Disclaimer: I don't own the Dukes of Hazzard, not making any money, just cheap thrills

Warning: Angst, slash, established couple, incest, violence

Rating: FRT

Choices

Chapter 8

"WHAT?" Sheriff Little yelled jumping to his feet and heading to the radio. "When did he escape Harvey?"

"About twenty minutes ago, sheriff. I already checked outside, Mr. Sanders over to the hardware store saw him jump in a blue sedan. He said he thinks it was Ned Perkin's car and that he was headed southeast." Harvey answered, knowing the sheriff would want all of the information he could give him.

"Alright Harvey, I'm going to put out an A.P.B. on him. I want you to head over to the hospital and stand guard outside Bo Duke's door. He's not getting another chance at murder, not in my county, now get moving!" Sheriff Little ordered before turning back to the radio. "Attention all Chickasaw County deputies, this is Sheriff Little speaking. I am issuing an all points bulletin for Jud Kane. Suspect is wanted for assault, attempted murder and fleeing custody. Suspect is described as a white male, 6'1" in height, 200 pounds, dark hair and blue eyes. He was last seen heading southeast in a blue sedan believed to belong to Ned Perkins. Suspect should be considered armed and dangerous, over and out." The sheriff ended the transmission and headed out to his own car in search of the fugitive.

When Harvey arrived at the hospital he decided to stop at the nurses desk first. "Excuse me miss, I was just wondering do you know if Bo Duke has had any visitors in the last forty-five minutes?"

"Only his cousin Luke, I think he's going to spend the night with him. Why do you ask deputy?" Clara asked, wondering if there was a new problem to worry about.

"Well ma'am, now don't be letting this get around, but Jud Kane escaped a little while ago. Now don't you worry none, we got everybody looking for him and I'm gonna stay right here and guard Bo Duke. That Jud Kane won't get the chance to do anything else, not while I'm here." Harvey assured her, not bothering to mention he was the one who had let Jud escape in the first place. Since the sheriff hadn't told him to let the Duke boys know about Jud's escape, he decided not to tell them. Harvey thought about where would be the best place to stand guard and after several minutes he figured out the nurse's desk was the place. From there he could easily see Bo Duke's room, as well as the elevator and stairwell, there was no way Jud Kane would be able to get past him. Best of all, in his mind anyway, the Duke boys wouldn't have to know he was there or that Jud had gotten away.

It was several hours later that Harvey saw Charlie Dodson step off the elevator. He knew who Charlie was and that he was a friend of the Dukes, but he couldn't help wondering why he was here so late. "Charlie?" Harvey spoke quietly, his suspicions increasing when Charlie jumped a foot at his voice. "Something wrong?"

"Uh...no deputy, I just come to visit Bo..." Charlie paused and looked around, before quietly continuing. "It's...uh...well it's past visitin hours and all...do you know where the nurse is? I need to get in to see Bo without her knowing. Don't think she'll let me in this late, can ya help me?"

Harvey smiled at the plaintive tone in Charlie's voice, relieved that he wasn't here to cause trouble. Deciding to take pity on the man, he pulled him into a shadowed alcove. "You stay here for a minute Charlie, I think she's in the breakroom. Let me check and I'll let ya know when it's all clear, but you better make it a quick visit, okay?" Stepping away from the moonshiner, Harvey quietly walked over towards the breakroom. Peeking inside he saw Clara sitting at a table, eating a small meal, with her back to the door. Motioning to Charlie that it was all clear, he grinned at the sight of the large man scurrying to Bo's room, looking for all the world like a little boy on his way to raid the cookie jar, scared to death of being caught by his mother.

Sheriff Little along with the rest of his deputies spent the night searching for Jud Kane, with no luck. At one point they thought they had him when there was a sighting reported near the county line, headed toward Atlanta. Unfortunately it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. There was a blue sedan in that area, but it was being driven by a sixty-year old man, and so the search continued. By seven-thirty in the morning, with no sightings the sheriff decided to head to the hospital.

When the sheriff walked out of the elevator onto the third floor it was to the sight of Luke Duke pinning Harvey against a wall. Running over to the two men, he pulled the Duke boy away from his deputy. "Alright now, what's the problem here?"

"I'll tell you what the problem is. The problem is this idiot let my brother escape and then didn't even let me know that Bo might be in danger. I come out here to..."

"Hold it right there! What do you mean he didn't tell you?" Sheriff Little growled the question to Luke, but he was watching Harvey.

If Harvey had thought Charlie looked like a little boy the night before, he was beginning to feel like a little boy himself this morning. If I keep this up, I'll be lucky if the sheriff doesn't put me under the jail with that Kane feller, Harvey thought to himself.

"What's he talking about deputy?" Ed Little asked his deputy.

Swallowing hard, Harvey stuttered and blustered for several seconds before managing a complete word. "Well ya see sheriff it's like this...I just...well I didn't see no need to worry them. I mean when I got here I made sure that nobody was in the room who didn't belong. Once I was sure that Kane hadn't been here yet, I stationed myself right there at the nurse's desk. I can see the door to his room and all the ways onto the floor from there and I just didn't see any reason to wake them up. Figured the boy needed his rest."

"Uh-huh...or maybe you didn't want to have to answer any questions about how Jud Kane managed to escape in the first place." Sheriff Little suggested.

"We were just getting to that, weren't we deputy?" Luke asked. "So sheriff, how exactly did he escape and do you know where he is?"

"Actually it could've happened to anybody. He took Harvey by surprise when supper was being delivered, knocked him out for a few minutes and escaped." Sheriff Little explained, letting Harvey off the hook. "We have an a.p.b. out on him and no we haven't found him yet. Don't you worry though, we'll be keeping our eyes open, he won't get near your cousin again."

"Okay, I guess that's fair. Heck me and Bo have tricked Rosco enough times that I should've given Harvey more of a chance to explain. I need to get back to Bo, let him know what's going on, but I do have a question first. I know it's your job to arrest somebody who commits a crime, what I don't understand is why you seem to be taking it personally?" Luke asked, not at all certain he should.

"There ain't nothing personal about it Duke. I just ain't gonna have a murder happening in my county, doesn't look good." Sheriff Little snarled before stalking off to talk to hospital security about the situation.

Watching him go, Luke shook his head, mildly amused that Little wouldn't admit that he actually cared about anything but the law. Giving the deputy one more look of warning, Luke went back to Bo's room.

"Everything okay out there?" Bo asked as soon as Luke stepped through the door.

"Yeah, but there is something I have to tell you." Luke hesitated knowing Bo wasn't going to like the news. Sitting down on the bed, he picked up his cousin's hand and gently caressed it. "Bo I know you heard the commotion in the hall, and I know you're wondering what's going on. I will tell you, but before I do I want you to know that you ain't got anything to worry about, okay?"

"Jud escaped didn't he?" Bo quietly asked.

"Last night, but like I said you ain't got anything to worry about. There's been a deputy here all night and Sheriff Little has everybody looking for him." Luke hurried to assure Bo that he was safe, scared of what effect getting upset might have on him. "I'll be here too darlin and I ain't about to let Jud get near you, ya ain't gonna be hurt again by my brother."

Just then an orderly came into the room, pushing a wheel-chair. "Mr. Duke? My name is Doug, I'm here to take you downstairs for your tests."

With Luke helping him, Bo got into the wheel-chair while Doug attached his i.v. bag to a pole on the back of the chair. Heading for the elevator, Luke fell into step beside Bo ignoring the look Doug gave him. Stepping into the elevator, Doug pushed the button for the first floor before addressing the cousins. "You know you can't go with him to the lab sir. Hospital policy won't allow it."

"Well then when we get there, you get in touch with whoever I need to talk to, cause I'm going. My cousin's life has already been threatened once and the man who did it escaped from jail. So hospital policy or not, I'm not letting Bo out of my sight and they can just deal with it." Luke calmly told him.

Luckily Bo's doctor was in the lab when they arrived. As soon as Luke explained the situation, he gave permission for Luke to accompany Bo for his tests. They spent the entire morning in the lab. When he saw the lab technician bring out a needle to draw blood, Luke figured it was a good thing they said yes to him being there. Bo was going to be needing a distraction and soon. Thankfully by lunchtime the tests had all been completed and Bo was allowed to go back to his room.

They had just gotten Bo settled in the bed when his lunch tray was delivered. Thanking the young lady, Luke took the tray from her and set it up on a bedside table. Rolling the table into place so that it was over Bo's lap, he started to sit down, startling when the door opened. Luke was surprised to see that it was the lady from the kitchen, carrying another tray. "Miss, my cousin already has his lunch."

"Yes sir, I know, this is for you. Sheriff Little explained about the threat to your cousin, so Dr. Bennett ordered a tray for you as well. This way you won't need to leave the room to get a meal," she explained.

"Well that was real nice of him. Thank you for bringing it to me," Luke told her with a smile. Returning to his lover's side, Luke sat down and began to eat his own lunch.

Bo managed about half of his lunch before exhaustion took over. Seeing that Bo was about to fall asleep over his lunch, Luke gently took the fork from his hand and leaned him back. Moving the table away from the bed, he sat down again on the bed, once again picking up Bo's hand.

A few minutes later he heard Uncle Jesse's voice in the hall, talking to the security guard the hospital had assigned to Bo's room. Luke quickly walked to the door and let the guard know that it was okay to let Jesse and Daisy into the room. Once they were in the room, Luke went back to his perch on Bo's bed and explained everything to his uncle and cousin.

Thirty minutes later and Luke was beginning to nod himself. Seeing that Luke was just as exhausted as Bo, Jesse suggested that he lay down. He wished that Luke would go home and get some proper rest, but Jesse knew that he might as well wish for a million dollars. Knowing both boys would rest better if they were close to each other, Jesse made no objection when Luke stretched out beside Bo.

Settling in for what they knew would be a long wait. Daisy and Jesse quietly spoke while waiting for the results of Bo's tests. As they talked both of them were silently praying that the tests would bring good news. At the same time they prayed for Jud's capture. Though it pained them to have to ask for such a thing about a family member, they couldn't let him hurt Bo or anybody else again.

Back at the Duke farm, Jud sat in the hayloft waiting for his family to bring Bo home. Only then would he make his move.

TBC

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