Chapter Thirty: Fooled
June 21, 1999
Sookie Northman couldn't stop humming to herself as she brushed her hair smooth and then began twisting it into a bun. She was off to school, her first day back since her anniversary trip with Eric. They'd spent all Thursday through Sunday in a small mountain cabin in the Ozarks. It had been isolated, hot and even better than her romance books said it would be.
Ahead of schedule, Sookie threw out her birth control a few weeks before their anniversary, and she could still feel a little spring in her step at the prospect of officially attempting to start a family. Her prescription hadn't quite made it to the date they had chosen, and Eric agreed it was silly to buy more that she wouldn't finish.
Sookie wasn't going to kid herself and believe she'd get pregnant right away, but just the act of throwing out her pills had brought her spirits up.
Pulling a white undershirt over her head, Sookie tucked the tail into her slacks and tugged the button of her pants toward the hole to fasten them. Two inches shy of catching, Sookie sucked her gut in and tried again.
"Jesus," Sookie's fingers broke into a sweat before she could get the button.
"What's wrong?" her husband called from the bathroom, emerging with a toothbrush in his mouth and scrubbing away.
"I can't fasten my pants," Sookie grunted before flopping onto her back on the bed and using the tried and true technique of conquering stubborn waistbands.
"Sookie," Eric pulled the toothbrush from his mouth and pointed, "those are my pants." He noted the hem of the legs extended far past Sookie's foot.
"Oh, God, strike me dead!" Sookie moaned.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Love," Eric chuckled, "but you will never fit in my pants with those sexy hips of yours." He stuck his toothbrush back in his mouth and went into their closet to retrieve Sookie's pants. He found them among his own. Sookie must have mixed the two up when putting them away. "Here."
Sookie took her slacks and slid them on. They were a bit snug, but her pants always felt tight after a trip through the dryer.
Okay, maybe I am getting my hopes up already, Sookie admitted to herself.
"I'll be ready to take you to school in a second," Eric told his wife as he walked back into the bathroom to finish brushing his teeth. "I promise we'll get you a car before my next semester starts!"
"It's okay," Sookie beamed. "I like having my husband drive me around. It makes me feel special."
Eric returned and hugged Sookie tightly. "That's because you are special." Leaning in, he kissed her deeply, and when he pulled away, he watched Sookie's brow furrow contemplatively as she licked her lips several times. "What?"
"We need to switch toothpaste. This one has way too much baking soda in it. It's not real kiss appealing," Sookie told him with a laugh.
Eric rolled his eyes, "That pallet training you've been doing is going to ruin us. Soon you'll be restricting my diet because my cum doesn't taste good enough."
Sookie snorted on a laugh, "Well, I hope not to be tasting it too much for a while. I want it all in here," she patted her lower belly.
Exasperation immediately evaporated at his wife's comment, and Eric found himself humming low in his throat. "I think I can load you up before class."
"Ew! Eric, no! I am not gonna have you dripping out of me all through class," Sookie made a face, and it brought a smile to Eric as he kissed his wife again.
"No?" He placed his hands on her hips and swayed them back and forth.
"No," she repeated as she bit her lip.
"Okay," Eric shrugged playfully and turned away.
"Wait!" Sookie grabbed his hand. "Real quick, okay?"
"I'll do my best," Eric quickly unbuttoned Sookie's pants and turned her around. "Bend over the bed, and I bet I can set a land speed record."
Sookie giggled as she turned around and wiggled her bottom at her husband before leaning over the mattress. Her laughter quickly turned into a squeal as Eric knelt behind her and gave her center brief attention with his mouth. Her toes curled as he kneaded her cheeks with his hands and lapped his tongue between her folds. His tongue was worth being late to class over, but Sookie had already missed a day for her anniversary trip.
"Oh, hurry," Sookie whispered as she shimmied against her husband's face.
"You're such a romantic," Eric taunted as he rose from his knees and quickly took what she offered. Wrapping his arm around Sookie's chest, Eric thrust deep and hard to earn a few shocked whimpers. When he felt her body begin to squirm, Eric let his hips piston at full speed until he had slammed himself as deep as he could and let his cock pulse with orgasm. "Ah," he groaned before sucking in a quick breath, "you killed him. He's been sucked dry. I have nothing left to give you."
Sookie huffed on a breathless laugh, "I doubt that."
"You can try and push it out if you want," Eric patted her buttock. "He hardly had a drop left in him."
Sookie rolled onto her back to stare at her husband. "We didn't do it that much over the weekend."
"Sookie," Eric looked down at her disbelievingly as she straightened her clothes, "we did it eight times a day for four days. That's four times our daily routine."
"Mmm," Sookie tugged her lip between her teeth. "Do you think we'll still have a lot of sex after we have a baby?"
"I don't know," Eric replied as he went to finish getting ready to drive her to school. "We might not be able to fit it in twice a day with a baby."
Sookie pouted at the idea but figured it was a bridge they would cross when they came to it. Of course, she had heard the stories of sex ending after having a baby, but Gran had assured her it was malarky.
Once the couple was finally on the road, Sookie felt her lips tugging into a broad grin.
Eric glanced at his wife out of the corner of his eye and smiled as well. "I don't know the last time I've seen you smile so much," Eric pointed out.
"My face hurts, and I still can't stop," Sookie agreed. "I feel like I've been waiting forever for this, and now that we're here…" she let out a long breath as if she couldn't find a word to describe her happiness.
"If you're this happy about trying to have a baby, I'm terrified to know how you'll react when you get pregnant," Eric teased as he took Sookie's hand and brought it to his mouth for a kiss.
Their first year of marriage had its rocky moments like anyone would expect, but Eric had to confess that the bits of turbulence they had hit were nothing compared to the bliss they had experienced. Hogging sheets, no eating in the bedroom, wet towels on the floor, and sleeping with lights on had all been issues of giving and taking. However, keeping his own spare blanket under the bed had solved one problem, and Sookie moving his printing calculator and budgeting sheets into the living room had resolved his habit of eating in the bedroom. Eric had conceded to a nightlight in the hallway instead of leaving the living room light on. The wet towels were still a constant battle between them. Eric argued the floors were tile and it didn't matter, Sookie fought tooth and nail that it made the towels musty faster.
Eric's reverie broke momentarily as a loud honk rented the air, and he glanced in his rearview mirror to see a white panel van had been cut off by a little coupe. Assured there was no other danger, the young man went back to his quiet reflections.
All in all, Eric decided they were lucky to fight as little as they did. He had expected Sookie to be upset about not having her own car, but Eric had pointed out that if they were going to be starting a family in the next year, she might have a different idea of what she'd like to drive. Sookie had agreed with her only response being that as long as driving her around wasn't a drag, she didn't mind sharing a car.
Eric was only slightly surprised by how unaltered by money Sookie remained. She and Eric had sat down with their bank statements, a pencil, and a calculator. After deducting taxes from Fintan's wedding gift, Eric showed Sookie how much they could spend each month and discussed investments and savings accounts. Between the present and Eric's stipend, the couple wasn't hurting for cash. Perhaps that was what kept arguments between them minimal. After all, budgets and income were one of the most significant problems for couples young and old.
As they arrived in front of Sookie's school, Eric leaned over and kissed his wife goodbye for the day. "Call me at home if you decide you don't want to cook dinner tonight."
"We've eaten out a lot this week," Sookie pointed out.
"Vacations do that," Eric replied amusedly.
"I'll cook tonight," Sookie assured him before giving her husband one last peck on the lips and hopping out of the car. Eric watched from the curb until his wife was safely in the school before heading home.
As he pulled away from the curb, however, he noticed the white panel van that had been cut off earlier was parked in front of the school. He didn't think much of it. A culinary school had to bring in ingredients, after all.
{†}
"Are you doing alright, Sookie?"
The young woman looked up in surprise at her classmate, Nate, and gave a distracted smile. "I'm fine," she answered, but the truth was, the second she walked into the school, her stomach had been doing flip-flops. All the smells were assaulting her nostrils, and her heart was fluttering all the way down to her gut.
"You look," the young man placed his hands on his hips contemplatively, "distressed."
Sookie shook her head, "No, I'm okay. I think whatever they were cooking earlier left an odor that I'm not liking." The smell was sour, and Sookie found herself subconsciously sniffing the air, trying to locate the origin. When she arrived at a sink, Sookie decided that some dairy product probably hadn't been appropriately flushed and was lingering in the trap.
"Alright, Class," Chef Cho arrived and grinned. "Today we're going to be doing recipe reconstructions. I've prepared a dish, and I want everyone to do their best to replicate it using taste and sight alone." He opened the lid, and Sookie felt the smell hit her in a consuming wave. "Everyone come and get a sample."
Sookie joined the line to retrieve her clue and felt like she could probably replicate the dish by smell alone. She knew it was a beef dish without even looking at it, and could taste the distinct herbs in the air.
Once she had her sample, Sookie got to work duplicating what was in front of her. She moved with assured swiftness, and Chef Cho found himself drawn to her workstation as she put her dish together. Watching as Sookie seasoned her tenderloin cut, Cho crossed his arms over his chest in admiration. She had every spice she needed and had even selected a Port instead of Merlot like the rest of the class.
When the class's time was up, the chef sampled a bite of every replication. After he was through critiquing, he announced that Sookie was the only student to recognize the use of Port wine in the reduction and that the flavor had been offset by the onions. Most students had chosen the Merlot, expecting the yellow onions to add the necessary level of sweetness to the dish. Only Sookie had managed to identify that the level of sugar had been supplied by the Port and not the onions.
Unfortunately for Sookie, she couldn't enjoy her moment because the overwhelming odor of all the garlic was starting to give her a headache. With ten students mashing their garlic into a pulp, the stench was thick and pungent.
Mercifully, they were about to get a break in class, and Sookie decided that a quick jog across the street for a Sprite and some ibuprofen was probably called for. Even though her tummy was perhaps upset by the headache brewing in her skull, a cold, sugary drink sounded like exactly what she needed.
"Hey, Nate," Sookie tapped her classmate on the shoulder, "I'm going to run across the street for a Sprite and some ibuprofen. Can you ask if anyone else needs anything?" Although she could talk to any one person in her class at a time, Sookie still fumbled at speaking to everyone as a group. All their eyes on her and their rapt attention made her body shake.
"Sure," Nate smiled before addressing the class. Most of the students had what they needed, and only Nate requested a Coke.
With a slightly strained smile, Sookie gave a brief, departing wave before grabbing her small purse and heading out of the school. She passed a few students on her way out and gave them a cheerful smile before heading out.
When she arrived on the street, Sookie was confused about the white van parked on the road in front of the school. After attending classes for nearly a year, Sookie had come to recognize the vendor trucks and trailers, and several were what they called 'Chester Vans' in Bon Temps. Only, Sookie stared a bit longer, there were no logos on the sides.
A shiver ran down Sookie's spine as she quickly jogged across the street toward the Walgreens. She remembered Claudine complaining for months now about the security team her father had put on her around the clock thanks to Alcide's paranoia about Debbie. She wondered if Alcide had the same prickle up his spine when he saw Debbie as Sookie did when she saw the mysterious van.
You're just being stupid, Sookie told herself. After everything she'd experienced in her life, she tried to say to herself that being suspicious just came with the territory. Yet, the last time she'd felt this rush of self-preservation, she'd been brutally beaten by Bill Compton.
Arriving in the store, Sookie grabbed a Sprite and a Coke before heading down the pain reliever aisle. As she scanned for ibuprofen, Sookie saw a box of Midol and frowned. With all the excitement of stopping her birth control, Sookie hadn't even thought about her period. She figured it would be along soon since her nipples were already a bit too sensitive for Eric to play with, and she had a bit of bloating that had made her pants harder to zip that morning.
When was my last period? Sookie wondered to herself as she set the drinks on the shelf to sift through her small purse. Finding her day planner, Sookie looked for the little red ink dot she used to mark her cycle.
Oh! Sookie faltered when she had to flip back all the way to April to find her last period. But you just went off the pill, Sookie reasoned. You probably threw your cycle off.
Still, Sookie couldn't help but nibble her bottom lips contemplatively. Would it be bad luck to just go ahead and buy a pregnancy test? She promised herself she wouldn't go baby crazy and jump at every little thing. Maybe it's okay to just get over excited at the first flashing sign, Sookie reasoned.
Sookie was sure that she must look rather comical to anyone peering down the aisle and seeing her fiddle with her day planner and blushingly squirm. Should I take the test with Eric? Will he think I'm overreacting?
The young woman knew the answer to that was 'No,' and that Eric would want to share in the excitement of their first pregnancy test together. Sookie just had to remind herself over and over not to be disappointed if it came back negative.
Grabbing the sodas back up, Sookie went to the lane with the feminine products and began perusing the pregnancy tests. She had no idea which to buy but decided not to go crazy over it. Instead, she grabbed a brand she had seen on TV before and went up to the checkout with a big grin on her face. In a way, she was excited for the opportunity to even use a test!
Taking her bag in hand, Sookie smiled all the way out the door and through the parking lot. The grin lasted until she got to the perimeter of the blacktop when suddenly a woman came stumbling from between a row of cars.
"Miss!" the young woman called as she frantically waved her arms, "Please, I need your help, please!"
Sookie stared at the woman with the poorly kept afro.
"I locked my baby in my car, please!" the woman begged shrilly, and Sookie felt her heart lurch as she began to jog over to the stranger.
As Sookie came closer, the woman disappeared among the cars again, and Sookie weaved between them, pursuing the bouncing, brown head of hair. When Sookie broke free of the cars, she looked for the woman but didn't see her anywhere. Just as she was about to call out for the frantic mother, the back door of the van she was standing next to flung open.
Sookie felt a hand over her mouth and an arm around her waist as she was hauled into the back of the van. Altogether, Sookie's arms and legs began to flail wildly, and she felt them strike several bodies as well as the tire well. She hardly felt the pain as her limbs hit anything and everything they could reach.
"We've got a live one!" a man laughed. "OW!" Suddenly Sookie felt her head smash back into the metal of the floor, and a bright spark flashed behind her eyes. In her momentarily stunned state, her wrists were captured by one hand, and someone had laid across her legs. Before she could focus on looking around at her captors or start screaming, tape was slapped over her mouth, and a hood was pulled over Sookie's head. Next, her wrists and ankles were taped together, and Sookie was left to lie on her side on the floor of the van.
"That went smoother than I thought it would," Sookie recognized the voice of the frantic mother and groaned to herself. The woman had been so far away when she'd called for help, that Sookie didn't even know what she looked like! All she knew was that she had a dark brown afro and was black.
"I told you she'd fall for the baby in a hot car routine!" another woman's voice laughed, and Sookie thought it sounded vaguely familiar. She couldn't place it, though.
"Shut up, idiot," the fake mother snapped. "You were told that you aren't supposed to talk!"
Laying on the hard floor, Sookie tried to take deep, centering breaths, but her mind was going a mile a minute. She felt her hands shaking in front of her. Idiot Girl, the one who was told to be quiet, seemed to be driving by the distance of her voice. That would mean Fake Mom was riding shotgun. Since two different people had bound her, Sookie had to guess there were four abductors in the car.
A rustling sound came as the van began to bump its way out of the parking lot.
"Sweet, free Coke," the man who'd held her wrists exclaimed happily as Sookie heard the hiss of the soda bottle opening. "Oh, shit," he laughed. "We might be getting double the ransom."
Sookie's jaw tightened.
"What are you talking about?" Fake Mom demanded.
"Pregnancy test," Coke Thief laughed.
"Seriously?" Fake Mom laughed as well.
"How do you plan to get her to pee on it?" Idiot Girl asked.
"Chick's gotta piss some time," Coke Thief pointed out, and Sookie felt dread and an inkling of embarrassment.
This is not how I want to find out if I'm pregnant! Sookie thought angrily as she pulled at her bonds. The effort made her head pound as blood rushed every direction it could throughout her body. The adrenaline was still zipping strongly in her veins, but even that couldn't dull the persistent throb. God, how many concussions does that give me now? She wondered distractedly, trying to twist her wrists against the tape.
"I really expected her to scream more into the tape," Coke Thief admitted.
"I told you, she's practically a mute," Idiot Girl sighed.
"I told you to shut up!" Fake Mom snarled.
Sookie frowned as she suddenly understood why Idiot Girl sounded familiar. Debbie! Sookie realized. Her voice wasn't an overly familiar one, but Sookie had met Debbie a few times here and there the previous year that she'd come to New Orleans to visit Eric. Everything began to line up and make sense. Debbie Pelt hadn't been stalking Claudine. She'd been following Alcide to find out where Eric had moved to!
How did she know Eric has money? Sookie wondered. It wasn't something that the Northmans flaunted, especially since they were still on a stipend. Alcide only knew because he'd been to the house, but that had been after he and Debbie broke up.
Oh no! Eric! Sookie thought worriedly, wondering how much he would panic when he came to pick her up, and she was gone. What would he think had happened to her?
{†}
Eric looked up from his book when the buzzer for his apartment alerted him that someone was at the door. Frowning to himself, Eric went to the intercom.
"Hello?" Eric spoke.
"Eric Northman?" a stern, no-nonsense voice called through the speaker.
"Yes?" Eric answered.
"This is Detective Stewart from the New Orleans Police Department," Eric felt the blood drain from his face. "I need to talk to you about your wife."
Eric buzzed the cop inside and waited with his door open as he watched the detective walk as slow as he possibly could up the stairs. Detective Stewart was probably in his mid-thirties with the occasional fleck of gray running through his light brown hair. His eyes were cynical and gray, but his posture stated alertness.
"Badge, please," Eric whispered as his throat tightened and his heart pounded. Detective Stewart opened his credentials, and Eric broke into a light sweat. "Where's my wife?" Eric choked.
"We're trying to figure that out," Detective Stewart told him gently, already believing that the missing girl's husband had nothing to do with her abduction. "May I come inside?"
"Yes, please," Eric stepped back into the apartment and gestured to the living room. "Tea? Can I get you some tea?" Tea solved everything, he remembered his mother's words.
"No, Mr. Northman," Detective Stewart declined. "Why don't you have a seat?"
"I don't know if I can," Eric replied as he leaned heavily against the wall nearest the living room. "What happened?"
Detective Stewart remained standing as well, cautious about letting the distraught husband stay out of arm's reach. He looked like he could collapse to the ground at any minute.
"Around a quarter after eleven, a witness saw your wife dragged into the back of a white, panel van across the street from her school," Detective Stewart began to explain.
Eric briefly remembered the van that he had so easily dismissed that morning. A storm of stomach acid sloshed at the memory, but all he did was swallow hard and clench his jaw as he nodded.
"The witness reported the abduction immediately to the employees of the drugstore, and the police were called," Stewart continued. "Judging by the security footage the store was able to give us, we know there are at least three abductors. The only one we got a view of was a young black girl with an afro."
Eric looked up in surprise and then scowled.
"Do you know her?" Detective Stewart asked in surprise.
"Not her," Eric replied as he rubbed his eyes and then pounded his fist back against the wall angrily. "I know someone who hung out with a girl fitting that description though, and she was stalking my friend late last year."
"Go on," Stewart encouraged.
"My old college roommate, Alcide Herveaux," Eric began to explain.
{†}
"Wow," Fake Mom let out a long sigh, "we actually made it the whole way without a problem."
"Yeah, L- they really know what they're doing," Coke Thief sounded impressed.
Sookie fidgeted on the floor of the van. They'd been driving for nearly a half an hour, but traffic had implied that there had been some lengthy stops here and there. She had a good feeling they were still somewhere in or near New Orleans.
The sound of the back door of the panel van opening came next, and Sookie felt someone grab the tape between her ankles and drag her toward the mouth of the van. An involuntary squeal muffled against the gag over her mouth, and Sookie grunted as she was hoisted over a broad, muscular shoulder.
"How much did she say we'll get for this?" Coke Thief demanded, and Sookie realized it was his shoulder she was balanced on.
"One mil a piece," Sookie could hear Fake Mom's pleased grin in her tone.
"We'd be able to live like Royalty together once we get down South," Debbie giggled.
"Shut up!" a new voice snarled, and Sookie flinched. The man's voice was near her left ear, and she could only guess this had been the person who had laid across her legs in the van but hadn't spoken a peep the entire journey.
Sookie heard a garage door closing, and realized it must have already been open when they arrived. Another door opened, and Sookie felt herself tremble.
"The little thing's shaking like a leaf," Coke Thief laughed.
Suddenly, Sookie felt the stable body she was balanced on fall away, and let out a momentary shriek as she fell toward the ground. Her heart raced even as she felt her body land on a soft, bouncy couch. A hard poke in her hip made Sookie yelp briefly. The point of Sookie's nail clippers had jabbed the woman on her impact with the sofa.
"Congratulations," a new voice joined her four abductors. It was a woman's voice. "You didn't fuck up."
"Hey, El," Coke Thief greeted. "That's right! We got her and managed to get all the way here without a problem. And guess what! She might be pregnant!"
Sookie heard the room go silent, "Is that right?" El finally asked as her voice came closer to Sookie. "I suppose it's inconsequential," the cold woman said disinterestedly.
Sookie shivered at the tone of El's voice. She sounded calculating and sinister. Whoever El was, she struck Sookie as the brains of this operation. The four who had snatched her seemed to be the muscle.
"What do you mean inconsequential!?" Debbie's voice chimed in.
"Didn't I tell you not to open your trap?" El demanded of Debbie.
"She definitely couldn't keep it shut for the car ride," Fake Mom sold out her co-conspirator.
"Is that right?" Sookie could hear the frown in El's voice. "Why am I not surprised that you would risk compromising yourselves? That makes this even easier."
"No!" Fake Mom yelled.
Sookie jumped as she heard an unmistakable sound of a gun firing. Curling up into as tight of a ball as she could, Sookie squeezed her eyes shut behind her hood and waited for the slaughter to end. A sudden sting in her shoulder made Sookie's eyes widen in the darkness. Oh my God! I'm shot! I'm shot, aren't I!? The increased pounding in her heart only made Sookie's head more painful, and that coupled with the burning in her arm had the young woman straining to suck in a breath around the tape covering her mouth.
"Even if you managed to figure out who they were, you'll never link them to me," El sighed. "You be good now, and maybe you'll get out of this in better shape than them."
Sookie heard the door open and shut, but no footsteps. She's still in here with me, Sookie guessed, wondering how she should act. How would someone without a plan, without hope react if they weren't being watched?
Rubbing her face against her shoulder, Sookie sucked a hard, quick breath through her nose, trying to sound like a sniffle. She was terrified, and she had just sat and listened to four people murdered in cold blood, and she'd been shot herself with no idea how severe the damage was. There was even the allusion that El might just up and kill her when she felt like it.
Hiccupping against the tape, Sookie began to shake for real. Even if Sookie managed to make a break for it, there was no guarantee El wouldn't shoot her in the back as she fled.
And I really do have to pee! Sookie thought in distress.
Sookie heard the door open again and shuddered in a breath to quiet her crying.
"Get in here and clean this mess up," El called out. "I have a ransom to call in."
Sookie sniffled again as she heard heavy footsteps.
When the footsteps entered the room, Sookie could hear the hesitation. Then, as if the last of the conspirators had accepted their responsibility, Sookie listened to the sound of the bodies of Debbie and her friends being dragged out of the room.
As Sookie sat in darkness, listening to the sounds of the corpses being disposed of, she felt a weakness in her body. She felt tired and a bit hopeless. The tiny nail file and clippers were clutched in her fist, but part of her hesitated to use them. Where could she run to? What if they were in the middle of nowhere and she couldn't escape? What if she accidentally caught a glimpse of El or the mystery co-conspirator and they knew it? They would have no choice but to kill her.
Then again, El didn't seem to hesitate to kill her friends, Sookie reminded herself. It was far more likely that El would just kill her once she had everything she wanted. You need to try making a break for it, Sookie, she told herself as she squeezed the clippers in her palm.
Now, all she had to do was wait and see if she was left alone.
{†}
"That's quite the story," Detective Stewart was frowning by the time Eric finished retelling the circumstances of Alcide Herveaux, Claudine Crane and the Northmans. "Considering how sloppy they were abducting your wife, I would believe it was the work of some junkies, but the patience is what I find confusing. It sounds like they've been stalking you and your friends for nearly a year."
Eric nodded in agreement. He had finally taken a seat on the couch and steepled his hands in front of his mouth as he'd told his story.
Detective Stewart sighed, "I should warn you because the abductors might use it against you."
"What's that?" Eric whispered.
"Your wife bought a pregnancy test while she was in the drugstore," Stewart explained and was surprised when Eric barked on a laugh.
"Of course she did," the young husband felt hot tears trickle from his eyes and unlaced his fingers to brush them aside. "We've been trying for a whole month now. Of course, she'd want to do a test!" Stewart could read the brimming hysteria in the man's voice as his team continued setting up to record a ransom call.
"Are you going to be able to play it cool, Eric? If a ransom is called in, you can't tip your hand that the police have already arrived," Stewart warned gently.
"I'll be fine," Eric rumbled even as his heart let out a distressed throb. What if Sookie's pregnant? What will they do to her? What are they doing to her? To distract himself as they waited, Eric asked, "How did you find me so quickly?"
Detective Stewart found himself smiling, "The cashier at the store identified her immediately and told us she went to school across the street. The school gave me your names and address. I told the school not to contact you."
"In case I had something to do with it?" Eric guessed.
"A good observation," Stewart nodded.
"Sookie watches crime shows like crazy," Eric replied distractedly. "The cops always check out the spouse first."
Stewart gave a brief chuckle, "Would you consider your wife as the fighting type?"
Eric felt a smile tug at his lips, "Sookie is… strong, but only fights when she's pushed far enough. I'm probably the only person she'll fight with over small things, but that's because she knows I can handle her temper tantrums."
"Detective?" an officer interrupted, "We're all set here with the warrant."