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Hope and a Prayer

Chapter 2

"What's the meaning of all of this?" Boss demanded as he, Rosco, and Bo were herded over to the side of the bank.

"It's a robbery. What's it look like?" one of the men asked with annoyance in his voice as he took Rosco's gun from him.

"I know what it is," Boss yelled back. "But why my bank? It doesn't have much money in it."

"Well sure it does, Boss," Rosco answered without thinking. "Remember ya just got that big lumber company payroll?"

"Rosco! Will you please shut up you nitwit!" Boss shouted as he smacked Rosco's arm.

"Don't worry about it, tubby. We already know about the payroll. That's why we're hittin' your bank."

"Tubby? Why you…"

"Now Boss, don't be rilin' him up any more than necessary," Bo warned as he pulled the fat man in white away from the robber.

"Smart thinkin', Blondie," the man sneered under his beard. He then turned to the other men who were in the process of robbing the bank. "Come on you guys, hurry it up!"

"The money ain't here, Frank," one of the other robbers yelled back after pulling open all of the drawers.

"All right, where is it," Frank asked as he pointed his gun at Boss' stomach.

"I don't know what you're talkin' about," Boss said with fake innocence on his face.

"Well you better figure it out real quick like," Frank ordered as he pressed his gun into Boss' stomach. "Or you're a dead man."

At the sight of the gun being pushed into his gut Boss' eyes widened in fright. "The vault! It's in the vault," Boss exclaimed, as he threw his hands up into the air.

"Larry, check it out!" Frank ordered the other man.

Walking over to the vault, Larry pulled the handle but the vault door stayed locked. "It's not opening."

"Alright you overgrown marshmallow, open it!" Santa Frank said as he pushed Boss towards the vault.

"But I don't know the combination."

"Move it Hogg. I know who ya are and I know ya own this bank so I know ya know the combination too."

"Alright, alright," Boss answered as he leaned over and started turning the dial.

"Watch them two over there," Frank ordered Larry as he kept an eye on Boss while he worked the lock.

"We've got ta do something," Rosco whispered to Bo as Larry walked over.

"Like what? They have the guns, remember?"

"We can't just stand here."

"Sure we can," Bo answered as he looked at the three men. "Ya sure this ain't one of Boss' plans ta rob his own bank again?"

"Ooh, ooh, never thought about that…but I don't think it is," Rosco said sadly. "He's actin' way too nervous ta not be in on the plan."

"I was afraid ya were gonna say that," Bo said as a look of concern grew on his face. "Listen Rosco, as much as I would like ta help ya, I don't see much that we can do."

"Hey you two, shut up over there," Larry ordered as he threatened them with his gun. Bo and Rosco stared at the man and as soon as he turned away, they continued talking, but more quietly this time.

"What about one of those famous plans ya always come up with?" Rosco looked at him expectantly.

"That's Luke's department, not mine," Bo shrugged back. "Besides, even if Luke was here, he'd say the same thing about it bein' too dangerous ta take on three armed men, especially when they have guns trained on both the Boss and Sue Ann, not ta mention us." Bo looked over at his cousin's latest love interest and saw how scared she was as she finished packing away all the money that was in the drawers.

"We've gotta do something but what can we do?"

"We just let them take the money and when they leave ya put out an APB on all three of them. We may not know what they look like but if we move fast enough, we'll know what kind of car they're drivin', plus we know one of them is named Frank and another one is named Larry. We'll at least be able to give that information ta the State Police when they come down here."

"I said shut up," Larry yelled as he moved closer to the two men, punching Bo in the stomach with his gloved fist.

Bo doubled over and Rosco grabbed out and held onto the blonde haired man as he glared at Larry. "There was no reason ta do that," Rosco snarled.

"Keep it up and you'll be next," Larry threatened as he focused his attention on Boss and Frank.

"Ya okay Bo?" Rosco quietly asked, concern clearly tingeing his voice.

"Yeah," the young man panted out as he straightened back up. "Mostly just knocked the wind out of me."

"I wish there was something that we could do," Rosco grumbled again.

"Ain't nothin' we can do, Rosco, so just forget it will ya?" Bo protested. His gaze met Larry's glare and he immediately warned the sheriff with a light elbow to the older man's ribs. Larry's attention was quickly drawn away when he heard Frank yelling out that the safe was opened.

The two of them watched as Frank had Sue Ann go into the vault and started bagging the money as Boss groaned with each stack full that was packed away. "Oh please," Boss begged. "Ya can't do this ta me."

"Oh yes we can," Frank sneered back. "Come on, honey, move it!"

"I'm packin' it as fast as I can," Sue Ann yelled back, her voice quivering with fear.

A few minutes later the vault was empty. Frank grabbed the bag from her and threw it at the third man as he force Sue Ann and Boss back into the main room. "Okay, take the girl for insurance and let's get out of here."

"Ya can't do that!" Bo protested.

Larry shoved his gun into Bo's side. "Shut it up, Blondie, or it'll be the last thing you say."

"He's right, ya can't take the girl," Rosco spoke up, wanting to do something.

"Take me instead," Bo offered.

"Bo no!" Sue Ann cried out.

"I say take the girl," Larry suggested, as he ran his eyes up and down her body.

"If ya take her she'll only slow ya down, 'sides I know the back roads of this county better than anyone else in this room," Bo said, wanting them to let Sue Ann go.

"Is that a fact?" Frank asked sarcastically.

"It sure is," Rosco answered, seeing what Bo was doing. "Why he's done escaped from me I don't know how many times."

"I don't care who we take as long as we get out of here," the third Santa yelled out, his actions becoming more nervous.

"All right, let's take him, and if any of you try to follow us, it'll be the last time you see this boy…alive," Frank warned as Larry grabbed onto Bo's arm and started pulling him towards the door.

"Hey y'all, tell my family that I love 'em," Bo yelled out as he and the crooks went out the door.

Once the door closed, Boss started yelling. "Rosco, do something! Go catch them crooks before they get away with all my money!"

"But what about Bo?" the sheriff asked as he started heading towards the door. "They said that they would kill him."

"Oh, he's probably in with them. He's a Duke ain't he?"

"Well sure he is, but I don't think that he really wanted ta go with them crooks."

"Don't argue with me, just go," Boss yelled out.

As soon as Rosco opened the door a shot rang out. He immediately ducked back into the bank and slowly peeked his head around the door, cringing at what he might see. The first thing that he noticed, however, was Bo being pushed into a late model four-door blue Chevy followed by Larry just as the driver punched on the gas, and the second thing he noticed was that the front tire of his patrol car was flat.

"Rosco was that a gunshot I just heard?" Cooter asked the sheriff as they met up by the wounded car.

Rosco just ignored him as he grabbed the C.B. and called out for his deputy. "Enos, ya dipstick, are you out there?"

"Right here, Sheriff," Enos called back.

"I want ya to be on the lookout for a late model, four-door blue Chevy. It just left town and is headed south on route seventeen."

"A blue Chevy four-door, late model. Got it, Sheriff."

"Good. Cause there's three guys in it that are dressed like Santa, who just robbed the bank, and took Bo Duke as a hostage."

"Possum on a gum bush, Bo Duke's a hostage?"

"That's right. So keep your eyes opened. I'll join ya as soon as I can."

"Yes sir, Sheriff."

Rosco was just hanging up his C.B. when Cooter spoke up again. "Did I just hear ya say that Bo's been taken hostage?"

"Yeah, ya heard right, Bo Duke's being held as a hostage by three men who just robbed the bank."

"Well why aren't ya chasin' after 'em?"

"'Cause they done shot my tire, that's why."

"Well, that's an easy fix. Come on!" Cooter yelled as he grabbed the keys from Rosco, popped the truck, and started pulling out the spare tire and jack. "Hey, y'all better let Uncle Jesse know what's goin' on," Cooter ordered as he jacked up the car and started removing the lug nuts from the shot out wheel.

"Ooh yeah, Jesse. I better do that right now."

While Cooter was changing the tire, Rosco radioed Jesse to let him know just what happened. "Bo's been what?" Jesse yelled out. Luke, who had just come inside to wash his hands after fixing the General, stopped what he was doing to listen, while Daisy came running in from the other room at the sound of her Uncle's worried shout.

"I'm afraid that he's been taken hostage by a group of bank robbers, Jesse. He did it ta keep them from taking Sue Ann Perkins."

Luke closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip to keep the feelings of guilt and despair from escaping. "Well why aren't ya chasin' after 'em?" Jesse asked, not knowing he asked the same question Cooter did.

"Because, they shot my tire out. Cooter's fixin' it right now and I have Enos lookin' for 'em as we speak."

Luke took the C.B. from Uncle Jesse. "Rosco, this is Luke. What kind of car were they drivin'?"

"A late model, blue four-door Chevy. They were headed south on Route seventeen when they took off."

"Alright, I'm headin' out ta look for 'em."

"Uh Luke, maybe ya better let me and Enos handle this," Rosco protested, not knowing what those men where going to do to Bo.

"No way, Rosco. I'm helpin' whether ya like or not."

"And that goes for me and Daisy too," Jesse yelled as he took the handset back from Luke.

"Alright Jesse. Cooter's got my tire fixed so I'm on my way."

"You can count me in too, Uncle Jesse," Cooter said as he took the handset from Rosco.

"Cooter, give me that," Rosco yelled as he grabbed it back. "Just be careful. Those men are armed and dangerous. As soon as I'm on the road I'm gonna have Maybell contact the State Police and the FBI. Hopefully, we'll find them before it's too late."

"Right. We're gone," Jesse answered.

Throwing down the handle, the rest of the Dukes headed out the door, Jesse and Daisy to Dixie and Luke to the General. Cooter was in his truck and gone before Rosco even had the chance to start up his car and Boss was pacing back and forth in front of his bank, ranting and raving about how all of his money was stolen.