"She knew, she knew the entire fucking time that Freyda would double cross us, and she said nothing. We were talking to her when Jennifer Carter and the Arkansas vampires died, and she said nothing." Sookie raged, arms flailing, fingers tips growing brighter by the second.
"Min karla, please calm down and explain what happened." Eric gripped her shoulders as she gestured wildly. Neither noticed that he'd managed to get close and touch her without getting burnt.
"If I ask Freyda to kill Alexei, she will tell Appius." Sookie's voice broke as she delivered the news.
"That fucking witch." Pam bellowed.
"What other options did the A.P give you?" Eric remained calm and composed. He couldn't afford to give in to his emotions; he needed to take a deep breath and think clearly.
"She said to go back to my original plan," Sookie murmured.
"This was the plan," Pam grumbled.
"No." Sookie finally took a breath. "My original plan was to pop in with someone who knew the layout and take Appius and Alexei out. I had Daniel, who could disable the cameras, and Niall to pop in and out. It would have taken seconds. Freyda would have been none the wiser."
"That is a bloody good plan," Pam whispered.
"Yeah, the only thing I didn't have was someone who knew where those two would be kept."
"Actually, we do." Silk piped up.
"James Adrian Boniface served with us. In fact, he asked if you had an opening. Boneface, is a were day guard for Oklahoma," Victor added.
Sookie stared at the pair for what felt like an eternity." You know she could have told me that. She's all Jason, child, how are you. Are you enjoying your time here? As though butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. Me, she stresses for no good god-damn reason." Sookie ranted."I need a drink."She stormed down to the makeshift conference room and poured herself a large amount of gin with very little tonic. Just about every one of her staff, Jason, Pam, and Eric had to work hard to keep from laughing.
"Okay, James Adrian Boniface. Tell me everything." Sookie took a seat. Silk and Victor sat opposite her.
"He got into trouble after we were discharged. Boniface got a job with a wrecking crew. On the outside, everything looked legit. James thought so, too. Two months later, James found himself under arrest. Although he knew nothing, a cop had died in the process. James was looking at eighteen months for just being there." Sookie's eyes widened.
"Surely, he must have realized something wasn't right," Stephanie murmured.
"The company is legitimate; the boss and some of the boys just so happen to use what they know to commit high-end robberies. The day they were arrested, they needed Boneface because he was a demolition expert. He just thought it was another job. Luckily, they dropped the charges as the boss came to his aid. As fate would have it, I called Luna, and she told me about you. I accepted the job with you. Had I not made that call, I would have accepted a job with the wrecking crew." Silk stared down at his hands. He knew how lucky he was to get a job with Sookie. He had no specialist training or expertise for anyone to aid him. He would more than likely be a fugitive. As a shifter, escaping would have been an easy undertaking. That or a bullet to the head.
"Holy shit!" Porter exclaimed.
"No way." Tray chuckled.
"What?" Jason barked.
"What are you doing here? Don't you have a stall to run?" Sookie asked.
"It will take over a year to fulfill the orders he got." Porter cut in.
"Wow, nicely done." Sookie praised, raising her glass in salute.
Yes, nicely done. But like he asked..."WHAT?" Pam's patience was evidently wearing thin.
"You served under Captain William Hiller," Sookie stated.
"Yes," Victor answered. "His father, General Hiller, was responsible for our unit. The program that allowed weres and shifters into the military was his baby."
"Boniface is a demolitions expert. The man can blow a pin-sized hole into this glass and leave it intact. One of the world's foremost experts in bomb building and disarming. Above all else, a were Panther whom the General could not allow to be imprisoned. I was to get him free without making him a fugitive. I called in a favor, and he was released." Sookie sat back in disbelief." I made one phone call to a friend in the FBI, and Boniface was a free man. I never even left the office for that one. Upside, a three-star United States general owes me a favor."
"Will he do it?" At the end of the day, that mattered more to Eric than anything else.
"Absolutely, especially if it comes with a job. His mother and little girl live in Shreveport, and things are not good." Silk muttered.
"Get him on the phone." Sookie knocked back the rest of her drink.
"Hello." A gruff voice answered.
"Boneface, it's Silk. Can you talk?"
"Yeah, I'm in some roach-infested motel; everyone else has the sense the good God gave them to stay well clear of. The upside is it's practically free." They could all hear the yawn he was trying to stifle.
"I have Miss Brigant on the phone."Silk pushed the phone toward Sookie.
"Mr Boniface..."
"Miss Brigant, I never got to thank you for getting me out of that jam in New Orleans. Thank you. If you need anything, anything at all I'm your man." He said sincerely.
"Well, if you are offering." A few chuckles went around the room." I understand your family lives in Shreveport."
"Yes, ma'am."
"I didn't think anything could be worse than boss', but I've just heard it," Sookie grumbled. "In private, Sookie will do; in public, Miss Brigant."
"No problem, Ma'am."That had everyone chuckling
"Oh, you'll fit right in," Sookie grumbled. "I am offering you a job, but it involves staying in Oklahoma for the next few months. Before I say anything more, I need you to sign a preliminary contract."
"That's understandable. I will visit my mother and little girl in Shreveport in three days. Does that work for you?"
"That is perfect." That should give them time to have a basic plan in place. "In the meantime, can I help you with anything?" Sookie asked.
After the call with James, Sookie felt like she could finally breathe. "I will get Kristy on the phone." Stephanie had her phone out before she left the conference room.
"I am surprised an ex-marine of his caliber is struggling to find work," Eric intoned.
"Why do you think we all jumped at the chance to work for Sookie?" Patrick interjected. "For us weres, especially unless you join a pack or have some exceptional skill, work is hard to come by. So the military, and even then, unless you end up in a unit like Silk, Victor and their friend, police, security, construction."
"Jobs such as construction are pack run." That much Eric knew.
"So are the best security jobs. Boniface, I bet you got the job with Oklahoma because of his past in the Marine; without that, he would struggle. It's his expertise that got a general making calls to spring him. No one would have made that call for us." Victor added.
"I can also understand why some of you refuse to join a pack," Sookie murmured, standing. "I need to have a word with that know-it-all." She grumbled.
"What did she say about Freyda?" Eric asked. "Would I be right in thinking she still wanted us to help Oklahoma with the trial?" He moved to the door, intending to halt any attempt to head to the A.P's suit.
"You do know I can teleport, right." She looked positively smug at his resigned look. "Yes, apparently, we will call in that favor, just not for Appius and Alexei. Above all else, we cannot make her an enemy. She is more of a lone wolf now than ever. She feels betrayed by Sophie-Anne. Freyda believes Sophie-Anne should have warned her about Threadgill. Why, she wouldn't tell me. Another thing she's keeping to herself. As if it makes a damn bit of difference whether she tells me or I find out for myself." Sookie raged, sitting back down.
"You know why you are so pissed off with her?" Jason piped up.
"I'm sure you are going to tell me."
"Nah, I'm just going to go home. Lock myself in my workshop and get these orders out of the way. Looks like that wife and the kids won't be happening." To Sookie's surprise, Eric broke first. Pam followed, then everyone else.
"Got to say, boss, he's got you there." Luna giggled.
"You can't complain about Pythia not telling you stuff when you do the same thing. That sis, is why she pisses you off so much. Don't like the taste of your own medicine." Jason said with a smug smile to end all smug smiles.
"Pot, meet kettle," Gavril murmured.
"Her name is Michele Schubert. I actually have no idea how you two met." I can only tell you where she works." She texted him the address.
"I guess now that I'm getting a girlfriend, I won't be locking myself in my workshop," Jason muttered proudly.
"Why didn't you just tell him?" Pam asked.
"Until a few days ago, telling him could have jeopardized his future. His pointless threat wasn't why I told him." Sookie glared at her brother.
"Pointless." His attempt at feigning indignation failed miserably.
"I am a telepath, you dingus." A fact that seemed to have escaped him.
"Oh yeah." He muttered sheepishly.
"Holly, what did I ask you to do a week ago." Sookie turned to her.
"Get you Michele Schubert's work address." Holly smiled, at the time Sookie had asked she had no idea who Michele Schubert was.
"I told you because a week ago, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that you would marry Michele and have two children. I am dreaming." The implications of her words were clear.
"Dreaming… it's good then." Lafayette stated.
"Yes, but just like my nightmares, it's too far into the future, and right now, we still have a few nightmares to deal with first," Sookie explained. "It has made what I can tell you clearer."
"Is that why we had that conversation in the restaurant? Sorry about Compton. I know that wasn't part of the plan," Jason said.
"No, actually, that was a surprisingly good thing." Sookie chuckled.
"So you have no intention of aiding in a takeover?" Pam asked.
"No, that was simple to invite Nevada. Without that, there was no way de Castro would have even contemplated a takeover. I only went ahead with that conversation because my dreams showed he would if he thought he would have my backing." As Pam looked incensed, Sookie had to bite her lip to keep her smile at bay.
"Why are you inviting trouble? If de Castro has no interest in Louisiana, why invite it?" She roared.
"For you." Just as Sookie expected, that knocked the wind out of Pam.
"What!" Pam looked at Eric and then back to Sookie.
"Her name is Miriam. I can't tell you the nature of your relationship in the future, but I see you two. Whether you two are bonded or she is just your child, I don't know. I know I have never seen you happier, and she is responsible for it. I believe I will see more when the plan becomes more concrete. In my nightmares, Nevada had taken over, and Victor Madden prevented you from saving her. She has cancer, and he knew her only chance of survival was becoming a vampire." Pam collapsed onto the chair next to her in a stupor. "I killed him twenty-four hours after she succumbed to the disease. That bloody ambush was also pretty much the nail in the coffin of our relationship." She looked up at Eric. Our lack of communication becomes ever more glaring at night." Eric could feel there was more to that night than she was telling him. A part of him knew he had hurt her, maybe even physically. He'd never asked because it was evident it wasn't something Sookie ever intended to give voice to, and he had no desire to force the issue. If he was honest with himself he didn't want to know.
Sookie dragged her chair next to Pam's. "'Those who die make sure they die, and those who do make they live unless it directly affects you.' I was hoping if he died first, I had a hope of saving her. I wasn't sure I could. I've had a plan to lure Madden to Louisiana for some time. In truth, I fully excepted the A.P to tell me to let Miriam die. I cannot begin to tell you how happy I was when I saw her in my dreams." Pam looked up, eyes red with tears. "In my nightmares, out of all those I called family or friends, you were one of less than a handful that never once hurt me. In fact, you warned me to be careful of those I called friends. You are the sister I never had. So yeah, I'm going to entice de Castro into a takeover. While his back is turned, California is going to take Nevada." Sookie smiled at Pam's dropped jaw.
"You are serious?" Bakari asked.
"I sure as fuck will not joke about something like that." Sookie stood. "We have a ball to get to." She added.
"If you need any help with Nevada, the weres will help. My father is the pack leader in Nevada, and if there is one person he hates, it's Felipe de Castro." This pleased Sookie immensely.
"Would these weres happen to be guys that protect his casinos?"
"Indeed." Bakari chuckled.
"Brilliant." Sookie laughed. "For the non-vampires, I have a table booked for you. A one hundred and thirty dollar steak each on me. Enjoy," Sookie said as she left the room. There were choruses of thanks, boss, and Jason's obvious annoyance as he was expected to attend the ball.
Pam burst into their room before Eric had the chance to close the door and pulled Sookie into a hug. "I don't even know her yet…" Pam seemed at a loss for words, but it mattered little; Sookie knew precisely how she felt.
"You will." As far as Sookie was concerned, it was already a done deal.
"Something occurred to me today," Sookie murmured. "I haven't even asked you if you want Appius dead."
"I want him dead," Eric said without an ounce of hesitation. Sookie stared at him for a beat and let out a giggle.
"You didn't even blink." Her smile was a mile wide.
"Something also occurred to me today. Nightmare Eric was handicapped by Appius. He could not allow himself to be as free as he wanted with you for fear of Appius turning up and taking you away from him. I could only do so because I knew he would not have the chance to do so. There was no risk in being free with you. If anything, the rewards were plentiful." Eric pulled her into a soft kiss.
"That did occur to me too," Sookie whispered.
"She doesn't want us to make an enemy of Freyda, at least not yet," Eric grumbled.
"Whatever the reason, she will not reveal it just yet." Sookie shrugged.
"The A.P knows you do not need to touch vampires to hear them, right?"
"She does, but she, more than anyone, perpetuates the idea that I need physical contact." Eric looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, I am not unaware of her ongoing efforts to protect me. But remember, she does so for herself as much as me. I met her in my nightmare, and as far as she was concerned, that Sookie was not worth protecting. Not that I blame her, especially with her refusal to accept who she was." Sookie slipped into a red number that had Eric shrugging off his suit.
"I look like the poorer relation." He whined. Sookie managed to stifle her laughter, but her amusement was evident.