All Together Dead

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
    Published by the Penguin Group
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    This is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.
    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
    Copyright © 2007 by Charlaine Harris Schulz.
    All rights reserved.
    No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
    ACE is an imprint of The Berkley Publishing Group.
    ACE and the “A” design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
    Harris, Charlaine.
       All together dead / Charlaine Harris.—1st ed.
             p. cm.
       ISBN: 1-101-12839-9
      1. Vampires—Fiction. 2. Louisiana—Fiction. I. Title.
          PS3558.A6427A78 2007
      813'.54—dc22
    2006103253

This book is dedicated to a few of the women
I’m proud to call “friend”: Jodi Dabson Bollendorf,
Kate Buker, Toni Kelner, Dana Cameron, Joan
Hess, Eve Sandstrom, Paula Woldan, and Betty
Epley. All of you have meant something different
to me, and I feel grateful to know you.

A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
    There are a few people I’ve thanked before and need to thank again: Robin Burcell, former cop and present writer, and FBI Agent George Fong, who were great about answering my questions about security and bomb disposal. I appreciate the input of Sam Saucedo, the former newscaster and now writer, who explained a few things about border politics to me. I also need to thank S. J. Rozan, who was happy to answer my questions about architecture, though the vampire part was a distinct shock. I may have misused the information given me, but it was in a good cause. As always, I owe a great debt to my friend Toni L. P. Kelner, who read my first draft without laughing in my face. And my new continuity person, Debi Murray, gets a tip of the hat; from now on if I make mistakes, I have someone to blame. I owe a lot to the many wonderful readers who visit my website (www.charlaineharris.com) and leave messages of encouragement and interest. Beverly Batillo, my fan club president, has given me a boost many a time when I was down in the dumps.

Chapter 1
    The Shreveport vampire bar would be opening late tonight. I was running behind, and I’d automatically gone to the front door, the public door, only to be halted by a neatly lettered sign, red Gothic script on white cardboard: We’ll be ready to greet you with a bite tonight, at eight o’clock. Please excuse our delayed opening. It was signed “The Staff of Fangtasia.”
    It was the third week in September, so the red neon Fangtasia sign was already on. The sky was almost pitch-black. I stood with one foot inside my car for a minute, enjoying the mild evening and the faint, dry smell of vampire that lingered around the club. Then I drove around to the back and parked beside several other cars lined up at the employee entrance. I was only five minutes late, but it looked like everyone else had beaten me to the meeting. I rapped on the door. I waited.
    I’d raised my hand to knock again when Pam,