SILENCE
Daisy knelt by Enos' side, totally forgetting of her cast, "Enos, are you OK?" Her left hand gently caressed his hair, "Open your eyes, please."
Enos opened his eyes, but his forced position didn't allow him to turn on his back and to look at her face; he looked at her legs, "How's your leg, Daisy?"
"Oh Enos, it's not the time to worry for my leg!" She observed his body, fighting back her tears: the left side of his face was pressed against the wooden floor (detective Colt's jacket now between Enos' skin and the rough floor), his arms were tied behind his back by heavy chains, his shirt was stretched on his chest showing his muscles' tensing and his difficult breathing, his knees were bent and his ankles tied with chains: painful position.
Daisy came closer him, her bent knees touching his chest and somehow sustaining him, so that she felt his muscles relaxing a bit.
"These chains are tied to this," Bo grabbed a metal bar rising from the floor, "we can't move Enos away from it unless we break his chains."
"An old irrigation pipe", Luke looked at the detectives, explaining them what that bar was, just in case they didn't know what he was talking about, "in order to free Enos, we need something to break the chains, but… we don't have anything…" he looked around, "… not here, and not in The General's trunk. For sure Cooter and uncle Jesse can find something, a wire cutter or a hacksaw, I'm goin' to warn them but…" his blue eyes glanced at the bomb, "we have no time to wait for their help. If we can't move Enos away from the bomb, and if we can't move the bomb away from Enos," another worried look at the bomb, firmly tied to the floor, "the only way to save him is to defuse the bomb. Unfortunately…" Luke didn't complete his phrase because of the implied reproach to the detectives: the only one able to defuse the bomb was its maker, the bomber, but unfortunately he was on the way to the town, handcuffed, in the detectives' car, with Rosco (the Sheriff's car still on a tree, and so useless) and with Catherine Burns.
Not just reproach in Luke's tone, but also worrisome and disappointment: they had to save Enos, but how? He couldn't believe they weren't able to help their best friend. They should try everything they could, but… what? How?
Detective Molise answered Luke's implicit reproach and doubts, "I don't want that man 'round. He told us about Enos but not about the bomb, probably hoping the bomb exploded, killing any of us, as we approached this shed. We can't trust him; he could decide to provoke the bomb's explosion instead of defusing it, killing himself too, and us with him. He's totally crazy. It's why I asked Sheriff Coltrane to bring him to the town, using our car since Sheriff Coltrane's car…" he shook his head, sniggering.
"A good idea getting rid of the bomber… and of that reporter too. There was no place for her in your car," detective Colt smiled, folding his arms and looking at the Dukes, "thanks for the lift, guys."
Luke glanced at Bo and Daisy, in their eyes the same worrisome and confusion because of the detectives' strange calm and sort of amusement. Did they forget of those annoying beeps?
Answering their silent question and confusion, detective Molise took a small envelope off his jacket and knelt in front of the bomb, "I need just a small scissor and some pliers. Before to become a detective I was a LAPD Bomb Squad officer. I know how bombs work. Give me some time and stay calm. While I defuse the bomb, call for help: we have to free your friend and bring him to the Hospital for a check."
From his position, Enos tried to understand what's going on around him: he couldn't look behind him, and he couldn't look up.
The stretching in his shoulders was more and more painful, his hands and feet were asleep, and the headache was worse and worse.
When Daisy moved closer him, gently pushing her knees against his chest, he relaxed: she was sustaining his body, propping him up, and the stretching in his shoulders reduced, letting him breathe more easily.
He was in the Dukes' caring hands, now, and he knew they were going to save him, one way or another. He totally trusted them.
His eyes closed, he listened to the voices around him: he was tied with chains to an irrigation pipe, and those beeps scanned the time left before the explosion.
"If we can't move Enos away from the bomb, and if we can't move the bomb away from Enos…" Luke's voice. Was Luke scared? He was usually self-confident and calm, whereas he seemed now worried, too much worried.
Were the Dukes unable to help him?
No, Enos couldn't believe it, they were going to find a way to help him for sure, as many other times in the past. He held his breath, fighting back his tears.
"I was a LAPD Bomb Squad officer"
After detective Molise's words, Enos opened his eyes wide, staring at the detective who was kneeling in front of the bomb, a little envelope in his hands.
"I know how bombs work. Give me some time and stay calm. While I defuse the bomb, call for help: we have to free your friend and bring him to the Hospital for a check."
Hope. His hope was now in detective Molise, beside the Dukes.
"OK, I'm goin' to call uncle Jesse and Cooter," Bo walked away, coming out the shed and, through the open door, Enos saw Bo walking to The General Lee and grabbing the C.B. receiver. He couldn't hear what his friend was saying, but he could see Bo's tight features.
He buried his face against detective Colt's jacket, trying to hide his own worrisome to his friends and colleagues. And to Daisy.
"Enos, don't worry. We're goin' to save you," Daisy gently caressed his nape, her hand cold and trembling. She was scared. He was scared. Everybody was scared.
Bo walked closer him, kneeling down and gently touching his right shoulder, "Uncle Jesse and Cooter are comin', buddy, don't worry. Detective Molise is going to defuse the bomb, and then we're goin' to free you from these chains."
His face still buried against detective Colt's jacket, Enos nodded.
"OK, now, everybody, go out. If something goes wrong, the explosion will kill just deputy Strate and me, and nobody else."
Swallowing against the lump in his throat, Enos looked at detective Molise: the detective was going to risk his own life in order to save him.
He regretted his harsh words the day Daisy was injured and his sudden hate for the detectives. He regretted his lost trust. He regretted…
"Wait. Before they leave, before detective Colt leaves, I want you to know…" his voice cracked, it could be his last chance for solving his betrayal, "… I lied. That day at the Hospital, I lied to you, detective," his heart was beating furiously in his chest, "I hampered a police investigation. I betrayed my oath, I'm sorry."
By his side, Daisy's stiffened, "Enos, what are you talking…"
He kept on talking, "I wasn't beaten by baseball bats but by…" he closed his eyes, "… by batons. I was blindfolded, but… I know cops' equipment. Not protesters beat me up, but… other cops." He told it, finally he told it. If he had died, at least his conscience was clean.
"I'm sorry, Daisy. I'm not so honest how you think of. You deserve someone better than me. So, please, now, go, I don't want someone dies because of the bomb," he buried again his face against detective Colt's jacket, the air around him becoming heavy as everybody held his breath, shocked by his confession.
"Go, deputy Strate is right," detective Molise's repeated his previous order, his voice calm and cold as usual.
"But…" Daisy's hands grabbed Enos' right shoulder, "I don't want to leave him… I don't…"
"Please, Daisy, detective Molise is right. We can't do anything, right now, but just leave detective Molise defuse the bomb. Come on," Luke's voice was soft, but Enos knew his friend enough to understand the pain in his words.
"Enos… I love you. I've always been proud of you and I'll always be."
He felt Daisy's hands on his nape, turning his face to her; a quick and gentle kiss touched his lips before she left, Bo and Luke helping her to walk to the door.
Outside the cabin, Daisy hugged Luke, burying her face against his chest and crying.
The silence was deep and total: nobody was talking, even birds weren't twittering.
That silence could turn into a terrific explosion, an explosion killing Enos and detective Molise; that thought in her mind, Daisy gently shivered against Luke's body, and her cousin wrapped his arms around her. In that tight hug, Daisy could feel Luke too shivering.
"A rat helping another rat. What a sweet scene."
Daisy turned to detective Colt after his stunning words, surprise and rage on her face, the same surprise and rage on Bo and Luke's face.
Detective Colt took a lighter and a cigarettes' packet off his trousers' pocket, he took a cigarette and he lighted it, "Rick was a LAPD Bomb Squad officer. He had a high rank, higher than the detective rank. His becoming a detective and his leaving the rank he had in the Bomb Squad was the price he had to pay because of being a rat," he inhaled the smoke and he breathed it out. The gentle trembling in his gestures and voice told Daisy, Bo and Luke how much worried he was despite his apparent harsh words: his being so impudent and cold was his defensive barrier.
In that moment Daisy understood everything: Enos didn't want to talk to her about the detectives not because he hated them but because he was ashamed of himself and of his lie (a pretty comprehensible lie, but she wasn't surprised Enos was blaming himself for it). She turned to Luke, reading in his look his regret for his previous suspects against the detectives and his new respect, total respect, for them. Bo too was looking at detective Colt with a new look.
That brief talk distracted them from the cabin, and when they heard a sudden noise coming from it, they jumped in fear, waiting for an explosion, their eyes open wide turning from detective Colt to the cabin.
Detective Molise was coming out, "THE BOMB IS DEFUSED," he shouted so that they could hear him from their distant position.
Detective Colt smiled, "YOU'RE GREAT, RICK!"
"THE BOMB IS DEFUSED!"
Enos had a deep sigh. He was safe, he was alive, and his conscience was finally clean.
He remembered detective Molise talking about his staying in the Bomb Squad and why he had to leave his rank. He respected detective Molise and detective Molise respected him: detective Molise, Rick, was an idealist, like him.
His eyes closed, Enos finally relaxed, Daisy by his side, hugging him and kissing him.
When uncle Jesse and Cooter finally arrived, they managed to free him thanks a big hacksaw, after a long and intense fight against the chains.
He was finally free.
"Enos, can you stand up?"
He opened his eyes and he looked at uncle Jesse, "My feet are asleep, and my head hurts. I don't know if…" before he completed his phrase, Bo, Luke and Cooter took him in their arms, carrying him outside the cabin and resting him in uncle Jesse's truck.
"We're goin' to bring you to the Hospital, buddy, don't worry," Bo patted gently his nape, "you're goin' to feel fine."
He nodded.
Daisy sat by his right side and uncle Jesse by his left one; while uncle Jesse drove the truck to the Hospital, Enos rested his head on Daisy's shoulder, he surrendered to his weakness and he fell asleep.