up and went out to get some air. You an' Daisy didn't hear me leave. You're sound sleepers."

"What time was that?" Carl asked.

"Close to two-thirty in the morning, I reckon."

"Why don't you tell me what happened on your walk?" Cook leaned back against the wall and folded his arms across his chest.

Luke's brow furrowed as he thought. "Well…I don't remember what streets I went down. It was late and I don't know my way around this town." Bo was tempted to make a snide remark about how Luke was supposed to know better than to wander around strange places in the dark since he had the reputation of being the smarter Duke boy, but the seriousness of the situation had him scared. He held his tongue, listening intently to his cousin.

"I wasn't payin' much attention where I was going. I just kept a general idea of where the motel was in my head. Pretty hard to get lost in a town the size of Washburn. Anyway, I remember passin' by a garage or something. It was pretty big, and the door was open. I remember that 'cause I thought I heard someone movin' around inside. I decided to check it out. I went closer to the door and looked in. Didn't see nobody, but I was pretty sure I'd heard someone. Gave me the creeps and I was startin' to realize just how late it was, so I turned around and got back to the motel. I saw someone on my way back, though…" He paused.

Cook gestured for him to continue. "And what did this person look like?"

Luke shrugged, looking troubled. "I couldn't see him too well. Just enough so's I'm pretty sure he had dark hair. But…well, if that's the guy you're lookin' for, whatever I tell you ain't gonna help. You already got a description of him…otherwise you wouldn't have picked me up."

The deputy frowned slightly as he held Luke's gaze. "I suppose you're right," he said noncommittally.

"Did you see anything in the garage?" Bo prodded, impatient for his cousin to continue.

Luke frowned and shook his head. "Not sure, exactly. It was pretty dark and there weren't many street lights. It smelled pretty funny in there, though. It kinda looked like there might be parts of a still in there, but—"

"Well, I think that's enough for now," the deputy suddenly cut in. He glanced at his watch. "I don't know what's keeping Sheriff Parker, but I really shouldn't hear much more without him here."

"Hey, let him finish!" Bo said. "Luke, you said there was—"

"I said that's enough!" Carl said, speaking loud enough to drown Bo out. He grasped the young man's biceps gently but firmly and tried to steer him towards the door.

"Hey, cut it out! You ain't draggin' me away!" Bo jerked back, tugging his arm out of the policeman's grip. "Let him finish!"

Carl reached out again, taking a tighter hold of Bo's arm as his other hand hovered near the butt of his pistol. "You'll have to come with me, sir."

"No!"

"Bo, stop it!" Luke's commanding voice brought his younger cousin to an abrupt standstill. He pinned Bo with his somber blue gaze and said, "Fightin' him isn't gonna help. Go find Daisy, talk to the sheriff and see what you can do. I'll tell these guys what I know. Don't worry, we'll take care of this."

Bo was plainly fuming, but he recognized the wisdom in Luke's words, and he gave a clipped nod. "Ok. Just you sit tight, Luke. We'll get you outta here."

Carl stepped close to him again, trying to lead him away. Bo drew back at first, but the deputy was insistent, pressing closer and lowering his voice. "If you want to help him, you've gotta trust me," he said. "It's important that you don't tell anyone what Luke said yet. Let me and the sheriff handle it. Will you do that at least?"

Bo almost shoved the shorter man away—but he didn't. His flare of temper was diminishing to a slow burn of frustration and he knew if he reacted strongly it would only provoke the officer, possibly landing himself behind bars for real. He glanced back one more time. Luke met his eyes. Luke was nervous, confused, and a little scared, but what Bo saw in the depths of his best friend's eyes was trust. You'll help me get out of this.

His cousin was counting on him. Never before had he let Luke down when he needed him, and he'd be damned if he was going to start now. He sighed heavily. "Ok, Cook, I'll do what you want." He hooked his thumbs in his belt and followed the deputy into the front office. The icy glare that Daisy was directing at Parker melted at once when she saw Bo step through the doorway.

"Bo!" She hurried to embrace her tall cousin, letting out a sigh of relief. "Finally! I tried to convince Parker to let you out, but—" She stopped suddenly, noticing the glum expression on his face and the conspicuous absence of her other cousin. "Where's Luke?"

"They're keeping him here," Bo answered grimly. "Holdin' him as a murder suspect."

"What?" Daisy gasped, shock rapidly turning to anger. She let go of Bo and spun around to look at Parker. "How can you even—"

"Whoa now, Little Sister…" Parker interrupted.

"Miss Duke," Daisy corrected coldly.

"…you're gettin' riled before you know any of the facts," the sheriff finished, ignoring the fact that she had spoken at all. "So if you and your friend here shut up, maybe we'll get things done."

"Ok, we'll listen," Bo snapped. "Start talking."

"Last night sometime between two and three AM, four of our fine citizens were killed in cold blood. Found the bodies in an alley near a garage on the east end of town. Throats cut clean through. Not a trace of the killer to be found…but he wasn't as smart as he thought he was. There was a witness. Described the killer as a man in his twenties or thirties, dark hair, sturdy build, about five foot ten. Luke Duke fits that description. By his own confession, he was close by there last night at that time, and he don't have an alibi. Now you tell me why I shouldn't arrest him."

"'Cause Luke wouldn't do it," Bo replied. "He ain't a killer. Besides that, he don't have a reason for it!"

"All killers have motives," Parker told them calmly. "Usually nobody knows it until too late. We know it now."

Bo gritted his teeth. "What is it?"

"Classified. The public doesn't need to know yet. We're still workin' on the investigation."

"So who's the witness? Why do you believe them?"

"Also classified." Parker smirked. "For his or her own protection, you understand."

"Sure," Bo said sullenly.

"Don't get too bent outta shape," Carl spoke up. "Luke ain't the only one we're investigating. We got a long way to go before any of this can come to trial."

"Get on out of here now," Parker ordered. "Ain't nothin' you can do for Luke now except get in the way. And by the way, I wouldn't go around tellin' people your kin's in jail, and I wouldn't go askin' too many questions. People from Washburn don't take too kindly to losin' their own, and we don't like nosy strangers." An angry retort burned at the back of Bo's throat, but he forced himself to nod politely, took Daisy's arm, and left.

The sunlight was bright and hot after the cool police station. Daisy blinked and raised a hand to shade her eyes. "What're we gonna do, Bo?"

Bo frowned thoughtfully. "We're gonna figure out exactly what Luke saw," he said quietly. "But I don't wanna talk here. Come on." He led the way to the General Lee and the two cousins slid inside.

"What do you mean, you wanna figure out what Luke saw?" Daisy asked.

"When I was back in the cell block with Luke and the deputy, Luke started talkin' about some garage he saw."

"The garage near where those men were killed?"

"I think so. He said he thought he heard someone inside and he saw what might've been parts of a still. He wasn't sure about that, though, and he said it smelled funny but I don't know if he meant moonshine or not. Cook cut him off pretty quick after that. Said he didn't want to go no further until Parker was there with him, but it seemed like there was more to it than that and I aim to find out what it is.

"The ol' General here is pretty conspicuous," he continued, giving the steering wheel an affectionate pat, "so I don't think we should drive it around town to scout things out. I say we go back to the motel and then start out on foot to see what we can find out. But first: lunch. I'm starvin'."

Bo started the General up and drove around for a few minutes until he found the local diner. He felt the first prickling touch of uneasiness as he parked the bright orange car in the lot and hauled himself out the window. A small cluster of men were sitting on the diner porch in folding chairs, staring openly at him. The stares were curious, but not exactly friendly.

He guided Daisy inside and slid into the first booth he came to. A folded-up newspaper was on the seat and he picked it up to have a look. "FOUR MEN BRUTALLY MURDERED" was the headline that blazed up at him in big block letters.

"Whaddaya want?" The sudden harsh voice at his elbow startled him and he looked up to see a sour-faced old woman glaring down at him.

"Uh—can I just get a burger and coke please?" The woman grunted and made a note. Daisy ordered the same. The waitress stomped off to another table.

"Friendly little town, ain't it?" Bo muttered. He turned his attention to the paper again. The article was short and informative, but the reporter had no qualms about giving a little personal touch to his writing. Washburn will not rest until the murderer is found, he declared. Already our Sheriff Parker has begun the search for the guilty. Justice will be done. "Sounds like this town's ready to riot," Bo remarked.

Daisy looked worried. "And Luke's got himself stuck in the middle."

XXXXXX

They ate and left the diner as quickly as they could, as more than one person had taken note of the strangers and people were starting to whisper amongst themselves. As it turned out, Bo ended up going out searching on his own. They checked into the motel with no problem and called the jail once more to let the deputy know where they were. They then decided that one of them should stay in case the sheriff called back. It wasn't a good idea for a young lady to wander around a strange town alone and besides, Daisy had to admit that Bo was better at sneaking, when you got right down to it. So she stayed behind and Bo stepped out into the street.

He headed toward the east end of town, walking casually, looking carefully around him while trying not to look as if he were taking notice of anything. It wasn't exactly easy to be inconspicuous. There weren't too many people out in the heat of the afternoon, but every time he did pass by someone, they'd look him up and down warily as he walked by. On an ordinary day, they might've greeted the stranger in their small town, but they were angry and suspicious. I'm stickin' out like a sore thumb even without the General Lee.

As Bo wandered farther away from the motel, the stares became more hostile. He was away from the main part of town now, and a good number of the buildings he passed were empty, plywood nailed haphazardly over the windows. Brown weeds struggled to grow in the cracks of the sidewalk. Luke, what the devil possessed you to keep goin' this way? he wondered. Then: Did he really tell the deputy everything he saw? More important, why wouldn't he?

Suddenly he perked up. Across the street, he could see a yellow brick building that looked like it might have been an auto repair garage at some point. The windows in the big rising front door had been painted over long ago and he couldn't see inside, but it was the first building he'd seen that looked like a garage. He picked up his pace a little and started to cross the street.

Then he glanced over his shoulder and his heart gave a little thump as he saw a group of five men casually strolling along the sidewalk about two blocks behind. By the way they were looking at him he could tell they'd been following him for a little while. Well. No sense in running away. They must really want to talk to him if they'd followed him. It'd be a shame to disappoint them.

So he turned around, stepped onto the sidewalk and walked boldly toward them, giving them a lopsided grin as he raised his hand in greeting. "Howdy, boys. Somethin' I can do for you?"

Nobody else smiled.

The foremost man, a tall, lean fellow wearing coveralls and a red baseball cap spoke. "You're quite a ways from where you belong, stranger."

Bo shrugged. "Just takin' a look around your nice little town, is all."

"We got nicer places for you to look," Red Hat answered. "Safer places. Don't you know four good men were killed a couple blocks away last night?"

"I heard about it."

"I bet you did." The five men stepped closer. Bo felt his heart begin to beat a little faster, but he forced himself to stand still and not back away. "We know why you're here," Red Hat continued. "We know your buddy's in jail. Won't do you no good to fight it. We all know he was in on it—him and that no-good snake, Avery. That man never did belong here and now he's done proved it."

Bo narrowed his eyes. "I don't know this Avery fella, but you're wrong about Luke. He didn't do nothin' wrong."

"Four men are dead. That's wrong. Somebody's gonna pay for it, and right now that's your kin. We know who you are and what you're doing, Duke."

This was getting ugly. Bo glared stonily at the five men, clenching his fists. "I don't have to stand here and listen to this. My business ain't none of your business." He started to turn away.

"That's where you're wrong, kid." Before Bo could swivel away, two of the men seized his arms and slammed him against the brick building behind him.

"We don't like it when strangers come into town and cause trouble," Red Hat growled. "We know your friend was seen here. He'll be swingin' from a tree before the week is out. And if you know what's good for you, you'll quit pokin' your nose where it don't belong, or you just might end up hangin' next to him."

"You can threaten me all you want, but it won't change that my cousin is innocent. And you're not gonna stop me from trying to prove it." Bo tried to pull away, but they had a good grip on him and jerked him back against the bricks again. He winced as the back of his head hit the wall with a painful thud.

"Don't bet on it." Pinned against the wall like he was, Bo couldn't block the fist Red Hat swung at him. He grunted at the hard blow to his stomach, then jerked his leg up to kick Red Hat in the gut. He had the satisfaction of seeing the skinny man tumble into the street before the other two men who weren't holding him jumped forward. Now, everybody knows that a Duke can hold his own in a fight, but five-to-one odds would tip the scales for anybody. He managed to wrench his arms free and land his share of solid hits, but he was overpowered by sheer numbers and the fight didn't last too long. When they knocked him down for the last time, they drew back a few paces and watched him panting as he struggled to his hands and knees on the cracked pavement.

"You keep in mind what we said, Duke," Red Hat said warningly. "If you know what's good for you, you'll take that pretty gal of yours and get outta town before somethin' else happens."

Bo's eyes were blazing with fury, but as he looked at the five men blocking his path, he knew he had no choice but to turn around and go back to the motel. They had only roughed him up a bit—he wasn't badly hurt—but he knew he soon would be if he didn't back down. Besides, that garage wasn't going anywhere, and he'd have another chance to check it out later if he had to. He climbed to his feet, took a deep breath, and walked away. He never once looked back.