chapter eleven

                The sunlight was becoming more filtered as the day began to end. Sookie was lying there, watching Preston catnap in post coital relaxation. She stroked his hair a little and exposed one of his ears. It was not a huge Mr. Spock ear that was over the top, but an ordinary ear with a point on it, just enough to say I am not human. She ran her fingertip over the edge of his ear and his eyes opened and turned to her. “Too much fae for you?”

                “No,” she said. “Why would you say that?”

                “I just want this to be normal for you,” he said. “Well as normal as I can make it.”

                “I tell you what is real normal and that is the fact I have to go to work in an hour or so,” she said.

               

                Preston sat up. He was beautiful, that otherworldly beauty Claude had before he opened his mouth and ruined the illusion. Then he just turned into an asshole. “How late do you work tonight?” he asked.

                “Til closing. Jason and Michele are coming to the house for dinner tomorrow night. We are grilling some steak. Would you like to come?” she asked.

                “That would be very nice, what can I bring?” he asked.

                “Just you, that will be good,” she said.

                “No, it is customary to bring things. How about some ice cream?” he said.

                “I would like that,” she said.

                “I will see you then,” he said. He jumped up from her bed and went into the bathroom. “Hey,” he turned around and looked at her. “Was this okay?”

                “It was very okay,” said Sookie, a self-satisfied smile on her face.

                “And would you consider doing this again?” he asked.

                “I would,” she said.

                “And would it be too presumptive if I brought a change of clothes tomorrow evening, and stayed the night?” he smiled that boyish sexy smile.

                “No, not at all, in fact it would be very nice,” she said.

                “Then, we have a date,” he said. He walked into the bathroom and closed the door. Sookie jumped up and grabbed her robe and slid it on and straightened her bed. Preston had made love with her three times and each time she expected him to bite down on her. Would she ever stop expecting that? She shook her head and opened drawers and grabbed a clean Merlotte’s tee shirt and her shorts and some under clothes. She was making a running list of things she needed at the store. She could go shopping when she got up tomorrow. She opened her makeup drawer and there was the empty box that had once been the Cluviel Dor. She opened it and inside was Eric’s braid and the opal her grandfather gave her.

                “A Cluviel Dor,” said Preston. Sookie jumped.

                “Yes, it is used now, all I have is this pretty box,” she said.

                “What did you use the wish for?” he asked. He put his arms around her waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.

                “I saved Sam’s life with it, well, I brought him back from the dead actually. I just keep things in it now,” she said.

                “Who’s braid?” he asked.

                “Eric’s,” she said. “I just put it in here so I would not lose it.”

                “It’s okay Sookie. You loved him, you still care about him even if you are pretty mad at him,” he said. “And the opal of Tir Nan Og.”

                “Niall gave it to me, but I have never worn it, it is set in silver,” she said.

                “You can wear it now,” he said. He took the chain and put it around her neck and clasped it. “A jewel wearing a jewel.”

                “It’s pretty,” she said.

                “When the sun comes up over Faery, the sky looks like that,” he said.

                “I wished Niall could have taken me for a visit,” she said. “You know, he gave this to me at Yule.”

                “Sex and jewelry, a perfect gift at Yule,” he said. He let her go and retrieved his sweaty clothes and pulled them on. He came back and kissed her. “Have a good day Sookie and I will see you tomorrow. About 2:00?”

                “Yes, if I am not here, I am at the store and will be here soon, so wait for me,” she said

                “I will,” he said. He turned to her and kissed her gently on the lips. “If you need me, call me.”

                “I will,” she said. He smiled at her and kissed her again and left.

                “Wow Sookie, you look great!” said Kennedy. Danny was sitting in his usual place at the bar, dressed in a tee shirt and jeans.

                “Thanks,” she said. “I got to work out in the flower garden today and relax.” She headed for the office and went in. Luna was opening a box of new aprons and Sam was counting a stack of bar towels. Sookie went to her locker and opened it and put her purse in and grabbed her old apron.

                “Hey Sookie, have a new apron,” said Luna. She tossed her a new apron and Sookie took the stuff out of the pockets of her old one. “You look happy today.”

                “I am happy,” she said.

                “You know Sookie, if I didn’t know any better, I would say you got laid,” she said.

                “Why would you say that?” she asked.

                “You absolutely glow with contentment,” said Luna.

                “Well, I am reading that lady porn book Holly was talking about,” she said. “Maybe that is it.”

                “Maybe,” she said. Sam just shook his head. Luna was always very forward, never holding back. “What? Sometimes, a girl has to do what a girl has to do.”

                “Women,” he said, stalking out of the office, but with a big grin on his face.

                Sookie was taking an order from a table of rowdy road crew workers when something big came into the bar. Sookie’s mind felt the enormous energy of the thing. She turned and there was a big guy standing in the middle of the floor. Sam was behind the bar and he had subtly moved between Luna and the big guy. He looked at Sookie and his usually opaque thoughts were clear as window glass to the telepath. His mind shouted loud and clear: “Trouble!” Sookie began to make her way toward the archway which led into the back part of the bar. She turned to watch.

                “Welcome to Merlotte’s,” said Sam.

                “Sookie Stackhouse work here?” he asked, his voice rumbling in his throat.

                “Does Sookie know you?” asked Sam.

                “I have something for her,” he said. He reached into him back pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.

                “Well, you can leave it with us, we’ll make sure she gets it,” said Sam. He frowned and made a decision and stepped forward and laid the paper on the bar.

                “Make sure she calls the number on this after sundown,” he said.

                “Sure,” replied Sam, picking up the paper and putting it in his apron. They watched the man walk out and get in the dark rental car he had come up in. Sam could see he was not alone. Sookie came over to Sam. He reached in and handed her the note.

                “What the hell was that?” asked Luna.

                “Well he’s two natured but I don’t think he is a butterfly or a field mouse,” said Sam. “Do you know him Sook?”

                “No, but I have felt that brain signature before. It is someone from DeCastro,” she said, her voice low.

                “Dammit, Sookie, are you still involved with vampire shit?” spat Luna.

                “No, I have not been around vampires since Eric and Bill came here and before then a long while ago,” she said.

                “What does the note say?” asked Sam. Sookie opened the note.

                “Lost and found, call for more information, “Sookie read out the number.

                “Well, no time like the present,” said Sam.

                “You heard him, Sam, he said to call after sundown,” she said.

                “Dammit,” swore Sam. “It could only be vampires, after sundown.”

                “What could they mean about Lost and Found?” said Sookie.

                “Are you missing anyone?” asked Sam.

                “No, not as far as I can tell,” she said. Sookie was drawing a blank. “I will call Bill first.”

                The big brute who delivered the note sat down in the shabby apartment. What the two men didn’t know was this apartment was once the home of Maudette Pickens, the unfortunate victim of the Bon Temps strangler, who turned out to be Rene Lenier who hated women he considered to be fangbangers. The apartment smelled of old pizza and stale beer. He sat down in front of Latesta.

                “Well?” he asked.

                “I delivered it,” he said.

                “Good,” he said. Latesta stood up. “Did you check on our guest?”

                “He’s fine,” said the big man.

                “So what do I call you?” he asked.

                “Antonio,” he said.

                “Keep me up to date Antonio. I have a meeting, call me with any problems,” said Latesta.

                The former FBI agent walked out and got into his car and headed off. The leader of the local Take Back the Night faction was meeting him at a commercial property. It was the Vampire’s Kiss but it was closed now. He had a key to this property and one other and he was using them as a ground zero in case they had to have a secure location. He drove along the road, looking at the commercial area with hooded eyes, seeing how shabby the area was. The few residences were dingy looking with peeling paint and broken windows patched with duct tape and cardboard. He saw the building up ahead and put on his signal and turned. He pulled around back. Standing outside was a fat unkempt man who looked as though he spent a lot of time sitting on his ass.

                “We are ready for another action,” said Latesta. “A beauty shop, catering to vampires. Death by Fashion.”

                “We can do it,” said the fat man. “Need a little capital.” Latesta reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a fat envelope. He tossed it to the man. The man noticed he was wearing plastic gloves.

                “No finger prints but mine on the package,” he said casually.

                “My…patron doesn’t want anything coming back to him,” he said.“Besides, do everything right and nothing will come back to you either,”

                “Point taken,” he said. “I will call you to let you know when everything is in place.”

                “The campaign will be picking up soon,” said Latesta. “We want to start doing more strikes.”

                “Any faster, and we will get caught,” said the man.

                “Then you better be real careful,” said Latesta. He turned and walked back to his car and took off.

                Jason came in with Michele and Sookie waited on them. “Are we still on for tomorrow evening?” asked Jason.

                “Definitely,” said Sookie. “I have a friend coming.”

                “A vampire?” asked Michele suspiciously.

                “No, just a friend,” said Sookie. “I don’t have anything to do with vampires much anymore.”

                “I will pick up the steaks,” said Jason.

                “I am going to make baked beans and potato salad,” she said. “What are you having tonight?”

                “I’ll have the po’boy and fries,” said Jason.

                “I’ll have the chicken strips and fries and a salad with ranch,” said Michele.

                “And to drink?” she said.

                “Abita light,” said Jason.

                “Sweet tea,” said Michele.

                Sookie ordered Jason’s beer and went and got Michele’s tea and put their order in. She took them their drinks and took a second to call Bill. The sun was down now, and he would be up. “Bill Compton,” he said by way of answering the phone.

                “Hey Bill, I had a weird visit today,” she said.

                “How do you mean Sookie?” he asked.

                “This guy had a big snarly brain, like those things Filipe DeCastro had guarding him,” she said.

                “What did he want?” asked Bill.

                “He gave me a note. It says Lost and Found, contact,” she said, giving him the number. “What does it mean?”

                “I don’t know, I will get someone to do some computer work and see if they can trace the number. If they are smart, it is a pay as you go number and there will be no trace for it,” said Bill. “But, maybe they aren’t that smart.”

                “Thanks Bill, let me know if you find out anything,” said Sookie.

                “Rest easy Sookie, you are never alone, even if you think you are,” he said.

                Latesta sat across from the desk of Harp Powell. “So, how is the book coming?” he asked.

                “What book are you talking about?” asked the reporter. After the initial visit with Sookie Stackhouse, he saw himself as the next Woodard and Bernstein after he got some of the story about Eric Northman and his criminal world. He even had a hotshot publisher ready to publish the book and this guaranteed him coverage from the major newspapers. Then the girl would not answer any more questions and then she refused to answer any calls.

                “The one you were writing with the help of that Stackhouse girl about Eric Northman,” said Latesta.

                “She shut me down and I had to be honest, I had to tell the guy who was interested in publishing the book my source dried up,” said Harp bitterly.

                “What if I told you I had a file, a very thick file, about Eric Northman? Would that motivate you?” asked Latesta.

                “Maybe, but I would have to know where the file was coming from,” said Powell. “Of course I would never reveal my sources, even the law can’t compel me to tell.”

                “I don’t care if you tell,” said Latesta. He handed Powell a huge folder. There had be a few hundred pages in there, at least a ream of paper worth. “This is my professional file on Eric Northman and Sookie Stackhouse. I’ve compiled it since the action at Rhodes, when that luxury hotel was blown up and all those well heeled fangers were killed.”

                “And you are just handing me this file?” he asked. “What do I have to do in exchange for it?”

                “Nothing much, just keep an eye on Miss Stackhouse, dig around a little, see what you can come with,” said Latesta.

                “I already have, there is nothing. Her parents died when she was young, she and her brother were raised by her Grandparents, her grandfather died in her teens, she had a cousin named Hadley,” said the journalist.

                “Relative?” he asked.

                “Yeah, Hadley Delahousay Savoy. She died a vampire, was involved with that vampire who was like some sort of leader of Louisiana vampires and she died of Sino AIDS, but I spoke to a vampire who said that was not completely true. She was married when she was a human but was sleeping with this vampire as a human and then she was turned vampire. She left a little boy, they live somewhere..I don’t know, they used to live in New Orleans but after Katrina, they moved on.”

                Latesta looked at Powell and smiled.

                Sookie got a call from Bill a couple of hours later. “Sookie, what time do you get off work?”

                “The usual time, 1:00,” she said.

                “I wonder if Sam will let you go home early so you can make this call with me sitting there,” said Bill.

                “It isn’t that busy,” she said. “You could always come here and we can go into the office.”

                “I am wondering if the number is actually a line to some sort of tracking device, I wanted to take you somewhere neutral,” said Bill.

                “Let me talk to Sam and see what he says,” said Sookie. “I will call you back.” She hung up and went over to Sam. “That was Bill. He thinks that number is a line to some sort of tracking device, he wants to take me somewhere neutral to call that number.”

                “Think that is so safe for you to do?” he asked.

                “Bill won’t hurt me,” she said. “Come to think of it, I don’t think Eric would hurt me.”

                “Want me to go with you chere?” he offered. Luna jerked his arm and gave him a nasty look.

                “No, I will just call Bill and have him come here and pick me up and I will go with him to make the call and then I will have him bring me back, and I will finish my shift if I can.”

                “Okay,” he said. “But if you want me to come with you, I will.”

                “No, I will be okay,” she said. Sookie went toward the office and took off her apron and grabbed her purse, making sure she had the piece of paper with the number written on it. She called Bill and told him to come after her and he agreed. Sookie stood by the main doors and waited for Bill to pick her up. With the first glimpse of his car, she came out and got in.

                They drove down the highway out to the Shreveport road. Bill’s eyes scanned the highway until he found an old rural road Sookie had never known existed. Bill winced with the bumps and dips in the road but kept going. He probably remembered when this road was a major thoroughfare to somewhere between Bon Temps and Shreveport.

                After a while that seemed like forever, they came to a little area of old abandoned houses. There were about a dozen or so, and they all had a haunted look. Sookie was briefly reminded of the old abandoned house the faeries took her when she was tortured. Bill drove his car between two of the houses and stopped his engine.

                “Make your call now Sookie,” he said. Sookie dug into her purse and pulled out the paper and her phone and Bill handed her a pay as you go phone. She looked at it and dialed the number. It rang for some time until she thought the voice mail would pick it up when a voice answered.

                “Hello?” said the voice. It sounded distinctly female.

                “You sent me a note to call you, something about lost and found?” she said.

                “Very good Miss Stackhouse, thank you for calling us,” she said.”Now, you have something we want, and if you give it to us, we will leave your friends and family alone. Otherwise, we will be forced to reach out to you, and believe me, you won’t like it.”

                “I don’t have anything you want,” she said.

                “But you do Miss Stackhouse, you have your talent,” said the voice. “You have been treated quite reasonably. We have been patient, now you must be reasonable and come in from the cold, in a manner of speaking.”

                “I don’t want to give you my talent,” she said. “I’m sick to death of my talent. Leave me alone or I will call the authorities.”

                “Where are you Miss Stackhouse?” she asked. Bill looked at Sookie.

                “Somewhere I can have a little privacy,” she said.

                “Someone is helping you. They will pay. Maybe they will pay right in front of you,” said the voice.

                “Go to hell,” she hissed.

                “The only hell I know is the one which will be created for you and all you love,” she said calmly. Then she was gone, the line was dead. She hung up and Bill took the phone and casually crushed it in his hands like you would crush a beer can until the phone was literally crumbs and then he opened his window and peppered it on the ground.

                “Did you know the voice, Bill?” she asked.

                “I am not for sure,” he said. “I think perhaps I do.”

                Bill said nothing else but to remind her to be careful as he drove her back to Merlotte’s. She had only been gone 45 minutes or so and she could finish her shift. When Bill left, he called Eric.  Eric told him to come to Fangtasia.

                Fangtasia was busy and Pam was at the door. She nodded to Bill and let him through and he walked through the bar and to the office. He pecked on the door and Eric told him to come in.

                “Well, do you know who it might be?” asked Eric.

                “I can’t say for sure, but I do believe I know, and I really hate her reasons for being involved with De Castro,” replied Bill.

                “What did she say?” he asked.

                “Sookie should give herself up to De Castro, or else,” he said.

                “Or else?” enquired Eric.

                “She can watch all she loves die,” he said.

                “Well, I can at least say I am safe. You may be in trouble,” said Eric.

                “She still cares about you,” said Bill quietly.

                “I wouldn’t bet money on it. What have you discovered about the shifters?” asked Eric.

                “Nothing yet,” said Bill.

                “So, who is Sookie’s lady caller?” asked Eric finally.

                The rain the next morning was depressing. Though the weather man promised it would clear off, Rachel felt a funk. Perhaps it was because Bill did not phone her to talk to her. She got a text from him saying he was okay and he would call her tonight but she felt lonesome for him. She spent the day looking at the internet at tips to make a conventional room light tight for those who wanted to have vampire guests in their human habitation. She found a great solution she could do and decided that was what she would do. You never know when Bill might want to stay all night. She blushed at the thought. Still she had been a girl scout and she believed in be prepared.

                Rachel slid into her shoes and grabbed her purse and headed out to the Bon Temps hardware store and got a quart of white paint and a quart of black paint and some decorative wallpaper border, something small and old fashioned. She picked up some small paint rollers, some tape and some small roller trays and headed back to her house. She went home and changed her clothes and taped up her windows and put newspapers down and went to work painting the panes of glass, two coats of white to two coats of black and two coats of white again. She sat cross-legged in the floor and trimmed out details from the wallpaper border and once the paint was dry, she carefully positioned the details on the center and the corners of the windowpane and applied them. Now it looked like she has window shades on her windows rather than painted her windows.

                She carefully removed the tape and with a just some light touch ups, she had secured her only bedroom window from the day light. Bill could stay if he wanted. And she desperately wanted him to stay.

                Sky had called her earlier today. She had finished her exams and would be entering her final grades Saturday and she would be able to get her U-Haul loaded on Sunday with bribes of beer and pizza. She could come up on Monday morning. She asked Sky if she could get a couple of fellahs to help her move in. She said she thought she knew a couple of fellahs who would like to make some extra cash. Sky was delighted.

                Sky thought about her strange troubled sheriff, Eric Northman. He was a stubborn type, not easy to get to know and she suspected he would be a temperamental friend.  She had gone on line to see if there was anything about him on the internet and there were only a few things. He was not on the public edition of the North American Vampire Registry and the only article she’d found was one some journalist had written in an interview/expose done by a local hack with Sookie Stackhouse. That seemed odd to her though she knew Sookie used to be intensely involved with Eric, just how much she never knew, she really sort of doubted she would be that vindictive to Eric.

               

                As promised, the sun did come out. Sookie was relieved when she saw it. She had gone to the store early, getting damp in the process but she had gotten everything she needed for baked beans and potato salad and picked up a few other things she always seemed to need. She made her salad and put it in the fridge and then made her beans and put them on low simmer and went out and read a bit of her lady porn book. She sort of liked it and she reminded herself to tell Preston to reserve the next part of it for her.

                With that thought, as though by magik, Preston drove up in his little red Hyundai. He parked and reached into the back seat and grabbed a Wal-Mart bag. He must have bought the family size tub of vanilla. He came out and went to the trunk of the car and opened it and reached in and pulled out a neat little canvas sack of what must have been a change of clothes. Sookie smiled. She had sort of forgotten about he was staying and found herself pleased. He stepped up on the porch and leaned down and kissed her lips briefly. “Hello Sookie,” he said.

                “Did you have a nice day?” she asked.

                “I did, where should I put this?” he asked.

                “Well you certainly got enough,” she said.

                “I like ice cream. And I brought toppings,” he said, that sweet boyish grin on his face.

                “The deep freeze in the washroom,” she said.

                 Preston went into the house and she relaxed on her porch for a bit and then got up and went into the kitchen and checked her beans. Preston was coming out of the back of the house, where the bedrooms were and she noticed he was bare footed, his shoes with socks inside them, were placed neatly by the door. “Jason should be here with Michele real soon,” she said.

                “How are you going to introduce me?” he asked.

                “As my friend, if you don’t mind,” she said.

                “Whatever makes you comfortable,” he said.

                “He will probably figure out you are fae,” she said. “You guys smell so different from humans, and with Jason being two natured, he will smell it.”

                “Does that bother you?” he asked.

                “Not at all,” she said. He headed for the inside of the house and she followed him. Sookie checked her beans and found they were almost done, so she turned off her beans. Preston went around the back of the house presumably to drop his bag. He came back and came up behind her and slid his arms around her and kissed her neck. This is what it was like, this was real life. Just a girl with her boyfriend getting ready to have a cook out.

                She went to the fridge and grabbed a cold soda and they went outside. He sat immediately on the porch swing and patted the seat beside him. After only a second’s hesitation, she sat down beside him and he set the pace for the swing and he slid his hand in hers. She sipped her soda and he took it and drank from it.

Normal.

The sun went down over Northern Louisiana and the five figures were staked out, watching the storefront. The last employees were leaving, going around the back of the building to the parking lot. When their car finally pulled out, the figures slid out, staying in the darkness. They moved against the wall of the building, preparing the beer bottles filled with gas with cotton rags stuck out of the neck. One of the figures, a man, pulled out a zippo lighter and they lit the wicks. Another man with a baseball bat went around the front of the store and broke the plate glass windows and three others threw the bottles. The fifth person tacked something up on the light post. They ran back to their vantage spot, and watched it burn.

The light from the porch gave the small party a circle of light to eat by. Jason laid a steak on the platter with the other steaks and Michele brought them to the table. Sookie brought out the potato salad and Preston brought out the beans, the handles held in potholders.

                Sookie thought Jason’s face was priceless when he saw Sookie had a date and then when he got a whiff of him, his eyes narrowed. He looked at Sookie and then back at Preston.

                “You said Niall took ‘em all back to Faery,” said Jason, looking wary.

                “Well, Preston stayed behind,” she said.

                “I knew your sister from before and I stayed,” said Preston.

                Jason looked at him a second more and then seemed to take a breath and let it drop. After that Preston asked him about hunting around Bon Temps and Shreveport. Jason settled in and began to speak on what he knew the most about.

                As they ate, Jason and Preston drank beers and the girls stuck with sweet iced tea. There was something going on and Sookie was loathe to get into Michele’s head and Jason’s head went from being real open to her to being snarly and opaque, like all two natured. “Okay, what’s up?” she asked.

                “Sookie, Michele is pregnant,” she said.

                “So, are we happy about that?” she asked.

                “I am, Jason isn’t,” Michele said, a bit sullen.

                “It’s not that,” he said, fingering the label on his beer.

                “Jason, I think it is great,” said Sookie. “This isn’t like last time, Michele will be okay.”

                “That is what I keep telling him,” she said, patting Jason on the leg.

                “We’ll see,” he grumbled.

                “Do you have a doctor yet?” asked Sookie.

                “I am seeing the same doctor who took care of Tara and the twins,” she said. As the girls chatted, they were relaxed when suddenly Preston and Jason both stood up, tense, looking toward the woods. They waited and Sookie saw Bill and Bubba come out of the woods.

                “Preston, you have to get in the house,” she said softly. Bill put his hand out to stop Bubba and they waited til Preston went into the house. They came into the light and greeted Sookie and Jason.

                “Sorry to bother you Sookie,” said Bill. “I thought I would come to tell you a beauty shop called Death by Fashion has been burned.”

                “Isn’t that where Immanuel Earnest works?” she asked.

                “Yes, and they serve a large vampire clientele, usually privately, and Immanuel was the brother of Miriam, Pam’s late lover,” he said. “So this is not a coincidence, particularly as Miriam’s Law has been passed by the legislature. But I came here mainly to let you know Bubba will be taking closer positions around your house.”

                “Sookie, are you in trouble again? You said you were out of all that,” said Jason.

                “I am, but apparently the Fellowship and a couple more humans are still holding a grudge.” This was not completely true, but Jason didn’t have to know everything. “But does Bubba really have to be troubled with this?” Sookie wasn’t comfortable with Bubba being closer to the house, with Preston there, especially.

                “Don’t worry Sookie, your friend smells real good and all that, but Bill says I can’t eat him. Just like Bill said I couldn’t eat you that first time he hired me to look after you and I ain’t yet.”

                Sookie swallowed hard. “Well, that’s real good Bubba,” she said. Bubba smiled broadly and his fangs slid out with pride. Michele gasped loudly.

                “Be careful Sookie, that is all we ask,” said Bill.

                “I think I can manage to stay out of trouble, at least for one night,” she said. Bill nodded to her.

                “Good night Sookie, Jason,” Bill nodded to Michele and the two vampires turned and walked away into the darkness, becoming a part of it.

                “Wow,” said Michele. “Was that really?

                “No, not anymore,” said Sookie.

                When Bill got to his house, he looked at his watch. It was 10:00. He took out his phone and called Rachel.

                “Hello?” she answered.

                “Sweetheart, it’s me. I am sorry I won’t be able to come and see you this evening, we have had something come up. Can I come see you tomorrow night?” he asked.

                “Of course,” she said. “Is it bad?”

                “It’s serious, but don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

                “I can’t wait, I have a surprise for you,” she said.

                “I’ll look forward to it,” he said. He hung up and called Eric. “I’m on my way.”

                “Our friends have come back,” said Eric. “They have news, it isn’t good.”