Eric and Sookie spent a few more minutes in Gran's room, silently saying their goodbyes to Adele Stackhouse, before Sookie bent over the woman and placed a soft, final kiss on her lips. She then, with shaking hands, pulled the sheet covering her lower body over her head.

Eric placed his hands on Sookie's shoulders and pulled her back to him, wrapping his arms around her slightly shaking frame. He didn't know what to say to make Sookie feel any better right now, so he settled on being there for her.

The silent strength of Eric's presence and embrace allowed Sookie to hold onto the thread of sanity she knew she'd lose if she were here by herself. She leaned back into his frame and closed her eyes.

Their moment of solace was interrupted by the door opening. Sookie opened her eyes to see a medium-built man walk through, his red hair neatly combed bacck and the ever-present suit on his thin frame.

"Oh, Miss Stackhouse, I was told you came by this morning for poor Miss Adele," Russell Edgington drawled as he walked in and stood by the bed.

"You didn't have to come by, sir," Sookie said quietly.

"Nonsense, as administrator of this establishment, every death is like a loss of my own family. And Miss Adele, though she was here only a short time, was a ray of sunshine."

Sookie smiled at the southern gentleman's words. "Thank you."

"I'm told Miss Adele left instructions should she pass, and the funeral home has already been called?" he asked. "That would be the gentlemen standing out in the hallway. If you'd like to come with me to my office, Miss Stackhouse, we can look over any paperwork, and also have a hot cup of tea. It looks like you could use it."

Sookie nodded and extricated herself from Eric's hold. "Of course. Eric?"

"You go. I'll be here when you're done," Eric said, dropping a kiss on her cheek.

When they left the room, two men entered, pulling a gurney behind them. Eric stood to the side as the men went to work. He still had a creeping feeling in his gut that something wasn't right.

"What are you going to do with the body?" he asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as he could.

One of the men answered without looking up from his work. "Well, the coroner ain't on duty this weekend, so she'll just be put into cold storage until Monday."

The term "cold storage" made Eric shudder a little, but he nodded and said thanks. He then began to think. If the body wasn't going to be touched until Monday, it meant if there were anything suspicious going on, it could be looked at in the next two days.

He waited until the two men wheeled Gran out of the room and went quickly over to Sookie's purse. He was still without his phone, and he hoped Sookie didn't mind if he used hers. He only had one phone call to make, anyway.

"Father?"

"Eric!" Godric answered, the sheer volume of his voice causing Eric to pull the phone away from his head. "Where are you? You do know you were grounded, right?"

"Father, Father!" Eric shouted into the phone. "I know all that, and you can ground me later. I need your help."

He heard Godric sigh into the phone. "What did you do now, son?"

"Nothing about me. It's Sookie, she's –" Eric didn't quite know how to phrase what he wanted to tell his Father, but after Godric finally told him to "spit it out," he did, detailing everything from the moment Sookie got the phone call to now.

Godric was quiet for a few seconds on the phone after Eric stopped talking, then, "You're sure about this, son? You can't just go throwing around accusations like this, you know."

"I know, Father," Eric said, gritting his teeth. "And I wouldn't be calling you for help if I wasn't really sure."

"Okay, then," Godric said, his voice taking on the tone that Eric had heard before. It was his "attorney" voice that had won him many trials in the decades he'd been practicing law. "We don't have much time. I'll make a few phone calls, and you get Sookie here. Okay?"

"Yes, understood. Thanks."

Eric hung up the phone and slipped it into Sookie's purse. He wondered whether or not to tell her of his suspicions, or the fact that he'd shared them with his father, but remembering the grief and sadness in her eyes, he decided not to.

She had enough going on in her life right now that to hear that her Gran may have been murdered by the very people that were supposed to care for her would devastate her.

"Ohh, Sookie, sweetie!"

Sookie didn't know what startled her the most, the fact that Pam opened the door dressed from head to toe in pink, or the fact that she'd called her "sweetie" and pulled her away from Eric and into the house.

"Eric told us what happened. You must be devastated," Pam said, wrapping her arms around Sookie and pulling her in for a hug.

"Umm, yeah, Pam. But thanks – and thank Godric, as well, for allowing me to come –"

"No, uh-uh," Pam said, shaking her head firmly. "You're family now, and welcome here anytime. Isn't that right, Dad?"

"Of course," Godric said, walking up to the women and laying his hand on Sookie's shoulder. "And as family, it is up to us to apologize for our behavior last night. I hope you can forgive us and maybe consider us to be your family now?"

Sookie smiled and nodded, "Okay."

"Great," Pam said, turning her around and guiding her by the waist towards the kitchen. "What you need now is some ice cream."

Eric stood by the door and watched with his mouth dropped open his sister drag his girlfriend away from him. Godric smirked at the lost look on his son's face. "Come on, we have things to talk about, remember?"

Eric clapped his mouth shut and nodded, following his father into his office.

"Now," Godric said, as soon as they were alone behind closed doors. "I want to hear, again, how convinced you are that Sookie's grandmother's death was nothing but natural."

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life," Eric replied simply. "And if this Rene guy is the reason that Sookie is crying now, I'll do anything to take the man down."

Godric's chest filled with pride at his son. He'd never say it out loud, but he knew Eric would make a good lawyer or detective. But such a pronouncement would just lead to another argument. "I want to bring in Stan Davis. He's a good friend, and just happens to be a detective on the Shreveport Police Department."

Eric nodded and sat down in one of the chairs on the other side of his father's desk as Godric made a phone call.

A/N Sorry to have so much time between chapters, but I got a few other projects I'm working on in addition to working full-time and yada, yada, yada. I'm not giving up on this story, though. And I'm SO glad none of you have, either. Enjoy!

So, Eric's brought in his father, and Godric seems to have some friends. :D