When I pulled up in front of the Sheriff's office I realized it was still probably way too early to try to talk to René. The sun was barely up and I knew, no matter that I'd just been proved innocent, Andy wasn't gonna like me any better. I don't know how I knew that, but I was sure it was true. Maybe now that I knew he didn't have a reason to arrest me, I could ask him what the fuck his problem was!
I sat in my truck for a while before I remembered it was a work day. I texted the crew to let them know we wasn't gonna work today. Then I called my boss to give him the crazy news. He said I made the right call on cancelling the day since the detectives would probably want to interview people and not a lick of work would get done anyhow. I didn't tell him that I ain't even thought of that. I just knew that if any of the guys were feelin like I was, they'd do more starin' at the dirt than shoveling it.
I was back to thinkin' about what I was gonna tell Tara when there was a loud rap on the passenger window of my truck. I tipped my head to the Sheriff politely since he was givin' me the hard eye.
He waved a hand and said, "Come on inside now, Jason."
I guess I better. "Yes, sir."
We walked towards the entrance side by side. "You talked to your sister last night, I hear."
"Yes, sir."
"You come for retribution, son?" Wasn't real sure what that was so I stayed silent. "I'd hate to throw you in the cell next to him if you start a fight."
Oh. "I came for honesty, Sheriff. I wanna look him in eye and ask him why. Why'd he do it, but more 'n that, why'd he call me friend when he must'a hated me enough to have me named a murderer."
"That's a fair question. You mind your p's and q's here and I'll let you have your chance to ask. He was real chatty last night. Though I admit to being a might disturbed hearing him give his full confession without a touch of that Cajun drawl. And his own sister too." Bud shook his head as though shrugging off a chill.
I double stepped to reach forward and open the door for us both. Standin' there with door in hand so Bud could go in first, I was lookin back toward the street and saw three news vans park just behind my truck. They were in a tight row like they all got a discount rate to arrive together. KSLA, KNOE and even Fox 8 up from Nawlins.
"Guess they heard about René," I said, glad I wasn't in my truck anymore.
"Marshall." Bud answered like that word meant somethin' important all by itself.
"What's that?" I asked as I stepped on into the station lobby.
"His real name is Drew Marshall. You best get used to hearin' it. Everybody's gonna know now."
"Guess so. Drew Marshall? Funny. He don't seem like a Drew Marshall."
Bud put his hand on my shoulder and drew me over towards the coffee pot. "He ain't a René either. You don't know anything about him, Jason."
That took me by surprise. I thought Bud knew better. "He's my best friend!"
"No, son, he's not," he said with a sigh as he put a cup of coffee in my hand.
I didn't know what to say to that. Even if René... Drew... Even if he was a liar about a lot of things, we spent too much time together for me to pretend he weren't my friend. It couldn't all be a lie. Right?
I sat down. Good thing there was a chair right behind me. Bud still had his hand on me but it was at my elbow now.
"Alright now. You just drink that and I'll see if Rosie is here with the donuts yet. It's gonna be a long day."
I don't know how long I sat there. The coffee had gone cold. It was brighter outside and I could see the news people wandering around out front.
"What'd you do now, Stackhouse?" I heard Andy's voice like it was comin' from far away. I looked up and was surprised to see him glaring at me from behind Rosie's desk. "You got some more women to kill?"
"Andy!" The Sheriff sounded like he was on his last nerve.
I'd been cleared. My pretend friend had confessed. And now I'd had enough. "All I ever done was have sex with some willin' women. It's just some small sinnin', like a white lie or not eatin' all your veggies. I ain't hurtin' nobody. And I definitely ain't killed nobody."
Andy put his hands on his hips and scoffed like bein' innocent was just a technicality. What was his deal?!
"What'd I ever do to you, man?"
Andy blurted at a near roar, "You could leave some women for the rest of us, is what!" It was dead silent in the room for a whole minute after that. Bud turned and left the room shakin' his head but Kenya pursed her lips and crossed her arms. She looked like she was settlin' in to referee in full pissed-off cop mode. Andy probably wouldn't shoot me if she was standin' watch. Time to start gettin' my answers.
"What are you on about? I ain't even got a girlfriend," I shot back.
"Oh yeah? What happened to Tara Thornton, eh?"
"Oh, well. I'm pretty sure she's about to break up with me. Today even. So, see? No girlfriend!"
"Like that matters to you, Stackhouse. Women just line up for you."
"That ain't even true! And, okay, so I get laid a lot." Kenya cleared her throat real loud. "Sorry, Kenya. But that's about the only thing I got goin for me. You got everything goin' good in your life, so what's it to you?
"I ain't got shit goin' for me. Nobody respects me! I didn't even catch the bad guy! No, your psychic freak sister did that-"
Kenya spoke up before I could. "Excuse me. I know I did not just hear you speaking ill of Miss Stackhouse."
Andy turned from red to pink, calmed right down and then cleared his throat. He got about three inches shorter as he ducked his head and stared at the floor. "Uh, no. Of course not. Miss Stackhouse is a fine, upstanding citizen. She did her, um, civic duty for the good people of Bon Temps. We owe her a debt of gratitude."
Weird. "Are ya practicin' for the news people outside? Cuz they cain't hear ya from out there." Andy huffed a bit but didn't start yellin again. "My sister ain't psychic, ya know. If she'd known someone was gonna get killed, she woulda done anything to stop it. That's how she is. She didn't ask to be different, but everybody in town is scared a her. There's only a handful of people she can even trust to treat her like person. She don't have an easy time of it. And you are damn right that y'all owe her. We all do. If you were smart, you'd be begging for her help more often instead of treatin' her like a freakshow and town idiot and boogieman all rolled up in one. She coulda been helpin' you all along if you'd had a lick a sense. I don't know how you people think I'm slow!" I left Andy there with his mouth hangin' open. Kenya had her hand over her face, not at all covering up her big grin.
"An' while you're thinking about how good a lives we orphaned Stackhouses got it, I'm gonna go ask my ex-friend why he tried to frame me for murder. Unless you still think I did it..." I didn't wait for any kinda answer but just took off down the hall towards the jail cells.
I realized when I got to the end, there was a problem. I didn't have a key to get past the gate. It gave me a minute to clear my head. Bud had told me to not start any fights and here I'd almost got into it with Andy. A few deep breaths later I heard Deputy Kevin comin' towards me, rattlin' keys and leadin' a well dressed man toward the cells. Kevin smiled when he reached me, a nice change, and said, "Sorry about the wait, Jason. Let's get you two in to see him."
The guy in the suit smiled at me too. I at first thought he was a lawyer maybe 'cause a the suit but decided he looked too happy to be a lawyer. I thought he might be a preacher instead but I was worried about why there might be a preacher callin'. René had never been a church kinda guy except when Arlene made him go. Maybe Drew was religious.
"Well, I'll be just down the hall if'n ya need me. Give a hollar," Kevin said on his way out.
The other guy nodded to me before movin over to sit on the bench along the far wall. He seemed willin' to let me take my turn first, though I felt awkward talkin' in front of an audience.
René was just standin' there behind those bars, or the guy that used to be René, lookin' at me and waiting.
"Um. Hey, man." I cleared my throat. "I heard... I need to ask..." I sighed. "Why-"
He cut me off. Not that I was sayin' much. Without the accent, his voice sounded more like a low growl. "I did. I ain't sorry. And you deserved it."
Now I was the one with my mouth hangin' open. "Why?"
"A guy who drags his dick in the dirt can't be surprised that he ends up dirty." He was actually grinnin' at me like he'd said something wise. Dawn weren't dirt. And neither was Maudette. They were women who didn't deserve to die. In fact they deserved much better than me treatin' them the way I did. Right here I decided I was gonna be different.
And this guy was the murderer. I don't know why I even cared what he thought. "You are crazy." What else was there to know?
I started to turn away but a softly spoken "Jason" said the way my friend used to say it made me pause. "Tell Arlene... I don't want her to come here, to see this, but tell her that I did try to be René, for her and the kids. I wanted to be him."
I thought I understood what he meant and I nodded. I'd tell her. Don't mean she'd care after what he did, but I'd pass it along.
I didn't yet leave but just stepped off to the side. Figured I'd let the other guy have his say. Might be interesting.
The man still had on his smile as he stepped up to the cell and looked like he intended to extend his hand to shake through the bars before he thought better of it. "Hello, my good man. I very much wanted to meet you. My name is Orry Dawson. I'm here on behalf of the Fellowship of the Sun. We are a religious organization dedicated to the preservation and salvation of the human race." He gave René, er, Drew a generous smile and paused as though waiting for a response.
"Jesus Christ!" Drew was shaking his head and stepped away from the bars, putting his back to us.
This was a preacher man or something. I didn't think it was a good idea for sinners like us to make a bad impression on him. "Uh, yeah. Praise Jesus," I filled the awkward silence.
Mr. Dawson looked a little put off by Drew but turned his head to smile at me before continuing his speech. "Yes, what you did, it was a service to your race and to our Lord Jesus. And you should be proud of that." Drew turned back around and stared at him so Mr Dawson continued. "You know, last year there were over 800 reported vampire-related attacks in Louisiana alone. And the law won't do nothing about it."
Drew was smirking now. "You're kiddin me, right?"
"Not at all! Our government and the liberal media is too busy respectin' those fiends and their… their civil rights. Well, what about our rights? Our rights to be safe in our own neighborhoods, our right to our own blood? Look, uh... officially, the church can't condone what you did. You took the lives of three women. Women who had tainted themselves and their race, but still, human women." Tipping his head forward conspiratorially, he continued, "But we do recognize that even though your methods may have been flawed, your intentions were pure."
Drew laughed in Mr. Dawson's face pressed back up against the bars now. "Preacher, I don't give a shit. I don't like no nosy ass church getting in my business any more than I liked my sister fuckin' fangers. Now, get outta here!"
Mr Dawson looked shocked at this reaction so I quickly reached out to catch his arm, turning him toward the hallway. "I'm so sorry, Reverend. He's, uh, had a rough night, as you can see. Why don't I walk you out."
"Oh, yes. I see that." He seemed upset until we got away from Drew but once in the hall, he stopped and turned to me more fully. "What was your name, son?"
"Oh, um, I'm Stackhouse. Jason Stackhouse. I'm René's best friend. I mean Drew. I guess his name is Drew now."
"Weren't you the one the police thought was guilty of killing them? I mean, at first?"
"Well, yeah. They thought it was me. I knew them both... uh... really well."
"Oh. Oh I see." He stopped for a moment to look around, like he wanted to make sure we were alone in the hall, then leaned a little closer and lowered his voice. "Your friend is making a very noble sacrifice for the great cause. I'm sure you will carry on the fight." He gave me a slow little nod that made no sense to me then continued. "You will of course let us know how we can support you in your time of need. Here is my card."
I stared at him for a moment before telling him truthfully, "I got no idea what you're talkin' about."
He nodded approvingly. "That's smart. Don't admit to anything." He wrapped my fingers around his card before smiling and walking away.
I walked out to the main office feeling like my world has shifted cockeyed. Things that, only yesterday, I knew were true no longer were. It only got weirder from there.
Andy Bellfleur stepped into my path wearing an expression on his usually-grumpy face that I know for sure I'd never seen before.
"Mister Stackhouse." What the hell was Andy playing at? No one had said that since my daddy was alive and even then it were only salesman who managed to find their way out to our house in the middle of nowhere. I gave Andy the one eyebrow raise that I learned from Eric and stayed quiet. I was glad to have the perfect excuse to try out some of his human-adaptable mad-skills.
"Uh. Jason. Jason. Yeah. Um. I wanted to ask you... Um." Andy cleared his throat and tried again a little more normal. "I wanted to see if you might be at Merlotte's tonight. I'd like to buy you a beer. I'm... I'm sorry for the way I went about this case. He set you up and I bought it. Hook, line and sinker. And I'm sorry."
I think I managed to keep my mouth closed but my brain was still gaping, for sure. "Yeah. Okay. I'll be there tonight. And first round is on you."
Andy stuck out his hand and I found myself reaching my own out to shake. Something huge had just happened but I still wasn't sure quite what it was. Guess I'd find out tonight over beers. Now it was time to skidaddle and leave the law to do their thing. I pointed my boots toward the mornin' sunshine comin' through the front doors.
The news folks were still out by my truck but I put my head down and shuffled along like the most boring guy they ever saw. Nobody stopped to ask me a thing. They probably thought I just got out of the drunk tank. Today, that was just fine with me.
Starting up my truck, I almost turned toward Merlotte's. It's the place I go when I don't know what to do with myself. But I realized Sam wouldn't be open for a few hours yet.
Instead, I drove all the way out to Monroe to have some breakfast at a pancake house. It was time to do some more thinkin'. It was tough not flirtin' with the waitress. She had a great- uh, smile. But I did hang out long enough to have three full cups of coffee.
Wasn't really sure what I was supposed to keep secret from Tara now that the whole murderer thing had passed. Parts of it had overlapped with the vampire stuff. But I should let Tara know she was free of her babysitting duties now.
It was going to be strange not to spend all my evenings with her anymore. I knew I couldn't put it off though. She'd hear all about it as soon as she talked to someone today. And even if she was lucky enough to keep to herself this mornin', the whole town was gonna be at Merlotte's tonight talkin' 'bout it.
No, better she hears from me. So I drove home. As luck would have it, she was coming out my front door as I pulled up.
"Hey, Jas. If I hadn't seen the dirty clothes on the floor, I would have thought I'd just dreamed you bein' home last night. Did you forget something for work?" She gave a little laugh as she came over to hug me, meeting me halfway between our cars.
Almost like a real girlfriend, she nagged with caring underneath. I was gonna miss that. I laughed, "Naw, I just stopped for breakfast after leaving the sheriff's station and-"
"What?! No! You were with me all night! I'll swear to it! What happened? Who died?"
"Cool your jets, Tara. Nobody is dead." Bet this is literally what my head sounded like to Sook last night after I saw the flashing lights. Pure panic. It was awful nice of Tara to care so much about me, but it weren't fair. I was now totally sure, probably, about what to say to her about René.
"The bad guy is in jail. You are free of me now so I want you to march your cute butt over to Sam Merlotte and tell him you want to jump his bones."
At first she was shocked that there were no more murders hanging over my head. But she quickly crossed her arms as though to argue with what we both knew was the truth.
Then her smile cracked.
"Already did that, if you must know." But I could go for seconds... Or thirds." She grinned harder.