Disclaimer: I am not the owner of these characters. The original story and the characters belong to Charlaine Harris. I am only borrowing them for a little while.

Chapter 10

Sookie's POV

The day was longer than usual and I couldn't take Eric off my mind. It was a little over an hour after sundown when Bubba showed up in the back yard. As always, he was polite and happy to see me. My heart skipped a beat thinking about Eric. Bubba's presence meant news about him.

"Bubba, please come in," I invited him while I set up a bottle of True Blood in the microwave. He sat on the small table, waiting without saying a word. In no time it was ready and he gulped it down without giving it a second thought.

"Any news about Eric or Pam?" I broke the long silence. I couldn't wait any longer to find out the reason for his visit. Not that he wasn't welcome to visit me, but this time I wanted to know fast.

"I have a message," he replied and then he went silent again. I waited for him to continue, but impatience was getting the best of me.

"Master Eric said "I'll come to you tomorrow or the day after, and we will talk."

He's alive! A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

However, something was not right because Bubba looked thoughtful and remained silent.

"Is that all the message?" I asked confused.

"Yes," he stated.

"You aren't as talkative as usual. What's going on in Fangtasia?" I asked puzzled.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Sookie," he then stood up and left without saying another word, and I was left with too many questions and a storm of feelings that ranged from anger to happiness to sadness.

I took the empty True Blood bottle to the kitchen and started doing the dishes. I scrubbed the plates and the cooking pans until they were beyond shiny. I had been worried to death about him and all I got was a one sentence message delivered to me. Not even a phone call from him. Nothing!

Maybe I have been too stupid to realize that I actually didn't matter to him like I wanted to. Maybe I was one more thing in his 'to do' list.

No. I was one more thing to do in his 'if I have time' list.

I have been too busy pounding with my thoughts while doing the dishes that I didn't realize that there was somebody in my backyard. I opened my mind to find out who it was, but it came back empty. A vampire.

I peeked through the back door and it was Bill. I quickly finished with the last few dishes and dried my hands before hurrying up to meet him who was looking both intent and focused.

"Where have you been and everybody else?" I didn't waste time asking him. He stood there silent while I continued, "I went to Fangtasia, Eric's house, and yours and found nobody! What's going on?" I took a deep breath after dumping my frustration on him.

It was easy to see that Bill had something important to tell me. Maybe he had information about Eric and his disappearance. We both sat in the lawn chairs as he started talking, "I don't know if you've spared a moment to wonder about my efforts to find out who killed the young woman, but I assure you I'm trying to find out. She died while I was patrolling, and I won't be easy until I understand why it happened."

Taken aback, I could only nod slightly. He didn't reply to my questions and instead he continued, "Heidi and I went over Eric's backyard with great attention," Bill said.

"What did you smell? Anything?"

"Even Heidi could not say for certain who'd been there," Bill said. "Many humans, sweaty humans … the yard workers. A dash of fairy, but that could have been a very faint trace of the vial around the girl's neck. And a stronger trace of twoey. That could have been from the girl herself." He leaned back and looked up into the night sky … the only sky he'd seen in more than a hundred and thirty years.

"What do you think happened?" I asked him, after we'd been quiet for a few calm moments.

"I think she drank the vial when she knew she was about to see Eric and tucked the vial down her bra in case the lingering scent would attract him further. And when I found her on the lawn, I could smell that she was two-natured. That would have added to her … allure."

"The dad's two-natured, a Were, I think. The Rowes showed up here at my house yesterday with a reporter, to try to make something quotable happen. In the case of the shifter, to me, it appears a lot more likely that Mustapha let Kym Rowe in so she could find Eric and offer herself. I just don't know why. Why did someone prep her and send her in to do that? Why did they get Mustapha to delay my arrival? I guess so that she'd have time to hook Eric … but then, why have me come in? Mustapha could have told me that the meeting had been canceled or that I should go to Fangtasia instead … a hundred different things."

"His role in this is a mystery," Bill said, shrugging. "She was obviously bait for Eric, designed to arouse his lust." Bill looked at me and blinked. "His bloodlust," he added hastily. "But she must have had some piece of information, if only the name of who hired her to do this. When you argued with Eric and he sent the girl away, someone went after her and seized her head and twisted." Bill made a very graphic motion with his hands. No stranger to the seizing and twisting, he.

"Disregarding why she was killed," I said, "why was she sent there in the first place? Getting me mad at Eric doesn't seem to be much of a reason."

Bill looked down at his hands. "There are a couple of theories that fit the few facts we're sure of," he said slowly. "And these theories are what I'll tell Eric. The first is that Eric himself or Pam or Mustapha followed the Rowe woman out of the house and killed her out of sheer anger at the trouble she'd caused. Perhaps—if the killer was Eric— he wanted to erase the memory of the offense he'd committed against you."

I stiffened. This was nothing I hadn't thought of myself, but hearing it out loud made it seem more likely. "The other theory … well, that's more complex." Bill shifted his gaze to the dark woods. "She was there to get Eric to drink from her. Since Mustapha was the one who called you and told you to come later, his purpose must have been to make sure you were not there to prevent Eric from being interested in her."

"But the only result was that I got mad at Eric. Bill, who cares that much about my love life?" Bill gave me a very direct look, and I could feel myself turning red.

But instead of making a personal reference, Bill said, "You had a visitor last night who cares very deeply."

I tried not to flinch too obviously. "You know she came to the house?"

"We all know about her presence in Area Five, Sookie. All of us who are sworn to Eric. It's hard to cover up the visit of a queen, especially one as well-known as Freyda. It's even harder to remain ignorant of exactly where she is. She went to the casino to confer with Felipe directly after she left your house."

So they were at the casino and kept Fangtasia closed. Interesting. "What makes Freyda so well-known?" I bypassed all the obvious conversational openings that Bill's little speech presented to lock in on what was most interesting to me. I was all too aware that Bill could see how desperate I was to know more about her, and I just didn't care.

Bill kindly looked down at his hands as he told me, "She's beautiful, of course. Ambitious. Young. She's not content to sit on her throne and let things hum along. By the way, she had to fight for that throne. She killed her predecessor, and he didn't make it easy. Freyda has worked hard to extend the business dealings of Oklahoma. The only thing slowing her progress is her lack of a strong and loyal second. If she acquires the strong vampire she needs to serve as her right hand, she'll always have to watch her back against that vampire's ambition. If she marries this right hand, he can't succeed her. His loyalty will be assured, because his fate is bound to hers."

I pondered this for a few minutes, while Bill sat in silence. Vampires are great at that. I caught his eyes on my face. I got the impression that Bill felt sorry for me. A worm of panic twisted in my stomach. "Freyda's strong, active, and determined," I said. "Like Eric. And you say she needs a good fighter, a good second. Like Eric."

"Yes, like Eric," he said deliberately. "Freyda would be a great match for him. Practically speaking, he'd escape from the political situation created by his murder of Victor. The king's going to have to do something to Eric. Felipe really can't afford to be perceived as ignoring Victor's death."

"Why not?"

He looked at me blankly.

"Felipe let Victor get away with whatever the hell Victor wanted to do," I said. "Why shouldn't he be perceived that way?"

"He doesn't want to lose the loyalty of the vampires who serve him," Bill said.

"That's ridiculous!" I thought steam would come out of my ears. "You can't have it all different ways!"

"But he'll try. I don't think you're really angry about Felipe. You're really angry about the hard practicality of Eric marrying Freyda." I winced, but Bill continued ruthlessly. "You have to admit that her character is much like Eric's and that they'd make a good team."

"Eric's my team," I said. "He loves me. He wants to stay here." I realized that I was, so to speak, batting with another hand now. I'd been just as sure the night before that Eric would leave, that he loved power more than he loved me.

"But … Sookie, you must see … staying might be the death of him." I could read a mixture of pity and tough love in Bill's attitude.

"Bill, are you sure you're able to judge that?"

"I hope that I have your best interests in my heart, Sookie." He paused, as if considering whether he should go on. "I know you'll suspect everything I say about this situation—because I love you, and I don't love Eric. But truly, I want your happiness, above almost everything else."

Almost everything else. I found myself wondering what came ahead of that. His own survival?

I heard the screen door bang, and Dermot hurried out to his car. "Got to get to the club," he called. "Drive careful," I called back. He was gone before I could say anything more.

I turned back to Bill, who was staring at the spot where Dermot had stood, a wistful expression on his face. No wonder Dermot had hurried; he'd surely known a vampire was in the backyard and that his scent would be attractive.

"Let's get back to the Kym Rowe issue," I said, to get Bill's attention. "What can I do to help you find out who killed her?"

"The first person we'd want to talk to is Mustapha, and he's vanished. Tell me exactly what he said when he was here."

"Which time? When he was here before the night of the party, or when he was here after the party?"

"Tell me about both visits." I related the first conversation to Bill, though there was surprisingly little to tell. Mustapha'd been here. He'd relayed Pam's warning, which I hadn't understood until I'd met Freyda. He'd warned me about Jannalynn. The second time he was here, he'd been worried about Warren.

"You've told Eric this?" he asked. I snorted. "We haven't talk in a while. Bubba told me that he has been missing, yet I hear nothing from Pam or anybody else."

Wisely, Bill didn't comment. He recapped. "So Mustapha comes to your house, though he's been missing ever since the girl died. He tells you that he wants to talk to Alcide, but he's afraid to call him or approach him directly since Jannalynn might be around to intercept him." While I thought that was a fair summary, it didn't escape me his sudden change of topic again.

"Yes, and I've passed that message along to Alcide," I said. "Plus, what's most important to Mustapha, his friend Warren is missing. I think someone abducted Warren, and they're holding him in return for Mustapha's good behavior."

"Then finding Warren would be a good thing," Bill said, and I winced when I heard his voice. I'd screwed up.

"I get that it was dumb for me not to have mentioned this first of all," I said. "I'm sorry."

"Tell me about this Warren."

"You haven't ever seen him?"

Bill shrugged. "No. Why would I?"

"He's a shooter. He was stationed outside Fangtasia the night we killed Victor."

"So that was Warren. Skinny little guy, big eyes, long hair?"

"Sounds right."

"What are he and Mustapha to each other?"

It was my turn to shrug. "I have no idea. They were in prison together, I think."

"Mustapha was in prison?"

I nodded. "Yeah, his real name is KeShawn Johnson. I got that out of his head."

"I wonder if Eric knows about that," Bill said.

I had enough of him evading my questions, "Why didn't you answer my first question? Where's Eric and what is going on in Fangtasia?"

"Eric is busy with Freyda, and Pam is in New Orleans doing something for Felipe de Castro," Bill replied.

I turned my head his way and stared at him. He was lying to my face. Either he was lying to screw up with Eric or he was told to lie to cover Eric's disappearance. It shouldn't surprise me to find out that Bill was lying to me again, but obviously I have been naïve trusting that he learned his lesson. I was wrong, but I'll deal with him later. Right now, I needed to prioritize.

"What about Jannalynn?" I asked changing the topic.

"Sam's woman? There is no proof against her."

"Kim Rowe was a were, what if Jannalynn knew her?"

"Sookie, there's no proof other than your wishes to find her guilty." Bill looked at me with curiosity. Yes, I wished she was guilty. Sam deserved a better woman.

"Ok. Let's go and find Warren. If we find Warren, then we would find Mustapha and the killer. Eric would be free from this situation."

"Right now?" Bill asked shocked.

"Yes. Why waste time. Let's go to Alcide's house and see what information he has found."

He was reluctant, but he knew that I was a determined woman. We got in his car and off we went to see Alcide.

Note: I hope you enjoy the story. Is Freyda a batter choice for Eric? What do you think? And Bill is lying again, what a surprise uh! I changed the Warren storyline because I think that it was stupid to wait days to rescue him. It was wasted pages that could have been used for Eric and Sookie's story. Join me and Sookie to find out the truth. Love must conquer no matter what! Reviews are more than welcome. Let me know your thoughts!