EYES INTO EYES
Daisy entered Doc Appleby's house, her questioning eyes staring at Doc Appleby as he pointed at the bathroom's door in order to answer her silent question, "He's OK."
Daisy nodded, walking to the bathroom and knocking gently at the door, "Enos, are you OK?"
"I'm OK, don't worry," his muffled voice at the other side of the door seemed fine, and Daisy had a deep sigh: he was waking up from that shocked state, but Daisy couldn't say she was totally relieved, especially after her talk with Bo and Luke.
"Is he OK?" Rosco entered the house and he came closer Daisy.
Daisy turned to him, "Yeah, I hope so."
"May I talk to you, Daisy? Just me and you, I don't want Enos hear us."
Daisy glanced at Rosco, surprised by his whispering and by his serious and mature look, then she looked again at the bathroom's door, "OK Rosco, just few minutes," her voice a whisper answering Rosco's whisper, and she walked with the Sheriff in the small living room near the bathroom.
"What's happened to Enos in L.A.?"
Rosco's direct question and his serious tone surprised her, though she was waiting for that question. She had a deep breath, "Some protesters beat him up during a riot. He stayed in Hospital for a long time. They nearly killed him." Just few words to sum up what happened to Enos in L.A. (the public version, 'cause she couldn't talk to Rosco about the Blue Wall of Silence), few but rough and ravaging words. Uncomfortable because of that talk and because of Rosco's eyes, Daisy folded her arms and she shifted her weight from her right leg on the left one.
Rosco stared at her, silently, and Daisy realized it was really rare to see that look on Rosco's face: the silly and joking Sheriff was turning into a mature and serious man.
"Just… a beating from some protesters? You're lying, Daisy. Enos is shattered, psychologically shattered, because of something else." The silly and joking Sheriff was turning not just in a mature and serious man but also in a clever cop, someone able to read into other people's eyes and gestures.
Daisy's mind tried to find something to say, but Enos, suddenly by her side, helped her.
"I was beaten during some riots, Daisy's right. And the riots started after a case of police brutality: I was there when some colleagues beat up a man, and I testified against them during the trial. It wasn't… pleasant."
Daisy observed Enos rolling down his shirt's sleeves as he talked to Rosco, his hands gently trembling and his eyes staring at the floor. She was surprised to hear Enos talking about it, it was the first time he hinted at the trial and at how it saddened and disappointed him.
"I'm not surprised you testified against cops committing a crime, and I'm sure it wasn't pleasant, for you. I respect your honesty and integrity, Enos, I've always respected you."
Enos looked up at Rosco, his eyes opening wide in surprise, and Daisy wasn't less surprised than Enos: they knew Rosco had some kind of affection for Enos, though he had a strange way to show his affection, but he's never admitted, until then, he respected Enos' honesty (on the contrary, Rosco and Boss usually blamed Enos for his honesty, and they always feared Enos ruined their dirty plans).
"I… I really appreciate it, Sheriff. Thanks," Enos stretched his arm out to Rosco, and the two men shook hands, smiling.
A surprising scene: Daisy smiled, relaxing, grateful to Rosco because of his words, really meaningful words to Enos.
"And now, dipstick," the serious and mature Sheriff turned again into the usual Rosco, "go. A bomber just destroyed Cooter's garage, and if he decides to blow up Hazzard' bank too, Boss'll fire us," Rosco walked to the door as Enos followed him, "I called the Marion County's Sheriff and I asked for those L.A.'s detectives. They've just left Marion County, and, tomorrow, in the morning, they'll be here."
Walking to the door, Rosco didn't turn to Enos so he didn't catch his deputy's reaction, but Daisy did: Enos froze turning pale, he briefly closed his eyes and had a deep sigh, then he followed Rosco outside the door.
If Rosco had seen Enos in that brief moment, would he have understood Enos' worrisome about those detectives? The Sheriff didn't know the truth behind Enos' beating, so he probably wouldn't have found anything strange in Enos' reaction, or he would've misunderstood it with something else. Daisy shook her head, pushing away her sudden idea to talk to Rosco about Enos' beating: Rosco could watch over Enos and those detectives better than her family could (since he was going to work side by side with those detectives), catching strange signals, but it was something too thorny to talk about with Rosco, and, besides, Enos didn't know her family suspected those detectives of being involved in his beating, and it was better not involving anybody else in her family's plans until a confirm of their suppositions.
Staring at the ceiling of her bedroom Daisy tried to recollect everything happened during that long evening: Enos calling at the farm, her driving to the Boarding House, his shocked and confused look, his nearly confession before the blast.
The blast, that bomber in Hazzard and, with him, those detectives: Daisy rolled on her left side, sighing, in her mind Luke's words.
She was scared, she was terrified; just few days before she was repeating herself that Enos was safe and sound in Hazzard, far away from Los Angeles, everything happened in the big city behind him, finished, solved. She was wrong.
She told herself that Enos wasn's alone, now, as he was in L.A., and her family was going to protect him.
When she finally fell asleep, those detectives visited her in her nightmares.
Early in the morning, after a night spent tossing and turning in her bed, fighting against her nightmares, Daisy walked to the General Lee with Bo and Luke, "I want to be there before those detectives arrive. I want to see them, and I want to see Enos when he'll meet them."
"Unfortunately we won't be there during the meeting, 'cause we can't come in the Police Department without a good reason," Bo got in the car and turned the ignition key.
"We may come in the Police Department just to ask news about the bomber, pretending we don't know Enos and Rosco are talking with those detectives," Luke sat near Bo whereas Daisy sat on the back seat.
"And Rosco'll tell us to go away 'cause he's busy," Daisy shook her head.
"Even if Rosco'll tell us to go away, we'll managed to catch some signals from Enos about his relationship with those detectives," Bo turned to Daisy, smiling, "Don't worry. We'll find a way to keep a watch on Enos."
While Bo drove silently to the town, Daisy looked outside the window, and, before she realized it (did she fall asleep along the road because of the sleepless night?), the General Lee stopped in Hazzard's square. When the car crossed Cooter's Garage, she glanced, with a sigh, at what remained of it, its walls darkened by flames and smoke and a yellow-black tape blocking its entrance.
As soon as the General stopped in front of the church, in order to have the best view on the Police Department, a blue station wagon stopped at the other side of the square; the Dukes held their breath: a stranger car parking in front of the Police Department meant just one thing.
Two tall men came out the car, a dark haired man and a blond one, in their detectives' classic outfit: the blond man wore a blue jacket on blue trousers and a white shirt, whereas the dark haired man a grey jacket on grey trousers and a white shirt, and, obviously, both of them wore a tie (blue for the blond man and black for the dark haired man).
Daisy felt a shiver along her spine: were those men really involved in Enos' beating? She instinctively hated them.
When the men walked to the Police Department, the Dukes looked into each other eyes.
"Wait just few minutes before to enter, otherwise they could think we were waiting for them," Luke stared at Bo and Daisy, "OK?"
"And a perfect excuse to go to the Police Department could be to bring Enos his breakfast," Bo turned to Daisy, winking, "poor Enos worked all night long because of that bomber, and he needs a piece of cake from the Ice Cream Parlor."
"Great," Daisy smiled, coming out the car and running to the Ice Cream Parlor, relaxing as she realized Catherine Burns wasn't there (that journalist was the last person she desired to meet in that moment), buying some cake for Enos and Rosco (she decided Rosco too deserved a piece of cake) and running back to the General Lee, her heart beating in her chest in anticipation for their first meeting with those detectives and for their first check on Enos' reaction.
Bo and Luke were waiting for her outside the car, and when she reached them, they walked to the Police Department, a brief and knowing look at each other before to enter.
"Hey sugar, here's your breakfast, and your breakfast too, Rosco," Daisy walked closer Enos, showing her open smile and playing her sweet talking, "Uh, sorry, I hope I'm not interrupting anything important," pretending surprise and embarrass for the strangers' presence, she looked at them.
The blonde man looked at her with a curious smile, his blue eyes sliding all over her body in a sly way, and she was glad she was wearing long jeans and one of her shirts with long sleeves instead of one of her more sexy outfits; the dark haired man was looking at her cousins, his dark eyes not showing any emotion, and she wondered if he was really looking at his cousins or if his eyes were simply passing beyond them.
Blue eyes, curious but cold eyes, and dark eyes, impassive and cold eyes: she hated them even more.
"Breakfast? For Enos and me?"
Rosco's voice stopped her analysis of the two men, she turned to the Sheriff and she handed out the bag in her hand to him, "Cake from the Ice Cream Parlor. If I had known you and Enos weren't alone, I'd have brought more cake, for you and…" she turned to the detectives, "for them. I suppose they're those detectives you're talking about, yesterday." It was pointless pretending she didn't know anything about the detectives' arrival, since Rosco told her about it and for sure he remembered it (and Enos too remembered it), so, pretending to be totally in the dark about it would've been suspicious to Rosco and Enos.
"Thank you Daisy, and, yeah, we're busy. Police stuff," Rosco gently took the bag from Daisy's hand, still surprised of her kind gesture, but not suspecting the breakfast was just an excuse to meet those detectives.
"Do you know them, sheriff Coltrane?" the dark haired man stared at Rosco with cold eyes.
"I know everybody in Hazzard, detective Molise. She's Daisy Duke, with her cousins Bo and Luke Duke," Rosco pointed at Bo and Luke, and a shadow of doubt crossed his eyes: Daisy bringing breakfast to Enos was pretty normal, especially along the last month, but Bo and Luke being there with her was pretty strange.
Detective Molise: Daisy, Bo and Luke recorded his name.
"Daisy decided to bring you and Enos something to eat before to go shopping," Luke dampened Rosco's doubts pretending all of them were in town just for shopping, "I suppose you've worked all night long because of the blast," a perfect hiding of their primary mission.
"Did you see the blast or did you just hear 'bout it?" Blue cold eyes stared at Luke.
"We saw the blast," Luke nodded, his blue eyes staring back the detective's eyes, blue against blue, different shades of blue.
"Where were you when the bomb exploded, exactly?" the blonde man sat on Enos' desk.
"We're having a walk with our friend Cooter, he's the Garage's owner. We didn't see anything strange, if it's what you're going to ask me, detective, just a sudden explosion."
"So, you and your cousins were with Cooter. Both of your cousins? Did nobody see anything strange?" the blond man kept on asking his questions (or was it an interrogation?) whereas the dark aired man remained silent.
"No… just Bo and I," Luke showed his discomfort, knowing the detective's upcoming question.
"Daisy Duke was with me, detective Colt, at my… apartment, when we heard the explosion," Enos looked down, sparing detective Colt the question and Luke and Daisy the answer, Enos' first words since they entered the Police Department.
Detective Colt: the Dukes recorded this second name, trying, in addition to their recording, to catch any revealing shade in Enos' voice.
"At deputy Strate's place? Why were you there?" detective Cold smiled, that sly and curious smile Daisy hated since the beginning, as soon as he looked at her.
Daisy blushed furiously, and, again, Enos spared her the answer, "She's my fiancée, detective Colt. We were talking."
"Uh, talking. OK, you were talking," detective Colt's tone was teasing, whereas, by his side, detective Molise snorted.
"I don't want to be impolite, Miss Duke, but I'd ask you and your cousins to leave, now, please. Police business. Thank you for answering our questions, anyway," detective Molise's eyes glanced at Daisy, a brief and impassive glance coupled with an impassive but quite kind voice.
"Thanks for the cake, Dais. See you later, OK?" Enos looked into Daisy's eyes, his eyes sweet but somehow sad (or scared?).
She nodded, squeezing his hand before to go away, her way to let him feel her love and worrisome: Enos' hand was cold and sweaty.