Hi everybody again, here's the next chapter for "The Killer" and I hope you enjoy it 'cause it's just one chapter left. This is the end but I have another surprise for the next chapter.

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Chapter Sixteen

When You Are Between Heaven And Hell

Sookie POV

I had no idea what had happened and the last thing I could remember was that Pam and I had come to the bank and we were chatting as we waited for Eric's safe to appear. The lights turned off and everything went dark and then…

"Oh, my head…"

"You okay, Sookie?"

"Pam, is that you?"

"Yes."

"What happened? I remember the lights turned off but…"

"We're in trouble, Sookie. Someone knew we were coming here tonight and was waiting for us. I fainted before I could see who did it and I woke up a few minutes ago. We are in the security room but no one has come yet." I couldn't move my hands and although it was all dark I knew they were tied to the chair I was sitting. "Pam, we have to get out of here."

"I know."

And suddenly it hit me. "Oh God! The box!"

"Don't worry, Sookie. They couldn't take it because when the lights turned off all electricity in this room did too so the security system worked and blocked the compartment. But I'm afraid that what they're looking for."

"Who? Who are they, Pam? Why have they followed us to here? I don't understand anything and…"

"Sookie, calm down!" I breathed deeply but couldn't calm down. "I guess Russell Edgington is behind this and will be here soon."

"Russell Edgington? That's not good; I mean, that man is totally insane and will kill us and…"

"He won't kill us until he has the code to access the box. I don't know what's inside but it must be really important if Russell Edgington has taken so much trouble."

"Shit! I can't believe this has happened. Eric told me Russell would be in Jackson so…what the hell is he doing here? Pam, what are we going to do? I won't give him anything to that man." Helping Eric was the only thing worried me and Russell Edgington or any other person wasn't going to prevent me from manage it. "Got a plan?"

"Sookie, I'm tied to a chair, do you really believe I have a plan?" she asked me sarcastically and I rolled my eyes. "No, I don't have a plan, Sookie. I think someone has betrayed us."

"Who?"

"I don't know yet but it'll be better for Eric to arrive here before those guys begin to ask questions we won't able to answer." Pam was right, if those guys were holding us was for a reason and if Russell Edgington wanted to kill us…well, I preferred not to think about it. "Sookie, when they come back, let me speak with them."

My eyes opened wide. "Why? What do you mean?"

"Sookie, we must be very careful and…" suddenly the door opened and two men of considerable size and wearing black were placed at each end of the door while another man, shorter and older, appeared in the center of the room.

"Well, well…what do we have here? Miss Sookie Stackhouse, I guess." I swallowed hard when I saw the look in his eyes; psychopath. Eric and Pam weren't exaggerating about him and I was getting really worried about what was going to happen. "It is a pleasure to meet you after hearing so much about you. Bill kept talking on you but I must say that none of his descriptions made you justice, my dear."

"What do you want from me?" I decided to ask him directly and there was no point in hiding the truth. He already knew what was going on.

Russell smiled and the hair on the back of my neck bristled instantly. "I see you've learned many things from Northman. All right, Miss Stackhouse, I want the box, of course."

"Never!"

"Sookie, are you insane?" Pam asked me before Russell slapped her. "Shut up, you bitch!" Pam stopped moving and I saw that her lip was bleeding. "Haven't they taught you not to interrupt a conversation?" Russell was going to hit her again but I couldn't allow it.

"No! Please, don't hurt her." Russell turned away from Pam and placed another chair in front of mine. "The box, Miss Stackhouse."

"Why?" He looked at me confused and I decided to demand an explanation would be a good way to save time. Why? No idea. "Why is it so important? What's in that box?"

"Don't you know?"

I didn't answer his question with words but I was sure my eyes had betrayed me. "Northman didn't tell you, did him?"

"Eric just asked me for help, that's all. I don't know what's in that box and why it's so important but I don't care. I just want Eric back with me and leave behind all this. So…I'm sure we could reach a deal."

"What kind of deal?"

"I don't know. Listen, Eric is going to leave the business and he just wants a normal life but he won't get it if you don't leave him alone."

"Well, Miss Stackhouse, we need to talk."

"We'll talk, Mr. Edgington, but I won't give you Eric Northman's box." I added firmly.

I had no idea if I was being smart or just stupid but there was no time to find out. Pam was bleeding and in silence, Russell was walking around the room thinking God knows what and I could only pray to whoever was listening for Eric to appear at any moment and save us.

"What do you want for the box?"

"I told you…"

"Please. Hypothetically, answer my question. What would you want for the box?" I looked surprised at him because it wasn't what I was expecting from someone like Russell Edgington. "Come on, everyone wants something and I'm sure you are not an exception. What do you desire most?"

Desire? I wanted Eric to be free and be together, get married, raise a family and not have to look over our shoulders for the rest of our lives but I knew that wouldn't be possible with Russell Edgington alive in this world. But tell him that I wanted his death…no, I'd sign my death sentence on the spot. No, I had to be smarter than him.

"Money." Edgington smiled wickedly and I added. "I want ten million dollars and your promise that you will leave Eric Northman, Pamela Ravenscroft, the Stackhouse family and any inhabitant of Louisiana alone. Forever."

"Is that all?"

"Yes. I'm not selfish." I replied sarcastically. "But I won't get any of that so this conversation has no sense."

"Why not? I could give you everything you've asked me for."

"Yes, but you won't because you're a psycho and a fucking bastard who just wants a damn safe box and you don't even know anything about it but you're afraid that that box could mean death for you or something worse, your end." Yes, my mouth was taking control of me but I didn't want to stop. "Actually you're just a sad and insignificant man who found a way to control others but it won't work forever. Lorena, Alcide Herveaux and Bill Compton are dead, you know? Eric killed them but they tried to kill us in Bon Temps and now my boyfriend is going to get you and kill you in the most painful way possible."

Edgington was laughing hard as if he had heard the funniest thing in the world, and a second later he was placed in front of me until our faces were inches away and I felt his eyes looking through mine. "Oh, Miss Stackhouse, I'm afraid your dreams won't be fulfilled tonight." And his cold fingers touched my cheek.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Eric said as he walked towards us and I saw the two men unconscious on the floor.

"Northman!"

I couldn't repress the smile on my lips when I saw him standing there looking down at me and willing to kill Russell to save my life; again. He was really handsome, like a true Viking god wearing a black suit with a red shirt and the gun in his hand. "Release them or I'll shoot you between your eyes."

"You…you fucking idiot!" I could see how Russell was picking his gun up.

"Eric, his gun!"

Before I could realize Eric had Russell pinned against the wall, Edgington's gun dropped on the ground and Eric was holding by his neck. He was so hot and I was totally turned on that I could hardly think of anything else and I felt guilty for not having thought about Pam and if she was okay.

"Did you really believe you could fool me? I'm afraid you thought you were smarter than me but you were so obsessed for killing me that you were even unable to see the truth." Russell's eyes kept looking at Eric and we were all confused. What truth? "You were never being the smartest in the class, weren't you? Brigant!" What was that? Some kind of code? I looked at Pam but she seemed as surprised as me when a man wearing a brown suit entered the room. "You got everything?"

"What the fuck is this?" Edgington could barely speak and a part of wanted Eric to break his neck and kill him. Yes, I was a good Christian girl but that man was the devil and deserved any punishment he could get. "Northman! You betrayed me!"

"Yes," Eric said with a proud smile on his face, "I did ten years ago." Ten years? "Is this enough?" he asked Brigant.

"Yes, Northman," was the first time the man called Brigant spoke. "We've been looking for Mr. Edgington for too long." Brigant handcuffed Russell and Eric came up to me, untied my hands and asked me if I was fine and then untied Pam's hands.

"Are you two okay?" Pam nodded but I just threw myself into his arms and clung to his waist like a child to his favourite stuffed animal. "It's over, baby, it's over." Eric patted my back for a few seconds and were the best of the night and then left me to go to the electric panel on the wall and introduced the code.

"You have nothing against me, you won't find a single witness who's going to speak against me. You're screwed…" Edgington laughed again in that creepy way and I wanted to hit him as hard as I could but when Eric came back to me, he put the box on the table and put his strong arm around my shoulders. God…I had missed him so much.

"Do you really believe that?" Russell said nothing and he suddenly didn't seem so sure of himself. "Sookie, Pam, I want to introduce you to federal agent Niall Brigant." Brigant greeted us with a slight nod of his head. "He found me ten years ago, when I finished my military service and offered me a deal I could not refuse." Eric told us the feds were looking for a man who was capable of killing dangerous targets and Brigant found him. They wanted to capture Edgington and Eric was the only one who could do it infiltrating himself in Russell's team to destroy it from within. Everything seemed out of a James Bond's movie.

"So…you're not a professional killer?"

"Well, I was, but I didn't work for Russell. Brigant assured me that I only killed Edgington's important targets and that's what I did. Herveaux, Lorena and Compton were collateral damage although they were professionals too but I had to. Brigant, in the box you'll find everything necessary to put our good friend Russell in a beautiful cell for a long time." And it was true. In the damn box, which had been the only reason we had gone to New York, were reports on Russell Edgington, with all his bank accounts, his criminal file and all the people who were killed, including several members of a family in Florida. The bastard had killed five children in a park and got free of it. At least now all the victims could rest in peace.

"In that box you'll find all the memory cards with the locations of other professionals, future targets and everything you need to lock this bastard for the rest of his life, although I'm sure you won't live so long." Eric walked away from me and stood before Russell, looking into his eyes. "The place you're going to has many friends who are impatient to see you."

"Well, it's time to go." Brigant said. "Northman, it's been the longest work of my life but it was worth." They started walking, Brigant pushing Russell with his hands cuffed behind his back but stopped at the door. "Northman, I almost forgot. Here you go." Brigant handed Eric an envelope and left.

"What is that? Another target?" Eric looked down at me grinning and Pam stood by our side. "You alright, Pam?"

"Yes, do not worry."

"This, my dear Sookie, is our future. Ten years ago I had a very different plans but now…I couldn't think of anything better." Eric opened the envelope and pulled out two rectangular pieces of paper. "Pam, this is for you."

Pam opened her eyes wide and it shocked me because she wasn't a woman you could surprise her easily. "Oh. My. God. Eric, it's a check for one million dollars." A million dollars?

"A million dollars?"

"It's the rewards offered for capture Russell Edgington and Brigant knew I was the only one who could get him. And this," and held in his hand the other paper, "is our future, Sookie." He showed me the paper and it was a check for ten million dollars. I couldn't believe it, I hadn't seen so many zeros on a same paper in my life.

"Oh God…" I could hardly breathe and had to sit down.

"Sookie, you okay?" I nodded vigorously and smiled at him bit I still had serious trouble breathing. "Look at me."

"I'm…I'm fine, Eric…really." I breathed deeply a few times and I felt better. "You have a ten million dollars' check in your hands."

"We have ten million. Sookie, things are going to change from now."

And of course everything changed.

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