All Together Dead

I said, and then I told him what I thought about the death of Henrik Feith and the execution of his murderer. I told him about the dead woman in the shop. I told him about my suspicions about the explosion.
    “I’m sorry it was Jake that was in with them,” I told him. “I know you used to like him. But he just couldn’t stand being a vamp. I don’t know if he approached the Fellowship or the Fellowship approached him. They had the guy at the computer, the one who was so rude to me. I think he called a delegate from each party to have them come pick up a suitcase. Some of them were too smart or too lazy to pick them up, and some of them returned the suitcases when no one claimed them. But not me, oh no, I put it in the queen’s effing living room.” I shook my head. “I guess not too many of the staff were in on it, because otherwise Barry or I would’ve picked up on something way before Barry did.”
    Then I slept for a few minutes, I think, because Frannie was there when I looked around, and she was eating from a McDonald’s bag. She was clean, and her hair was wet.
    “You love him?” she asked, sucking up some Coke through a straw.
    “Too soon to tell.”
    “I’m going to have to take him home to Memphis,” she said.
    “Yeah, I know. I may not get to see him for a while. I’ve got to get home, too, somehow.”
    “The Greyhound station is two blocks away.”
    I shuddered. A long, long bus ride was not a prospect that I could look forward to.
    “Or you could take my car,” Frannie said.
    “What?”
    “Well, we got here separately. He drove here with all the props and a trailer, and I left out of my mama’s in a hurry in my little sports car. So there are two cars here, and we only need one. I’m going to have to go home with him and stay for a while. You have to get back to work, right?”
    “Right.”
    “So, drive my car home, and we’ll pick it up when we’re able.”
    “That’s very nice of you,” I said. I was surprised by her generosity, because I’d definitely had the impression she wasn’t keen on Quinn having a girlfriend, and she wasn’t keen on me, specifically.
    “You seem okay. You tried to get us out of there in time. And he really cares about you.”
    “And you know this how?”
    “He told me so.”
    She’d gotten part of the family directness, I could tell.
    “Okay,” I said. “Where are you parked?”

Chapter 19
    I’d been terrified the whole two-day drive: that I’d be stopped and they wouldn’t believe I’d gotten permission to use the car, that Frannie would change her mind and tell the police I’d stolen it, that I’d have an accident and have to repay Quinn’s sister for the vehicle. Frannie had an old red Mustang, and it was fun to drive. No one stopped me. The weather was good all the way back to Louisiana. I thought I’d see a slice of America, but along the interstate, everything looks the same. I imagined that in any small town I passed through, there was another Merlotte’s, and maybe another Sookie.
    I didn’t sleep well on the trip, either, because I dreamed of the floor shaking under my feet and the dreadful moment we went out the hole in the glass. Or I saw Pam burning. Or other things, things I’d done and seen during the hours we patrolled the debris, looking for bodies.
    When I turned into my driveway, having been gone a week, my heart began to pound as if the house was waiting for me. Amelia was sitting on the front porch with a bright blue ribbon in her hand, and Bob was sitting in front of her, batting at the dangling ribbon with a black paw. She looked up to see who it was, and when she recognized me behind the wheel, she leaped to her feet. I didn’t pull around back; I stopped right there and jumped out of the driver’s seat. Amelia’s arms wrapped around me like vines, and she shrieked, “You’re back! Oh, blessed Virgin, you’re back!”
    We danced around and hopped up and down like teenagers, whooping with sheer happiness.
    “The paper listed you as a survivor,” she said. “But no one could find you the day after. Until you called, I wasn’t sure you were alive.”
    “It’s a long story,” I said. “A long, long story.”
    “Is it the right time to tell it to me?”
    “Maybe after a few days,” I said.
    “Do you have anything to carry in?”
    “Not a thing. All my stuff went up in smoke when the building went down.”
    “Oh, my God! Your new clothes!”
    “Well, at least I have my driver’s