"Mr. um…. Vampire?"

Eric looked away from his laptop to meet the gaze of the young woman who stood at his left, just behind the empty bar stool beside him. Her black hair was styled into spikes, some dyed pink and purple, and she seemed to have a piercing impaling every available inch of pliant skin on her face. He raised one eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

"I have a huge favor to ask," she said. Her face flushed as she raised up her phone. "See, I just read on Twitter that my asshole ex-boyfriend is on his way here with his new girl, the one he cheated on me with, and I was wondering if…" She smiled sheepishly. "I was wondering if there's, like, a vampire here at the bar who could pose as my boyfriend for a little while. I could pay him if I had to. I would… let him drink me afterwards."

Eric tapped two knuckles on the bar stool. "Sit," he said, and she obeyed him without question. "No vampire here will pose as your boyfriend," he told her.

Her face fell. "Oh. Okay. Look, I'm sorry I-"

"You see that blond vampire at the door?"

"The one who carded me, yeah."

Eric smiled. "That is Pam. Go to her and tell her that I want her to pose as your girlfriend."

"My girlfriend."

"That's right. It will agitate your ex-boyfriend much more, and I will be compensated with the entertainment. Go."

The girl didn't need telling twice; Eric watched as she strode over to Pam, his grin widening as Pam absorbed the information and glared in his direction. To her credit, Pam put on quite a performance, making a great show of baring her fangs at the ex-boyfriend when he arrived, and even fondling the spikes in the girl's hair when she kissed her. By the end of it, the girl seemed ready to kiss her heterosexuality goodbye, and the ex-boyfriend had been abandoned by his annoyed date.

Eric retreated to his office to print out the reports he had been working on, filing them – as he always did now – in several different places known only to himself and Pam. She stepped into the office a little while later, but his smile faded quickly when he saw the expression on her face.

"Someone to see you," she said. She moved aside to show in a female vampire that Eric recognized right away as part of Victor's retinue.

"What brings you here, Heidi?" Eric asked her, leaning back in his desk chair with forced nonchalance.

Heidi approached his desk and sat across from him as Pam slipped out and shut the door. "Victor sent me to assist you here at Fangtasia from now on."

To spy on us, you mean. "To assist me with what, exactly?" he asked coolly.

"I'm a tracker, and a damned good one at that. With the Weres getting all antsy about the stuff in Congress, Victor thinks it's wise to have extra eyes and ears around this place. Not to mention the fairy troubles you've had. So here I am."

"Working for me but, I assume, taking your orders from Victor."

Heidi smiled a little. "He is the king."

"Well, then." Eric rummaged through the papers on his desk and withdrew some forms. "New hire paperwork. Complete it outside in the bar and return it when you're done." He waited until she had closed the door behind her, then hissed, "Fuck."

His house was dark when he returned to it in the early hours of the morning, and he felt the sting of disappointment despite the fact that he already knew Sookie would be staying in Bon Temps. As if she had known that he wanted her, she called not five minutes later.

"Hi, sweetie," she said, and he could tell that she had been asleep.

"Did you have a nightmare, my lover?"

"Oh, no." She paused and yawned. "I set the alarm for when you usually get home. I wanted to call and say hi. I miss you."

He smiled at the phone. "How was work?"

"Super busy, but all the customers were nice. You?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary." Eric paused and looked around for a moment. "Perhaps you could tell me something."

"Hmmm?"

"Perhaps you could tell me why I feel you here in the house."

"Oh, I don't know. It might be because I'm in your bed, waiting for you to hurry up and get here."

He was there before she finished the sentence, and she laughed as she tossed her phone onto the bedside table. She wore nothing but one of his t-shirts, and he growled as he threw off his own clothes to join her.

"Did you really have work?" he asked as he kissed his way up to her mouth.

"Got off early," she gasped. His hands wandered up under the shirt. "Which you better not do."

He laughed and kept her very, very late.

"Another friend asked me if we're dating," she said. She had curled up against him, one arm draped over his chest. "It sounds so strange to say I'm dating you."

"Dating is a misleading word. You are my wife."

"Technically." She raised herself up on her elbow and kissed him. "But not really, Eric. You know that."

He said nothing.

"Any word from Victor lately?" she asked a few minutes later.

"Only the usual," he said, and he knew that she would feel the sudden tension in his body.

She raised her head again to meet his eyes. "What would happen if he reported to Felipe that you weren't doing a good job? That they should have… gotten rid of you during the takeover?"

"I'm keeping paperwork to prove differently, and I'm keeping it in several places. My area has risen steadily in both stability and profit, just as it always has. There is nothing Victor can hold against me."

"I hate that I don't get to see you much," she said, tracing the line of his face with her fingers. "But I know that you have things to take care of, including yourself."

He stared up at the ceiling as she lay her head back down on his shoulder, falling asleep not long after that. He pulled the blankets up over them and held her to him.

And nothing more than you, he thought.

A few nights later, he entered his office to find a post-it note stuck on the upper corner of his computer. "Victor 8:00," it read in Pam's handwriting. Eric cursed, crumpled up the small square of paper, and tossed it in the trash can. He had just risen from an uncomfortable sleep in his coffin at the bar, only to find this waiting for him.

His cell phone rang and vibrated, and he wrenched it angrily from his pocket, assuming it to be Victor. But the caller ID bore another, much more welcome name.

"I am here, my lover," he greeted Sookie, settling into his chair and starting the computer.

"Well, I'm here, too, obviously," she replied, and he smiled. "Listen," she continued, her voice unusually shaky, "I really need to talk to you. Some things have come up."

"You're worried," he said, frowning.

"Yes. With good reason."

He glanced at the time. "I have a meeting in thirty minutes with Victor. You know how tense that's likely to be." It would be even tenser if he had to postpone or cancel it, which he would certainly do if Sookie's problem required immediate attention.

"I do know," she replied, "and I'm sorry to pester you with my problems. But you're my boyfriend, and part of being a good boyfriend is listening."

Not an emergency, then. And, as always, she would assume the worst and jump to the conclusion that he did not care to hear about her problem. "Your boyfriend," he said, shaking his head. "That sounds…" Insulting? "Strange. I am so not a boy."

"Foof, Eric!" was her frustrated answer. Sookie, with her amusing expressions. "I don't want to stand here in the bathroom trying to talk terminology." He only had a second to absorb that before she went on, "What's the bottom line? Are you going to have free time later or not?"

He gave a wry laugh at the idea of "free" time. That was a long-forgotten luxury. But Sookie time – there was no shortage of that. "Yes, for you," he said. "Can you drive over here?" Before she could reply, he realized that her driving to Shreveport might not be safe if her problem was serious. "Wait. I'll send Pam for you. She'll be at your house at… one o'clock. All right?"

"Okay, and warn Pam that…" She hesitated for a moment. "Well, tell her not to get… carried away by anything, hear?"

He smiled. "Oh, certainly. I'll be glad to pass that very specific message along."

He shut the phone and walked to the door, peering out to locate Pam. When she looked in his direction, he signaled for her to join him in the office.

"You got my note?" she asked as she came in.

"I did, yes, much to my displeasure. I need you to drive to Bon Temps and pick up Sookie at her house at 1:00. Bring her to my place."

"Is her car broken?"

"No," he said. "And, fortunately, neither is yours." Pam gave him a short, brisk nod. "She said to tell you not to get carried away, whatever the hell that means." He glanced at the clock, then back up at her. "Victor will be here soon."

Victor showed himself in, as he always did now, but instead of sitting as he usually did, he leaned against the doorframe. "Eric, Pam," he said, nodding to each of them. No play at being charming tonight; either he was in a hurry, or he just didn't care anymore. Eric hoped it was the former.

Eric managed a "Victor" in reply; Pam simply looked at him.

"I cannot stay," he said. "I only wanted to make certain that you were here to receive the news in person. I've sent Sandy back to Vegas. It seemed extraneous to have a go-between when I am such a hands-on manager. You will report directly to me, and I, in turn, will keep an eye on you." He gave a dark smile. "Sound good?"

"I wish I could drive a stake right between his eyes," Pam growled when they were alone again.

His blood came to life moments before he heard Pam's car in his garage, then the jingle of her keys at his door, and finally Sookie's voice calling his name. He met her halfway, smiling at the sight of her, barefoot, pretty, and happy to see him. She ran her eyes down from his face and over his bare chest to the waist of his jeans. If the little flare of lust was any indication, she liked what she saw.

He extended his arms to her. "Jump!"

She laughed and ran into his arms, and he lifted her high, just as he had done when they danced in Rhodes. Unable to resist her smiling mouth any longer, he slid her down his body until her head was only slightly above his, then kissed her insistently, hungrily. With his arms tight around her waist, and her arms and legs latched around him, the pounding of her heart was a steady thud against his chest. He imagined it could beat for both of them – bring him to life. He almost expected his idle lungs to expand and meet every rhythmic push of her chest against his.

"Back to earth, monkey girl," came Pam's voice, bringing him back to the present. "Time is passing."

With great regret, he ended their kiss, though Sookie pressed her lips briefly to his one last time before she loosened her limbs and her feet touched the floor. She smiled at him with real affection, and it thrilled him.

"Come," he said. He placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her to the chair. "Sit, and tell me what's wrong." He sat on the sofa across from her before he remembered that they were not alone. "Do you want Pam to know, too?"

She turned to Pam and nodded. "Yes." They waited as Pam took a seat beside Eric and crossed her legs. "Day before yesterday, I got a call from Alcide Herveaux," she said. "And I've met some of the new Weres in his pack. Do you two know Basim and Annabelle?"

"I've seen this Basim," Pam confirmed. "He came to Fangtasia one night with another Were, another new one." She thought for a moment. "That Annabelle, the brown-haired woman. She's Alcide's new…" Eric saw his child's lips form another word before she rethought it and finished, "Squeeze."

Sookie shook her head. "She must have hidden assets."

It wasn't like Sookie to disparage another woman, and he turned to her with interest. "Not what you thought Alcide would pick, my lover?"

"I liked Maria-Star," she shrugged. She looked sorry that she had said anything.

"But before that, he had long associated with Debbie Pelt," he reminded her. "You can see that Alcide is… catholic in his pleasures. He carried the torch for you, didn't he?" Sookie lowered her eyes and blushed. "From a true bitch to a startling talent" – he paused to give Sookie an affectionate smile that she did not see – "to a sweet photographer to a tough girl who doesn't mind visiting a vampire bar. Alcide has very variable taste in women."

Pam could always be counted on to get to the point – or to return to a point that had been lost in "piffle," as she liked to call it. "He sent Annabelle and Basim to the club for a purpose," she explained to Sookie. "Have you been reading the newspapers lately?"

"No." Sookie gave them a wry little smile. "I've been enjoying not reading the papers."

Pam told her about the bill in Congress, which would essentially lump Weres and shifters in with the vampires.

"But that's not right!" Sookie exclaimed.

"Not too surprisingly, the Weres are furious about this," Eric continued. He related Alcide's suspicions about his pack being spied on. "Alcide has good sense. But he believes he's being watched."

"It would be awful to think your own government was spying on you, especially after you'd been thinking of yourself as a regular citizen your entire life," Sookie mused, and Eric had to bite his tongue to keep from telling her that she was naïve if she thought her government didn't watch its people, even its "regular citizens," more than they believed. "Where would they have to register?" she asked. "Could the kids still go to school with all the other children? What about the men and women at Barksdale Air Force Base?" Whether or not her questions were rhetorical, Eric and Pam had no answers. Eric frankly didn't give a shit. He wished that Sookie would get to the problem that had brought her here. She, unfortunately, could not seem to break the habit of caring about other people. "After all these years! Do you think the bill really has a chance of passing?"

"The Weres believe it does," Pam replied, sounding bored. "Maybe it's paranoia. Maybe they've heard something through the members of Congress who are two-natured. Maybe they know something we don't know." She waved her hand in dismissal. "Alcide sent this Annabelle and Basim al Saud to tell me they might be in the same boat with us soon. They wanted to know about the area representative for the BVA, what kind of woman she is, how they could deal with her."

"Who is the rep?"

"Katherine Boudreaux. She likes women somewhat more than men, like I do." Pam grinned, then wrinkled her nose. "She also loves dogs. She has a steady lover, Sallie, who shares her house. Katherine is not interested in having a side affair, and she is unbribable."

Sookie looked back and forth between them. "You've tried, I take it."

Eric had tried to file a complaint against Victor after the incident with Lochlan and Neave, but Katherine had refused to take action, saying that it should be left under Felipe's jurisdiction. She was useless as far as he was concerned.

"I tried to interest her sexually," Pam purred. "Bobby Burnham tried the bribe."

"Well, I'm real glad to know all this," Sookie said. "But my real problem came after the Weres used my land."

Eric sat up. Finally, they had come to the point. "You let the Weres use your property for their monthly run?" he asked her.

"Well… yeah. Hamilton Bond said there were people camping out on the Herveaux land, and now that I've heard what Alcide's told you…" She paused. "And I'm wondering why he didn't tell me all this…" She shook her head and went on, "I can see why he didn't want to have a run on his own land. I guess he thought the campers were government agents. What would the new agency be called?"

"The legislation going through Congress proposes it be called the Bureau of Vampire and Supernatural Affairs," Pam said, disdain dripping from the word "supernatural."

"Get back to your issues, my lover," Eric prompted Sookie. At the very least, he could feel sure that nothing was terribly wrong.

"Okey dokey. Well, when they were leaving, Basim came to the front door and told me he'd smelled at least one fairy and some other vampire traveling through my land," she said with a frown. "And my cousin Claude says he wasn't the fairy."

The vampire could be one of Victor's people. He wouldn't be at all surprised if Victor had assigned one or more spies to Sookie. As for the fairy, that was puzzling.

"Interesting," he said at last.

Pam looked at him, probably thinking much the same thing as he was, at least as far as the unknown vampire was concerned. "Very odd," she agreed.

Yet another possibility was that the Were was lying. "I don't know the credentials of this Basim," he mused aloud, and he told them about Basim's expulsion from Houston. "We'll check on what Basim told you," he finished. As it happened, he did have a tracker in his area now, though he didn't know how dependable she would be if the mysterious vampire happened to be one of her boss's men. Even so, he didn't have many options. He looked from Sookie to Pam. "That new girl, Heidi, says she's a tracker."

Pam arched an eyebrow, her face reflecting his own uncertainty about what they could hope to gain from Heidi.

"You got a new vamp?" Sookie asked.

He turned back to her. "This is one sent us by Victor. Even from New Orleans, supposedly, Victor is running the state with a tight hand. He sent Sandy, who was supposed to be the liaison, back to Nevada. I suspect Victor thought he didn't have enough control over her."

"How can he get New Orleans up and running if he travels around the state as much as Sandy did?"

It was Pam who answered her. "I'm assuming he's leaving Bruno Brazell in charge," she explained. "I think Bruno pretends Victor is in New Orleans, even when Victor isn't. The rest of Victor's people don't know where he is half the time." Her mouth twisted with anger. "Since he killed off all the New Orleans vampires he could find, we've had to rely on the information of our one spy who survived the massacre."

"Spy" was an overly kind word for the skulking, unreliable piece of shit they had in New Orleans.

"So Victor likes to be in the trenches," Sookie concluded. Eric looked at her, bemused. Victor had not been involved in the humans' first World War, so her meaning was lost on him. "He likes to see for himself and do for himself, rather than rely on the chain of command," she clarified.

"Yes, and the chain of command can be quite heavy and literal under Victor," Pam agreed with a dark smile.

Eric thought of the silver chains that Victor had used to keep him from saving Sookie, and for a moment he forgot where he was. Sookie's voice brought him back to the present.

"Pam and I were talking about Victor on the drive over here," she said. "I wonder why Felipe de Castro chose Victor to be his representative in Louisiana."

Eric and Pam looked at each other; they had discussed this several times over the past weeks. He leaned back and stretched out his legs, not failing to notice that Sookie's eyes were on him. "There are two schools of thought about that," he began, grinning at the desire he felt from her. And she knew that he knew, for she turned pink and glanced away. "One is that Felipe wants Victor as far away as he can get him. I believe that Felipe feels that if he gives Victor a big chunk of red meat, he won't be tempted to try to snatch the whole steak." If his theory was correct, Felipe had questionable judgment. Eric believed the old adage about keeping enemies close – especially enemies with spies and too much ambition.

"While others of us," Pam continued, giving him a pointed look, "think that Felipe simply appointed Victor because Victor is very efficient. That Victor's devotion to Felipe is possibly sincere."

Eric had his doubts about Pam's take on the situation, and he attributed it to his longer acquaintance with Victor. No one trusted Victor Madden. He doubted if Victor's right hand trusted his left.

"If the first theory is correct" – which it is, he thought – "there isn't perfect trust between Felipe and Victor."

"If the second theory is correct, and we act against Victor, Felipe will kill us all," Pam said grimly.

"I'm getting your drift," Sookie nodded. She sighed. "I hate to sound really selfish, but the first thought that popped into my mind is this. Since Victor wouldn't let you come to help me when I needed you – and, incidentally, I know that I owe you big-time, Pam – that means Victor's not honoring the promise, huh?" She directed the question at him, and he could tell that she favored his theory over Pam's. "Felipe promised me that he would extend his protection to me… which he ought to have, because I saved his life, right?"

She had pointed out the unsettling truth about both theories: either way, she wasn't safe. If Felipe had sent Victor away because he didn't trust him, he had no real way to ensure Victor's compliance in protecting Sookie. And if, as Pam believed, Victor and Felipe did trust each other, then Felipe's promise was obviously worthless.

"I think Victor will do his best not to openly cause you harm," said Pam, for once saying something in the most diplomatic and encouraging way possible, "until and if he decides to try to become king in his own right. If Victor decides to make a grab for the kingship, all promises made by Felipe are so many words without meaning."

Eric nodded, though he knew all three of them were thinking the same thing: thus far, Felipe's promise had proven to be "so many words without meaning."

"That's just great," Sookie muttered.

"This is all assuming we don't find a way to kill him first," Pam said.

If Sookie was remembering her own remark to him about killing Victor, her face betrayed no sign of it as she met each of their eyes in turn. "And you think this Heidi, who's supposed to be such a great tracker, is here in Shreveport to be Victor's eyes and ears?" she asked.

"Yes," Pam replied. She thought for a moment, then added, "Unless she's here to be Felipe's eyes and ears, so Felipe can keep track of what Victor is doing in Louisiana."

Eric shook his head, but said nothing. Heidi was Victor's through and through.

"So what should I do about the Long Tooth pack's warning?" Sookie asked. She looked over at him. "You're going to send Heidi to my place to try to track the fairy?" When he confirmed this with a nod, she said, "I have to tell you something else. Basim scented a body – not a fresh one – buried very deep at the back of my property."

The Do you know what I mean? expression on her face was unnecessary; since his memory had returned, he had a very clear recollection of burying the Were-bitch Debbie Pelt. Clearly his cursed self hadn't been overly bright to bury the body in Sookie's own yard.

"Oh. Whoops." Pam was staring back and forth between them, and he turned to her, cocking his head in the direction of the kitchen door. "Give us some alone time." When she was gone, he returned his attention to Sookie. "I'm sorry, my lover. Unless you've buried someone else on your property and kept it from me, that body is Debbie Pelt's."

He had only confirmed what she already knew, and she nodded. "Is the car back there, too?" she asked.

"No. The car is sunk in a pond about ten miles south of your place."

His mind wandered to those days at her house, and whatever she said after that, he did not register it. "Come here."

The lines of worry on her face instantly melted. Her mouth curved up into a smile. "Hmmm… What will you give me if I do?"

"I think you know very well what I will give you," he said, returning her smile. "I think you love me to give it to you."

She arched an eyebrow. "So you don't enjoy it at all?"

Any more seconds without her body under his hands were seconds wasted. In a flash he was kneeling between her legs, kissing her within an inch of her life. He slid one hand up her leg and under her skirt while he busied his mouth at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. "I think you know how I feel," he said. "We are bonded." He kissed his way up to her ear. "Can you believe I'm not thinking of you while I work?" He raised his head to look down at her, running his gaze from her eyes to her parted, panting lips. "When my eyes open, I think of you… of every part of you." He slid his thumb past the edge of the cotton that separated him from the warmest, softest part of her, and her mouth fell open with her sharp intake of breath. He focused his eyes on hers as he circled the tip of his thumb slowly and feather-light. "Do you love me?" He slipped one finger inside her, then two.

"I love being with you, whether we're having sex or not," she said. Still hedging, my lover? He curled his fingers, and she arched her body up against him. "Oh, God, do that again!" she begged, and he obliged her. She trailed her hands up his chest to hold onto his shoulders. "I love your body… I love what we do together." He smiled. "You make me laugh, and I love that. I like to watch you do anything." She drew his face to hers and kissed him, her tongue meeting his in a rhythm that matched the movement of his fingers. "I like to watch you get dressed… I like to watch you undress…" she continued, her breaths short and shallow now. "I like to watch your hands when you're doing this to me…" She cried out as she found her release, resting her forehead on his shoulder as she regained her breath. He straightened her panties and skirt, but continued to stroke her thighs, paying special attention to the scar left by Lochlan and Neave, the badge of her strength. She lifted her head and met his eyes. "If I asked you the same question, what would your answer be?"

He knew that she loved him, and if she thought that love was best expressed in the words she had just chosen, then he would echo them. He smoothed her disheveled hair. "I would say exactly the same thing, and I think that means I love you." His blood felt warm, as it had done when he was alive. Her blood was singing through his. "If this is not true love," he said softly, "it's as close as anyone gets." He gave her a mischievous smile and indicated his jeans, which had become terribly uncomfortable. "Can you see what you've done to me?"

Sookie looked at him coyly and batted her eyelashes. "That looks painful." She reached between them and toyed with the button at his waist. "Would you like me to nurse it?"

A low, inarticulate rumble in his throat was the only response he could manage. After a bit of hasty rearranging, he had taken Sookie's place in the chair, while she knelt between his legs. She unfastened his jeans and smiled up at him when she saw that they were her only obstacle. She lowered her mouth to take him in, and he slid his fingers into her hair, wanting to touch her as she gave him pleasure.

She could never take much of him in this way, but she was masterful with her lips and tongue and fingers. He didn't realize how roughly his hands had twisted into her hair until she gave a soft whimper, which directed his blissful tension to the arms of the furniture. He hardly knew what he was saying or what sounds he was making, only that he was lost in the feel of her mouth, the pressure of her hand, the smell of her own pleasure, and the glowing rush of her blood inside him.

"Min älskade!"

Everything faded for a moment – everything except Sookie, who smiled as she rose before him, crystal clear and perfect.

He reached for her hand. "Was that enough love for you?"

She replied with a sound of contentment and allowed herself to be folded into his arms. "Pam must think we forgot about her," she said after a few minutes.

"We did forget about her, my lover," he said with a laugh. "I suppose I owe her two favors now."

"Two?" she asked.

"A young woman interrupted my work some nights ago at the bar. She asked me to pose as her boyfriend in order to make her former lover jealous."

"Did you tell her that you're a married man? Er, vampire?"

The fact that she had said it, even jokingly, pleased him. "Better. I told Pam to pose as her girlfriend."

Sookie laughed. "Oh, she must have loved that."

He joined in her laughter and tightened his arms around her. They faded into peaceful silence for another few minutes, Sookie's steady breaths relaxing him while he stroked his fingers up and down her arm.

"No news from Bon Temps?" he asked eventually. "No maenad sightings or anything of that nature?"

He felt her smile against his shoulder. "Nope. The county work crew is patching up my road, and it's real torn up. That's about it." She lifted her head to kiss him. "I know I should leave in a minute. You have work to do, and Pam can drive me home."

He thought of the mundane matters waiting for him in his office and knew she was right. After kissing her soundly and confirming his plan to send Heidi, he watched with regret as she left the house to find Pam.

The fear gripped him suddenly while he was reviewing the month's supply order. Because he felt it from both Sookie and Pam, it was doubly crippling until he was able to contain it and bring it under control. Because he could feel that they were both still alive, he left his house and drove toward the Interstate with calm resolve. His phone lay on the car seat beside him, stubbornly silent.

When the screen finally glowed with Pam's name, he snatched up the phone. "Where is she?" he shouted. "Were you attacked? Was it Victor? Does Sookie live?"

"Shut up, and I'll explain," Pam said shortly. "Of course she lives."

"She does. I can feel it." Frankly ashamed of his panicky outburst, he reined himself in. Both Pam and Sookie were safe and calm. "Tell me what happened," he said with his usual command.

"What you might have expected. Bruno and Corinna. I killed one, and Sookie took care of the other. We have cleared the scene. Go somewhere it's reasonable to be going in a hurry… back to the bar in answer to some crisis, to the all-night dry cleaners to pick up your suits, to the store to pick up some True Blood. Don't lead them here."

"Is Sookie injured in any way?"

"Her throat will be bruised."

"And you say she killed one of them herself?"

"Yes, she killed Bruno herself."

He laughed in spite of himself. "Tell my ruthless wife that I'm proud of her."

After a short pause, Pam sighed, "All right, I'll tell her." He waited while Pam relayed his message, sounding very put out about it.

"Pam gave me the knife," he heard Sookie say.

"But it was Sookie's idea to move the car," Pam added. "I'm trying to think of where to put it. The truck stops will have security cameras. I think we'll leave it on the shoulder well past the Bon Temps exit."

"Yes, do that. I'll meet you at the bar," he said, and he hung up.