Chapter 13

He Found Her

New York City – November, 2014

This is for Shantigal. She just sent a review begging for one more update. Just one more update. This will be the last update until next Monday. I have to get my clinical notes done. Thank Shantigal for this final update until Monday. I hope that y'all enjoy it. Thanks so much for the reviews, alerts, and favorites. Maybe, just maybe I might change my mind and post another one before the weekend rolls around. If I get enough responses, I just might do it. Enjoy everyone.

Eric walked into his new office at E&S & Associates with his head held high. With one look at him, anyone could tell that he was a man that commanded respect. He demanded respect and without hesitation or provocation, each of his underlings gave him what he ordered and demanded of them. He was freely given their respect because he respected them. He treasured everything that they've done for him. He appreciated them. He respected them. And because of that, they would follow him anywhere.

When he sat down behind his desk, he waited for his personal investigator to give him the information that he needed and he was anxious for it. He'd waited ten long years to have her back into his life and now that he's found her, he was never going to let her go. She'd ran from him the last time he'd seen her but he was never going to let that happen again.

Bruce sat down in the chair across from Eric's and laughed. "The little lady that you've been looking for has been quite hard to find. She used every trick in the book to keep you from finding her but I found her. I've finally found her." He shook his head as he smiled. "I looked into her financial information and she didn't have the means to hide for as long as she has. She had to have had some help with being able to hide for as long as she's been able to. There's no way that she did this on her own." He then slid the folder that held all of Sookie's information in it across the desk to his employer.

Eric slowly opened the folder and caught his breath when he saw the picture of Sookie. He'd never seen a more beautiful woman in his life and he's seen his share of beautiful women. Brunettes had been his preference after he'd lost her. He couldn't bear to have any blondes in his life. They could have never measured up to her ... neither did the brunettes or the gingers. No woman could ever measure up to the only woman he's ever loved.

Returning his full attention back to her pictures, he smiled. He studied the picture of her as she walked down the streets of New York on her cell phone as she laughed. He drooled over the pictures of her as she was protecting herself from the cold winds of New York. The wind was blowing through her hair. Her eyes were closed as she nestled her face deeper into her scarf. The next picture was of her, Pam, and Amelia. They were dressed to nines and looked as if they'd enjoyed a beautiful night out. The next picture was of her and a man that had his arm wrapped around her waist. He was looking down at her as he talked to her … cradling her in his arms … with love more than apparent on his face. Her head was resting on his shoulder as she smiled at whatever it was that he was saying to her.

That was the picture that he removed from the folder and ripped into shreds. "What else to do you know about her?"

Bruce shook his head. "Nothing really," he answered. "She's a very private woman. She works all of the time and I think that she babysits for her best friend, Pamela Ravenscroft because she always has the Ravenscroft child with her. At first I believed that they were lovers but I was wrong. Pam is with some chick named Amelia Broadway. That's a hot one right there … Pam. Anyway, I'm under the assumption that one of them may have been artificially inseminated. I've also figured that Pam is the one that helped her to hide from prying eyes, if you get my meaning."

Eric found that to be quite odd. He and Pam always kept in contact and never once did she mention having a child. But it didn't puzzle him for too long. With Pam's father and the businesses that he dabbles in, it's best that she keeps her personal life as personal as possible. And it's more than possible that Pam helped in hiding Sookie from him. They're best friends. Best friends stick together. He wouldn't have expected anything less from her. As a matter of fact, it pleased him that Pam would go through such lengths to keep Sookie safe from prying eyes.

"Good," Eric nodded. "What name is she using now?"

"She's gone back to using Sookie Stackhouse. I think that the other names were only used to keep you from finding her. Do you know how many Sookie Stackhouses I found on the internet? At least 5,000 and most of them were living in the little town of Bon Temps. Black ones. Asian ones. Indian ones. You name the race and they had several Sookies attached to them. As I said before, it's as if someone was helping her to stay hidden. But get this; she is a slick one, your girl is. She spelled her name with an 'eh' at the end. Sookeh Stachaus is what she'd been using for years. After she'd established herself as a very successful lawyer, she chalked it all up as a typo and went back to using her given name."

Eric laughed outright this time. He wasn't surprised to hear that she'd changed her name. He knew that something was wrong the day that she left Sweden without telling him goodbye. She'd stopped taking his calls and she'd stopped writing him letters. And since that day, he has been looking for her and he's never stopped.

He stood up from his desk and said, "Are the headhunters still trying to take her from the E&S & Associates?"

Bruce nodded his head. "They sure are. She is on her way to becoming a full-fledged partner if I'm hearing my gossip right. She's won quite a few high profiled cases. She's a fucking gold mine, Mr. Northman."

"Did she accept the increase in pay that was offered to her?"

"Yeah," he said. "Last week. She's not going anywhere."

"Do you have anything else for me?"

He reached down in his briefcase and pulled out a newspaper from Bon Temps and gave it to Eric. "Not really. The lead that you gave me on her brother was a great help. He is as dull as an unsharpened pencil. I told him that we went to school together, me and him, and he bought it. I asked him about how his sister is doing and he told me just enough to get me started. He let me look at this scrapbook that his grandparents kept of Ms. Stackhouse."

He pointed at the newspaper that he'd given to Eric and said, "Bon Temps has special section for their successful former residents. This was the first year she was written mentioned. Jason said that her grandparents had always wanted to put her in the paper but she wouldn't let them. He decided to do it for them a couple of months ago. He didn't tell her about it. He said that she would've been madder than a wet cat."

A look of pride appeared on Eric's face as he looked at the picture. There was his Sookie's smiling face. She was up for a promotion. She was the youngest attorney in the firm to have even been considered. He could understand why Jason wanted all of Bon Temps to know how great his sister is. He had every reason to be proud.

Bruce's voice interrupted Eric's thoughts. "You're a lucky man, Mr. Northman. Your woman hasn't changed a bit since high school."

Eric nodded. "Very lucky," he said. He then reached into his desk and stood as he handed Bruce an envelope with a wad of money in it. "Thank you, Bruce. If I need you anymore, I will call you."

"You have my number," he said as he took the envelope. The two men shook hands just before Bruce left the room.

Once Bruce was gone, Eric called his attorney. "Have all of the major players in the conference room waiting on me. Tell them that I will be a little late."

Niall laughed. "Is it right for me to assume that you want to make a grand entrance?"

Eric laughed. "You have assumed correctly."

"Everything has gone as planned?" Niall asked.

"Yes," Eric answered. "I will have my lover back in my arms in no time at all."

"I am happy for you, Eric," Niall replied. "I'll see you in the next thirty minutes."

"Or less," he said. "It depends on how much longer I can go without seeing her."

Niall laughed in the phone. "I hope that your reunion goes as planned." There was then a slight pause. "Your father called again. What do I tell him?"

Eric's playful demeanor was now gone. "Tell him nothing," he answered. "He will get nothing from me. As far as I'm concerned, he can rot in hell. Let him die."

"As you wish," Niall said. "And what about Freyda; what do we do about her?"

"Her time will come," Eric said. "I have big plans for her. Make sure she learns of everything but don't tell her anything directly. Let her see what she'll never be to me."

"Done," Niall replied as he ended the call.

Eric hung up the phone and returned to his chair. He leaned down and picked up the picture of Sookie. The one that showed her laughing and talking on her cell phone. He traced his finger over the outline of her face. He'd finally found her. After ten years of searching, he'd finally found her and he was going to get her back. And he was going to let nothing stand in his way.