Author's Note: This one's short, but intense. Thought I stick in one more before the ending. God, I love cliffhangers!

Enjoy!

Chapter 13: Bittersweet Betrayal

Jesse Duke had just gotten finished feeding Maudine the mule and was walking back toward the house when a patrol car pulled around front.

Enos stepped out and slowly walked over to where Jesse now stood on the porch.

"Hey there, Enos. What brings ya up here today?" Enos took off his hat, an anxious look in his eyes.

"Nothin' good, Uncle Jesse. I'm afraid I got some bad news." Jesse's face fell. His first thought was that the boys had been hurt somehow.

"Well, I ain't gonna hear it standin' out on the porch here. Come on inside."

"Yessir." As Enos stepped into the Duke's kitchen, he saw Daisy scrubbing dishes in the sink, and a half-hearted smile graced his lips.

"Hey, Daisy."

"Enos! Hey, what brings you up here? Would ya like a glass of lemonade?"

"I sure would, Daisy, but I can't. I'm still on duty, an' that's the reason I came here."

"Well, out with it Enos. What's happened?" Jesse said, unable to bear the suspense any longer.

"I just got word from Atlanta. Jake Fowler and Tom Griffin escaped from the authorities on their way to the State Pen. They knocked the two guards that was escortin' 'em unconscious, an' then they ran off into the woods headin' northwest. They was headed toward Savannah. I'm sorry y'all."

"It's okay, Enos," Jesse said absentmindedly. His thoughts were spinning in a whirlwind of worry and fear for his boys.

"Uncle Jesse, we have to warn Bo an' Luke!" Daisy cried as the full realization of what Enos said hit her. She reached for the CB sitting on the kitchen counter.

"There's no way ya can get ahold of 'em by CB, they're already in Savannah by now," Jesse told her.

"The boy's is in Savannah? I thought they just got home," Enos said, trying to get a grasp on the situation.

"They went back so Bo could see his dad's grave. Uncle Jesse, what are we gonna do?" Daisy pleaded, practically in tears.

"I'm gonna call Brenda Wheeler. Maybe she can warn the boys somehow," he said as he picked up the phone and dialed. Hope diminished as the line rang and rang.

"Nobody's home," Jesse said finally, hanging up.

"If there's anythin' I can do, Uncle Jesse..." Enos began humbly.

"There's only one thing we can do," Jesse said in a somber voice. Without further explanation, he went into the living room and grabbed his shotgun off of its shelf on the wall.

"What are you gonna do?" Daisy asked. It was rare that Jesse ever brought out his "old faithful" shotgun. But desperate times called for desperate measures, and Jesse was awful desperate to get to his boys.

"I'm gonna go to Savannah myself. I ain't takin' any chances."

"I'm goin' with you," Daisy said, and hurried off to a few things together for the trip.

"Now Uncle Jesse, I'm sure Bo an' Luke are okay. I'd sure hate for y'all to have to make a long trip like that for nothin'. They might be on their way home right now," Enos said, surprised that Uncle Jesse was this upset. Of course, Enos didn't understand the whole situation. He didn't understand that the two men he'd arrested at the bridge were after fifty thousand dollars. And he sure didn't know that they expected Bo to get them that fifty thousand dollars.

Jesse didn't answer. He was thinking about the man up at the bridge; the one who'd stuck a pistol in his youngest nephew's face. He was crazy-mad then and willing to kill. Now he was sure to be even madder, and looking for revenge. Jesse had told the man then that it was over, and to stay away from his boys.

Now he was going to make sure it was over.

"Uncle Jesse, I can't just let you an' Daisy go off like this—what if somethin' happens?"

"Somethin' is gonna happen, Enos. We're gonna find my boys an' make sure those other fellers get put behind bars for good this time." Jesse's voice was low and firm. There would be no changing his mind.

Enos could only watch helplessly as they loaded the pickup truck and sped off, dust billowing behind them.

"Keep 'em safe, Lord," he prayed softly for his friends. "Keep 'em all safe."

Balladeer: Somethin' tells me they're gonna need lots of prayers like that, considerin' what's goin' on where they're headed.

As he stood with his hand clamped over Brenda's mouth, Jake Fowler turned and whistled out the opened front door. In walked Tom, looking nervous and fidgety. He slammed the door shut and locked it, and Brenda knew that for right now, she was trapped.

"Now I'm gonna let ya go, an' you better not scream," Jake threatened, releasing his hold on Brenda. She stepped away from him, trembling and terrified.

"Aw look Tom, she wasn't expectin' us. She thought we'd be in jail by now," he said sarcastically.

"Get out. Get out if ya know what's good for you!" She retorted in a tone of barely controlled rage.

"We ain't goin' nowhere until you tell us where them boys are!"

"I won't tell you a thing!" All she got for her efforts was a stinging slap across the face. As tears welled in her eyes she tried reasoning with the men.

"What do you want them for, anyway. They didn't do anything to you. Why can't you let them be!"

"Because we still ain't got our fifty grand! An' seein' as we probably ain't ever gonna get it now, we're gonna make sure Robbie's son pays—with his life. It's the only way I'm ever gonna sleep right again."

Balladeer: If that's true then I sure am glad I never had to share a room with him.

"No!" She cried passionately. Jake caught her flailing arms as she swung at him with her fists, pinning them to her sides.

"Tell me where they are. I know you know, now tell me!"

"Never!"

"You tell me or I swear I'll go after Cindy! I'll go after Cindy an' you'll never see her again! Now who's it gonna be? Who're you gonna save, Brenda? Them boys—or your own daughter? Where are they!"

She shut her eyes, silently praying for forgiveness as she made her choice.

"T-they're at the cemetery." Her eyes remained shut as Jake let go of her arm and she slowly sank to floor, defeated. Her sobs echoed off the walls of the silent house as she heard them get into their car and speed off down the road.

It was a bittersweet betrayal. She had saved her daughter, yet most likely sealed the fate of two innocent young men.

"I'm sorry, Robbie," she whispered to the air. "I'm so sorry."

Balladeer: Now friends, this is downright serious. I wouldn't run off if I was you.

TBC...