A/N: Welp, posting on the Saturday of a long weekend in this part of the world (Thanksgiving in Canada and Indigenous People's Day/Columbus Day in the US) is really kind of dumb, especially since tomorrow is the second anniversary of the day I posted chapter one of Asset Management, which started this whole writing thing. But I'm going to do it anyway because I have no self-control. Also, I'm going to publish 31 of SE tomorrow, anyway. 32 is well on its way.

Chapter 18

Sookie spent the next day outside, trying to enjoy the beautiful weather. She weeded the flower bed in the morning and then lay on her chaise lounge in the weak afternoon sunlight. She was warm enough when the sun wasn't hiding behind a cloud, at least until a cool breeze picked up and drove her inside.

Around suppertime, someone from the Crawdad Diner called and wanted to see her for an interview the following evening. That made her feel a little bit better, anyway.

She made herself scrambled eggs and toast and ate it in front of the television. There was a two hour block of sitcoms on and the laugh tracks sounded as hollow as she felt. She really needed to get herself out of this funk but she didn't know how. She couldn't wave a magic wand and make all of her problems disappear, or even push them aside. Not for a while. All of them were pressing and she didn't have anyone to help carry the load. God, she was lonely.

At nine, she set an alarm for one thirty and lay down to attempt to nap. She was sure that it would be a wasted effort, but she fell asleep almost right away.

Her alarm woke her in the middle of a dream where Eric had been making love to her on the hearth rug in front of the fire. She hit snooze a couple of times, trying to get it back so that she could be with her Eric for just a little bit longer, but she hadn't quite been able to catch hold of it again.

It was later than she would have liked when she finally dragged herself out of bed. She put on a pot of coffee and brushed her teeth and hair while she waited for it to perk. She'd planned on a shower, but had wasted too much time in bed. She wouldn't have minded so much if they'd been able to finish before she'd woken up.

She poured the coffee into a travel mug and climbed into her car, yawning. She tried really hard not to think about how angry and bitter and hurt she was, or that a little part of her was aching to see him again, even though the rest of her resented everything about it. And him. She turned the music up loud and felt the little squeeze in her chest that she felt now every time she drove on her new driveway.

She was still a little groggy for the first few miles so she rolled down the window a little to keep herself awake. It was a chilly night and, between that and the coffee, she was feeling almost human when she pulled into the Fangtasia parking lot. Her stomach was tied in a knot, but somehow there was still room for a few butterflies.

She parked in the employee lot and went in the back door, as instructed. It opened onto a hallway. There were voices and laughter ahead in the main part of the bar, but she was headed for the office just off to the right. The knot in her stomach got tighter the closer she got. She stopped just a couple of steps away to close her eyes and take two or three deep breaths to try to centre herself and calm down.

When she blew out her last one and opened her eyes, Eric was leaning against the door frame, smiling at her, looking both smug and amused.

"I see you found us."

He'd startled her a little and she chalked the little skip in her heartbeat up to that. Eric heard it and knew better, and his smile got a little wider. He could feel exactly how she felt. He had been miserable the past couple of nights but she had completely turned that around, just by walking in the door.

He stepped a bit to the side and motioned her into the office. He hadn't given her much room to move past him and she hesitated for a moment before hurrying inside. Her hair almost brushed against him and his eyes closed in pleasure. She smelled incredible. He could tell that she had spent time in the sun and it had enhanced her natural sweet, sunny scent. He could also smell arousal, although she wasn't really turned on right then. Her current feelings for him were more on the romantic side than the sexual one, although there was a hint of that as well. But the scent was still fresh. Very recent. And he thought that the odds were good that she'd been thinking about him.

Of course, her negative feelings outweighed the positives by orders of magnitude, but he wasn't going to worry about that. He followed her inside and got behind his desk. He gestured at the seat facing him and they both sat down.

She'd been a little rattled when he'd caught her off guard in the hallway but she was quickly getting her composure back. Her anger and resentment, too. She set her jaw and looked him in the eye.

"Why am I here? Oh, wait. Sorry. That's the wrong question. I meant to say, why did you extort me to make me come here?"

He laughed. Gods, she was captivating.

"As I said last night, money has been going missing. I need you to listen to the humans and find out who is responsible."

She tried to hide how shaky her breath was but she didn't drop his eyes. "If I do this for you —"

He raised an eyebrow and interrupted her. "If?"

"Yes. If. If I do this for you, you are going to need to swear to me that no humans will get hurt because of what I tell you. I'm not going to have that on my conscience. If they're guilty of a crime, you can call the cops, but no pain. No torture. No death. Not ever."

He smirked. "And what if I just extort you some more to make you do whatever I say, regardless?"

She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth for a moment and then looked back up at him.

"If you promise, I will keep doing this for you when you need me to. Willingly. But only if you have a real need."

His smile widened. He looked thrilled and her stomach dropped, even if it was still full of knots and butterflies.

"It is a deal."

She looked at his hand, but he didn't reach out to shake hers. She was mostly relieved.

When she looked back up at his face, he was smiling at her just like her Eric had sometimes. Like he was truly happy. She remembered one night less than a week before when she'd jumped into his arms and he'd spun her around a couple of times. She'd thrown her head back and laughed and he'd kissed her when she'd looked at him again. She'd wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, loving the feel and smell and taste of him. Eventually, she'd pulled away and smiled at him, and he'd been looking at her exactly the same way he was looking at her right then. She'd come so close to telling him that she loved him but had chickened out at the last second. Instead, she'd kissed him again, showing him what she hadn't quite been ready to say. They had made love for the rest of the night. God, they had been so happy.

She looked away and he felt a bit of a pang.

She took a deep breath and then another, and then looked at him again. She was almost glad that the smile was gone.

"A real need, Eric. I mean it. Not just to jerk me around."

He nodded. "That is fair. Now, someone has embezzled well over a hundred thousand dollars from Fangtasia over the past year and a half or more. I must find out who. Are you ready to get started?"

She hesitated but then nodded.

"Excellent. Come."

She followed him into the bar proper. Everything was painted in blacks and greys and reds and the walls were lined with framed posters showing different fictional vampires, from Lestat to Nosferatu. There were also signs warning both the humans and the undead not to fuck and/or feed on the premises. That rule was often broken, especially by the three vampires in the room who co-owned the club.

There was a middle-aged pudgy man who was obviously terrified sitting at one table and a very pretty girl with glasses and pouty lips at another, several tables away. Pam, the beautiful vampire that Sookie had met a few days before, was smirking at her from the corner. A couple of barmaids sat at the bar in their filmy black dresses, looking like extras in one of the movies whose posters lined the walls. The vampire sitting between them and flirting with both had long, straight black hair. Sookie thought that he was likely Native American.

Eric gestured at the chair across from the man and Sookie hesitated before taking a seat.

"Sookie, this is Bruce, my accountant. He has assured me many times that he is not stealing from me and doesn't know who is. I want you to listen to him and confirm his statements."

Sookie smiled at the man, trying to look reassuring. "Hey, Bruce. Everything is going to be alright. I made Eric promise that you wouldn't get hurt, no matter what, and I believe him." Mostly. "All you need to do is tell the truth, ok?"

Pam looked at her maker like he was insane.

Bruce didn't answer, so Sookie kept going. "Is it ok if I hold your hand? It makes things easier."

She reached out and he grabbed her hand like a drowning man and held on tight. He was sweating profusely and she wanted to snatch her hand away and wipe it on her jeans, but she managed to resist the temptation.

She looked up at Eric. "I'm ready. Go ahead and ask your questions."

He nodded. "Bruce, have you stolen money from me or my bar?"

"N-n-no! I wouldn't. Not in a million years."

Sookie squeezed his hand. "You're doing great."

She nodded at Eric and he continued. "Do you know what happened to the missing money? Who took it?"

"No! Honest to God, I don't. I wish I did so that I could tell you but I have no idea."

Sookie smiled at him. "Thank you for being so honest."

She turned to Eric. "He's telling the truth."

"And you are sure?"

She nodded. "Absolutely positive."

"Very well, then. Bruce, you are free to go."

He almost knocked his chair over when he stood up and then ran to the door. He tried to pull it open twice and sobbed when it wouldn't budge. Pam rolled her eyes.

"It says push for a reason, jackass."

He finally got the door open and stumbled on the way to his car.

Sookie said, "He is absolutely terrified. I don't think that he's going to keep working for you going forward."

Eric shrugged. "No great loss. I will make sure that he doesn't talk and find someone new."

He felt a surge of Sookie's anger. He grinned and spoke before she was able to. "I will glamour him to forget the details, Sookie. He won't be harmed. I gave you my word."

She studied his face and then nodded.

He motioned the bespectacled waitress over and she came willingly enough and took Bruce's spot. She reached her hand across the table before being asked and Sookie took it. She didn't wait for Eric this time.

"What's your name?"

"Belinda."

"Hey, Belinda. I'm Sookie. I'm a barmaid, too, or at least I was until a few days ago. I'm just going to ask you a few questions, ok?"

Belinda nodded and Sookie smiled at her.

"You really enjoy working here, don't you?"

Belinda nodded again.

"Are you the one who took the money from the bar?"

She answered quickly. "No!"

"Do you know who did?"

She hesitated a little this time. "No."

Sookie nodded. Belinda was telling the truth, but there was more there, under the surface.

"Is there anything that you do know that could help us find out who's responsible?"

She shook her head, but Sookie closed her eyes and immersed herself in Belinda's thoughts. She saw a woman her Gran would have said looked like she'd been ridden hard and put away wet. She had straggly strawberry-blonde hair and her neck and ample cleavage were covered in both fresh bites and older scars. Her name was Ginger.

Sookie opened her eyes and looked at Eric. "I need to speak to Ginger."

Pam laughed from the corner. "I guess this is as good a place as any for a seance. It's just too bad that I forgot my Ouija board at home."

Sookie hadn't let go of Belinda's hand and something in her thoughts caused Sookie to freeze and suck in her breath. She started to turn her head towards the barstools but the vampire who'd been sitting there was on her before she could really make a move.

The chair tipped over and it and Sookie crashed to the floor. She tried to scream but the wind had been knocked out of her and she couldn't take a breath. The vampire snapped at her throat like a rabid dog but she'd managed to throw up her forearm to try to protect herself. His fang sliced a jagged line almost from her elbow to her wrist, and then he was gone. After a moment, she was finally able to take a huge gulp of air, and then another. She rolled up onto her hands and knees, afraid that she was going to be sick. Blood ran down her arm and between her fingers and pooled on the floor.

Eric had grabbed Longshadow off of her and had thrown him as hard as he could into the far wall. His head connected with the grey cinder block and left a bloody red smear that kind of looked like it belonged there. Like it was part of the decor. Eric was on top of him almost before Longshadow had hit the floor. He wrapped his hand around the other vampire's throat and hit him over and over again until there was nothing left above Longshadow's neck except blood and hair and pieces of skull and brain matter. The floor tiles underneath were crushed and shattered. Longshadow started to turn to ash.

The waitresses at the bar were screaming and screaming and screaming. Belinda just sat in the chair across from where Sookie had been, frozen, her eyes wide and glassy. Pam was standing in the corner. Her pupils were dilated and she was staring at Sookie, her shoulders heaving and her fangs long and sharp and deadly.

Eric was across the room and had his hand around Pam's neck next. His eyes were wild and he had his arm cocked back, ready to hit her, too.

"Eric!"

He paused. Sookie managed to get up on two very shaky legs and tried again.

"Eric! Stop! Please."

He turned his head to look at her and his cold blue eyes almost seemed to see into her soul. He was still holding Pam's throat tight enough to make the muscles in his forearm bunch. Sookie had never been more terrified in her life, but she took a step forward. "Please, Eric. Let her go. You don't want to hurt her."

He slowly turned his head to look at his child again and then relaxed his grip.

Sookie's shoulders sagged in relief. She took another step and everything seemed to sway before it all went black.