A/N: Thank you, thank you for all of you who have read and reviewed! I appreciate it so much. I also appreciate any constructive comments about writing, character, details, etc. It's important to me to always improve! There are two chapters today that help move the plot along. Read, review, have fun! As always, nothing is mine.

Friday night

Bill Compton, King of Louisiana, felt the pull of his daytime sleep. Dawn was very close but he had a just a bit more work to do. No matter what he achieved by becoming King, he had certainly underestimated the amount of paperwork involved. He clicked on an e-mail from the shifter Sam Merlotte. Sam didn't think of himself as a spy for Compton but had agreed to keep the King informed of any activity he observed involving the vampire community that might be of interest. Sam viewed this mostly as insurance. Compton didn't care as long as the information was accurate and relevant.

The e-mail mentioned that an unfamiliar vampire stopped by the bar and had some conversation with Sookie Stackhouse. From what Sam gathered, the vamp's name was Anton Sejour. A brief physical description was included. There had been no incident but Sam wanted to know if Bill knew this vampire and if he should expect any trouble.

Bill felt a pang in the region of his static heart, as he did whenever he heard Sookie's name. Regret, guilt, frustration and, most of all, love still comprised the chaotic swirl of emotions that were his feelings about his blond neighbor. With great difficulty, he'd accepted that she had chosen Eric Northman to replace him after what she saw as his betrayal over trying to obtain her for the former Queen. But he remained alert to whether Eric treated Sookie with the devotion she deserved, as well as protecting her from all danger. If the time came when he thought Eric failed to do so, Compton vowed the Viking would pay the ultimate price.

Bill glanced up at his new human admin, Connie Mitchell. A rather round African-American woman who kept her hair cut close to her head and always dressed impeccably in colorful business suits, Connie was the most aggressively efficient person Bill had ever met, of any species. He had poached her from a vampire law firm in New Orleans, ruthlessly outbidding and outranking the senior partner who, Bill thought, would gladly have staked him for it. She ran his office and schedule with such military precision, even his sheriffs tread warily around her. Eric Northman, of course, expected her to succumb to his charm. It hadn't worked and Bill had been so delighted he raised her already generous salary.

"Do we know of Anton Sejour?" Bill asked Connie. "Has he checked in here or with any of the Sheriffs? I don't recognize the name."

Connie had already reviewed and compiled the latest reports from all the Sheriffs for the night. "Nobody mentioned him and he isn't in our database. Someone new?" she asked as she made a note on her Ipad.

"Perhaps," Bill replied considering. "Give Mr. Sejour until nightfall to show up here or otherwise surface. If he doesn't, tell Sheriff Northman I want him found and brought to me personally. Under silver if necessary." Bill powered down his computer for the day. "There's no excuse for bad manners."

Shreveport, Louisiana

Alcide Herveaux sank his large frame into the oversize leather office chair that was his only indulgence in the otherwise Spartan office of his new Shreveport location. He inhaled his second cup of coffee and decided he was almost on speaking terms with the day. Last night was the third night of the full moon and he had been out late running with the pack. Unfortunately, being a Were didn't preclude 8am conference calls on a Saturday morning. He glanced at his watch. He still had about 20 minutes before the meeting on the junior high school project he was bidding on. His cell phone rang and he sighed as he spotted the caller ID. His father; not necessarily how he wanted to start the morning. But Alcide's voice was warm when he pressed the button and said "Hi Dad, you're up early. How are you doing?"

"Doing fine, son. Just fine." Jackson Herveaux sounded chipper and a little...excited, Alcide thought. "How's it going in Shreveport? Did you get the school project?"

"I should know that in about 15 or 20 minutes. So we need to make it short, but I'll call you right after the meeting," Alcide tried to appeal to his father's desire to put business first. "Was that it?"

"Well now, I know it's not nice for your old man to say 'I told you so', but I don't get that many chances." Jackson laughed. Alcide rolled his eyes.

"What are you talking about Dad?" Alcide struggled to keep his voice even.

"You remember that little office park project you poured the foundations on last year? You didn't want me to sell it even though we had offers." Jackson was enjoying drawing out the suspense on his little revelation, whatever it was.

Alcide began to get a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew exactly which location his father was talking about, and exactly what-or who-was buried in that concrete foundation. Two medical office buildings had been built on top of the slabs although they hadn't leased quickly with the economy the way it was. It was a surprise then that a developer had persistently made offers over the last few months but Alcide still refused to sell. He'd expressly told his father he wouldn't sell no matter what the price, although he hadn't said why. Jackson'd been very angry with him. But his father's irritation was nothing to the wrath of Eric Northman and Alcide wasn't going to risk it. Not when his actions that hellish night were to have erased all obligations between his family and the vampire.

"Dad, tell me what you did!" Alcide snapped. "Did you sell that property?"

Jackson seemed not to notice Alcide's tone. Oblivious to consequences, that was Jackson Herveaux, Alcide thought. He tried to be quiet and encourage his father to continue. "I not only sold it at a profit," Jackson chortled. "I heard that the EPA suddenly found hazardous waste buried on the site from years ago and the new owner has to have it all dug up! Down to and including the foundations. All the soil will have to be carted away. We unloaded it just in time!"

"In fact, most of the demolition has already occurred." Jackson added with satisfaction. "That idiot I sold it to didn't even try to fight the EPA order."

Multiple doomsday scenarios blossomed in Alcide's brain, most of them ending in his and his father's blood dripping from the walls. "Dad, I told you not to sell it for any reason," he shouted. "You don't know what you've done!"

"I know I sold a money-losing piece of property for a nice profit, and saved us millions in environmental cleanup in the process!" Jackson retorted angrily. "You clearly didn't have a clue, just sitting on it. I'm still head of Herveaux Contracting and don't you forget it!" The phone clicked in Alcide's ear as his father hung up.

Alcide saw it was now 8:05am and he had two missed calls from the State funding agency that would award the school project.

Damn.

He took a deep breath and dialed Eric Northman's number. He knew the vampire had gone to ground for the day but he left an urgent, though non-specific message on the voice mail asking for a call back. He didn't have a clue who was "in the know" at Eric's on this thing. Any delay in relaying the information would not be looked on kindly by Northman, even if he didn't immediately get the message. Alcide decided to get all the details on the new buyer and go by to inspect the site in the meantime.

Shit, he didn't want to get involved in vamp business again. On the other hand, if his father's actions meant that Sookie might be in any danger, he knew he was in. To very end.