A/N – Hey Ya'll. Sorry I gotta a little behind on this. You get behind on one thing, and everything follows suit! I hope this all makes sense cause this action stuff isn't necessarily my 'cup o tea!' Thanks again for all the feedback.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Dukes, and no infringements intended.

BALANCING THE BOOKS

CHAPTER 14

PLAN B

Jackie couldn't tell what time of day it was when she opened her eyes. The natural darkness of the cave blocked out any natural lighting, but she would soon discover that it was late afternoon. The items that had been stored along the wall were now arranged into neat, but smaller piles throughout the cavern. There was a fire going inside the pit that was close to where she had been sleeping, and she instantly felt the warmth that it was generating. Though warm outside, the dampness inside was enough to leave a person chilled. Luke and Bo were sitting next to the contained blaze, and it looked like the older Duke boy was cooking something.

"Hi!" Luke greeted her, seeing that her eyes were open.

"Hello," she replied, unzipping herself and sitting up, stretching cautiously. "Wow! You guys have been busy. Looks like you've been living here all your lives."

"We've spent a lot of time in these caves," Bo confirmed, crouching down next to her. "Here," he said, placing something in her hand. "You need these. You haven't taken them since last night when we went to bed."

Jackie looked down at what Bo had handed her. "Where'd you get these?" she asked, surprised to see all the pills she'd been prescribed since getting shot.

"I grabbed them on the way out of the hotel last night," Bo told her.

"You are really something else," Jackie marveled, unable to believe that Bo had thought about her medications when she hadn't given them a second thought. Swallowing what was in her hand, she let him hold the container of water for her. "Thank you," she offered, as he bent down and kissed her.

"Anytime," he purred.

"Hey! You hungry?" Luke asked, interrupting them. "I know this ain't the Ritz, and this isn't exactly filet mignon, but I do make a pretty good stew," he informed her.

"I'll bet you do," she laughed, standing up to take a look. "It smells good, and yes, I am hungry."

"Good, cause dinner is served," the oldest Duke boy announced, as he reached for three bowls and started dishing them up. Along with their main course, they enjoyed biscuits and fresh apples, and as primitive as it sounded, it was one of the best meals that Jackie had ever enjoyed.

While they sat around the fire eating, the boys got Jackie caught up on the situation. Luke would be staying with them, having told everyone he was going camping. The good news was that since the brunette was still in the land of the living, he could contact his family and meet them, if it became absolutely necessary. Knowing that someone might find his disappearance unusual, he didn't want to do it unless it was absolutely necessary so that he couldn't be followed back.

Except for the Dukes and Jackie, Enos Strate was the only other person that knew anything about what was going on. Unsure as to whether they might need his assistance in the future, the Dukes had told the deputy what had happened right after Jackie and Bo had been taken away, asking him to be on the lookout. There was no reason to assume that the FBI would inform the local law enforcement officials of anything, and to date, they hadn't. After seeing Bo's signal that morning, Daisy asked Enos to stop by the farm, where they let him know that Jackie and Bo were back. Much to their surprise, Enos had heard about the ambush in Atlanta the night before, and there were already rumors that it involved someone in protective custody; Enos had suspected it might be Jackie. Compliments of Deputy Strate, they now knew that one agent had been killed, and one gunmen had been wounded; he was now in custody, but in the hospital. That was all the information he had at the moment, but he promised to pass on anymore as he got it.

In addition to all the supplies that Luke had furnished their old hideaway with, he'd also included a CB. To give the appearance that he wasn't in the area, Luke agreed to maintain radio silence. However, by having the cb, they could listen and monitor what was going on in the community below them. Daisy, Jesse, Cooter, and Enos could keep them updated by simply having a conversation amongst themselves on the channel that they knew the boys would be listening to.

"So, until this is resolved, this is home sweet home," Luke said, concluding his debriefing.

Jackie looked around, surprised that she wasn't even upset about her surroundings. She was warm, fed, dry, and with Bo, and things could have been a lot worse. She could have been dead; probably would be if Bo hadn't been with her. The only thing that she did feel was extremely guilty;. not only had she taken Bo away from his home, now she had taken Luke away, too.

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After dinner, Jackie helped Luke wash up their dishes, despite the fact that he told her she didn't have to. Seeing where the stream was, she informed them that dish duty was now hers. She also informed the boys that she was going to take over the cooking and whatever laundry they might have. She knew that there were other things she could help with, too, but right then, they hadn't really established a chore list. Bo and Luke might have spent a lot of time in those caves, but Jackie hadn't. She had no idea what type of maintenance a cave required.

The only thing that they did settle was that Luke would take the first watch at night. He claimed to be the late bird of the family, but Jackie knew that wasn't true. Bo had told her before that he was the one that had the hardest time sleeping, and he was the one that was usually up the latest. She knew that Luke was just offering so that she could be with Bo before falling asleep, and she appreciated the gesture.

Jackie not only loved Bo, but had fallen in love with his entire family. She could have looked all over Chicago, and never found people who were so willing to help a virtual stranger. Though she hadn't really been comparison shopping, if she had been, Hazzard would have won hands down.

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Over the following days, the trio found their routine. The three of them were extremely comfortable around each other, as if they'd lived together for years. Extremely fond of Bo's older cousin, Jackie's feelings for Bo were becoming too strong to even describe. Being in circumstances they didn't ask for and wouldn't have chosen, they were finding ways to amuse themselves. Sometimes, Jackie would just sit back and watch or pretend that she was asleep. She loved watching the boys interact. Opposites in so many ways, they balanced each other out, and those qualities made them an unbeatable team. Jackie snickered at her choice of words, considering her profession, until she reminded herself that her very choice of occupations had gotten them all into this predicament in the first place. Besides Bo, her job had been on her mind lately, a lot, and it was time she found some balance, herself, between those two topics.

Yet, even as they continued to grow familiar with their surroundings and each other, none of them were willing to go so far as to say that they were enjoying their situation nor that they wanted to drag it out any longer than was necessary. As more time went by, Jackie's guilt began to grow.

"We can't live in a cave forever," she said, stating the obvious.

Bo laughed at her, saying that in fact, they could live there forever. "Even in the winter, as long as there's a fire, it's comfortable in here. I can hunt for our dinner, and you can cook it. Me be caveman, you cavewoman," he laughed, as he leaned forward and kissed her.

Jackie looked at him as if he were a Martian rather than a prehistoric man while she pondered his suggestion. "As appealing as that thought is, no," she replied, and he pretended to be hurt by her rebuke, but he knew that she was just joking..

Luke laughed at the exchange, but he knew that there was a lot of truth behind Bo's words; not the part about living like cave people, but the part about forever. Something about his cousin's relationship with Jackie Johnson was very different. While the Special Agent had placed the boys under surveillance, Luke Duke had been observing Jackie and Bo, too.

If Bo Duke wasn't in love, something in Hazzard wasn't right. He fell in love all the time, and he always seemed to fall hard. Sometimes, Luke believed that his cousin was in love with the idea of falling in love, but once it happened, he was ready to move on. He'd pursue his conquests vigorously, happy for a while after catching them, but none ever lasted. Most of the time, it was the lady that did the parting, citing that Bo was too immature for a lasting relationship. He was, but sometimes Luke wondered if he didn't act like that on purpose, so that they'd want to leave him. It wasn't that the blonde wasn't hurt when they gave him his walking papers, but the oldest cousin believed that deep down, the youngest one wanted his freedom back so that he could repeat the wonderful process all over again. This time, something was very different. Bo hadn't shown any hint of restlessness. In fact, he seemed a little more content everyday, and with his contentment, a maturity was developing that hadn't been there before. Bo hadn't spoken of anything long-term, but Luke would have been surprised if the thought wasn't already in place. He just wondered how their friendly, neighborhood Special Agent felt about this subject, or if this was the time that Bo Duke might really get his heart broke.

"Help me out here, cuz," Bo said, jabbing Luke in the side. "She just turned my offer down to spend the rest of her life with me in a cave."

"Well don't look at me! I ain't gonna spend the rest of my life in a cave with ya either, Bo," Luke replied, to which all three of them shared a good laugh.

When they were finished, Jackie returned to the conversation she had originally intended to bring up. "Now, can we get down to business?" she asked, looking at Luke.

"Whatd'ya have in mind?"

"We've been here for a while now, and I've been thinking, we can't stay here forever." Shooting Bo a look, she grinned, "Bo, don't start. We have no way of knowing what's going on out there, and even that deputy can't know what's going on within the FBI. If they've got someone in custody, he may have already named the internal source. We could be sitting here for nothing."

"So you think we should contact them?" Luke asked.

"Yes," Jackie said at the same time Bo said "No!"

Acting as intermediary, Luke understood what the agent was saying. "Bo, she's right."

"Luke!"

"Just wait a minute." Luke told his excitable cousin. "It's a good idea. I think that we should find a way to get her out of here, just to make a phone call. If it hasn't been resolved, we'll come right back. We need to get out and in without being seen, so we'll need a car. We can't take the General, and we can't take that car you came in on. We don't want to take Jesse's pickup or Dixie. We need a car know one knows, and it would probably be better if we really did hike for a couple days. The further away from here we walk, the better."

The boys talked about the plan, but Jackie hated to tell them that they hadn't heard the second part of hers. She knew they wouldn't like it, and she hoped she wouldn't have to bring it up. However, if they found out that this hadn't been resolved internally, she had already decided that it was time to come out of hiding; she was going to act as decoy in order to catch whoever was behind the attempts on her life. She had to do it if she wanted a life. For now, she could let the boys lay out their plan. She could wait another week, but not any longer.

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Five days later, Bo and Luke noticed an increase on hazznet, though they couldn't exactly tell what was going on. There were transmissions flying back and forth, but they didn't sound like they were being staged; to the boys, it sounded as if everything was taking place in real time. From what they could gather, there were strangers in town that didn't belong there, and no one had a good feeling about them. By itself, that wasn't so unusual. For as small as Hazzard was, it did seem to attract riff raff from all over; strangers that often brought trouble along. However, given their current situation, they couldn't afford to dismiss it that easily, and when Bo and Luke both said they had their own bad feelings, that was all they needed to hear. Despite the fact that it was daytime, the boys decided that they should monitor the entrance to their hiding place. Telling Jackie to stay inside, they took up their positions. They hadn't been at their posts long when something made contact with their heads and blackness overtook them. When they woke up, Bo and Luke were inside the cavern, tied up, and Jackie was no where to be found.

Inching their way to each other, the boys eventually managed to undo the knots that were keeping their hands and feet secure.

"I'll give a holler on the cb," Luke said. Now that Jackie was gone, the last thing they wanted was radio silence. The more people that knew, the better. "Go look around, but be careful," he told Bo.

Nodding, Bo didn't make it very far. "Luke, look," Bo said, squatting down. When he stood back up with the gun in his hand, he continued. "It's Jackie's."

"Has it been fired?" Luke asked.

Bo raised it to his nose. Raising wild eyes to Luke, the blonde's head began bobbing furiously before searching for any evidence of blood. Not far away, he found what looked like a few drops. Squatting down again, he ran his fingers over it. The stickiness confirmed that it was blood, but it didn't look like enough to be caused from a gunshot.

"We'll find her Bo," Luke said, crouching down next to his cousin. Removing the gun from his hand, Luke placed his other on the blonde's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. As a condition of their probation, the boys weren't allowed to handle firearms, and in Bo's current state, the brunette didn't trust him with it. "Go take a look around, but be careful," Luke suggested. He wanted to give Bo something to do to get his mind off the red droplets, and he hoped that Bo just might find something useful.

Bo dashed out, wanting to call to Jackie, but knowing it was unwise to do so. She might have called back, if she were still in the area, but it would have also alerted whoever took her to the fact that he and Luke were free. Searching in silence, Bo was terrified that if he found her, she'd be dead, but he was also scared that if he didn't find her quickly, the same thing would happen. He found no trace of the Special Agent, but there were signs of a struggle everywhere and more drops of blood. Bo wanted to think that there was a reasonable explanation, but he and Luke hadn't tied themselves up, and Jackie Johnson hadn't wandered off on her own. He knew what the only logical conclusion was.

After alerting his family, the sheriff's department, and the rest of the community of Hazzard to be on the lookout for Jackie, Luke ran out to look for Bo. They almost knocked each other over.

Bo shook his head, indicating that there was no sign of her.

"Between Rosco, Enos, Cooter, Daisy, and Uncle Jesse, they're going to block all the roads out of Hazzard," Luke told him. "I don't know how much of a head start they've got, but we've got two things they don't." When Bo looked at his cousin to see what he was referring to, Luke continued, "we know the area, and we've got the General. Let's go."

The boys took off running in the direction of their orange Charger. Since Luke had driven in from Hazzard, instead of the opposite direction like Jackie and Bo had come from, access was a lot closer and easier to get to. Therefore, the General Lee was parked and hidden not too far away, which was a good thing. If Bo and Luke had been forced to go back to the car that was covered up, it would have been at least a two hour trip, even with both of them running at full speed. Whoever had Jackie would have been in Tennessee by that time.

After receiving road reports, the boys selected the only logical way out of Hazzard that was left. Taking every jump and short cut that they could, they quickly made up the time that they had lost during their unplanned siesta. Approaching the county line, they feared that either they had chosen the wrong road or the car they were looking for had crossed over and had been lost. Unsure as to whether they should break their probation and cross into the next county, they were relieved to find they didn't have to. In a nearby ditch, they spotted an abandoned car with New York license plates that had gotten stuck. All four doors were open and the occupants were no where to be seen. Where ever they had gone, they had done so on foot. Picking up the cb, Luke let everyone know what was going on. Then he and Bo grabbed their bows and arrows, and picked up the trail of the occupants of the car.

"Get moving!" they heard one of the mean screaming.

"God dang it, boss! She's slower than a snail! I say we shoot her right here!" Another man said.

"That's not our orders. Now just keep moving. Miss, I suggest you go a little faster," a third man said, talking to the only female in the group.

"I…….can't."

Bo and Luke could hear what was taking place. Jackie was slowing down her captors, unable to run with any kind of speed due to her injured lung. Even though it had been several weeks since her lung had been punctured with a bullet, it was a slow healing injury that could often be aggravated for years, sometimes, never to heal completely. With their vehicle stuck in a ditch and now being slowed down by her, the men were getting frustrated.

As the boys got closer, they could see that they were dragging Jackie behind them, and not in a gentle manner.

"Why them…….," Bo said, refraining from using a curse word, even though his uncle wasn't present. Stepping in front of Bo, Luke had to use both of his hands to restrain him. Bo was ready to charge after them, full steam ahead, and that wouldn't have done any of them any good. It would have only gotten Bo killed, and Luke needed him if his plan was going to work.

"Bo, stop."

"But, Luke! Look at em. Look how at how rough they're treating her."

"I know Bo, and we'll get em. But I need you with me, here, not there, not dead. You with me?"

Looking at his cousin a minute, Bo took a deep breath. "Yeah."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, okay. I'm with you, cuz. Let's get them polecats."

Continuing to follow the group in front of them while maintaining their distance wasn't hard thanks to the slow pace they were traveling. While they were moving, Bo and Luke readied their dynamite arrows. Waiting until the caravan was in the middle of a clearing, Luke looked at Bo and pointed to an area. Simultaneously, they lit the arrows, then shot them off.

Explosions were taking place on either side of the unwelcomed guests, and the kidnappers didn't know what type of assault they were experiencing. Using her last ounce of strength, Jackie put her hands together, brought her arms out in front of her, then brought her elbow back into the stomach of the man closest to her. Falling backward, he released her. She sprinted away from him, picking the general direction where the explosions had been launched from. Only one type of army used such a weapon; the Duke army, and she was looking for General Bo.

Her theory may have been correct, but she only made it a few feet when someone grabbed her from behind, pulling her down. Feeling hands around her neck that felt more like giant claws, Jackie propelled her leg in an upward motion. Hearing a groan, she pushed the man, but he wouldn't let go. Though he rolled off of her, he took her along. Giving him another swift kick in the same area, he let go of her. Seeing a gun that had been dropped, Jackie picked it up, aiming it at him at the same time as he was getting up and making another attempt to reach for her.

"Freeze," she ordered him. Grateful that she had one suspect under control, she wondered how she could possibly contain all four of them. Backing up so that she had all four in sight, they began to move toward her in unison. In response to her prayer, another round of explosions went off around her, causing the four to retreat backwards.

"Stand still, or the next one might hit you, and you don't know which one of you we're aiming at," Jackie heard a voice say behind her. Grinning, she knew that General Luke had just issued an order.

Within moments, Jackie heard sirens, and not long after that, Hazzard's Sheriff and Deputy arrived on the scene. The men in blue rushed passed her, threatening to cuff and stuff the kidnappers. The FBI was only seconds behind them, as the men in suits quickly claimed jurisdiction over the prisoners. In the middle of the clearing, chaos ensued, as local, state, and federal agencies all wanted a piece of the four men who had entered Hazzard County at their own risk.

As the commotion played out around her, Jackie threw down the gun and turned around. For the moment, she'd been forgotten about. Standing behind her, bows and arrows still raised, were Bo and Luke Duke. Forcing one foot in front of the other, Jackie began stumbling in their direction. She saw Bo throw down his own bow and began running toward her as she continued to move forward.

Bo's arms caught her as she sank to her knees, desperately trying to force air into her lungs which felt like they might explode.

"Special Agent Johnson, it's over," FBI Agent Matthews told her, kneeling beside Bo who was cradling her in his arms.

She heard the words, but didn't even turn her head to see who was speaking. "Bo?" she called, going limp in his arms.