Luke's immediate reaction was to jump up, but Charlie was quick on his feet, too. He pointed the gun at Luke before shoving him hard onto the bed again.
"So you're a little hothead, huh? Seems to run in the family. I'll let you know up front, that's a trait that really gets on my nerves. You see, my original intention for your cousin, Bo, was just to kidnap him, to hold him tied up somewhere until you could come up with the money. But even after a good solid beating wouldn't shut him up, I got tired and did what I had to do to keep him alive and put and keep myself sane."
"Nobody sane could do what you've done." Luke replied. "If that's really is what you did. How do I know for sure that Bo's in that grave?"
Charlie smiled. "Well I had a feeling that question might come up, so I took a few more pictures."
Charlie handed him a new stack which Luke nervously took from him. The first photo showed the same grave in the cemetery, only this time, the grave was opened up. The next photo showed a clearly angry Bo Duke with his hands and feet bound, sitting up against the tombstone of the adjoining grave. He sported some bruises and it was clear that he wasn't taking the situation at hand too lightly. The next photo showed an unconscious Bo with some fresh lines of red blood on the side of his head as he was being lifted into an inexpensive wooden coffin. The last picture showed a view of the bottom of the grave, the coffin in place with a few shovelfuls of dirt on top. The only thing unusual about the photo was the long thin pvc pipe that stretched from the wooden box to just above the ground. The final picture was the first one Luke had seen.
"How um…." The normally tough Luke began, sniffing a bit. "….how much air….I mean, how long do I have?"
"Oh don't you worry about the air. Horace is on his way there to check it now. We'll make sure he's kept alive for three days. That should be enough time for you to come up with a plan."
Ain't time a funny thing? In some instances, three days can seem like forever, in others, it can seem incredibly short.
Without much choice, Luke responded. "I'll do what I can."
"Well that's in your best interest isn't it?"
Luke didn't respond, but looked at the photo of Bo instead.
"If you're going to meet your deadline, I suggest you get started. You're free to go. Oh, I'll take those." Charlie announced, snatching the photos from Luke's hand.
Luke slowly walked toward the door, still too unsteady from the blow to his head to go fast.
"Oh, and Luke?"
Luke stopped without turning around.
"Horace and I plan to retire under assumed names somewhere, and if too many people know what's going on, that's not going to happen. So I wouldn't tell anyone what's going on if I were you."
Luke swallowed as he added one final statement.
"And to help you remember that, we've planted a bug. Now it could be in your car, it could be in your barn, your house, your uncle's truck, even your friend's garage. The point is, we will be listening, and if we even suspect that you've told anyone, or that you're doing anything other than coming up with that money, we will cut off that oxygen supply, no questions asked. You got it?"
Luke simply nodded his head before he threw the door open to walk outside, to the General Lee.
XXXXXXXXXX
Bo Duke had been driving along, happy as a clam. He was on his way to watch a race in Nashville as he hummed along to a Waylon Jennings song on the radio. Things couldn't get any better than this.
That boy's got good taste in music, don't he?
Then it happened. From out of nowhere, two guys came up behind him and without warning, shot out a tire on Daisy's jeep. The jeep spun wildly before going off an embankment. Bo had hit his head and blacked out immediately.
The next thing he remembered was waking up on the floor of an old shack he didn't recognize. He tried to get up but immediately found it impossible as his hands and feet were tied. The guy that had sat watch over him looked familiar. Bo remembered arguing back and forth against his captor. Frustrated at last, the captor got up and gave him a good beating. He lay there wincing in pain, welcoming the sleep that was soon to come.
Later, he had awakened to find the captor had a companion. His questioned his kidnapping, but neither would answer him. This set Bo off to arguing again. In reward, Bo got fresh bruises on top of old ones.
He awoke a third time. This time he was outside. Thank heaven for that anyway. As he blinked his eyes he sat up, his body screaming in protest. He shook his head and looked to the side. There sat ole' ugly again.
"Who are you? Why don't you just let me go you've got no right to keep me like this!" Bo yelled as a bright light flashed in his eyes. He blinked again and looked at one of the guys who had just taken his picture.
Why was he taking pictures? Bo wondered. He didn't want to think about the answer. He had heard too many stories of torture masterminds who liked to keep a visual record of their crimes.
Some dirt hit Bo in the face.
"What was that for?" Bo complained as he shook the dirt away. His eyes then widened in realization as he saw where the dirt had come from- the end of a shovel.
"Get him." Charlie had commanded.
Bo wasn't about to give them a chance. When Horace neared him, he kicked out with both feet, catching the younger brother squarely on his chest. As he fell away, Charlie came toward him. Again, Bo used his feet, managing to trip Charlie up.
Against his body's objection, Bo managed to get to his feet, but as they were tied, he couldn't do anything but hop. As he crouched for the first spring, Charlie reached for his feet, knocking him down. As he fell, a corner of a tombstone clipped his head, bringing darkness to him once again.
As Bo woke up this time, he was in almost complete darkness. Almost, that is, except for a tiny sliver of light that seemed a long way away. He didn't have to touch his battered body to feel every inch of it, he was in so much pain. As he reached to put his hand on his head, he found that he was still tied up. But that wasn't what frightened him most.
As he felt around with his hands and feet as best as he could, it didn't take long for him to realize he was in a box of some sort. A rather cold box that smelled of freshly turned earth.
Bo opened his mouth as he remembered the events before his latest blackout. His breath came in short, rapid succession as he struggled to breath.
"LUUUUUUUUUUKE!" He screamed to no one that could hear.
I don't know about ya'll but if I'd been standin' in that cemetery about then, I'd be high tailin' it outta there.