Disclaimer: Most characters belong to Charlaine Harris. Yvetta Not-A-Cardiologist belongs to Alan Ball. I'm just making them solve mysteries.

Setting: 2000s, Louisiana

SVM Timeline: Bill * nirvana * Machu Picchu * Peru * glorious.


Once My Three Vamps had filled me in on the murders and the upcoming gala, Pam, with an announcement that she'd be right back, abruptly left the office. Worried, I silently prayed she wouldn't be returning with Clairol products. I was still hoping to dodge the dye job bullet. With Pam gone, Eric and Chow fell into a conversation about the club. Overhearing their discussion, I concluded that my assumption that Chow had bought into Fangtasia seemed to be right on the money (literally). Trying to wait patiently, I shifted uncomfortably in the foldout chair as I looked longingly at the black leather couch.

Sitting there, I attempted to make sense of everything I'd heard from the three vamps and everything that had been disclosed on the news. In retrospect, I realized that the televised news story had given minimal details. They didn't say anything about what the explosive device looked like, what it was made of, how big it was, how they'd disguised it—although Eric said they hid it behind a mailbox. Mulling over all the clues and missing clues, it was the sound of Eric calling my name that brought me back to the present.

"Sookie?" Eric was seated in front of me on the couch. Leaning forward with his elbows balanced on his knees, his biceps and deltoids seemed to be putting an unfair strain on his t-shirt. The shirt was practically begging for mercy.

"Sookie?" Yeah, I was staring right at him and he still had to say my name twice to get my attention.

"Yeah?" Glancing around the room, I noticed for the first time we were alone. Not good. "Where'd Chow go?"

"Why, Sookie?" Eric grinned. "Do you feel we need a chaperone?" He continued to smirk. Maybe because I felt a little embarrassed at being caught ogling him, I fell back on my routine game plan.

"No," I shook my head, smiling. "At least I don't. You can just keep on dreaming." Recalling Pam's comments from earlier, I snorted. "Maybe I'll add that Louisiana sexual harassment hotline to my cell phone." I continued to giggle as it occurred to me that any woman working for Eric Northman ought to have that number programmed into her cell phone. Maybe the state sexual harassment office should air a public service announcement warning potential employees about the possible sexual hazards of working for Eric Northman. Maybe they ought to open a satellite office in the strip mall next to Fangtasia.

Pam reappeared carrying a laptop case. With obvious amusement, she took in the scene of me sitting at the card table giggling while Eric stared at me from his perch on the couch. Rather than dislodging Eric and reclaiming her spot on the couch, Pam took Bobby's empty seat at the card table. No longer able to view me from the couch, Eric returned to his desk.

Dismissing Eric's odd behavior, I watched as Pam quickly and efficiently set up her computer and grabbed several folders from the case. Noticing me watching her, she gave me a reassuring smile.

"Only a few minutes more, my friend Sookie. I mean," she paused and then repeated, with emphasis, "my friend, Michele."

I rolled my eyes. Even though picking out an alias was something I'd done at her insistence, she was still going to tease me about it. I shot a glance at Eric, who was studiously leafing through some papers.

"We almost ready?" I asked after a few minutes. It was almost eleven o'clock. I'd been there nearly three hours. It had been an intense three hours. I was already exhausted. I wondered how I'd be able to function at Merlotte's the next day but then I remembered I wasn't going to Merlotte's. I was interviewing at the El Dorado with someone named Marnie. This made me feel better for all of two seconds.

"Just waiting on Pam." I started when Eric spoke, having forgotten I'd asked a question. Glancing over at him, I found his eyes speculatively focused on me.

"And I am now ready," Pam said.

I turned my attention to Pam, only to realize she was watching Eric. I turned back to face him.

"As you know, Pam and I are part owners of the El Dorado." I nodded. I hadn't known the bit about Pam but it made sense. "There are numerous partners involved, but we are the only ones with any visibility. As the murders have occurred this past month, knowing the casino gala was approaching, Pam," Eric gestured towards his child who nodded, "and I came to the conclusion that we needed someone at the hotel during the day, observing what we cannot."

Okey-dokey. I could understand that.

"Given the level of uncertainty regarding who we can trust, putting in additional security seemed pointless. As you have noted, it's an inside job. Under the scrutiny of additional security, the perpetrators would simply deviate their activities to avoid discovery." Eric quirked an eyebrow at me and I nodded letting him know I understood their reasoning. "Instead, we thought it better to place someone at the hotel under the guise of an unrelated matter. Someone who would not arise suspicion yet who would be in a good position to observe."

"I suggested the idea of an events liaison," Pam injected. "I had read of it in a magazine describing flexible career options." Pam had a self-satisfied smile on her face. Although I'd never tell Pam, I thought it was kind of cute, how pleased with herself she seemed. I guess you're never too old to take pride in learning something new.

"Oh," I nodded.

"We developed the plan with you in mind," Pam said.

"You see? There's no one else we would trust." Eric threw me a significant look.

I was getting more ideas for marketing my Human Lie Detector business. Sookie Stackhouse: Trusted by Vamps Areawide. Of course, 99.9% of humans had no inkling of the political jurisdictions established by the vamp hierarchy, so the term 'Area' would mean nothing to them but that shouldn't matter. It still sounded good.

"Sookie," Pam had started typing on her laptop. "Did you bring a resume?"

"Um, yeah." Opening my handbag, I quickly pulled out Pam's fax with my resume notes jotted on the back. I handed the folded up sheet to Pam who frowned as she took the paper.

"What is this?" she asked as she lifted the sheet to her nose. She grimaced. "No wonder Compton has developed extra sensitive olfactory senses."

"I got a little ketchup on it is all."

"I don't know how you humans do it," she shook her head.

"I could say the same for you, Pam."

Pam shrugged and continued typing. At the sound of Eric clearing his throat, I turned around to look at him.

"So, we suggested to the hotel manager, Marnie Stonebrook, a Were, that an events liaison be hired temporarily to assist with the gala and the other events this week. We may make it a permanent position, but this doesn't concern you as you wish to return to your shifter."

Eric's tone echoed a hint of disapproval but I chose to ignore it. Suddenly Pam was throwing in more of her two cents.

"You will not like Marnie."

My head shot around to her. "What? Why not?"

Pam shrugged again. "No reason. Sometimes humans will say—before introductions—'you will like him or her.' Why can we not point out the opposite if we believe it to be true?"

I couldn't fault her logic. Personally I hated it when people told me I'd love so-and-so. Usually the new acquaintance wouldn't make it onto my long list. Or even the waiting list for my long list.

"There is more," continued Pam. I watched her, waiting.

"Pam." Eric's voice was steel. Curious, I glanced at him.

"Eric, she should know everything so she is not caught off-guard." Pam quirked a brow at Eric and waited for him to relent. An undercurrent of silent communication passed between them in the deathly quiet office. Pam emerged victorious as Eric finally conceded to her wishes.

"Fine."

Eric's agreement was barely past his lips when Pam started to relay to me all the juicy details she was obviously anxious to share.

"Marnie is a witch."

"What?" I asked.

"A witch. Cauldrons. Spells. Broomsticks."

"You're kidding."

"No," Pam shook her head. "I'm not. We do not know how powerful she is, nor do we know anything about her coven although we know she belongs to one."

I'd never met a witch before and here I was going to be working with one. Considering I was already working with vampires and had been working for a shifter for years, maybe my surprise at the revelation was a bit of an overreaction. Still I was curious.

"What do witches do?"

Pam gave me an exasperated look. "What do humans do?"

I wasn't really clear on Pam's line of questioning, so maybe my answer was a little on the smart side.

"We go around doing human things."

Surprisingly this response suited Pam just fine.

"Yes!" she nodded emphatically. "And witches go around doing witch things! So far we've gotten around having problems with Marnie by paying her twice what she's worth and being a silent partner in some witchcraft shop she owns. I do not know much about witchcraft. If you really want to know more, talk to Chow. He's our resident expert on mysticism."

Pondering Pam's words, I frowned. I figured I probably ought to get up to speed on witchcraft considering I'd be working with a witch. Despite the difficulty I had envisioning myself asking Chow for a lesson on witchcraft, I had to admit all bets seemed to be off. While 24 hours earlier I would have regarded the idea of a beauty makeover from Pam wtih the same likelihood of a camping trip with the Easter Bunny, it definitely seemed to be on my night's itinerary.

"Okay."

"Now, about Marnie," Pam continued. "There's one more thing..." She hesitated. I just kept looking at her expectantly.

"What?" I asked.

"She has a thing for Eric."

I felt my eyes grow into saucers as I threw a glance in Eric's direction. Before I could stop myself, I heard a cringe-worthy retort fly from my lips.

"Does she know about Yvetta?"

It was Pam's turn to show surprise. "She doesn't and frankly I'm surprised you do." Pam glared at Eric.

"Yvetta is working tonight, Pam." Eric stated, matter-of-factly.

"Is that what you call it?" Pam replied icily.

"Pam." A person would have to be really thickheaded to not catch the warning in Eric's tone.

Pam shrugged. She apparently wasn't thickheaded as she quickly dropped the subject. "Anyway, back to Marnie. She's vile but well-organized. She knows about the murders and was working both nights. Due to the increasing number of vamp guests at the El Dorado, they have more staff on at night than previously. I am not clear on how they divide their shifts," Pam said. "Marnie seems to always be there. Perhaps she has conjured up a doppelganger of herself."

"What does she know about me?" I was starting to feel a little nervous about Marnie Stonebrook the witch with the hots for Eric.

"Marnie is lazy when it comes to matters not directly involving her," Pam replied. "She has had no interest in filling this position. We told her we had some resumes left over from Eric's search for his daytime person. I told her I would contact some of the candidates and see if I could secure someone easily. Being lazy, she quickly agreed."

"So, she thinks I interviewed or at least sent in my resume to be Eric's dayperson?"

"Yes," Pam nodded. "Hmmm. I think it is safest to say we did not interview you in person."

"Why not?"

"Marnie desires Eric. She is insecure. If she thought you had met Eric, she might..." Pam's thought process seemed to falter. "I think it's for the best."

I didn't know anything about witches—aside from what I'd gotten from watching 'Bewitched,' 'Sabrina' and various other television shows over the years. I'd defer to Pam on this.

"The hotel concierge, Christian Baruch, is a rather worthless being," Pam made a face. "The last concierge was not comfortable with vampires. This one is courting every one in sight as he wishes to be turned."

"Do you think he's involved?" I asked. "Maybe the vamp promised to turn him if he cooperates with them?"

Pam's eyes opened wide and she glanced over at Eric. He responded with a raised eyebrow.

"You see? She thinks outside the box."

Pam turned back to me. "No, I hadn't regarded that tiresome sycophant as a suspect but now I do. Listen to him."

I nodded.

"The hotel security director is named Todd Donati. He is a longtime professional in the security field—a former police chief—and he relocated from the Northeast to take this job. We were lucky to get him to come to Louisiana."

Okay, my penchant for thinking outside of the box wasn't working on this one. "Pam? I don't get it. Why would that matter? Where he's from?"

Pam had a thoughtful expression on her face. "There are networks of obligations in systems. Had we hired a local person, we would've had to accept his political baggage and obligations to others in the system."

Oh.

"Besides," she continued, "Louisiana is not known for it's morally upstanding political leaders. We thought it best to shop around."

Okey-dokey.

"Now, E(E)E..." Pam started.

"What does it stand for?"

"Sookie, your brain fixates on the most interesting things sometimes." She cocked an eyebrow at Eric.

"Extremely Elegant Events."

Pam nodded. "Yes, that's right. Extremely Elegant Events. They do special events for supes. A lot of supes tend to use them even if it is not a strictly supe event. John Quinn, as a supe, is the partner who handles supe events."

"What is he?" I asked.

"A shifter."

"Oh."

"He has a long rather unfortunate history with vampires." Pam, a thoughtful look on her face, glanced at Eric. "I suppose, he, like Christian Baruch, could be in debt to someone and involved somehow."

"That would be a pity. I may not care for him but he's good at keeping transgressions to a minimum."

Pam snorted. "Eric," Pam said,"he is a tiger. I would hope he'd be able to keep transgressions to a minimum." Tiger? "Anyway, Sookie, Quinn usually has a few staffers and they contract out for other services." Pam paused. "Eric, do we have the staffing chart?"

Eric rifled through one of the folders on his desk and grabbed a couple of sheets he then handed over to me.

"Thanks."

Eric nodded.

I glanced down at the sheets and saw John Quinn at the top of the chart. As the sheet had color photographs accompanying each bio, I got my first glimpse at John Quinn. Apparently he was bald with white even teeth and an easy smile. I thought he had beautiful eyes. I must've been staring extra long as I heard Eric clear his throat prompting me to look up.

"What do you think?"

I didn't think Eric would be asking me my impressions of how handsome I thought John Quinn was. Confused, I frowned.

"Of what?"

"Of their backgrounds." He slanted his eyes. "I'm asking your impressions of their backgrounds. If you have any insights."

Oh. Silently I nodded and returned my attention to staffing chart. Hondo Rivera. Jake Purifoy. Bettina Alia. Frannie Quinn. Glancing quickly at the bios, I noted that Frannie seemed too young to be a wife. I figured she must be his sister. I thought I could see a family resemblance. Reviewing their brief work backgrounds, nothing struck me as particularly noteworthy. I shook my head in response to Eric's question. I was curious about them, however.

"Are they all Weres or shifters?"

"I believe," Pam grabbed the sheet from me and looked at it. "Hondo and Jake are Weres. Bettina is a shifter. I don't think Quinn's sister is anything." Pam shot a questioning glance at Eric who nodded confirmation. "As for your new identity Sookie, Bobby Burnham's first order of business is to procure your new official ID. I have to take a photo once your hair is done so that I can email it to him."

Oh, yeah. That.

"Pam, about dying my hair red and the colored contacts—is there any other way?" I had told myself to stand firm. I couldn't help but wince at the pleading tone in my voice.

Hearing a sound, I glanced over my shoulder to look at Eric, who had an equally pained expression on his face. Hmmm. I almost laughed out loud. He did seem nearly as upset about my hair as I was.

"Sookie, I am sorry," he smiled sadly. This was Serious Eric come to visit. "It must be done. It is not a lark. It is for your safety." Just as suddenly, Serious Eric was gone. I could see his lips twitching at the edges. I mentally prepared myself for his next words. "However, if we find some amusement in this, then we are certainly free to continue. Pam said you were not thrilled with the idea of red. Perhaps you would like to be a brunette, next time?"

I threw Pam an angry look. "No! There's not going to be a next time!"

"Of course," Eric nodded.

On that matter I figured it wasn't safe to trust him farther than I could throw him.

"Well, Sookie—I mean Michele," Pam smiled. I wanted to flick her on the forehead. "It is time to get started on your makeover. I have already ordered your work wardrobe—"

"What? Without any input?"

"I sought Eric's input when I needed a second opinion. Although I had to stand firm on limiting red as I feared too much would wash out the effect of your new hair color."

Rolling my eyes, I felt a new wave of indignation.

"I can't believe you two!" I swung around to give equal glare time to Eric. "I'm not your life-sized Barbie doll!"

Eric shook his head and started to laugh silently. "No, you're more like GI Jane." I felt my jaw drop.

"Sookie," I turned back to face Pam. "You heard Eric. It is not for our own amusement we are seeking to disguise you. It is a matter of your safety."

Chagrined, I just stared at Pam. "Fine. Let's get this over with."

Pam smiled a toothy grin. She really was delighting in this part of the plan.

"Yes, Michele."


AN: The mystery continues. For the record, my fave bit is Pam explaining to Sookie that she won't like Marnie. Hmmm, Pam's line about the doppelganger is good, too. That Pam. Next up: Sookie as a redhead.

As always, thank you for reading. Comments welcome. Patience appreciated.