A Woman Scorned

' signifies thought


Chapter 4 of A Woman Scorned


Pain and Suffering

When 5 o'clock arrived with no word from Luke, Bo decided to call the
VA. "Uncle Jesse!" Bo called as he came running out the door fear
written clearly on his face.


"Bo what's wrong, has Luke been in an accident?"


Bo shook his head grimly, "No...at least I don't think so. Uncle
Jesse I just got off the phone with the VA, there ain't nobody named
Ms. Clayton working there. They don't know anything about any meeting
with Luke or any problems with his files. I'm going to look for him,
I just hope..."


Reaching out to clasp Bo's shoulder in support and comfort Jesse tried
to reassure him. "It'll be okay Bo, we'll find him you'll see. Now you
take the General and head out Mill Pond Road, I'll take Dixie and head
into town, maybe he just had trouble with the truck."


"What about me Uncle Jesse?" Daisy asked afraid he would ask her to stay
behind.


Looking towards Bo with concern Jesse answered, "You go with Bo, he
may need you depending on what he finds. Go on you better hurry 'fore
he takes off without ya."


Daisy jumped in the passenger side of the General just as Bo cranked
the engine and put it in gear. They hadn't gone far when they saw
Jesse's truck parked on the side of the road. Getting out they ran up
to the truck almost afraid to look inside. They were surprised to find
nothing, there was no blood, no note, no signs of a struggle. It was
as though Luke had just vanished into thin air. "Lost sheep to Shepherd;
Lost sheep to Shepherd you got your ears on, come back."


"This is your Uncle Shepherd, did you find him?"


"Nah Uncle Jesse, we found your truck on Mill Pond Road but there
ain't any sign of Luke. ...Maybe you should call Rosco, Uncle Jesse,
I think maybe Luke's been kidnapped."


"Alright Bo, I'll be out there soon don't you worry son we'll find him."


Bo folded his arms across the General's roof and laid his head on them.
He could feel Daisy's hand rubbing in circles on his back, trying to
comfort them both. It helped a little bit, he couldn't help wishing it
was Luke's hand on his back, soothing him. Pulling himself together Bo
forced himself to stand up straight, he had to stay calm. If he fell
apart he might not find Luke, or find him too late. 'Stop it Bo, don't
think like that you won't help Luke none that way.' Bo told himself,
he couldn't think about what might happen to Luke, of what might be
happening right now. Uncle Jesse pulled up just then thank God, followed
by Rosco.


"Okay Bo now just what makes you think Luke's been kidnapped?" Rosco
asked as he got out of his patrol car.


"Well for starters Rosco, he wouldn't leave Uncle Jesse's truck just
sitting here like this. Then too he got a call this morning about a
problem with the VA, that's where he was headed, but when I called them
they didn't know what I was talking about. We figure it must've been a
fake call, I just don't know who would want to kidnap Luke, it don't
make any sense." Remembering his own kidnapping Bo had a sudden thought.
"Rosco this ain't some scheme of Boss' is it? I swear if it is and Luke
gets hurt..."


"No Bo, I swear Boss didn't have anything to do with this. He learned
his lesson last time and besides he knows his sister wouldn't like it.
Are you sure Luke didn't leave on his own? Maybe you two had a fight,
like a lover's spat?"


"No Rosco we didn't fight and even if we did Luke wouldn't just leave
not like this. Now are you going to help us or are you just going to
get in the way?" Bo yelled at Rosco.


"Now Bo there ain't no call for you to be like that, I know you don't
like it but I have to ask." Swallowing hard, Rosco knew Bo was really
going to hate the next question, but it had to be asked. "Bo, is there
any chance Luke's seeing someone else.? Maybe an old girlfriend?"


"Damn it Rosco, No! How many times do I have to tell you we're hap...
Diane."


"What? What was that Bo?" Jesse asked.


"Diane Bensen, she was here a couple of days ago. She lost her carnival
and wanted us to get back together, she was pretty mad when she found
out about me and Luke. Accused...she accused Luke of manipulating me,
of turning me against her, maybe she did something to Luke. We have to
find him Uncle Jesse, before it's too late, before she does something
to him." Bo said, his voice shaky with emotion.


After carefully examining the area the only thing they had found was
another set of tire tracks along with some footprints. Nothing else to
tell them what had happened to Luke. Splitting up and calling in Cooter
and Enos to help, they began the task of searching Hazzard for Luke.


Feeling the car come to a stop a short time later, Luke braced himself
to tackle Diane when the trunk opened. Crazy she might be but she wasn't
stupid, as she unlocked the trunk she quickly stepped back gun at the
ready. Luke felt his heart drop when he saw that he wouldn't get the
chance to disarm her, 'please God if I don't survive this...don't let
Bo be the one to find me.' Motioning towards the barn Diane followed
behind, but not close enough to grab. Looking around him Luke was
surprised when he realized where he was, he couldn't believe he was this
close to home. At least if he got the chance to escape he wouldn't have
to go far. Feeling a sudden sting on his neck, Luke began to turn towards
Diane only to stumble as the drug quickly took effect.


When Luke woke up sometime later he found himself on the floor of
the old barn. His shirt had been removed, as had his jeans, when he
tried to move he found that his arms and legs were tied to stakes that
were hammered into the ground, leaving him spread eagled and helpless,
at the mercy of a crazy woman. "Hello Luke, I hope you're not too
uncomfortable." Diane said from somewhere behind him, he tried to turn
his head so he could see her but it was no use. Stepping into his line
of sight Diane continued as though it were perfectly normal to have a
man staked out in your barn. "You know at first I was angry with Bo,
I was going to punish him. However the more I thought about it the more
I realized Bo is as much a victim as I am. You're the one to blame, you
wanted him for yourself, you wanted to control him but that wasn't
enough was it Luke? You had to turn him against me so you wouldn't
lose control of him and you know what, I'm sorry I came into his life.
I know now seeing him with me, loving me gave you the idea to control
him with love, not that you love him. No, you just want to fuck him and
control him, but if you can make him believe that you love him, well that
just makes it so much easier doesn't it? No more Luke Duke, I won't
let you use him anymore, I'm going to keep you here until you confess.
I'll do whatever it takes to make you confess to your sins. I know you
don't think you will, but it will happen, because the only way you get
to leave here alive is to admit to everything. Admit how you lied to
Bo, manipulated him and turned him against me all because of some sick
need to control him."


"Never, I'll never admit that because it's a lie. I love Bo and
nothing you do will ever make me say otherwise."


"It's late and I've had a long day so I'll leave you to think about it
for now. Goodnight Luke, see you in the morning."


It was with despairing hearts that the rest of the Dukes returned
home that night. After hours of searching they had been forced to admit
if was just too dark to continue and so they had returned home planning
to start searching again in the morning.


"Ahhhhhhh!" Luke awoke with a scream as a fiery pain raced across
his chest.


"Ready to confess Luke?" Diane asked standing to the side holding a
whip in her hand. "No, oh well guess I'll just have to persuade you."


After twenty lashes Luke could take no more and passed out from the
pain. Shaking her head in disgust Diane looked down at him with hatred.
She still couldn't believe he could take advantage of Bo like that, using
him for sex. Besides didn't he realized Bo belonged to her, they were
meant to be together. During the course of the next two days Diane
tortured Luke, determined to wring a confession from him.


While Luke was suffering at Diane's hands the Duke family with help
from their friends were searching the countryside. Twenty-four hours
after his disappearance they were finally able to file an official
missing persons report, which brought the State Police in on the search.
Forty-eight hours after Luke disappeared Bo was nearly at the end of
his rope. 'God please let me find him, I can't lose him, please help me,'
Bo prayed as he stared down the road, where could he look next? They
had checked everywhere in the county with no luck, the State Police had
issued an alert but nobody had seen Luke. It was as though the Earth
had just swallowed him up, damn it where are you Luke? Where else could
they look, suddenly Bo realized there was one place they hadn't checked.
It was so close to where they'd found the truck he figured that was why
nobody had thought to look there, the old Jensen place. Bo turned in
the direction of the Jensen place, praying his hunch was right, praying
he would find Luke alive.


After two days of torturing Luke, Diane didn't know what else to try.
She had whipped him until he passed out, waking him up with a bucket of
water thrown in his face, she had started cutting him with his own
knife. After that she had burned him with hot coals and beaten him
with a baseball bat. Nothing worked, no matter what she did he wouldn't
admit what he had done. He still kept claiming he loved Bo, still said
he had never lied to Bo. He actually tried to accuse her of manipulating
Bo, of lying to Bo and using him. How dare he, well she wasn't going
to put up with this anymore, she had given him a chance to live through
this. Well if he didn't want to cooperate she'd just have to find some
other way to convince Bo of the truth, make him see she loved him. But
first she'd have to get rid of Luke, picking up the large butcher knife
from the kitcen counter she headed to the barn. Kneeling beside Luke,
Diane looked at him with pity. "This could have been so different Luke,
you could have walked away, all you had to do was tell the truth."


"I...told...truth..."


"It's too bad really, you could have lived a long life, now I'll just
have to find some other way to convince Bo that we belong together."
Diane smiled as she raised the knife, quickly thrusting it towards Luke's
chest.


TBC.


Please review