"How do you know him?" Eric asked.
"He started as an intern with Desmond's firm and then worked for him for about a year. I was there at the same time, mastering my telepathy."
"So he is aware of your gift," Eric asked, surprised.
"Yep," Sookie murmured while emailing Hugo. Of course, she was going to agree to help Oklahoma, but Andrew did not need to know that.
"He was in Shreveport when he called. I believe he has information to part that he doesn't feel comfortable doing on the phone." Sookie surmised.
"What are the chances of Freyda hiring him because of your history?" Eric asked.
"I worked for Desmond as Sookie Stackhouse; if she hired him because of our history, then…"
"Talk to him first. Find out what you can," Eric mumbled. Neither wanted to think about what it could mean if Freyda hired Andrew because they knew each other.
She didn't have time to think about what Freyda potentially knew, as Hugo emailed her back promptly. She emailed him her agreement on the final contract just as Zoe announced Andrew's arrival.
She ambled down the stairs, watching as Andrew's head shot from one end of the room to another, taking in the place. He let out a low whistle when he saw her. "This was not what I expected when I heard you had an office in Bon Temps."
Sookie chuckled. "I think our office in Shreveport would have met your expectations. Come, we will talk in my office." She had a room purposefully designed for taking meetings, but this was a conversation she wanted to record.
"This is truly impressive." He whispered as they made their way to her office.
"Thank you." Sookie opened her office door and ushered him in. "Can I get you a drink?" She offered.
"God, yes." Andrew damn near collapsed on the couch. Sookie handed him a glass of scotch, neat, just the way he liked it.
Sookie took a seat on the chair in front of her desk. "So London did not pan out?" She wasn't in a hurry to get to the gist of why he was there. She'd already plucked it from his mind. He'd used their past to get Freyda as a client.
"It did, I didn't." He took another small sip of his scotch. "I was so sure I no longer wanted to be embroiled in your world. I wanted to pretend I was like most humans. Live life believing the supernatural world was a myth. Then vampires came out." He sounded bitter.
"But you knew the great revelation was happening," Sookie said, surprised by his reaction to the revelation.
"Remember the things we were hearing." Sookie nodded. "I thought there was no way it was going to happen. You and I sat in those hearings, and you, more than me, heard what those senators and congress thought. If America, the land of the free, was so against vampires coming out… it wasn't going to happen. I genuinely believed they didn't stand a chance, and I didn't want to get caught in the crossfire if they revealed themselves despite objection.
The majority of Desmond's clients were vampires, and I didn't want to become a target. I wanted a nice comfortable life." He chuckled humourlessly. "I got exactly what I wanted, and I hated every second of it. I was on the outside looking in on a world I should have been a part of, and every day, I kicked myself for my cowardice." Listening to him, Sookie saw her nightmare self. The foolish girl, unwilling to accept she wasn't entirely human, leaving herself vulnerable. Andrew was altogether human but from a wealthy family aware of the existence of the supernatural.
"So you decided to come back but found you couldn't get a toe through the door. Then comes Oklahoma."
Andrew looked down, staring at his empty glass. "She heard you had warned Sophie-Anne against marrying Threadgill, as he intended to kill her and take her state. Unfortunately, she only found out after the fact. Despite my best efforts, I ended up in a firm with no supernatural clientele but was desperate for them. My past got me the job without so much as an interview. Then I heard she was looking for a new attorney through some old contacts. I told my bosses about it, and we got an interview. It was obvious she wasn't interested in an all-human team with little supernatural law experience. Then, one of the partners blurted out that I did and I had worked for Desmond. Desmond's name alone was enough for her to lay her case before us.
Then your name came up; I remembered Desmond mentioning the Brigant name. I had no idea about the Sophie Anne and Threadgill thing or your involvement until she revealed it. I hadn't meant to reveal we worked together for four years, but it came out." Andrew looked up, eyes beseeching. When she asked if I was in touch with you. I lied and said yes. If I can get you to agree to testify on her behalf at the summit. My firm gets her as a client."
"You truly believe she will honor that deal?" Sookie was skeptical.
"Of course, she will; we have an ironclad contract that says so." She smiled at that.
"Sookie, you are already going to the summit. Word is out that the A.P herself requested your presence. Vampires from Moshup, Zeus Narayana, and Hawaii are attending the summit because you are going to be there." This came as a surprise to her.
"Well, they are in for a world of disappointment. I am not staying past my meeting with the A.P I'm sorry Andrew, but…"
"Sookie, you already have a contract with Oklahoma to read her humans. This isn't you having to go out of your way for her. Please, it's just an hour, maybe even less of your time." The beseeching look was back.
"I will do it, if she agrees to owing me a favor," Sookie muttered with a nonchalance that convinced even her.
"What kind of favor?"
"The kind that, if she reneges on, will have me dragging her before the council." Effectively, nothing that involved Freyda breaking the law.
"I will have to talk to her, but I believe we have a deal." Instead of the expected handshake, Andrew hugged her, practically lifting her off her feet. "Thank you, Sookie. You have no idea what this means to me." She smiled.
Eric could hear the Sookie's keyboard going long before he landed on the balcony. "Give me two more minutes, and then we can head out." He had a fun night planned for the two of them.
"We aren't on a schedule; take your time." Eric got comfortable on the sofa, picked up the remote, and turned the TV on. As it had been for the three weeks, the leading news story was of Hurricane Katrina and very little else. It had been three weeks since the storm, and it dominated everything, at least for those affected.
"I'm ready to go." He looked up, noting for the first time that Sookie had already changed.
"We haven't made good use of your bathroom." He smirked while he wiggled his eyebrows and had Sookie rolling her eyes.
"My employees will not subjected to my…" She paused, clearly listening to someone. He stopped to listen as well, but all he could hear was a truck coming down the driveway. "Where are you parked?"
"Outside the building." Then he heard it. Alcide Herveaux and Patrick Furman were in the building. Sookie quickly sent a text and waited. Eric looked over her shoulder, reading the text.
'I'm in a meeting,
and they have to
book an
appointment.'
He didn't say anything as she was listening, so was he. Between the two of them, they will have all the available information.
"He booked an appointment almost a month from now, but I will not be surprised if you see him before then," Eric mumbled as they finally made their way down.
"Oh, no surprise there, he was thinking just that. He feels I should be working with the local pack, not weres and shifters from all over the country." Sookie snarked.
"I never asked, why not the local park. When you started, Flood was the pack leader, and that were was a respected and strong leader."
"Goodnight, Zoe," Sookie called out as they made their way to Eric's car.
"Goodnight, boss." Sookie rolled her eyes at the response.
"He was, but there is one too many unstable weres in that pack for my liking. Above all else, I also unfortunately knew when Flood would die, and Furman would take over, and I didn't need the grief." Sookie grumbled.
"How was last night at Fangtasia," Sookie asked as she relaxed on the drive to Monroe. Ouachita Parish had organized a fanfare to raise funds for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It was a two-hour drive if you were sticking to the speed limits, that is.
"It was interesting, to say the least. Andrea came to the bar. Sophie-Anne has appointed me as your protection while in Rhodes. Didn't even enquire if you were going, almost as though they knew you'd be there." Eric chuckled.
"I would ask how she knew I was going, but according to Andrew, everyone knows the A.P has requested my presence," Sookie mumbled.
"Andre said as much. Apparently, vampires outside Amun are attending, hoping to ask for your help." Eric didn't like it at all. Didn't like the number of vampires with expectations of Sookie.
"I am not taking on any more clients. We are stretched enough as it is. We took on Sophie-Anne and Freyda. Freyda, we can drop if need be, but I think she will see sense." Sookie stared out the quickly passing landscape.
"You truly believe that." Eric sounded a little incredulous. From what Sookie told him, Freyda went to great lengths to secure him as a consort. Freyda would not simply walk away so easily.
"No." Sookie looked over at him. "She has no allies; she would have had de Castro, but that is not going to happen in this life. Whoever she turns to will inform me of it."
"Are you saying that about de Castro simply because the bombing at Rhodes isn't going to happen this time, or do you have something else in mind?"
"Narayana will not approve his attempt to seize Louisiana, as they don't see it as feasible. In my nightmares, by that point, Sophie-Anne would have lost all but one child. Andre dies in Rhodes, and they saw an opportunity with Sophie-Anne weakened. The state was weak but recovering, and you unfortunately kept your eyes on the wrong states. No one expected a state as far afield as Nevada to attempt the takeover."
"What if they do?" Eric asked, gripping his steering wheel. At least this time, he will have someone in Nevada. He already did.
"I'm actually hoping they do, and I am going to give them a window," Sookie said with a wry smile.
"I am waiting patiently for you to elaborate before I lose my shit." That had Sookie throwing her head back in laughter.
"Because it will bring a particular vampire right to my doorstep, and I want him. Especially if Pam is to keep the woman she falls in love with alive." Eric's head snapped towards hers. "Above all else, while de Castro's focus is on us, it will not be on his state. I want him distracted."
"You are not going to tell me who the woman is, are you?" Eric's smile damn near split his face.
"Nope," Sookie said with a giggle.
"I'm here for whatever part you need me to play in making sure everything goes according to plan." There was so much that had to go right, and he feared something was bound to go wrong.
Sookie heard his worried thought, and if she was honest with herself, she worried too.
Sookie released a surprised gasp as Eric pulled into the fairground parking lot. "This will cheer you up." Sookie's smile practically split her face. "See that girl in the blue top and white jeans?" Eric nodded, turning off the engine. She was in the back of the queue with another female. "That is Jason's future wife." Sookie let out a small laugh as Eric's jaw dropped.
"Can I tell him I saw his future wife?" He pleaded.
"No." Sookie groused, punching him in the arm.
"Spoilsport." He mumbled as they joined the queue, standing behind the future Mrs. Stackhouse.