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Pam yanked Bruno&039;s body offthrough the ditch She helpedof Corinna," literal- by the white car Fortunately, the corpse was on the side of the car concealed froht it was hard to be sure, but I believed Corinna was already beginning to flake away I&039;d never seen a dead vareat fighter How coave you the knife," Paood iht" I coughed and, boy, did that hurtout of here," Pa to hope that no one noticed my car I think only three cars passed since we pulled over With the rain and poor visibility, if the drivers were huood chance that none of the us"

By then ere back in Pam&039;s car "Wouldn&039;t it be better if we ood idea," Pa me on the head "Do you think you can drive it?"

"Where to?"

Paood, because I needed the recovery ti, and I felt awful

"Won&039;t Victor knohat&039;s happened?" I asked I couldn&039;t see questions

"Maybe He wasn&039;t brave enough to do this himself, so he has to take the consequences He&039;s lost his two best people, and he has nothing to show for it" Paet out of here right now Before some more of his people co again

"It&039;s you who keeps asking questions I think Eric will be here soon; I&039;d better call him to tell him to stay away," Pam said She looked faintly worried

"Why?" I would have loved to have Eric appear to take charge of this situation, frankly

"If so his house, and he leaps into his car and drives in this direction to come rescue you, it&039;ll be a pretty clear indication that we&039;re responsible for what happened to Bruno and Corinna," Pam said, clearly exasperated "Use your brain, Sookie!"

"My brain is all soggy," I said, and if I sounded a little testy, I don&039;t think that&039;s any big, a a speed-dial nu when he answered the phone

Pam said, "Shut up and I&039;ll explain Of course, she lives" There was silence

Pam summed up the situation in a few pithy phrases, and she concluded with, "Go so in a hurry Back to the bar in answer to soht dry cleaners to pick up your suits To the store to pick up some TrueBlood Don&039;t lead them here"

After a squawk or two, Eric apparently saw the sense in what Pah he was still talking to her

"Her throat will be bruised," Paht, I&039;ll tell her" Pam turned to ust

"Paave me the knife," I croaked I knew he could hear me

"But it was Sookie&039;s idea to oing to be fair if it kills her "I&039; to think of where to put it The truck stops will have security cameras I think we&039;ll leave it on the shoulder well past the Bon Temps exit"

That&039;s e did Pam had some towels in her trunk, and I put them down on the seat of Bruno&039;s car Pam poked around in his ashes to retrieve the Lexus key, and after looking over the instruured I could drive it I followed Pan as we sped past it I pulled over to the shoulder right after Pa Pam&039;s instructions, I left the key in the car, wiped off the steering wheel with the towels (which were damp from their contact with me), and then scuttled to Pa, by the way

Then we had to return toin every joint and a little sick to my stomach Finally, finally, we pulled up to ive"You did very well," she said "You did what had to be done" For once, she didn&039;t look as if she were secretly laughing at me

"I hope this all turns out to be worth it," I said, sounding as gloomy and exhausted as I felt

"We&039;re still alive, so it orth it," Pa within ed across the dripping backyard The rain had finally stopped

Claude opened the back door as I reached it He had opened his , but when he took in ain He shut the door behindto shower," I said, "and then I&039;ht, Sookie," he said, very quietly, and then he shut up I appreciated that ot into work the next day at eleven, Sa," he said, staring at me "You look like hell war ood I was just thinking "

"About the big circles undera hideous face for his benefit "I was real late getting in last night" I had to kill soo over to Shreveport to see Eric"

"Business or pleasure?" And he ducked his head, clearly not believing he&039;d said that, either "I&039;ot up on the tactless side of the bed today"

I gave hi "Don&039;t worry Every day is like that for ize to you I&039;al trouble facing shifters and Weres right now" It was definitely tiood reasons to concentrate on yourself the past feeeks," Sam said "I don&039;t know that I could have recovered the way you have I&039;m real proud of you"

I didn&039;t knohat to say I looked down at the bar, reached for a cloth to polish away a ring "If you need me to start a petition or call my state representative, you just say the word," I told hiister anywhere You&039;re an American Born and bred"

"That&039;s the way I look at it It&039;s not like I&039;m any different from the way I&039;ve always been The only difference is that now people know about it How did the pack run go?"

I&039;d alood time, far as I can tell," I said cautiously "Iup the ranks? Have you heard anything about what&039;s been happening in the Long Tooth pack?"

"Well, I told you I&039;d been dating one of the away at the bottles behind the bar as if he were trying to spot one that was still dusty If this conversation continued in the sa clean

"Who would that be?" Since this was the second tiured it was okay for me to ask

His fascination with the bottles was transferred to the cash register "Ah, Jannalynn Jannalynn Hopper"

"Oh," I said, in a neutral way I was trying to give myself a little time to ht we fought the pack that was trying to take over She, ahtook care of the wounded enemies"

That was an extreme euphemism She&039;d cracked their skulls with her clenched fists Trying to prove that it wasn&039;t National Tactless Day atone"

"She&039;s not as young as she looks," Sae was not the first issue one could have with Jannalynn

"Okeydokey How old is she?"

"Twenty One"

"Oh, well, she&039;s quite a girl," I said solemnly I forced a s your choice" Not much "Jannalynn&039;s really, reallyShe&039;s dynaave ht in the pack war She&039;s into lions" Saht He&039;dhave you two been dating?"

"We&039;ve been talking for a while, but ent out for the first tireat," I said I made myself relax and smile more naturally "You sure you don&039;t need a note frorabbed it and threw it back

"Can you two quit playing? I got to talk to Sa her

She&039;s never going to be ood worker and she&039;s willing to coets off her day job at Norcross "You want me to leave?" I asked

"No, that&039;s okay"

"Sorry, Tanya What do you need?" Sae ed your name?" I must have been extra slow that day But Sam would have said it if I hadn&039;t; he looked just as blank

"Yeah, me and Calvin went to a courthouse across the state line in Arkansas and got married," she said "I&039;m Tanya Norris now"

Sam and I both stared at Tanya in a ratulations!" I said heartily "I know you&039;ll be real happy" I wasn&039;t so sure about Calvin being happy, but at least Inice

Sas Tanya showed us her wedding ring, a broad gold band, and after going into the kitchen to show it to Antoine and D&039;Eriq, she left as abruptly as she&039;d arrived to drive back to work at Norcross She&039;d et and Wal-Mart for the few things they needed, so Saive them from all the Merlotte&039;s employees He put a jar out by the bar for our contributions, and I dropped in a ten

By that tiet busy "I never did get around to asking you some questions," I said to Sam "Maybe before I leave work?"

"Sure, Sook," he said, and began filling glasses with iced tea It was a warm day

After I&039;d served drinks and food for about an hour, I was surprised to see Claude coh the door Even in rumpled clothes he&039;d obviously picked up off the floor to pull on, he looked breathtakingly gorgeous He&039;d pulled his hair back into a messy ponytailand it didn&039;t detract

It was alh to make you hate him, really

Claude slouched over to me as if he were in Merlotte&039;s every dayand as if his kind and tactful ht had never been "The water heater&039;s not working," he said

"Hi, Claude Good to see you," I said "Did you sleep well? I&039; about the water heater, huh? If you want to shower and wash your clothes Res I can&039;t? You could call Hank Clearwater He&039;s coo have a look," a voice said I turned to see Terry Bellefleur standing behind ot some awful scars - both the kind you can see and the kind you can&039;t He&039;d been very young when he&039;d gone to war He&039;d been very old when he returned His auburn hair was graying, but it was still thick, and long enough to braid I&039;d always gotten along real ith Terry, who could do just about anything around the yard or in the house, by way of repairs

"I would sure appreciate it," I said "But I don&039;t want to take advantage, Terry" He&039;d always been kind to me He&039;d cleared away the debris ofon the new one, and I&039;d had to insist he take a fair wage for it

"No problem," he muttered, his eyes on his old work boots Terry survived on a overnment check and on several odd jobs For exaht or early in theto clean the tables and the bathroo busy kept him fit, and it was true that Terry was still built

"I&039;m Claude Crane, Sookie&039;s cousin" Claude held out his hand to Terry

Terry muttered his own name and took Claude&039;s hand His eyes came up to meet Claude&039;s Terry&039;s eyes were unexpectedly beautiful, a rich golden brown and heavily lashed I&039;d never noticed before I realized I&039;d never thought about Terry as a man before

After the handshake, Terry looked startled When he was faced with so out of his normal path, usually Terry reacted badly; the only question was of degree But at the ry

"Ah, did you want me to come look at it now?" Terry asked "I have a couple of hours free"

"That would be wonderful," Claude said "I want my shower, and I want a hot one" He say," Terry said, and the expression on Claude&039;s face was priceless I&039;d never seen Claude nonplussed before

"Thanks, Terry, I&039;d sure appreciate it," I said briskly "Claude&039;s got a key, and he&039;ll let you in If you have to buy soood for it" I s to ht of as my "vampire money" safely stashed at the bank And Mr Cataliades would be sendingrelaxed inside ht about that bit of e of poverty so e of that e relief to et his pickup I speared Claude with a scowl "That ile," I said "He had a bad war Just rehtly flushed "I&039;ll reave raze on the cheek, to show me he&039;d recovered from the blow to his pride I could feel the envy of every woone to Monroe by the tiet home, I suppose Thanks, Cousin"

Sam came to stand beside ," he said dryly

"No, I haven&039;t seen him in a while," I said, definitely on auto-mouth Then I shook myself "Sorry, Sam Claude&039;s one of a kind, isn&039;t he?"

"I haven&039;t seen Claudine in a while She&039;s a lot of fun," Saeneral run of fairies" There was a question in his voice