(After a research of army rankings, my Corporal has become a Major. GrayWolf84 supplied his name-I thought a military brat deserved that honor. So Thanks...BRAT:D )
The Major looked up and spied Daisy standing in the doorway. He and Sampson walked over to her.
"Who did your uncle say this cabin belonged to?"
"Boss…uh, J.D. Hogg, the County Commissioner."
The Major arched his eyebrow knowingly before he turned to the Private. "Sampson, you wait here in case they decide to come back. In the meantime, dig through what's left and see if you can come up with a clue as to where they might have gone. I'll have the girl and her uncle take me to the County Commissioner to find out what he knows."
"Yes sir!" Sampson replied.
The Major led Daisy back out to the vehicle where Jesse waited. It didn't take long for them to get back in town, where they headed straight for the Hazzard County Jail.
"Bear with me just a few moments and I'll see you get back up to the doctor's office." The Major assured Jesse, taking him out of the car and assisting him inside to avoid the extreme heat of the day.
Daisy followed the Major inside, who helped Jesse onto a bench. Rosco was just stepping out of Boss's office with a drinking glass in his hand when Jesse was finally settled.
"Oh! Uh….." Rosco babbled, looking from Jesse and Daisy to the Major. "….Can I help you?"
"Major General Gene Edwards, U.S. Army." The Major replied. "I need to speak with the County Commissioner, J.D. Hogg."
"Okay……" Rosco began, wondering if he should give Boss a warning first. "…..well actually I'm not sure that…..he's here. ...as a matter of fact I need to check………"
"Rosco!" Boss exclaimed, stepping out of his office and holding a small soft pretzel in his hand. "How long does it take to get some water around here? Whatcha doin'? Holdin' the glass out the window and waitin' fer it to rain?" He asked, finally turning to look at the Major when Rosco pointed discreetly toward him.
"Oh!" Boss exclaimed, suddenly looking nervous. He had no idea why the Major was there, but even he knew the mere fact that he was standing there was serious business.
"Mr. Hogg, I presume?"
"Oh, yeah, yeah. Jefferson Davis Hogg." Boss replied, offering the Major a hand, which he accepted.
"Mr. Hogg, I am Major General Gene Edwards, U.S. Army." The Major introduced himself again just before dropping Boss's hand. He reached into his pocket and withdrew the photos of the doctors before handing them to Boss. "I am searching for the gentlemen pictured in these photos. Can you tell me where I might find them?"
"Hmmm….." Boss drew out, turning the photos to one side then the other in examination. "Can't rightly say that I recognize them. What about you, Rosco?" He asked, pushing the photos into the sheriff's hand.
"Oh, well I…" Rosco began, looking at the photos.
"Mr. Duke tells me he witnessed the pair just last evening at your Carter's Lake cabin."
"He did? Oh he did!" Boss laughed nervously. "Of course. I remember them now. They come up just the other day lookin' to rent a fishin' cabin, so naturally I let 'em use mine."
Major Edwards eyed him suspiciously as he took out a small memo book and began flipping pages. "Hogg….Hogg….." He repeated before finally pointing to some writing for himself. "So you have no further knowledge of them other than being renters?"
"No, other than they're from somewhere near Atlanta, as I recall." Boss replied, remembering the payoff and free treatments he had received from Dr. Dewberry. Although he didn't know exactly what the doctor was up too, part of the deal was that he was to keep his mouth shut about the whole incident
"So…" The Major continued, "Despite the fact that you, J.D. Hogg, had exactly three treatments from the hypnotist, Dr. Dewberry, you cannot recall his appearance?"
Boss simply stood with open mouth, omitting a low growling sound and wondering how the Major knew about that as Gene Edwards closed the memo booklet and replaced it in his pocket. "You of all people, Commissioner, should know the penalty of aiding and abetting a known felon."
"But but but…." Boss stuttered. "I didn't know he was a felon, sir. I swear….and I don't know where he is!"
He stepped around the Major and wagged a finger in front of Jesse. "If yer lookin' to arrest somebody over this, arrest Jesse Duke here!"
"What!" Jesse and Daisy asked simultaneously.
"Yeah, get after him. He oughta know where Dr. Dewberry is, with all that time his nephew Bo's been spendin' with him!"
"What!" Daisy asked again as Jesse looked at Boss in shock.
"No wonder Rosco wouldn't help us this morning." Jesse sighed after a few minutes, worrying about his nephew's involvement with these wanted men. "J.D., ya mean to tell me ya knew Bo was in some sort of trouble and you didn't come and tell me about it?"
"No Jesse. I mean, well, I knew he was with Dr. Dewberry but I didn't think about him bein' in no kind of trouble.
"What was he doin' with him, Boss?" Daisy asked.
"Well, he's getting some of them hypnosis treatments himself, tryin' to git rid of some bad dreams from what I understand." Boss replied.
"So Bo Duke is your nephew?" Major Edwards asked, taking the memo again and finding Bo's name written inside.
"Yeah." Jesse replied, settling back and looking toward the ceiling to let it all sink in before he looked at the Major. "Ya mean to tell me you knew about Bo too?"
"Lost sheep one callin' shepherd." A voice over the C.B. announced.
Jesse motioned for Daisy to hand him the C.B. off the desk behind him. "This is shepherd, any luck findin' Bo?"
"'Fraid not, Shepherd, but I did find another member of the family. General Lee was parked under the Campbell Bridge with some brush all over top of it, and a wallet inside that don't belong to none of us."
"A wallet?"
"Yep. Probably got left behind by whoever stole it. Looks like the guilty party is a George Stephen Foster. Got an Atlanta address on his license."
Jesse looked up to see the Major making wild gestures in the air. He knew what they meant. "Uh, stay put lost sheep, we'll be along directly."
"Ten-four." Luke replied.
The Major assisted Jesse up once again before taking him back out and putting him in his vehicle. After Daisy climbed into the back, he insisted on directions to Campbell Bridge as Boss and Rosco climbed into a patrol car to follow them.
The Major took a moment to pick Sampson up from the cabin before heading toward the bridge. They arrived just in time to see Luke and Cooter tossing the last bit of brush away from the car.
"Hey!" Luke greeted them when Daisy finally emerged with the Major while Sampson stayed behind to assist Jesse. "Didn't recognize you in that humvee. Everything alright?" He asked, seeing Major Edwards.
"Young man, may I have the wallet you found?" The Major asked, extending his hand.
"Give it to him, Luke." Jesse instructed as he was being helped down the embankment.
In confusion, Luke handed the wallet over and watched as the Major examined the contents.
"Alright." Jesse began, finally standing next to Luke. "Now you've got yer wallet. Now tell me what's up with these doctors."
"As we explained earlier today, sir, we're not at liberty to discuss it." Major Edwards replied.
Daisy stepped in front of him with her arms crossed and a fighting spirit. "Well that 'it' involves our cousin, Bo, and we ain't lettin' 'it' go until you tell us what's happening!" She demanded.
"What?" Luke and Cooter asked, looking at each other in confusion before they looked toward Daisy.
"These fellas are after a couple of shady characters, and Boss just told us Bo had been hangin' out with them, supposedly receiving hypnosis sessions to get rid of those dreams." Daisy explained.
"Hypnosis?" Luke frowned in sorrow. "Why didn't Bo tell us about this?"
"Cause he knew how we was worryin' about him, I suppose." Daisy replied softly. "Poor Bo, there ain't no tellin' what them doctors put in his head."
"That'd certainly explain the peculiar way he acted at the farm last night." Luke added.
"Mister, you better just come clean 'cause even though we realize this has something to do with hypnotism, we also realize that ain't enough fer the army to send out one of their majors." Jesse revealed.
Major Edwards looked back at Sampson before he turned and looked at each of the waiting faces. As Rosco and Boss finally joined the group, he began. "Can I count on you all to keep this under your hats?"
A lot of yeses and nods went through the group.
"Well it that case, do you want the long version or the short version?"
"The short, for starters." Jesse replied.
Major Edwards took a deep breath before he began. "We believe Beauregard Duke has become an unwilling participant in project 2XS-2HF, known in more common terms as the Wildflower Project."
"Well what does that mean?" Daisy asked.
"It means that he just answered our question, only not in a way we could understand it." Luke replied, with arms folded. "C'mon mister." He said. "Just tell us in layman's terms what's goin' on with our cousin."
"Your cousin…..." Major Edwards began, looking at Sampson for encouragement one more time before he turned back to the group. "…..Is being used as a human subject in the illegal testing of an unapproved drug being researched for use explicitly within the military."
And when ya thought it was just about over, Major Edwards went and opened up a big ole can of worms.
