I was having a little trouble coming up with a title for this chapter…but then this idea popped into my head and I couldn't resist. I almost didn't include it because I thought it might be a wee bit silly, but in the end I decided just to go for it. :D

Many thanks to GrayWolf84 for her excellent beta work!

- Flynne :)

------------------------------------------------------------

– Chapter Eleven –

"I'm Not Quite Dead Yet!"

(Subtitle: "I'm Getting Better!")

Daisy dropped to her knees beside the tree, leaning weakly against the rough bark as tears ran down her face. Her fault…it was all her fault. If only she'd paid more attention when she was leaving the Boar's Nest!

"Daisy?"

She jerked, startled to hear her name spoken close by. She looked up to see a fair-haired man in a dark jacket bending over her.

"It's all right, Daisy, you're safe now. I'm a police officer," he told her, reaching behind her to untie her hands. She looked at him warily before she saw with relief the badge pinned to his dark blue jacket. "My name's Dave Bryant—I was staying with Bo and Luke. They asked me to follow them here to back them up and make sure you'd be all right."

Daisy rubbed her sore wrists as Bryant helped her to her feet, taking a deep breath to try and ease the pain in her heart. It didn't help. "He shot them!" she said in a quivering voice, fighting to keep from breaking down completely.

"I know." Bryant put an arm around her shoulders and walked with her back to the road. "Don't give up hope, though—we couldn't see inside the van—we don't know what happened…"

"It doesn't matter," she said. "They're gone! Even if Bo and Luke are still alive, once Claibourne gets where he's going…oh, this is all my fault! I didn't even think they'd come after me! If I'd been watching, I could have called for help, Enos would have heard me, they wouldn't have been able to—!"

"Sweetheart, calm down!" Bryant said. He gave her a firm but gentle shake. "It's not your fault. They don't blame you—you're their cousin, you should know that."

"I know they don't blame me," Daisy replied, "but it doesn't help." She closed her eyes and swallowed hard, regaining control of herself. When she looked up at him again, her blue eyes were swimming with tears, but they were filled with determination. "We're goin' after them," she declared. "I'm not letting those men take my cousins from me."

"The General Lee is about a mile down the road," Bryant said. "Once we get there, we can call for help to organize a search."

"We'll call for help, but we don't need a search," Daisy said. "I know where Claibourne and the others were hiding out."

The officer looked at her in surprise. "You do?"

Daisy nodded briskly. "I recognized the place when they carried me from the cabin to the van. I can show you how to get there."

Daisy sure is somethin', isn't she? Even though she's scared and hurtin', she's got her head together. That's one amazing girl, y'all. I'm sure glad Bo and Luke managed to save her…I just hope it ain't too late to save them.

"Good girl!" Bryant encouraged. "Come on, we've got to get back to the car!" Daisy jogged alongside the police officer as they hurried back down the road. Bryant had brought a two-way radio with him, and he pulled it out and flipped it on as they moved.

"This is Bryant calling Officer Walsh. You out there, Ted?"

"I read you, Dave. What's happening?"

"Miss Duke is safe, but Bo and Luke are in trouble." Bryant quickly told his fellow officer what had transpired.

"What do you want us to do?"

"Daisy and I are heading back to the Dukes' car now. The keys are inside. Have one of your boys pick it up and drive up to meet us."

"Yes, sir. We'll see you in a few."

"What's going on?" Daisy asked.

"Bo and Luke didn't come alone," Bryant explained. "Like I told you, the General is about a mile down the road, but I've got four cars and eight men two miles farther down. Your cousins wouldn't let them get any closer because they didn't know how much surveillance Claibourne would have and they didn't want to spook him until we knew you were safe, but my men been ready and waiting in case we needed them."

By the time Daisy and Bryant had run three-quarters of a mile, they saw the General Lee coming up around a curve, followed by four police cars. Daisy headed straight for the General and waited impatiently for the officer who was driving to slither his way awkwardly out of the window and rejoin his partner in the patrol car.

Bryant climbed into the passenger side of the General and picked up the CB. "Okay, everyone, you're gonna follow Miss Duke. No sirens unless you get the okay from me—we want to catch these guys."

Daisy slid nimbly through the window into the driver's seat. "Hold on, sugar!" The General took off in a cloud of flying dust, leading the four police cruisers down the winding road like an orange kite on a string.

Now, ain't that a sight? It ain't often you see the General gettin' chased by police cars without tryin' to shake 'em.

xxxxx

Cassius Claibourne drove with grim determination. A glance in the side mirror told him he wasn't being followed and he allowed himself to slow down a little as he navigated the winding dirt road. Beside him, Snyder was gritting his teeth in pain as Rod bound up his wounded arm.

"Did you see who hit you?" Rod asked.

Snyder shook his head tightly. "No. Max did…He said it was a cop and started shooting."

Rod turned blazing eyes on Claibourne. "A cop?"

"Relax," Claibourne growled. "There's nobody behind us. Even if they do figure out where we've gone, we won't be there when they arrive. We're just stopping long enough to pick up Slater before we dump the bodies."

"Relax? I just lost a man, Claibourne! You'd better be right."

xxxxx

Bo lay motionless on the floor of the van, breathing carefully as the sharp ache in the left side of his chest gradually subsided. It took him several minutes to recover; the force of the bullet had thrown him flat on his back and knocked the wind out of him. He coughed a little, feeling the last of the roughness from the smoke he'd breathed in five nights before. When he'd gotten his breath back, he turned to his right—he couldn't see Luke, but he knew that's where his cousin had been—and cautiously whispered, "Luke?"

"Yeah, right here. I'm not quite dead yet." Luke sat up with a groan, pressing a hand to the painful spot over the right side of his ribcage. "You doin' okay?"

Bo took another careful breath and slowly pushed himself off the van floor. "I'm getting better."

"Boy, am I glad we listened to Miles," Luke said in a low voice. His fingers glided over the ragged hole torn in his jacket, feeling the stiff roughness of the Kevlar vest beneath that the detective had insisted he and Bo wear. The jackets had been meant to ward off the early morning chill and to conceal the body armor, and the pair of cousins were immensely relieved that the extra layer of clothing had served its purpose.

"I ain't never gonna argue with a cop again," Bo vowed. "Well—except Rosco."

"If we're gonna live to argue with him we're gonna need to find a way out of here before Claibourne pulls over and finds out his dead bodies ain't dead."

"Yeah, I know it." Bo cautiously climbed to his feet, gritting his teeth against the fresh burst of pain that came with movement. He figured he'd have a pretty nasty bruise where the bullet had struck, but if that was all that was wrong, he wasn't going to complain. Luke stood up as well, staying low so he'd be able to maintain his balance if the van lurched unexpectedly. The last thing they needed was to start crashing around back there when they were supposed to be dead.

"Luke, what d'you think happened back there?" Bo asked quietly.

"I ain't sure, but I'm guessin' Max and Snyder had something to do with it. Remember how Claibourne said they was watchin' us? I bet they saw Bryant and decided to shoot first an' ask questions later."

Bo's brow furrowed in concern. "I hope Bryant's okay."

"Well, the way Claibourne lit outta there, I'm guessin' he is. I just hope he can find Daisy."

The two young men felt their way to the back of the van's echoing cargo compartment, running their hands over the door wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling. They knew Daisy must have tried, but her hands had been bound—maybe they could find a way to open the door where she couldn't. Luke found the place where the handle had been, but he let out a frustrated hiss as he discovered the door had been tampered with so it no longer opened from the inside.

"Wonder how many times Claibourne's used this van?" Bo said darkly.

"I don't wanna think about that," Luke replied. He ran his fingers up and down the groove where the doors came together. "I wonder…" He pulled his knife off his belt and flipped the blade open, careful not to cut himself in the dark.

"You wonder what?" Bo couldn't see what his cousin was up to.

"Move your hands away from the door. I'm gonna see if I can get my knife in the crack to jimmy it open." Luke slipped the blade between the doors where he guessed the catch might be, but he knew right away it wouldn't work. There was no way a skinny little knife blade would be able to pry open the heavy door lock. He kept at it anyway, though, biting his lip and jiggling the knife handle.

"Aw, it ain't gonna work, Bo," he said finally, withdrawing his knife with a sigh of defeat.

"Well, there's gotta be another way out of here," Bo said, wishing rather than believing it were true.

"I don't know. We may just need to take our chances with Claibourne and the others. They think we're dead, so if we can jump 'em as soon as those doors open, maybe we can surprise 'em enough so we can get away."

Bo suddenly tensed and put his hand on Luke's arm. "I think we're slowin' down." Both young men fell silent and grew completely still. The van had stopped moving.

Slater was already waiting at the run-down house for Claibourne and the others to return, having stayed behind to erase all traces that would indicate they had been there. He came out to meet the van as he heard it pull up and noticed with increasing alarm that Max was missing and there was blood on Snyder's clothing.

"What the hell went wrong?" he demanded.

"The Duke boys tried a double-cross," Claibourne ground out.

"I told you they would, didn't I?" Slater snapped, glaring angrily between his boss and Rod.

"Don't worry," the commissioner said. "They won't be giving us any more trouble."

Slater's eyes narrowed as he caught the implication behind Claibourne's words. "Dead?"

"If they aren't dead now, they will be soon. I shot them myself. They're in the van."

The deputy looked irritated. "Didn't you check?"

"I didn't have time." Claibourne fixed the younger man with a glare through his mirrored sunglasses. "And I don't like all these questions. Just you remember who's in charge here."

Slater pulled his gun out. "I'm checkin' back there anyway. If they ain't dead yet, well…I'll just help 'em along."

Bo and Luke had heard the voices filtering in from the outside, and they waited with thumping hearts, crouched low on either side of the doors, ready to spring out the moment Slater looked inside.

But the doors never opened. They heard a sudden burst of furious swearing and the sound of running footsteps, followed moments later by the wail of a siren, surprisingly close.

Bo felt a sudden burst of hope. "Bryant!"

Luke started to smile. "And I bet Daisy's with him."

The van came to life with a roar and lurched forward. Bo and Luke lost their balance and fell to the floor in the sudden movement, but the sound was drowned out in the sound of the engine and the rapidly approaching siren. They heard another car start up not too far away, and the sound of gunshots as Slater fired at the approaching police cars. Then they were really moving, bracing themselves against the floor as the van jostled over the rough road.

"Man, now I know what popcorn feels like!" Bo grunted, slamming against the side wall.

"Yeah, I can't tell if that rattling is from the van or my teeth inside my skull."

"What rattle?" Bo cocked his head to listen. It was hard to hear over the noise of the engine and the sirens behind them, but he could just pick out a faint rattling that he hadn't heard before. It took him a minute to realize that it was coming from above him, and only half a minute longer before a sudden idea hit him.

"Luke, steady me for a minute. I'm gonna stand up."

"What? Why?" Luke rose onto his knees and felt his way over to his cousin as Bo rose less-than-steadily in the center of the van. He wrapped his arms around Bo's legs to keep him upright.

Bo slid his palms along the underside of the roof. "That rattle you heard…I'm wonderin' if maybe—I found it!" he exclaimed softly. "Luke, the van has a hatch in the roof!"

"You're kidding."

Bo chuckled. "If I'm lyin', I'm dyin'!"

Luke rolled his eyes. "Don't joke around like that just yet, Cuz. Can you open it?"

"Hold on…" There was a pause while Bo felt around the edges of the hatch. He flipped a few of the catches open and gave it a push. "Dang it…it's stuck. Must be latched from the outside, too."

"Let me take a look." Luke let go of Bo's legs and stood up as both of them braced an arm against the ceiling for balance. He thumped his palm firmly on the hatch. It was still snugly closed, but if he pushed on it, there was just a little bit of give… "Stand back, Bo. I'm gonna try something."

xxxxx

Daisy leaned harder on the accelerator, speeding up as the winding road straightened out. They had been slowly but steadily gaining ever since the chase began in the woods. The General and the line of police cars had gotten close to Claibourne's hideout before they had been spotted, and it was only after their quarry tried to run that the sirens came on and the pursuit began in earnest.

They were out of the woods now, pursuing Claibourne's van and Slater's car across open ground. It was a tough chase. The criminals were fiercely determined not to be caught, but Daisy knew it was only a matter of time before the General closed the gap.

Bryant was on the CB, keeping close contact with the other four patrol cars and watching Claibourne's van like a hawk—so when a large square object suddenly flew off the roof, his eyes went wide with surprise and he stared for a moment before finding his voice. "What was that?"

Daisy had seen it too, and a sudden hopeful smile broke across her face as she saw Slater swerve wildly to avoid getting hit with the wayward missile. "Bryant, I think 'that' was my cousins!"

xxxxx

"Woo! Nice goin' Luke! I always knew havin' an ex-boxer in the family would come in handy!" Bo exclaimed with a grin. After just a few powerful blows from Luke, the hatch was gone, and the bright early morning sunlight was beaming through the opening.

"Dang, but that smarts!" Luke complained, shaking his throbbing hand.

"You okay?"

"Oh, yeah. I've punched stuff harder than that before…but that don't mean it don't hurt."

A sudden explosion and the screech of twisting metal echoed around the van, and both boys flattened themselves against the wall as a bullet tore its way through the metal divider between the front seat and the cargo hold—the noise from their escape attempt hadn't gone unnoticed, and Rod had realized that their prisoners might not have been as dead as they had hoped.

"Bo, I think it's time we get outta here!" Luke hissed.

"I ain't gonna argue!"

Rod took another shot at them from the front seat. He couldn't see them and the bullet missed widely, but Bo and Luke weren't about to wait for him to get a lucky shot or for a ricochet to strike home.

Luke cautiously edged closer to the hatch. "Gimme a boost and then I'll pull you up."

Bo nodded immediately and braced himself, lacing his fingers together to form a stirrup for Luke to stand on. Although both boys had been crawling in, on, around, and under anything with wheels since they had learned to walk, Luke had an innate sense of balance that his training as a boxer had only enhanced. Bo might have had a bit of an edge driving fast-moving vehicles, but when it came to climbing on them, Luke was the better man.

Luke stepped onto Bo's hands and jumped, catching hold of the open hatch and pulling himself through. It hurt as the badly bruised muscles over his ribs tensed with the sudden motion, but he wasn't about to let the pain slow him down. He rolled onto the swaying roof of the van and caught himself adroitly, lying flat to reach both his arms down into the interior. Bo jumped and grabbed hold of Luke's arms at the same time, and the tug from his cousin's hands gave him the boost he needed to pull himself up and out.

Bo laughed aloud when he saw the string of speeding vehicles behind. "Would you look at that? We're leadin' a parade!"

Well now, ol' Bo and Luke can finally take stock of the situation! They's on the van that Claibourne's driving, and Slater is right behind 'em in his car. Daisy and the General are comin' up fast, and there's four flashin' and screamin' patrol cars bringin' up the rear. That's quite a start to their day…all that, and it ain't even six in the mornin' yet.

xxxxx

"Bryant, look!" Daisy cried, feeling a surge of relief as she saw her cousins suddenly emerge from the van. "They're alive!" She glanced down at the speedometer and her smile grew broader as she compared her speed to the van's. It was time for the General to stretch his legs.

Bryant looked hopeful but worried. "We're still gonna have to stop that van if we're going to be able to help," he said.

"You don't know my cousins!" Daisy said with a laugh. "Hang on to somethin', honey!"

She laid on the horn and floored it, and the powerful engine's growl lifted to a roar. Bo and Luke looked up as the sound of "Dixie" rang out, and they saw the General smoothly and steadily pass by Slater's car and pull up along the left side of the van.

"Hey, atta girl, Daisy!" Bo cheered her on.

No sooner had the words escaped him than he gasped and flinched, barely keeping his hold on the roof as a bullet creased the metal bare inches from his head. He and Luke glanced back to see Rod leaning out the van window, cursing at the uneven road that had thrown off his aim. He was fumbling now as he tried to get a better position, but it wouldn't be long before he could get off a clean shot.

"Time to bail off this circus wagon!" Luke exclaimed. He cast a calculating look at the General. "Think we can make it?"

"We're gonna have to!" Bo replied. "Go!"

Luke paused just a fraction of a second before he launched himself off the top of the van and landed with a thump right in the middle of the Confederate flag on the General's roof. He instantly slid forward and started feet-first through the passenger side window, pushing aside a startled Dave Bryant. Bo waited a mere heartbeat until Luke was out of the way, took a deep breath, and jumped. He flattened himself against the roof and held on with his arm inside the driver's side window until Luke had made it inside. Five seconds later, he was sliding through the passenger window, breathless and with a racing pulse—but safe.

"Hey there, Daisy!" he said brightly. "Thanks for pickin' us up!"

Daisy flashed a smile over at her two cousins. "Anytime!" She tapped the brakes and started dropping back from the van.

Luke smiled back, but he immediately grew stiff with alarm as he looked out the windshield. "Daisy, look out!" Claibourne had seen what had happened and was making a sudden attempt to sideswipe the General by slamming on the brakes and wrenching the wheel around.

"Hold on, y'all!" A quick glance out the side window showed her that she had room to move, and Daisy immediately swerved off the road. The General jerked roughly as the wheels bounded over the uneven turf next to the dirt road, but Daisy's skill kept the sturdy stock car under control.

Claibourne wasn't so lucky. The cumbersome, top-heavy van fishtailed on the uneven ground, skidded, and tipped over, tumbling three times before it landed on its side, shuddering to a halt with a deafening metallic screech. Slater was too close to avoid it, and his car plowed into the back of the van with a crash.

The four police cruisers came speeding up, surrounding the two battered vehicles in a cloud of red road dust. Four of the policemen crouched behind their doors, guns at the ready, while their partners darted forward to help the criminals out of the tangle of twisted metal. Claibourne and the others were shaken and stunned by the impact, but they were all standing up when they were pulled from the wreckage. Fortunately for Rod, he had been back inside the van when it had crashed, or he would have been crushed beneath it.

The General coasted to a stop. Bryant and Daisy climbed out, followed by Bo and Luke, who were moving just a little stiffly and slowly to avoid unnecessarily banging their bullet-bruised chests against the window frame. They made it out of the car just in time to see the officers handcuff the would-be killers and lead them away. Claibourne gave them a final murderous—but powerless—glare, and then he was out of sight, concealed within the back seat of a patrol car.

"Whew!" Luke let out a long breath and dragged his hand across his brow. "Well, looks like our plan worked after all, Bryant! Turned out a little different than we thought, but—" He broke off suddenly as Daisy threw her arms around his neck, hugging him so fiercely he staggered back against the General.

"Luke Duke, is that all you have to say?" she demanded, voice a mixture of fondness and anger. Luke blinked, startled, as he felt her start to shake with suppressed tears. What was this about? But before he could stammer out a response, Daisy abruptly drew back as she noticed the unusual stiffness against her cousin's chest. "Luke, what…?" She paled as she saw the ragged hole torn in his jacket, but then she noticed the dark bulk of a bulletproof vest. Her eyes cut over to Bo, and her knees went weak with relief as she saw the body armor beneath his unzipped jacket.

Then it hit Luke like a freight train. He and Bo had been so focused on getting out of the van and catching up with the crooks that they had completely forgotten that the last Daisy had seen of them, they had been shot by Claibourne.

"Aw, Daisy…" He hugged her tightly. "Don't cry. We're okay."

Bryant's eyes widened. "Where did you boys get those?" he asked, looking as surprised as Daisy to see the Kevlar vests.

Bo looked sheepish and brushed his hand over the armor beneath his jacket. "Oh…we got them from Miles before we met you at the cabin. When we called him this morning, he reminded us that he'd left these for us and he made us promise to wear 'em. I guess we put 'em on while you was still makin' your phone calls."

"You two took about ten years off me!" Bryant said with a mixture of exasperation and relief. "You should have told me you were wearing body armor."

"That's right!" Daisy still looked upset. "We thought he'd killed you!"

Bo gently put a hand on her shoulder. "We're sorry we scared you so bad, darlin'," he apologized quietly.

"Never mind, honey. I'm just glad you're not hurt. I'd never forgive myself," Daisy replied shakily. She turned to her younger cousin, resting her head on his shoulder as he put his arm around her. Bo frowned a little at her words and exchanged a concerned glance with Luke, but one of the state troopers walked up and broke in before he could speak.

"We're ready to wrap up here, Dave," he said to Bryant. "Bo and Luke, we're going to need you two—and you, Daisy—to come back and give us your statements. Detective Miles is waiting at the Osage Prison. His team went in this morning and arrested Sheriff Cathcarte."

Bo rolled his eyes. "It had to be Osage Prison," he grumbled. "I hate the sight of that place."

"Just one last time, Bo," Luke said, clapping him on the shoulder. "I ain't fond of it either, but if goin' there now means it's the last time I gotta see it, I'm ready."

Bo headed for the driver's seat. "You comin' with us, Bryant?"

The officer laughed and shook his head. "I think I'll ride in a patrol car, thanks," he declined. "If you drive anything like Miss Daisy, I'm better off in another car. I'll see you when we get to the prison, though."

"Ten-four!"

Bo slipped through the window and waited for the police cars to drive away before swinging in behind them—even though they were on his side, it just went against his principles to drive in front of a line of cop cars. Daisy sat in the middle of the front seat, her hand resting lightly on his shoulder while she leaned against Luke's side.

Well, that was one wild chase, y'all! Looks like it's turned out just fine, though. Bo and Luke weren't hurt after all, and them bad guys been caught by the law. I sure am glad the boys are all right…but you know, I'm startin' to worry that Daisy might not be…