A/N: Y'all have been reading this for a year and a half, 27 chapters, several *very* long hiatuses, and some unresolved plot twists from ten chapters ago. Kudos to you all, and thanks for sticking with the story when I wasn't even sure I would.

Chapter 28

Deciding that I had better eat regardless of whether or not I was hungry, I called out for my room service to be left at the door. I knew Gran would probably roll over in her grave at my manners, especially considering the trouble the concierge had gone to, but I wasn't about to get kidnapped again over the breakfast cart. I also wasn't going to expose Eric to any kind of threat during his daytime rest.

I guess after your fifteenth or twentieth near death experience, etiquette doesn't seem quite so important I thought to myself.

After I was sure the waiter had retreated a safe distance down the hall, I slowly opened the door and quietly pulled the cart into the room. I almost felt ridiculous for being so cautious, but then remembered the horrifying scene in the ballroom last night. One minute we were waiting for a trial, the next minute I was covered in blood. One minute I was wearing a new dress, the next minute my dress was ripped to shreds and thrown in the garbage. Really, it was just another night on vacation for Sookie Stackhouse.

Stop it, Sookie, Sam has been abducted and taken to God's knows where by Quinn. No doubt on De Castro's orders. Think- there has to be something you can do.

Wheeling my breakfast over to the table near the window, I resigned myself to formulating a plan on a full stomach. I already had Alcide, Calvin, Claude, Claudine, and Amelia on alert back in Bon Temps. Now that I knew who had taken Sam, I'd be able to call Alcide back and get some Weres to try and track Quinn's scent. It might not be much, but it was a start. Letting out a small breath I hadn't realized I was holding, I dialled Alcide's number again. He picked up on the first ring and this time his voice wasn't as friendly.

"Listen Sookie, I already told you I'd look into where Sam's run off to" he emphasized the word run as though the entire situation were due it being the full moon. "It's real early, and I had a late night last night. " He finished.

"Alcide, Sam's been taken by Quinn, presumably on De Castro's orders. There's been a vamp war here in Hawaii. I can't leave today and maybe not even tomorrow. I need to know that I can count on my friends to do me the same favours I've repeatedly done for them." I said in a tone so sharp it could have cut glass.

"Wait, there's been a war?" Alcide asked, immediately sounding more alert.

"I can't get into it over the phone. I'll try to be back as soon as I can, but please send some of the pack over to Sam's trailer and see what you can find out. Call me the second you hear anything" I said. Not bothering to wait for a reply, I hung up. More and more I was beginning to understand the vamps' lack of courtesy on the phone. Sometimes you just needed to get your point across and end the conversation.

After pacing a few times around the hotel room, I decided it was finally time to eat. As soon as I sat down at the table and lifted the lid off my plate I was ravenous. Whether or not it was because I had the beginning of a plan in mind, or whether it was because I couldn't be sure when my next meal would be, my appetite was back in full force and the food smelled delicious. Everything I had asked for had been delivered: bacon, eggs, sausage, toast, coffee, fruit...and I would eat every crumb without an ounce of guilt. My size-eight-on-a-good-day had decreased to a size six far too quickly to be healthy, and I just didn't feel like myself. I also knew I would need all the energy I could get after only four hours of sleep.

It was going to be a long day, too. I could feel it already.

By the time I finished eating, I had heard from both Calvin and Claudine. Niall had called the fairy twins and expressed his desire that they look into Sam's disappearance. And if it was the Prince's desire, it was their primary responsibility. As soon as I answered the phone, Claudine had assured me that she would drive to Bon Temps right away and see what she could find out, and had told me that Claude always thought Sam "wasn't too bad looking for a shifter" and would also lend a hand. Claude's sense of responsibility to others tended to be self-serving at best, nonexistent at worse, but I figured if he wanted to help it couldn't hurt.

As usual, the leader of the Hotshot panthers Calvin Norris was completely on the ball. He told me he had sent five of his pack to Merlotte's, and that he and Tanya would be running the woods relentlessly for the next few days for any traces of Sam or Quinn. "Sam's a good man in my books" he had said "and no were or shifter should have to take on the tiger alone without warning" he finished.

I always liked Calvin, and times like today reminded me of why.

Looking at the clock and seeing it was only 11am, I realized I would need to find something to occupy my time until sundown. As much as I hated to admit it, I simply couldn't go anywhere alone today. If I didn't get kidnapped and killed by some vamps' day man, Eric would surely do the job the moment he discovered I had left the room. It went against every impulse within my body to stay cooped up though, particularly now that I knew one of my closest friends was in danger. I knew wouldn't be going back to sleep, I was far too anxious for that, and plus I had just polished off three cups of coffee while talking on the phone. I guess I would just have to sit here and think, spending the next few hours strategizing and analyzing as Eric does when things go wrong in Area 5.

Just the kind of politics I try to avoid getting involved in I thought somewhat bitterly.

My first order of business would be to call Fangtasia and have them send a waitress over to Merlotte's for the dinner shift. Normally I would ask Eric, he would call Pam, Pam would call the staff and so on. Today though, the chain of command didn't seem that important. I knew from talking to Amelia that Merlotte's had been swamped all week, but I also knew that Pam would be busy with far more pressing concerns when she rose than to worry about staff issues for a bar & grill in Bon Temps.

How do I convince the wait staff at Fangtasia to do what I say? I wondered. It's still before noon so the only people there will be the janitors and possibly their head human waitress Ginger. I thought to myself. Well, all I can do is try.

As soon as I dialled the number, Ginger picked up.

"Fangtasia, the bar with the bite" she said immediately, sounding anxious.

"Ginger? It's me, Sookie" I said.

"Oh thank the Lord in Heaven. Is the Master with you?" She said, exhaling a long breath into the phone.

"It's midday" I replied, perhaps a little snippily.

"Oh yeah, sorry, I forgot" she said, and then I heard a clattering of dishes in the background.

I so didn't have time for this.

"Uh Ginger, is everything okay?" I asked.

"A strange vamper came into the bar last night, looking for the Master and for Pam" she said quickly.

"And?" I asked.

"Well he said that if no one was going to be around to look after the bar, maybe he would do the job himself." She said.

"I'm not sure I'm following you Ginger, exactly what happened?" I asked her, clearly getting frustrated.

"Well, Felicia was the only vamp here at the bar last night, Thalia was supposed to come in but she didn't." Ginger said, sputtering. "So when that man came in, she was all worried and didn't know what to do. She said she kept calling Pam and Eric but there was no answer." Ginger said.

Obviously they didn't answer, there was a damn war here in Hawaii I thought, but didn't say anything.

"So that vamp just walked right past the bar and into Eric's office. He wouldn't leave and stayed even after we closed. Sookie, he could still be here." She said frightfully. "What does he want?"

"I don't know Ginger, and I can't talk to Eric to see what he thinks. For now though, I want you to leave Fangtasia and lock up. Until you hear differently from Eric or Pam, close the bar for the night. I need you to do me a favour though Ginger." I said casually.

"Yes, anything if it means I don't have to stay here tonight" she said gratefully.

"I need you to go to Merlotte's in Bon Temps and work their dinner shift. Eric will pay you for your time. Ask Holly or Amelia for a uniform." I said.

"Of course, I'll call over right away and see when they need me." She said.

"Thank you. I have to go now Ginger, okay? Pam will call you as soon as she rises. Bye for now." I said, and hung up.

That's one thing taken care of, at least I thought to myself. Now on to saving the world I thought wryly.