A/n: You know I just realized what I did. I took the one law officer in Hazzard that couldn't be bought, and I sold him! I'm so ashamed. Fortunately Enos is a good sport and I love him for that, just not quite in the same way as I love the boys. Le sigh…
Disclaimer: not mine! Not Enos, not Bo, not Luke… (Uncontrollable weeping) I do own Jake and Carrie Leigh, but I don't want them! (Hopefully they won't come after me for that) Oh well. A girl can dream, can't she? Anyway, moving on…
Luke led Mabel out onto the dance floor, but he couldn't help looking back to see how Bo fared with Lulu. His cousin seemed worried about something, and kept sneaking glances around the room. From the anxious expression on his face, Luke guessed Bo wasn't engaged in his other favorite hobby of girl watching. Luke excused himself for a moment and wormed his way through the crowd to where Bo was, pulling him aside for a private talk.
"What's the matter, Bo? You look about as jumpy as a cat in a roomful of rocking chairs!" Luke asked in concern.
Bo shrugged, not entirely sure why he felt as worried as he did, but fairly certain it was justified. It was one thing to know you had someone on your tail, but just having strong suspicions was something different entirely, and much worse. "I can't quite put my finger on it," Bo said slowly, "but don't you got the feeling that somethin' ain't right?"
Luke had to admit he did, especially when Bo told him the arrangements Lulu had made for delivering the money to its destination. As they talked, Bo kept an uneasy eye on Lulu to make sure nothing happened in his absence. A few people walked up to her, Daisy included, probably to say how much they were enjoying themselves. But so far nothing had happened to confirm his fears, so he turned his focus back to Luke, who was saying, "I don't like it either, but all we can do is keep our eyes open. Ain't no tellin' what Boss has got up his sleeve keeping his arm company. We just got to be ready for anything."
Bo nodded in agreement. "I tell ya one thing though, I ain't gonna rest easy till that money's where it needs to go…"
Y'all notice how they's both talkin' about keeping their eyes open, but they ain't actually doin' it?
Over by the doorway a man and a woman stood talking. "She's all by herself for the moment. We ain't got a better chance than this," the man said in a low tone, for the woman's ears only.
She chuckled softly. "Blondie's makin' it easy for us. I won't even have to decoy him away!" The woman turned to leave, pausing long enough to say, "Be careful, Jake. I'll be waiting outside to pick you up once you got it, alright, honey?"
He gave her a quick kiss and said, "Wish me luck," before going to work.
Out of the corner of his eye, Bo caught a glimpse of a dark-haired fellow with a stocky build walking up to Lulu, but the man stumbled on his way and fell up against her. Luke said something else to him, but Bo didn't catch it. He was too busy watching as the man apologized profusely, and offered Lulu a hand up. Somewhere amid the struggle to get Miss Lulu standing again, the fellow did something that Bo didn't quite see, but it got him suspicious, especially after the man began heading in the direction of the doorway.
"Um, do me a favor, Luke?" Bo said, cutting his cousin off mid-sentence. "Keep an eye on Miss Lulu and make sure nothing happens to her? There's someone I gotta talk to. Be back in a minute." Before Luke could utter one word of protest, Bo slipped away, on the tail of the suspicious character he saw.
"Bo! Can't ya wait for just a second?" Luke muttered to himself, wishing his cousin had stopped to form a plan first, or let him figure out a way that they could both check out what had disturbed the blonde Duke. But there was no way Luke was going to leave without alerting Jesse and Daisy, and he figured Mabel would get a little upset if he abandoned her with no explanation. So he returned to her side, focusing part of his attention on her, part on Miss Lulu, and another part went towards worrying about Bo.
Bo Duke hurried after his quarry, trying to be as secretive about his actions as the other he followed, while still keeping up with him. He rounded a corner and looked around in shock. The man had vanished.
"Hey, where'd he go?" Bo muttered, disgusted with himself for losing the man.
"Hi there," a soft feminine voice said close beside him. "You get tired of dancing, too?"
Bo jumped, so intent on the mystery man he was pursuing, he wasn't paying attention to anything else. Then he caught sight of the lady who'd just spoken, and thoughts of the man he was following fled his mind. The setting sun turned her hair a flaming red-gold, while deep green eyes regarded him with a bored expression. It took a moment for Bo's mind to focus again, but then the reason he's come outside forced itself back into his mind. "Ma'am, ya didn't see a dark-haired fella headin your way just now, did ya?" he asked finally, trying to bring his thoughts back to the thoughts at hand. But oh, it was so hard…
"Sorry, darling', ain't seen hide nor hair of anybody out here, except you and me," she answered sweetly.
"Y'all can't really blame ol' Bo for starin' The girl was a knock-out. Uhhhh, literally, as it turns out. Ya see, he was so throwed off by her, he didn't even notice her boyfriend sneakin' up on him, till it was almost too late.
A small, almost imperceptible noise behind him snapped Bo back to reality. He spun around to face the man he'd been chasing just in time to block the fist the man swung in his direction. He threw himself at the other man before he could recover, knocking both of them to the ground. But as the two men wrestled and Bo threw a punch of his own that had his opponent's ears ringing, a blow from behind connected with the back of his head. Bo collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
I told ya that girl was a knock-out, now didn't I? You know, this ain't the first time Bo's fallen for a pretty girl. Only I bet when he wakes up he's gonna wish he didn't fall so hard!
The young woman dropped the tool she'd used to hit Bo, whirling on her partner almost in a panic. "This ain't happening. Please tell me this ain't happening! He's still alive, ain't he?"
Jake dropped down beside the fallen Duke, checking for a pulse. "He's fine, Carrie Leigh. Just takin' a little nap, is all."
That did not satisfy her anxiety. "This ain't what Boss wanted. You wasn't supposed to let blondie see ya! If someone finds him like this it could ruin the whole plan! Now what are we gonna do?"
Carrie Leigh's boyfriend tried to put a comforting arm around her but she shrugged it off, wringing her hands anxiously as she tried to think.
"Look, Carrie Leigh," he said soothingly, trying to appease his girl, "We got the money, and Hogg wanted us to frame the Dukes, right? We just get him and his car outta here, and it'll look like he run off with the money! All right, darlin'?"
She glared daggers at him for a long moment, before she finally relented. "All right," she sighed reluctantly. "Just hurry up and get him out of sight, before someone comes out!"
Hmmmm, not exactly Bonnie and Clyde, are they?
Luke Duke tried to watch each person that sidled up close to Lulu Hogg, all the while getting more worried as each moment ticked by with no trace of Bo. Once she approached him to ask the same question that was torturing his mind, but all he could give her was an unknowing shrug.
"When did I become my cousin's keeper? Bo…" he sighed to himself, keeping an eye on the door for any sign of him. It was pretty bad when a grown man needed a guardian.
With Luke's time divided between watching the door, watching out for Lulu and keeping alert for any hint of trouble, he found it extremely difficult to pay attention to his own date, Mabel. As he continued to glance around the room, she began to feel neglected, and she didn't like the feeling. She caught his sleeve as he moved towards the door with the intent of searching for Bo, bringing Luke's thoughts back to the present, and to her.
"Luke, dear, what's goin' on? You're actin' like you ain't all there," she said, trying to force a smile and pretend she wasn't bothered by his lack of focus.
"Huh? Oh, sorry, Mabel," Luke answered, smiling ruefully. "I guess I'm a bit distracted. Bo run outta here a while ago and he shoulda been back by now. I'm just wonderin' what's keeping him."
Mabel's eyes clouded over with her disappointment over the way her night had gone. She liked the Duke boys a lot, but sometimes the things they got involved in and the trouble they caused with her Cousin Boss was just more than she was willing to handle. The one night she was able to be with one of the boys and this happens, she thought to herself in disgust.
"Go on after him, Luke," she said, knowing she and Luke wouldn't be able to have any fun together, as long as he was worried about his cousin.
She took one unhappy glance at Luke, whose face instantly lost the expression of helpless worry. His look of profound gratitude helped to make up for the disappointing turn her night had taken, as did his quick kiss that brushed across her lips.
"Thanks, Mabel. I'll make this up to you, I promise."
"I'll hold ya to that, Luke Duke," Mabel said after him, and then he was gone, leaving her standing alone in the middle of the dance floor.
Well, it weren't midnight, and Luke didn't lose no glass shoe, but he flew outta that dance like he thought ol' General Lee was gonna turn into a pumpkin, and not just in color. He stopped short outside, more shocked by what he didn't see, than what he did.
"Bo, where'd ya run off to in the General?"
Luke took a look around, hoping to find something that would explain why Bo would leave so abruptly. He found drag marks near a spot where the General had skidded to a stop, and scattered in that area were the contents of the Charger's trunk. Luke knelt down to examine one item he didn't recognize from the General, his fingers coming away coated with a sticky substance that made his worry over Bo rise to new, unforeseen heights. Luke's agile mind began to put together the pieces he found and he hated the picture they formed.
Before he could examine the rest of what he found more closely, Boss Hogg and Rosco arrived on the scene, to Luke's disgust. He threw all of what he'd found in the back of Dixie, so no evidence could conveniently disappear on Rosco's watch, and ran back inside to tell Daisy and Jesse what he found, certain he'd need their help backing him up.
Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane and Boss Hogg were already inside as Luke reentered and all three men strode purposefully across the dance floor, with different purposes in mind. Luke quickly told Daisy and Jesse what he suspected had happened to Bo, when Lulu's horrified shriek pierced the air, halting all motion in the room.
"The money! All the charity money's gone!" she wailed, emptying a bag containing only newspaper cutouts.
Boss Hogg wrapped a comforting arm around Lulu, the very image of a loving husband offering support and consolation to his distraught wife. "There, there, Lulu honey, we're just lucky you wasn't hurt by the perpetrator of this horrible deed!" His voice dripped insincerity, but Lulu was too broken up by her discovery to notice.
"Say," Boss said suddenly, as if he'd just notice the absence, "where's Bo Duke, anyhow? Wasn't he supposed to be here with you, my little praline? He shoulda been lookin' out for you, sugar pie! Unless—" his tone grew instantly and overly indignant—"Bo Duke was the one that stole the money in the first place!"
"Yeah!" Rosco agreed, adopting Boss Hogg's outraged tone of voice. "Him and that no good cousin of his, Luke Duke!"
Lulu's shocked gaze fastened onto her husband and her brother and she announced, "Ya can't think the Dukes got anything to do with this!"
"I can, and I do! I tried to warn you honey, but you wouldn't listen. In fact, stealin' the charity money's probably the reason them thievin' boys signed up!"
"That's a lie!" Daisy shouted above the murmuring of the crowd. She glared at Boss and Rosco, and Enos placed a gentle hand on her arm, as much to comfort as to try to hold her back if necessary as she cried, "I was the one signed them up 'cause I wanted to help Lulu! Boss ya can't accuse my cousins like this!"
Boss refused to be persuaded. "Rosco, go arrest Luke Duke, and hunt down Bo!"
Propelled by Boss Hogg's shove, Rosco stumbled from the make-shift dais and immediately began heading in Luke's direction, once he'd picked himself up off the ground. Daisy quickly pressed the keys to Dixie in Luke's hand before he zigzagged his way through the crowd, Rosco hot on his heels. Before Rosco could catch up with the fleeing Duke, Jesse Duke suddenly maneuvered Miz Tisdale and himself directly in the path Rosco's chase took him, "accidentally" tripping him up and, more importantly, blocking the sheriff's path for precious moments which Luke gratefully took advantage of. By the time Rosco stood panting in the doorway, Luke and Dixie were long gone.
Rosco stomped furiously back into the room, heading straight to where Daisy and Enos stood. Enos wrapped an arm around Daisy as if to protect her from Rosco's onslaught, but she wasn't the target of Sheriff Coltrane's wrath.
"Enos! You was right here standin' there gawkin' when Luke Duke run past! Why didn't you do your duty, and arrest him?" Rosco yelled in frustration, holding up one angry fist almost in his confused deputy's face.
"Well, Sheriff, I was off-duty then, sir, so it weren't my duty to arrest him," Enos offered in response, along with his customary uncertain grin.
Rosco wanted to take out more of his aggravation over losing Luke on the patient Enos, but his deputy was unfortunately and annoyingly correct. The irate sheriff contented himself with growling out, "Well, consider yourself officially on duty, then! Now, get to your vehicle and help me apprehend Bo and Luke Duke!"
"But, Sheriff?" Enos said apprehensively, "I ain't exactly in uniform…" His eyes strayed down to his dress clothes and then back up to meet the sheriff's eyes questioningly.
Shoot, I'd a figured ol' Enos woulda had his uniform stashed in his car, for just such an emergency.
Rosco was too irritated over the loss of the Dukes to worry over trivialities.
"Dang the uniform, dipstick! I wouldn't care if you was wearin' green stripes with purple polka dots, so long as we catch them Duke boys!" His own face was beginning to turn purple with his rage.
Don't ya just love ol' Rosco's fashion sense?
"Yes sir, sheriff, sir." Deputy Enos took Daisy's hand briefly before going. "I'm sorry, Daisy, I didn't want to cut this short, but I gotta go chase Bo and Luke. You ain't too mad at me, are you?"
"No, Enos, I ain't," Daisy said sadly. "Me and Uncle Jesse gotta go anyways and prove em innocent. Go on and do what you gotta do, honey." She squeezed his hand gently before letting him go.
"I hope I don't catch them boys, Daisy," Enos said softly, "but I can't go against my duty."
Deputy Enos Strate's hand lingered a moment longer in Daisy's then slid away, his fingertips brushing hers lightly before he cut through the crowd to pursue the Dukes.
"I know, sugar, I know," Daisy murmured as she watched him leave.
Unfortunately for Deputy Enos, part of his heart belongs to Daisy Duke, whether she'd have it or no. And t'other part belongs to that uniform he put on to serve the people of Hazzard, and Boss Hogg in the process. And when them two factions was at odds with each other, like now, well, Enos' poor ol' big heart usually ended up tore in two. And friends and neighbors, that hurts.
Uncle Jesse pulled himself away from Miz Tisdale, with a promise made under duress that he'd make this up to her, and held his niece tightly for a moment, before saying gently, "C'mon, girl. We gotta go help the boys."
She nodded wordlessly and both ran out the door, determined to find a way to save the boys from Boss Hogg's plotting, and Enos from facing the awful position of choosing duty over friendship.
Y'all realize this all started with Daisy signing the boys' names on an itty-bitty piece of paper in the Boars Nest?
A/n: I had no idea this chapter would be so long! Hope I don't bore anybody to tears; I'm not exactly an authority on writing action. Please let me know what you think!
