Chapter 10
.
When Ferdinand had returned Sue to her owner, he quickly drove out of town and pulled over to the side of the road. He picked up his cell phone from the console, got out of the car and walked out of earshot as he dialed a number.
"I have encountered a potential problem with my assignment and am requesting advice on how to proceed. – I overheard a conversation between a visitor and the person housed next door to my charge. She apparently knows King Eric and bears ill will against his Queen. They were discussing my charge, the search for him and the rumored particulars of his current difficulties. – I have secured the woman. I have taken her away from the sanitarium so her abduction would not be connected to the facility. I thought to take her to The Oubliette, if you have no objection. – Of course, I understand."
He closed his phone and calmly walked back to his car. When he opened the trunk Frannie pushed herself back as far as she could as if she could prevent him from forcing her out. Her eyes were wide with fear and clearly she had been crying, though she appeared to be preparing for defiance at present.
"You are in no danger of physical injury," he said. He had hoped this would calm her and alleviate her fears, but it didn't seem to have had the desired effect. Having reached the back of the trunk, Frannie curled into a fetal position.
Ferdinand closed his eyes for a second. He'd only been a vampire for ten years, but he already found many human actions irritating. "I am stronger than you, faster than you and you can't hurt me. I am going to take you to Las Vegas. These are facts. Nothing you can do will change these facts.
Your comfort during this trip is entirely up to you. You may ride in the front seat where it is comfortable, or you may remain in the trunk. It makes no difference to me. Do you understand so far?"
There was only a slight hesitation before Frannie nodded her head.
"Good. It's a long drive to Las Vegas. I will be driving very fast, but it will still probably take five hours. These are the rules for sitting in the front seat. You may not open the door for any reason. When we stop for gas, if you need food, drink or to use the facilities, you will tell me and I will come round and let you out. I will then escort you to wherever you need to go. You will not attack me or attempt to interrupt my driving. You will not succeed in anything but being an irritant to me by doing this and I can be quite unfriendly when I'm irritated.
I do not intend to injure or abuse you. You have nothing to fear from me so long as you behave and obey the rules.
Now is the time to make your choice. Would you like to ride in the front seat?"
Frannie nodded yes.
"Good. I prefer not to worry about you suffocating. I'm going to lift you out. Please don't kick me."
He lifted her out and stood her beside him. He untied her hands and removed her gag. As she stood rubbing her wrists he said, "I apologize for your discomfort. Please." He opened the passenger door and motioned, indicating for her to come to get in the car. She complied quietly.
Ferdinand was true to his word. He drove very fast. Frannie finally stopped glancing at the speedometer. It only served to frighten her.
"Why did you take me?" Frannie asked after a while.
"As a precaution."
"This has something to do with that woman."
"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific if you expect a coherent answer to your questions," he responded.
"Sookie Stackhouse," Frannie said, her voice sounding as if the name was being pried from her lips with hot pliers.
"I'm afraid I don't know a woman by the name of Stackhouse. But if I'm not mistaken, King Eric's Queen is called Sookie by her family."
Frannie scoffed and shifted in her seat. "After she broke my brother's heart, the vampires made her a queen."
"I don't know anything about that and frankly, I'm not interested. She is the chosen of the Norseman and vampire Queen of Arkansas, Louisiana and Nevada. I don't need to know anything else."
"So you work for them?"
"No. I have never seen the Queen and I have seen His Majesty only once, but we were not introduced."
They sailed through the night at blinding speed down State Highway 95. They managed to escape the attention of law enforcement with the exception of one local cop who Ferdinand glamoured and they were on their way again.
They stopped only once for gas and as promised Frannie was taken inside and allowed to choose whatever she wanted to eat and drink.
A little less than five hours after leaving Reno they were parked at The Oubliette. By the time Ferdinand got in to see Vivienne there was less than an hour until sunrise. Frannie was left in a waiting room with a guard.
Ferdinand bowed to Vivienne. She sat behind the large former desk of Felipe deCastro. Her brother David stood at her side. "Sheriff Bloodstone, it's an honor to meet you. I am Ferdinand Rodriguez. I am charged with carrying out an assignment of interest to your king. In the process of my duties, I encountered a possible problem in the form of a human who may or may not be a threat to my assignment. I need to store her someplace where she will be cared for and kept out of sight."
Vivienne stared blankly at him with a raised eyebrow. After an awkward pause she asked, "Excuse me, but am I supposed to have any idea what you're talking about? Or perhaps this is some sort of parlor guessing game?"
"I apologize for the lack of details but I am not at liberty to discuss my assignment with anyone."
"But you say you are acting on behalf of my king, so surely a call to him would clarify your situation," she said.
"I doubt it, my lady. I do not believe His Majesty is aware of me or the nature of my assignment, though I can assure you, it is of importance to him."
Vivienne carefully considered his words. "Where is your nest?"
"Under normal circumstances I am an inhabitant of the California court, by leave of His Majesty King Leonas."
Vivienne smiled. "There has been much activity in Nevada lately. Weres from Louisiana have been here conducting an extensive search. It seems the brother of my queen offended them in some way then vanished and no one seems able to locate him. I have been ordered to offer them my full cooperation in their search. This would extend to giving them access to The Crypt, my prisoner holding facility."
"I have heard rumors of such a search and it would be unfortunate for this woman to be questioned by these searchers. Though I would request she not be kept in a prison facility. She has committed no crime. I simply removed her from a potentially threatening situation."
"I see. Fine. I'll put her in a guarded room for now. Leave me a contact number for you," Vivienne instructed. "Where is she?"
Ferdinand and Vivienne walked out into the waiting room. When Frannie looked up Vivienne was visibly startled. She knew this woman.
"Who are you?" Vivienne asked. "I've seen you before."
"I worked your wedding, Lady Bloodstone. My name is Frannie Quinn."
"Of course it is. How could I forget," Vivienne said. She smiled broadly and extended a hand to Frannie. "Welcome to The Oubliette, Miss Quinn. I'm so pleased to see you again.
David, call down and see what accommodations we have available for Miss Quinn, something nice, with a view of the strip. And don't forget to get our friend's contact number." Vivienne tossed a glare back to Ferdinand as she walked away.
~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~
When Eric had left for The Asgard Thursday evening, Sookie called downstairs to have a car brought around.
"Oliver, we're going out. Let's you and I go across the hall before we leave.
Genevieve, please put four TruBloods in a cooler along with drinks and snacks for three.
Mina, call Devon and tell him we won't be having class tonight. And I'd like you to come with me and Oliver."
"Yes, Mistress," Mina said, and she went to get a phone as Genevieve headed to the kitchen.
Half an hour later, Sookie, Oliver, Mina and two Britlingen guards were in the back of a limo headed to Hot Shot.
Since the Britlingens would be rotating guard duties and not living with Sookie, as Ausra and Saule had done, it had been decided they would serve their duty outside the penthouse door in the hall and would trail after Sookie whenever she left. In this way, she had very little contact with them and didn't even know the names of most of the ones in the rotation. However, tonight she had asked their names, since they would be occupying the car with her. It was a good sized limo, but even so, it was hard to ignore two people riding with you.
"Amy, Kay, please feel free to help yourself to anything in the car. There are additional snacks and drinks in the cooler there, as well and you're welcome to any of those as well."
The drive to Hot Shot passed quickly. Sookie listened as Mina chatted happily about the day's shopping and other activities.
She had engaged a piano instructor who would begin coming to the apartment three times a week in a few days. Her name was Mrs. Coggins and she seemed very nice. Everyone in the household would at least attempt to learn to play. She preferred not to work evenings, but if Sookie was interested in lessons for herself she would recommend someone.
Mrs. Coggins had given her a list of sheet music and lesson books. Shreveport Music hadn't had everything on the list, but what they didn't have, they ordered.
Mina counted off on her fingers as she ran through a list of the instruments they'd bought. There was the full sized electric keyboard of course, another guitar, a violin, a mandolin, a flute, a saxophone and a harp.
"Karen plays the harp!" Mina gushed as if she'd just announced Karen could spin straw into gold. "Did you know that?"
"No, I didn't," Sookie assured her.
"Many play the harp, my dear," Oliver added with a chuckle.
Mina froze. Only for a second, she didn't want to embarrass or discourage him by drawing unnecessary attention to it, but her heart swelled at the sound. Such a simple thing, all he'd done was refer to her as 'my dear', but he'd done it publicly. And in front of two of the Britlingens who worked under him as well.
Of course he had professed his love for her in front of Sookie before, the night Sookie gave her to him. But since then his endearments had all been private. Everyone knew she was his woman and they were a couple, but other than dancing together there hadn't been any public displays of affection between them.
She placed a hand on his knee and turned to give him a loving smile, before continuing. "And we took Heller shopping for some clothes. "We thought if he was going to be living at court, he should probably look a little less like he belonged in an S&M porn movie."
"Good point," Sookie agreed with a giggle.
The driver's voice came over the intercom. "We'll be making the turn into Hot Shot in a moment. Do you have further instructions?"
"Yes," Sookie said. Rather than speak into the intercom, she moved to the window separating the driver from the other occupants of the car and she directed him to Calvin Norris' house.
They pulled to a stop in front of the house and Sookie looked at Oliver. "I need to get out alone."
"I can't do that, Mistress, the king would never allow it."
"Eric isn't here."
"His orders are here. If you step out that door alone and something on the other side harms you, my life is over." He glanced at Mina. "I am not prepared to die today."
Sookie closed her eyes and sighed in frustration. "Fine, but only you. The rest can stay in the car unless we send for them."
"As you command," Oliver said with a nod.
"Pfft, my commands don't count for a hill of beans."
"On all matters save security, your commands are law."
"Whatever, come on."
Oliver stood back a few steps as Sookie went to the door.
Calvin came to the door she'd even knocked. She quickly told him why she was here and after a very brief conversation he invited her entire party to come inside.
"Someone go get the cooler. I'd like you all to sit in at the dining table and have something to eat and drink," Sookie instructed. "Calvin, may we use your microwave?"
Calvin was making calls. He nodded and motioned into the kitchen.
"Mina, please warm me a TruBlood and poor some of it into a glass," Sookie said.
"They'll all be here in a few minutes," Calvin said as he hung up his phone.
"Good. Thank you, Calvin." Sookie looked over at the table. Oliver and the Britlingens sat very straight and still. "Good god, you look like gargoyles. Do try not to look so much like armed guards. There will be children here in a few minutes and I'd rather not scare them out of their wits. If you must look so severe, please go do it back in the car."
The three of them made an effort to relax. They still looked uncomfortable and out of place, but not quite so much like something which might be hiding under a bed.
"Mina, I'd like you to stand over here by me. And bring a notepad and a pen in case I see anything I need to write down."
"Yes, Mistress." Mina brought a pen and pad and stood behind the sofa where Sookie was sitting.
"You've come up in the world since I saw you last," Calvin said, taking a seat in the chair across from her.
"Coming up was never a priority for me. All I ever wanted was to be happy."
"And he makes you happy?"
"He does," Sookie answered with a smile. "He makes me very happy."
"Then I'm happy for you," Calvin answered. "I'm not sure what any of the kids can tell you. I've talked to all of them, more than once. They don't have anything useful to say."
"I'm not really interested in what they say, Calvin. I want them to show me what they saw. They may have seen something and not even remember it.
If you walk into someone's house for the first time, when you leave you may only remember their furniture, but your eyes saw every detail on the wallpaper, every book on their shelves, how many windows were in the house in the painting on the wall.
So if someone else asked you questions, you would only be able to tell them about the furniture, but if you let me hold your hand, you can show me everything your eyes saw."
As promised, a few minutes later there was a knock at the door. Calvin relinquished his seat to the thirteen yr old girl who had been thrown in the lake. Three of the four kids who had been frightened by the wolf the week before, were huddled together across the room wondering what was going on. The forth was gone somewhere with his parents at the moment, but Calvin promised to make him available to Sookie as soon as possible if she needed to see him.
Sookie smiled cheerfully at the girl in the chair in front of her. "My name is Sookie, what's yours?"
"Mama says you're a Queen," the girl said without saying her name.
"Tell her your name, Grace," the girl's mother whispered to her.
Sookie held up a hand. "It's alright. She doesn't have to say anything if she doesn't want too. – Is it alright if I call you Grace?"
Grace nodded slowly.
"Fine. Well, Grace, your mother is exactly right. My husband is a king, so since we're married, that makes me a queen. But you can call me Sookie."
The girl giggled and Sookie heard someone, who had to be Oliver, shifting in his seat behind her. What he saw as Sookie's lack of respect for her position irritated him terribly.
"Grace, I'm trying to help Mr. Norris and your family find the man who attacked you at the lake."
Grace stiffened and looked down into her lap.
Sookie reached out and put her hand over the girl's hands in a comforting way. "You don't have to answer any of my questions, Grace. And you don't even have to look up. All I need you to do is think about that day. I'll ask questions and you think about them. You can do that, can't you?"
Grace peered up from beneath her lashes and nodded.
"Very good. I'd like you to think about that day, before the attack. Had you seen anyone you didn't know near the lake that day? – Near your house? – In the woods? – No one? – And what were you doing before the attack? – And you didn't see him approach? – And after you were in the lake? – I see. Thank you very much, Grace. Thank you for letting me talk to you.
Sookie called the other three kids over to her one at a time and had them sit next to her on the sofa. She went through basically the same thing with them. She asked their name, then went through a series of questions about the day they were frightened by the wolf.
The two girls had seen nothing before hand and the wolf had approached them from behind, but when the boy, Jim sat down, she hit pay dirt.
"We ran out of the water nekkid," the boy said. He giggled, but he didn't look up. He was staring down into his lap.
He was eleven years old, almost twelve, and he was a big boy. He was looking forward to his first transformation. He was certain he'd be huge. He looked down at his hands. The Queen had her hand palm up in his lap. One of his hands completely covered hers. He straightened his back and sat up as tall as he could. I bet even she can see how cool I'll be, he thought.
Sookie smiled, but did not respond to his private thoughts. "What about before you heard the wolf? Did you see the girls?"
Jim thought for a minute then looked up at Sookie. He remembered. "Yes! I saw them! They were behind a bush!"
Sookie could see him, behind the girls, watching. "That's right, Jim. Think about the girls. And when you saw them." Sookie turned to Mina, who was standing behind her and whispered, "Notepad."
Mina handed her a pad and pen and Sookie began writing a description of Conall. She didn't want to speak it out loud yet, because if Jim hadn't noticed him, the picture might get cloudy or disappear altogether.
"Did the girls do anything or just stand there?" Sookie asked, to keep him focused.
"They didn't do anything, but they kept looking over at our clothes. I think they were gonna snatch them and run."
She saw the man in Jim's head begin to take his shirt off and shrink down behind the bushes. Definitely a Were, he was changing. "So you would have been left to come out of the lake naked anyway," Sookie said with a friendly smile. When she had written the description with as much detail as she could, she asked, "Did you see anyone else at the lake that day?"
As she'd expected, the boy hadn't noticed the man. The picture went blank the minute Jim began looking for him.
"Thank you, Jim. You were very helpful," Sookie said to him. She looked up at the parents. "Thank you."
"Y'all can go on home now," Calvin said to them. "Thanks for coming over when I called."
Sookie handed her note to Calvin so he could look at the description. "It may not look like much on paper, but I can see him now. I'll have a sketch done and we'll be able to find out who he is."
"The boy said he didn't see the man," Calvin said. "Where'd this description come from?"
"He saw the man. He just didn't notice him. Jim was looking at the girls. This man was standing behind them, he was mostly hidden by the brush. Jim didn't notice him, but he was there."
All the way back to Shreveport Sookie was giddy. Whoever was responsible for the attacks had to be connected to Candia. It wasn't her father. It was a very young man. Wouldn't it be a stroke of luck if he was the one.
As Sookie gushed her excitement to Mina, Oliver was on the phone. He called Eric, of course, to have him call in the investigators with any photographs they might have of any males coming or going from the Gray household. He was also making calls looking for a sketch artist to meet them at The Asgard.
~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~
Shortly after sundown, Thursday evening, Dr. Ludwig charged through Eric's office door without knocking. She was flushed with anger as she stomped to his desk.
Eric let his incoming call go to voice mail, closed his phone and folded his hands on his desk. "How delightful of you to visit, Dr. Ludwig. You are well, I see. Please have a seat."
"I'll have a seat alright. I hope that was an important call," she huffed as she climbed into a chair across from him.
"Nothing which cannot wait. How may I be of service to you this evening?"
"You know damned well why I'm here."
"Do I? I believe you confuse me with my wife. It is she who has the gift of discerning the thoughts of humans. I possess no such ability, therefore I am dependent on other means of obtaining information."
"I need you to get your other means out of my clinic," she demanded. She met him stare for stare.
"Has someone subject to my authority or within my influence caused some sort of disturbance in your clinic, Dr. Ludwig? If so, I will of course address the issue at once," Eric said with a smile and oozing charm from every pore. He never attempted to glamour Dr. Ludwig. She amused him too much. He found it very entertaining such a small human would challenge him when entire groups of others could be sent scampering into corners if he raised his voice.
"There is someone in my clinic impersonating a nurse. I want her out."
"Has this impersonator damaged anyone? Perhaps she is not an impersonator. Have you questioned her?"
"Eric Northman, stop talking in circles and get your god damned spy out of my clinic!" she screamed.
Eric stood and leaned forward with his palms flat on his desk. His voice lowered to a menacing growl as he spoke. "Madam, you have a patient in your clinic who is of considerable interest to me. She has made accusations, widely believed to be false, which have resulted in tremendous chaos and turmoil in my kingdom, great personal expense to me and an unacceptable level of distress to my Queen.
Now, perhaps in the course of performing your duties as her physician, you have acquired knowledge which could alleviate my curiosities and concerns. And having acquired said knowledge, perhaps you might be inclined to share what you know?"
"Even if I had any information from a patient, you know I couldn't pass it to you, or anyone else. All patient information is confidential." She had stopped screaming, but she didn't look away.
"An honorable practice. I understand. I suppose having Sookie join us would be out of the question?"
"I don't want to be involved in your disagreements. As with any of your other disputes, I won't take sides."
Eric retook his seat. "Despite your temper, I know you to be a reasonable woman. In exchange for my willingness to accept your need to maintain the confidence of your patients, you must accept my need restore order in both my territories and my home.
In the event I were to send a spy, as you call it, into your clinic, you may rest assured she would be fully qualified to do anything she did while there and she would not be a threat to any of your patients.
Considering what I could do if driven to drastic measures, I believe we have reached a reasonable understanding. Do you not agree?"
"Hurry, Eric. The full moon will be Saturday. The girl is a firstborn. The trauma of another change will likely trigger her labor to start. If she delivers during the transformation, she may not survive it."
Eric was completely unemotional when he said, "The girl's medical condition is of no consequence to me. My only interest in her is the paternity of her offspring. I assume the appropriate testing can be done regardless of whether any of them survive?"
"Yes, of course, with the family's consent," Dr. Ludwig replied flatly.
"Excellent. Do you need more nurses? I would be happy to provide you with as many Qualified Nurses as you feel you need."
"I would prefer to do my own staffing, thank you."
"As you wish. Will that be all, or did you have other matters to discuss with me?"
She was being dismissed. She had gotten exactly nothing from him, unless you counted his assurance the spy running loose in her clinic was medically qualified to be there. The situation remained exactly as it was before she came.
When Dr. Ludwig had gone, Eric retrieved his cell phone to check his messages. Leonas had been calling when Dr. Ludwig burst into his office and Vivienne was calling now.
"Good evening Leonas. – I assume we are speaking of my wife's brother. -- As you wish. I would not ask you to betray a confidence. – Last night? -- Quinn's sister? Am I never to be free of tigers? – Yes, of course. – I understand. He did well. – I'll see to it from here. Thank you."
His next call was to Vivienne. "Give your sister the phone. – Now. – Vivienne, this is a direct line. Thus when I call it, I expect to be speaking directly to you. If I should develop a desire to speak to your brother, I will arrange a direct line to him. – Very well. I understand you were brought a guest this morning. – I recognize the name. He was present for the takeover. As I recall, he is very young. -- I have no additional information to give you, only instructions. Put her in a good suite with free access to room service. Give her a companion and a twenty-four hour guard outside her door. Offer her arrangements for any sort of in room entertainments you have available to you. In short, make her as comfortable as possible. – Yes, I am aware of her brother's identity. It is unfortunate, but unavoidable now, we must deal with the circumstances we are given. – I believe we are nearing the end of this situation. A resolution should be coming soon. – Keep me informed of any changes."
~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~
Candia was sleeping when Rafe and Conall arrived. Sanda had called Rafe and asked him to come and sit with Candia so she could go and get some rest. It was the first time Rafe or Conall had been to the clinic since the night Candia was admitted.
Sanda yawned and got up from her chair. She met her husband on the other side of the room for a whispered conversation about Candia's condition. She answered Rafe's questions about the IV, the medications and the monitor attached to her.
"She must be kept calm, Rafe. Don't do or say anything to upset her, not even a little bit. Agree with anything she says. You have to do this, Rafe. If you can't then I have to stay." Sanda looked into pleadingly into Rafe's eyes.
"I love her too, Sanda, no matter what she's done. I don't want to lose her." Rafe put an arm around his wife and hugged her tight and kissed the top of her head. "You go rest. We'll be fine."
Sanda left, but she ddn't go home to rest. She drove straight to Alcide's office.
When she got in to see Alcide, she explained what had happened in Candia's room, with the unknown nurse.
"And you're certain Dr. Ludwig didn't know who it was?" he asked.
"She kept her cool about it, but it was obvious she didn't want to upset us."
Alcide stared across the room at nothing in particular as he considered what Sanda had told him. "Of course I can't be certain, but I doubt the panthers are behind it. They would be the more dangerous, in that they might actually want to harm Candia. But the woman was alone with her and was friendly, you say?"
"Yes. Candia liked her very much," Sanda answered.
"It's much more likely she works for Eric."
"We need your help, Alcide. Candia needs your help. She needs protection."
"Sanda, she hasn't been threatened. If Eric has someone coming into her room, he's looking for information, not to hurt her. If he wanted to harm her, Sanda, we don't have any guards who could prevent him from doing it. He has command of every vampire in three states and an army of Britlingens. He can do pretty much as he pleases."
"So there's nothing we can do?" Sanda said, her voice filled with the hopelessness her body displayed as she sunk lower into her chair.
"My resources are stretched thin, but I can talk to Rafe and give him two men to work in a rotation with him and he can use Conall as well. They can set up a schedule to see that someone is with Candia at all times. On the off chance it was the panthers who sent the spy, that should help keep her away.
And I'll call Dr. Ludwig and get her opinion about things. Then when I speak to Rafe, I will say I am basing my decisions on information received from her."
"Thank you, Alcide."
~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~xxx~~~~~~