Deadlocked: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel

her end.
    “I killed Kym Rowe. I came up on her when she was leaving Eric Northman’s house, and I snapped her neck. I’m a werewolf. We’re pretty strong.”
    “Why’d you do that?” Ambroselli asked. I could hear someone muttering to her, and I guessed she was getting advice from the other detectives around her.
    For a moment, Jannalynn’s face looked blank. She hadn’t thought of a motive, at least not a simple one. Then she said, “Kym stole my wallet from my purse, and when I tracked her down and made her give it back, she disrespected me. I … have a bad temper, and she said some stuff that made me sick. I lost it. I have to go now. But I don’t want anyone else blamed for something I did.”
    And Alcide hung up. “We’ll hope that will clear Eric. That’s our responsibility,” he said, and nodded at Eric, who nodded back.
    Jannalynn made her face hard and looked around, but I noticed she didn’t actually meet anyone’s eyes. Even mine.
    “How’d she get these sleazeballs to help her?” Roy asked, jerking his head at the kneeling prisoners. He’d definitely been prepped.
    “She promised them membership in the pack when she became packleader,” Alcide told the Weres. “Van is a convicted rapist. Coco burned her own family, father and two brothers, in their home. Laidlaw, though not convicted in a human court, was thrown out of his own pack in West Virginia for attacking a human child during his moon time. This is why I had turned them down for the Long Tooth pack. But Jannalynn would admit these people to run with us. And they did her bidding.”
    There was a long silence. Neither Van, nor Plump (Coco), nor Laidlaw denied the charges against them. They didn’t try to justify themselves, which was pretty damn impressive.
    “What do you think we should do with the rogues?” Roy asked when the silence had lasted long enough.
    “What crimes did they commit here ?” asked a young woman just past her teens.
    “They abducted Warren and imprisoned him at Jannalynn’s family home. They didn’t feed him and left him in an attic room without air-conditioning or any means of relief from the heat. He almost died as a result. They abducted Sookie and were taking her to their own place, and we can only imagine what they would have done with her there. Those actions were at the behest of Jannalynn.”
    “And she held out the promise of admission to the pack upon your death.” The young woman sounded like she was thinking hard. “Those are bad things to do, but in fact Warren lived, and Sookie was rescued by the pack. Jannalynn won’t be your successor, and they won’t join the pack.”
    “This is all true,” Alcide said.
    “So they acted about like you’d expect rogues to act,” the young woman persisted.
    “Yes. Not lone wolves,” Alcide explained for the benefit of the youngest Weres present. “But rogues, who’ve been turned down for pack membership, maybe by more than one pack.”
    “And what about Kandace?” the young woman said, pointing to the short-haired rogue.
    “Kandace told us what was happening because she didn’t want to be a part of it,” Alcide said. “So we’re going to put her membership to the vote in a month. After people have time to get to know her.”
    There was a general round of nodding, kind of guarded. Kandace might have told on the other rogues because it was the right thing todo, or she might be a natural snitch. Getting to talk to her on an individual basis was the best course.
    “I think we should let these rogues go,” called an older man. “Blackball them from ever being a pack member anywhere. Put out the word.”
    Van closed his eyes. I couldn’t tell if he was feeling relief or misery. Coco was crying; Laidlaw spat on the ground. Not smooth when people were deciding your life or death.
    In the end, they were released. It was unceremonious. Roy untied them and said, “Git.”
    Eric looked away to hide his appalled reaction to such a lack of ritual. Laidlaw took off toward the east, running awkwardly because of his bandaged shoulder. Coco and Van went north. In a moment they were out of sight, and that was the end of the rogues, as far as the Long Tooth pack went.
    Jannalynn remained. Responding to a gesture from Alcide, Roy untied her hands and she stood to her unimpressive height, rubbing her wrists and stretching.
    Mustapha stood to face her on the sanded volleyball area.
    “I will kill you,” he said in his deep voice. He was not