Okay, here is the next chapter… as always thank-you to all my wonderful reviewers. I am just awed by the number of reviews I have had on this story. It is so encouraging! Thank-you all! As always, please read and review. -Jordyn
"What's goin' on with my nephew?" demanded Jesse as the family hurriedly approached the nurses' station.
The pretty blond nurse flushed miserably. "Mr. Duke, I'm not the one who can… you see I…"
"I want t' know what's goin' on… what's the matter with Bo?"
The nurse swallowed and looked at the anxious family. "He's gone, Mr. Duke. We don't know where he is."
"He was in a coma! How the heck do ya lose somebody, much less someone who can't go anywhere?" exclaimed Luke, banging his fist on the desk in anger. Jesse put his hand on the boy's shaking shoulders to calm him.
"I'm sure I don't know, Mr. Duke. No one except for you, me and the doctors have been in that room. I checked him myself a little over two hours ago and he was there. We have security looking high and low for him right now."
"Miss, you better hope they find him," began Daisy, her voice rising slightly in anger.
"Doctor!" yelled Jesse as he saw Dr. Jamison exiting Bo's room.
"Mr. Duke, let me assure you that…"
"What's going on here?"
Doctor Jamison frowned and motioned for the Dukes to follow him into Bo's room.
"This is how we found everything, Mr. Duke. As you can see, aside from the IV tubes left lying on it, the bed doesn't even look like it's been used."
"What's that mean?" asked Jesse, staring worriedly at the empty bed.
"Well, Mr. Duke, it means one of two things: either Bo woke up, pulled out his IV's and is wandering around somewhere unnoticed by anyone…"
"What are the chances of that?" asked Daisy, her eyes filled with tears.
"Not much. Given the comatose state he was in and the extent of his injuries, not to mention that someone would have seen him had he been wandering the halls… no, I don't think that's the case. I believe that Bo…"
"Excuse me, Doctor, I have a phone call for Mr. Duke," interrupted a nurse. Jesse moved towards her.
"No, sir. It's for your nephew."
"Who on earth would call me here? Now?" asked an aggravated Luke.
"I don't know, sir, but he said it was urgent." Luke grimaced and followed her to the phone.
"Luke Duke?"
"Yeah."
"You listen and you listen good. If you wanna see your cousin again, you'll do what I say…"
Luke's heart skipped a beat. Bo wasn't lost. He was kidnapped!
"Where is he? What have you done with'm?"
"He's fine… for now. Now you listen. I want my money, Duke. You give it to me, you can have your cousin back."
"I don't know what you're talkin' 'bout."
"Don't play dumb with me, plowboy. I put that money in that clunker car myself. Now, I want fifty thousand dollars in my hands by tomorrow night or your cousin's gone for good. Meet me on the big dock at Midnight with the money. You come alone."
"Don't you hurt him… don't you hurt a hair on his head or I'll…"
"Midnight."
click>
Luke slammed the receiver down and buried his head in his hands. It all made sense. Someone had hidden money in the General Lee. We're here 'cause they wanted the General an' we were in the way. Luke shook his head. He had no idea where that money was now. He certainly had never seen any if it ever was there. But that didn't matter now. Somehow, he had to find fifty thousand dollars. And he only had fifteen hours to do it.
I sure hope Luke thinks of a plan to get him and Bo outta this.
"And that's where we're at," continued Luke as he informed Jesse, Daisy, Dr. Jamison and the head of hospital security of the phone call.
"I don't understand how he could have gotten past us… we certainly would have noticed if someone was being taken out of here," began the frustrated security guard.
"Not necessarily. Didn't the nurse say that no one had been in here except for some doctors and us? No one would have given another thought to a doctor wheeling someone out of the room. He probably dressed up like a staff member and wheeled Bo out, easy as pie."
Ya know Luke always was the smart one.
"What's important now is that somehow, I have to show up there with $50,000 which we don't have."
"We could borrow 'gainst the farm…" began Jesse.
"Uncle Jesse, we already owe against it. 'Sides, it ain't worth that much."
"Yer right there…" muttered Jesse sadly.
"What'll we do?" asked Daisy, tears streaming down her face. "No one we know has that kinda money just lyin' around."
"No, Daisy, there is one person, who does… an' I ain't too proud to ask if it'll bring Bo back to us safe an' sound," answered Luke.
"Well, ya better call now. We're wastin' time talkin' bout it. 'Sides if he won't do it, we'll have t' think of something else… an' quick," returned Daisy.
Luke nodded, and walked to the courtesy phone. Taking a deep breath, he picked up the receiver and dialed the number to the Boar's Nest.
"J.D. Hogg here," answered Boss gruffly. In the background, Luke could faintly hear Roscoe piping in, "Say hello from Roscoe."
"Boss, this here's Luke Duke."
"Well, well, well and well! Luke Duke! How are things so far away from Hazzard?"
"Not so good Boss. I need a favor."
"A favor, huh? What kind of a favor?" asked Boss between bites of his liver and anchovy pizza.
"A big favor," answered Luke. He went on and explained what had happened ending with Bo's kidnapping.
Boss was unusually quiet.
"You still there, Boss?" asked Luke.
"Let me get this straight. You say they want the money or Bo dies?"
"Yes, sir."
"$50,000?"
"Yes, sir."
"That's robbery! It was only half…"
Uh-oh.
"What?" asked Luke suspiciously.
"I mean to say, that ain't half what Bo's life is worth," replied Boss sweetly.
"No, it's not," answered a skeptical Luke. "Listen, Boss. I really need to know if you can…"
"I can."
"Great!"
"On one condition…"
Ya knew there had t' be one of those… it is Boss he's talking with…
"When you and Bo get back to Hazzard, ya each come have a beer… on the house."
Well, I sure wasn't expectin' that…
Luke stood speechless. Boss giving away beer and money? Something was definitely wrong here. Being more concerned with Bo, though, he didn't ask questions; he just got the information of where the money would be wired to, thanked Boss and went to tell Jesse and Daisy the good news.
Ya know Boss givin' away money and beer is just plain unnerving… it sends quivers t' ma liver. There's a fly in the buttermilk somewhere, so y'all stay tuned now, ya hear?
