A/N: Once again, thank you so, so much for the fantastic response to this story! I love reading your reactions and speculations so much, and I really appreciate every last one of them. I apologize for the uber-shortness of this chapter, but it's the last of the tiny ones. Plus Eric's back in the next one in a very satisfying way. I'm sure everyone's busy getting things prepared for the holiday anyway, so I hope you won't mind too much.

Happy Thanksgiving to the readers who celebrate it! Thanks to FDM for being a fantastic beta!

Chapter 6 - Rescue

"Are you going to tell me why you're freaking out?" Sam asked when they got into his truck.

"Just get in and drive to Derek's house," Sookie said. "I'll explain on the way."

Sam started up the truck and sped out of the drive.

"He's been acting very twitchy lately, like an addict needing a fix," Sookie began. "He came up to me and asked if I would tell you that he had an emergency and had to leave. I was worried it might be drugs, so I took a dip into his mind, and I was not expecting what I found."

"Is he in some kind of trouble?"

"Sam, he's got Tracey Jones tied up in his closet."

"The little girl that went missing from Shreveport?" Sam asked, jerking his head to glance at her continually.

"Yes. She's seven, Sam. Seven years old, and the things he's done to her … I've got to get her out of there."

Sam reached over and took Sookie's hand to give it a squeeze.

"Is he dangerous?"

"I don't think so. Not if we catch him by surprise."

"Okay," Sam said. "I'll take care of him, you go get Tracey. You're positive about this, right? We're not going to bust an innocent man, are we?"

"I saw him replaying the things he's done to her in his mind. It's possible that he hasn't actually done them yet, and he was just thinking about what he plans to do, but either way, he has her."

"We're here."

Sam parked down the block and pulled out his cell. Sookie heard him address Bud, and knew he was talking to the police. When Sam hung up, they got out of his truck and jogged up to Derek's house. Sookie stood behind Sam as he knocked, her heart pumping hard with fear and adrenaline, and she kept the image of Tracey in her mind.

The door opened with a hard jerk, and Sam lunged forward, tackling Derek to the floor.

"Go!" he yelled at Sookie, and she jumped over them and looked around, trying to figure out where to go. As the two men struggled on the floor, Sookie spotted a hallway, and rushed down it, peeking into each room to see if it had a closet. The third room, which looked as though it was Derek's bedroom, had a closet and the door was slightly open.

"Sookie!" she heard Sam holler just before she was hit over the head with a blunt object.

Sookie grunted as she fell to the floor, and turned to see Derek hovering over her. He had a cut on his forehead, and his nose was bleeding, but he was still coming after her, his hands poised to wrap around her neck. She took a deep breath, pulled her legs up, and then kicked him as hard as she possibly could on his knee. Sam got to the room as Derek fell and jumped on him again, holding Derek's hands together as Sam dug his knee into the man's lower back.

"Is she in there?" Sam asked.

Sookie scrambled on her hands and knees to the closet and flung the door open.

"No, this isn't the closet," Sookie said, and as she stood up the room began to spin. "Keep him here."

"Are you okay?"

"Just keep him here, dammit. She's in this house somewhere."

Sookie took a couple of breaths, and left the room. There was one more bedroom at the end of the hall, and she stumbled to it. She was getting dizzier by the second, but was determined to find Tracey. When she entered the room she saw a closet, and called out Tracey's name, trying to let the girl know that someone was there to help her.

It seemed to take her forever to reach the closet, and as she did she heard the police car sirens in the distance. The closet had a lock on it, but the key was in it, like Derek was just about to open it when they had arrived and interrupted. Sookie fell to her knees, turned the key, and pulled open the door.

"Tracey?" Sookie asked, even though she could see clearly that it was the little girl from the picture in the newspapers and on TV. She was wearing different clothes, and her hair wasn't clean, but it was her.

She was sitting in the corner of the closet, her hands duct taped behind her back, and her feet tied with rope. There was tape across her mouth too, and she was sobbing. Sookie reached forward slowly so she didn't startle her, and pulled the shaking girl from the closet.

"My name is Sookie. I'm here to help. Do you hear the sirens? The police are coming. They'll take you to your parents." Sookie said as she worked on untying her feet. "I'm going to take the tape off your mouth, but it's going to hurt a bit, okay?" If the tape wasn't already loose at the edges, she wouldn't have tried for fear of ripping some of the poor girl's skin off. It looked like Derek had reused the same piece a few times.

Tracey nodded, so Sookie ripped it off quickly while saying "I'm sorry." She sobbed openly now, and cried out for her parents.

"Tracey, listen. The cops are close. My friend has the bad man. He's not going to hurt you, I promise." Her eyes started to droop, and she knew she was about to pass out, so she quickly unwrapped Tracey's wrists. "Run out of the house sweetie. The police are out there."

Tracey nodded and took off as Sookie laid her head on the carpet, and just as she heard the voices and yelling begin when the police came into the house, her eyes closed, and she was dead to the world.

Before anyone asks: No, I'm not going the amnesia route with this. I promise :)