Sam Merlotte was sitting in his office, thinking about Anne Marie and their date the night before, when Sookie knocked and yelled his name. Sam shifted uneasily in his chair and didn't answer for a moment. He didn't want to take the risk of Sookie reading his mind. He had a lot on it. Not only were his very warm thoughts for the Cajun waitress none of Sookie's business, he really, really did not her to find out about the magical pendant which was supposed to make a vampire really powerful (though in what way, Sam didn't know) in case she really might want to give it to Bill.

Sam tried not to think about Bill, who seemed to replace Anne Marie in his dreams a little bit more intimately than Sam would have preferred.

Unfortunately, Sookie opened the door anyway, and Sam could see Peggy standing right behind her. Another flash of guilt. What if Peggy's life depended on getting that pendant for Eric Northman? Did Sam want that on his conscience? Would whatever power Eric gained from the pendant be so extreme that he could be an even bigger threat or nuisance to Sam than he already was?

Sam hadn't forgotten that he still technically owed Eric a favor. Surely Eric remembered this as well, so why he hadn't used this debt to ask Sam for the pendant while he still had it was beyond him.

And… what the hell did Anne Marie's brother want it for?

Was he a vampire?

Should have asked her, Sam thought. He'd ask her tonight, he decided.

He could call her… why not call her? Was it too soon after their date to call her? Would he seem pushy, or desperate?

Right now he had to deal with Sookie, who had said something and was looking at him both expectantly and curiously, a big grin on her pretty face.

"What's that, Sook?"

"You took Anne Marie out, didn't you?" Sookie grinned. "And it went well, good for you!"

"Sookie… please don't…" Sam didn't finish. He didn't know if Sookie (or Eric) had told Peggy she was a telepath, though it seemed fairly obvious, and he didn't want to accidentally out her.

"You deserve a nice girl, Sam," Peggy said, elbowing Sookie a little so they stood in the doorway together. Their shift was over and Sam figured they were there to pick up their purses before they went home, and he wished they would do it and let him alone with his thoughts.

"You have to introduce us. Neither Peggy or I has even met Anne Marie," Sookie said, stating the obvious. "I guess we both have busy nights."

The two girls shared a look and Sam guessed that they had bonded over their respective vampire partners. He tried really, really hard not to roll his eyes or to look annoyed. He also tried hard not to think about the necklace.

Sookie squinted at him and Sam slammed up the mental barrier that he was able to produce from one supernatural creature to another. Sookie sighed but didn't say anything about it – unusual for her.

"You two have a nice afternoon," Sam said, trying to dismiss them. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Peggy smiled shyly and Sookie grinned broadly as the two of them grabbed their bags and headed out. Sam knew that the lunch crew would be getting ready for the steady flow of customers they generally had, even though on a Monday they were often slow and almost no one came in between ten and eleven forty-five.

Instinctively he listened for Dean the dog to start barking, because this was usually when the damned orange cat showed up as well, but today either Dean had wandered off or the cat had, because all was quiet in the parking lot.

This was good. Very good. Sam leaned back, grinning broadly, and set his feet up on the desk. He let a vision of Anne Marie float into his mind. First he thought about where he might take her on the next date (a lunch-time picnic seemed to be the best he could come up with, with cold beer and maybe a crawfish pie down by the river, alone together, on a nice checkered blanket…) though that changed soon enough to him wondering how long a lady would want to wait before agreeing to come back to his trailer. Damn, but he wanted her in his bed.

Just as Sam's fantasy was starting to become physically uncomfortable, a scream came from the employee parking lot just outside his window. Sam jumped to his feet and turned around, looking out in time to see two large men wearing ski masks wrestling both Sookie and Peggy into the back of a huge, rusty green van.

The two gals were putting up a hell of a fight – there was a third man on the ground clutching himself in a manner that suggested he'd gotten a kick to the family jewels. One of the kidnappers had a bloody scrape on his arm as he shoved Peggy into the waiting van.

Sam flew out of his office, out the back door like a shot, and almost immediately he wished he'd taken some kind of a weapon (though the baseball bat he kept for trouble was inside the bar, not in his office.)

"Stay out dis, Sam Merlotte," said one of the men in a vaguely familiar deep voice.

"Dis between us and de vampires," said the second as he tossed Sookie on top of Peggy in the back of the van and locked them in.

"Those are MY waitresses!" Sam hollered, and he launched himself at Deep Voice. He threw a couple of good punches and took a bad hit to the belly before he found himself on the ground.

Kicked in the Nuts had finally gotten to his feet, and Sam saw the flash of a steel-tipped boot before he felt an excruciating pain in his ribs.

"Don' kill him," said Deep Voice. "Anne Marie be mad."

"Anne Marie—" Sam gasped but then something slammed into the back of his head and everything went black.

"Sam!"

Sam heard a voice calling him as if from very far away. It seemed no time had passed, but he knew it had been…hours…

"Sam!"

"Anne Marie?"

Sam tried to open his eyes. Everything still seemed very dark, and he realized that night had fallen. How long had he been lying in the parking lot?

"Sam. Help me…"

Her pitiful gasp brought Sam to his knees. His entire body, especially his head, ached like a son of a bitch. He tried to focus, tried to look around to see what was happening.

"Can't you see he's hurt?" Anne Marie sobbed.

"Let go of her Eric," Sam heard Vampire Bill say. "Sam, are you all right?"

Sam was finally able to focus. He looked up and saw that he was kneeling in front of Bill, who actually looked somewhat concerned. Sam felt queasy, whether from the beating he had taken or the fact that this was way too much like one of his erotic dreams, he couldn't say.

Bill reached out a hand to help Sam to his feet, but Sam ignored it and dragged himself into a standing position, glaring at Bill, then looking around wildly. He saw Eric holding Anne Marie tightly by the wrist, and anger flooded him.

"Let her go!" Sam growled. He took a step towards Eric, wobbled, nearly fell over, and was flooded with shame when Bill held him steady. He saw no malice in Bill, but he could tell that Eric was seething, was maybe one step away from hurting Anne Marie in his anger. His fangs were fully extended.

"Where is Margaret?" Eric asked almost too quietly.

"Who?"

"Peggy, he means Peggy," said Bill calmly, though Sam could see that beneath the surface, Bill was not the least bit calm. It was all a front to keep Eric from harming Anne Marie. Sam was vaguely grateful, in some distant part of his mind. "Peggy and Sookie are missing."

"Someone grabbed them," Sam said, fighting to remember.

"Who?" Eric's blue eyes were cold flames.

"Let go of Anne Marie," Sam demanded. He tried to move towards Eric again, but Bill held him still. It was just as well, he was pretty sure he was going to fall on his face. Had he really been lying in the parking lot all day? Had no one come to look for him?

For whatever reason, and Sam was sure it had nothing to do with him, Eric let go of Anne Marie's wrist. He saw the bruise even as she launched herself towards him, hugging him tightly. Even though it hurt, Sam hugged her back.

"I tried callin' but you didn't answer, cher," she said. "I got here and foun' you just as de sun set and dese two showed up."

"Sam," Bill said, "You need to tell us what happened."

"You need to tell us where Margaret—" Bill turned and looked at Eric, "and Sookie," Eric added, "are. Now."

"How on earth would I know?" Sam asked, his eyes wide.

"They beat you," Bill said with understanding. "Can you identify the individuals who took them, Sam? Think hard. Their lives may hang in the balance."

"If it is not already too late," said Eric. It had been hours from when the girls were taken until sunset. "And if it is…"

"It is not necessary to make threats, Eric," Bill said.

"I know where dey is," Anne Marie said miserably. She clung to Sam even tighter. "Oh, Sam, you got to know— I didn't know dey was gonta do dis. It's my brothers, Sam. They done took Sookie and Peggy."

"But… but why?" Sam asked.

"It a trap," Anne Marie said. She looked at Bill and Eric. "For dem vampires."