Next chapter! Updates have been slower because of that wonderful little thing called spring break, :) but I'm back at school now, so hopefully the last couple chapters will be posted more quickly than the previous chapters. Thanks for your feedback and your patience!
- Flynne :)
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– Chapter Ten –
"In the Line of Fire"
Luke stared at Bo in dismay as his younger cousin rapidly told him about what the man had said on the phone. "Oh, no."
Bo slammed his fist against his palm. "I can't believe we were so stupid! Here we're bein' chased by these guys, and we don't even think anything could happen to Daisy or Uncle Jesse! We shoulda made sure they were taken care of."
"'Trust us', I told her," Luke said bitterly. He looked up in sudden alarm. "Hey, we better call Uncle Jesse and let him know to keep a sharp lookout. We can't have them getting to him, too."
"What happened?"
Bo and Luke jumped, startled by the voice that came from the hallway. They had briefly forgotten about the police officer who had been sleeping in the other room down the hall. Despite the abrupt awakening at such an early hour, Dave Bryant looked awake and alert. He was already dressed, eyes sharp as he sensed the tension in the room.
"We just got a phone call from one of Claibourne's men," Bo said grimly. "They said they have our cousin Daisy, and if we don't meet 'em in two hours, they'll kill her."
Bryant looked worried. "Are you sure about that?"
"We ain't had time to call anybody," Luke confessed. "The Boar's Nest closes at two, so if she was workin' tonight, she'd already be home." He grabbed the phone and rapidly called the farmhouse, startled when Jesse snatched up the phone on the first ring.
"Enos?"
"No—no, Uncle Jesse, it's Luke," he stammered.
"Luke! I was just gonna call you boys," Jesse said. "Daisy didn't come home tonight—Enos said she left the Boar's Nest around 2:15, but Dixie's still there. He's out lookin' and I'm waitin' for him to call, but we're afraid that…"
Luke's heart sank. "I know, Uncle Jesse. We just got a phone call from one of Claibourne's men." Uncle and nephew quickly filled each other in on their ends of the story, and neither felt any better for it afterwards. Luke hung up with a promise that he and Bo would be careful and that they would get Daisy back.
"I take it you boys are planning to meet these men like they asked?" Bryant questioned, following the cousins back to their room.
"We ain't got a choice," Bo said tightly, throwing on his clothes. "It's because of us that Daisy got mixed up in this whole mess."
"Bo, it's nobody's fault—"
"Maybe so, maybe not, but we're gonna get her out of this!" Bo finished stubbornly.
Bryant's face darkened in a troubled frown. "You boys are forgetting—I know you're worried about your cousin, but you're government witnesses, remember? The state of Georgia needs you alive to testify against Claibourne when we get him to trial. I can't let you run off to get yourselves killed."
"No matter what happens to us, you'll still have a witness when we get Daisy back," Bo said. "She helped us out back at Osage Prison, and after tonight you know she'll have some dirt on him. Uncle Jesse, too. Besides," he finished with a smirk, "me and Luke ain't in the habit of dying."
"If you go alone, you won't come back alive," Bryant said seriously. "You've seen that these people don't play games. And once you're dead, there's nothing to keep them from killing your cousin." If she isn't dead already, he thought darkly to himself. But he wasn't going to voice that possibility.
"We'll meet 'em when and where they wanted," Luke said, stomping his feet into his boots, "but Bo and me…well, we ain't never been too good at following directions." He smiled grimly. "We're gonna need your help. You up for it?"
Bryant hesitated, looking uncertainly between the two cousins as he thought. He would be walking a fine line between helping them out and protecting them, but the firm resolve he saw in the two pairs of blue eyes fixed on his face was beginning to convince him. Besides, the boys were already pulling their jackets on, and he knew it would take more than one man to stop them. So he sighed and gave a resigned smile. "Okay. But will you at least let me call Miles first to let him know what you're up to?"
Luke clapped him on the shoulder. "Go right ahead. Do it fast, though…we gotta hurry."
Now, that's more like it! I always feel better when I know ol' Luke's got a plan cookin'…I just hope he don't get burned.
xxxxx
Daisy came awake with a start as she heard the sound of a door opening. She gave a little gasp and shook her head—she hadn't meant to fall asleep, but it had been a hard week and a long shift, and once she'd been shut in the dark little room, her exhaustion had caught up with her.
She looked up warily to see Claibourne standing over her, gazing down at her dispassionately. "It's time to go," he informed her.
Her face hardened as she glared at him. "I'm not goin' anywhere! I won't be your bargaining chip against my cousins." She locked eyes with him, refusing to be intimidated even though he was looming over her, seated on the floor, bound hand and foot.
"You already are," Claibourne replied coldly. "They've already agreed to meet us." He bent and cut the rope around her ankles. "Now, get up."
Daisy pushed herself farther into her corner, and set her jaw stubbornly. "No!"
Claibourne's flat expression didn't change. He turned and beckoned to someone Daisy couldn't see, and a moment later, Max and Snyder came into the room.
"Stop! No, I won't go! Let go of me!" Daisy cried out, struggling as the two big men bent and lifted her from the floor. She did her best to wrench away, but her efforts were futile. Max and Snyder quickly got tired of fighting with her and lifted her from the ground completely to carry her out of the ramshackle old house they had been staying in, depositing her roughly in the back of a blue van. The doors slammed closed behind her and Daisy was plunged into darkness again.
She immediately rolled to her feet and pressed her back against the door in an attempt to find a handle, but either there wasn't a way to open the door from the inside, or her bound hands were just too clumsy to find it.
Then the van started up with a growl and she fell to her knees as the vehicle gave a lurch and drove away. She leaned against the door, fighting back tears of frustration as a growing feeling of despair took hold of her heart. It wasn't enough that she had unwittingly given Claibourne's men the information they needed to abduct her cousins the week before—oh, no, she had only made things worse by her carelessness that had given them an opportunity to get their hands on her. She had no doubt that Claibourne had been telling the truth—Bo and Luke were going to meet them—and she had no doubt that the commissioner and his men would kill them the first chance they got.
Folks, I sure hope the Dukes find a way outta this one. It's bad enough for sweet Daisy bein' held hostage, but it's gonna be even worse for her if somethin' happens to the boys, 'cause you know she's gonna be blamin' herself just like Bo and Luke are blamin' themselves right now. Those Dukes share everything between 'em, but it ain't a good thing when what they're sharin' is guilt.
xxxxx
The eastern horizon was just beginning to turn gray with the first hint of dawn as Bo and Luke climbed out of the General Lee to walk the last mile to the Wedgewood crossroads. It was twenty minutes to five. They hadn't slept since the phone call at three, busy contacting the state police and Nate Miles, filling them in on the situation and what they had in mind. Now they were loping along a narrow dirt road lined by still, silent woods, hearts thumping nervously.
"Stay close to the trees," Luke cautioned. "They said they'd be at the crossroads, but there ain't no tellin' if they'll be waiting to bushwhack us along the way."
"I don't think I like that possibility," Bo said with a grimace, drifting closer to the treeline. He tugged the zipper up a little farther on his jacket as a cool breeze slipped under his collar. His brow furrowed worriedly as he half-jogged, half-walked alongside his cousin. "Luke…do you think they'll really bring Daisy?"
Luke's jaw clenched. "I don't know," he admitted. "They never said they'd bring her, did they? They just said she'd live."
"So there won't be much chance of findin' her if we…" Bo's voice trailed off. He wasn't going to say the word "die" out loud. His handsome face grew stern with determination. "Daisy's worth the risk, though," he said firmly.
Luke just gave him a tight smile and a nod. "Come on. We'd better pick up the pace a little if we're gonna make it there in time."
Dawn broke as the cousins finished their short trek. The orange and pink sunrise was splashed against the sky, sharply silhouetting the black trees against the glowing horizon. Bo and Luke had drawn further into the woods as they approached, hoping not to be seen until they had gotten an idea of what was waiting for them. They saw a dark blue van sitting still and silent by the side of the road, and two figures could be seen inside the front seat.
Bo took a deep breath. "You ready for this, cousin?"
Luke nodded. "Let's go."
xxxxx
Daisy had tried to keep track of how far and fast they'd driven. When the van finally came to a stop, she listened tensely as she heard the doors slam and felt the vehicle jostle as somebody—or somebodies—climbed out. She waited nervously, wondering if her captors would come to get her, but the footsteps faded, and for several minutes she was left alone in the dark, empty compartment. Then she heard the doors slam again, and gravel crunched underfoot as two men came around to the back of the van. She took a deep breath and crouched low as the back door opened.
The moment she saw daylight, Daisy lunged forward—but Rod and Claibourne were right there. Rod caught her as she came flying out, wrapping his arms around her and laughing derisively as she struggled against him.
"Whoa there, little lady!" he said. "You're a feisty one, aren't you?"
"Quit struggling, Miss Duke," Claibourne said sternly. "You give us a hard time, and your cousins are going to have a very hard time."
Daisy stopped fighting with a gasp and looked toward the trees. Bo and Luke were slowly emerging from the woods, hands raised in surrender. Both Claibourne and Rod had their guns drawn.
"Bo, Luke, don't!" she pleaded.
"It's okay, Daisy," Luke said, steady blue eyes fixed on her face.
"Just you keep on coming, boys," Claibourne instructed. "And don't try anything funny. Max and Snyder are around here someplace watchin' you, and it won't be no trouble for them to shoot you in your tracks."
"We'll come with you," Bo said. "But first you let Daisy go like you promised."
"Just keep walking," Claibourne repeated. "She'll be taken care of."
The Duke boys kept advancing until they were a few feet away from Daisy and the two criminals.
Daisy met Bo's eyes and mouthed, I'm sorry.
His face softened in concern and he gave his head a little shake. Not your fault.
"We're here," Luke said firmly. "Now let her go."
But nobody would ever know what Claibourne and Rod had planned to do next, because right then, the situation spun wildly out of control.
The peaceful silence of the woods was shattered by the sound of gunfire. The two criminals started in surprise, and for a fraction of a second, they took their eyes off of their prisoners. Bo and Luke were no less surprised, but they reacted instantly. Bo threw himself at Claibourne, knocking the commissioner back against the open van door while Luke jumped forward, shoving Rod away from Daisy.
"Daisy, go!" Luke ordered sharply, staggering back as Rod took a swing at him.
Despite her determination not to leave her cousins at the mercy of armed criminals, Daisy obeyed. Luke's voice brooked no argument—and she knew she'd be of no use with her hands bound behind her. Shots were still being fired back from where Bo and Luke had come, so she bolted past the van into the woods in the opposite direction—but she didn't run far. The stubborn young woman would obey her cousin's order, but only as much as she saw fit. She ducked behind a tree and turned fearful eyes back the way she had come.
Luke had knocked Rod's gun away, but Claibourne had held onto his, and now he had the muzzle pressed against Bo's temple. Luke instantly backed away from the fight, raising his hands in surrender once again as Rod grinned triumphantly, bending to retrieve his discarded weapon. The gunfire from the trees abruptly stopped, and Daisy's eyes widened to see Snyder running toward the van, unarmed, cradling a bloody arm against his chest.
"Someone was with them!" he gasped. "They hit me—Max is dead!"
Claibourne turned to Bo and Luke in cold fury. "Get inside!" he ordered. Daisy watched in horror as her cousins disappeared into the van. Claibourne raised his firearm. "Last time I made the mistake of not finishing you off when I had the chance," he said with a vengeful snarl on his face. "I won't make it again."
Two gunshots ripped through the air.
"No!"
Daisy didn't realize she had cried aloud until the three men by the van wheeled to face her. She could tell they had caught sight of her, but the next instant they spun to face the opposite direction as they heard a commanding voice shout out, telling them to freeze—but they weren't about to be caught flat-footed again. Claibourne slammed the back door closed and ducked around to the driver's side. Rod and Snyder jumped in after him and the van roared away. A man darted from the cover of the trees, firing after the van in an attempt to hit the tires, but he was too late. Five seconds later, the road was empty and quiet. Daisy's soft crying was the only sound that broke the silence.