Deadlocked: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel

happiness all around, Alcide came in. He’d clearly been working; there was a hard hat impression in his thick black hair, and he was sweaty and dirty like most of the men who came in at midday in the summer. Another Were was with him, a man who was just as glad to be in the air-conditioning. They breathed simultaneous sighs of relief when they sank into the chairs at a table in my section.
    Truthfully, I was surprised to see Alcide in Merlotte’s. There were plenty of places to eat in the area besides our bar. Our last conversation hadn’t been exactly pleasant, and he’d never responded to the message I’d left on his cell phone.
    Maybe his presence constituted an olive branch. I went over with menus and a tentative smile. “You must have a job close to here,” I said, by way of greeting. Alcide had been a partner in his dad’s surveying company, and now he owned the whole thing. He was running it well, I heard. I’d also heard there’d been big personnel changes.
    “We’re getting ready for the new high school gym in Clarice,” Alcide said. “We just finished. Sookie, this is Roy Hornby.”
    I nodded politely. “Roy, nice to meet you. What can I get for you-all to drink?”
    “Could we have a whole pitcher of sweet tea?” Roy asked. He gave off the strong mental signature of a werewolf.
    I said, “Sure, I’ll just go get that.” While I carried a cold pitcher and two glasses filled with ice over to the table, I wondered if the new people at AAA Accurate Surveys were all two-natured. I poured the first round of tea. It was gone in a few seconds. I refilled.
    “ Damn , it’s hot out there,” Roy said. “You saved my life.” Roy was medium: hair a medium brown, eyes a medium blue, height a moderate five foot ten, slim build. He did have great teeth and a winning smile, which he flashed at me now. “I think you know my girlfriend, Ms. Stackhouse.”
    “Who would that be? Call me Sookie, by the way.”
    “I date Palomino.”
    I was so startled that I couldn’t think of what to say. Then I had to scramble to get some words out. “She’s sure a pretty young woman. I haven’t gotten to know her real well, but I see her around.”
    “Yeah, she works for your boyfriend, and she moonlights at the Trifecta.”
    For a vampire and a Were to date was very unusual, practically a Romeo and Juliet situation. Roy must be a tolerant kind of guy. Funny, that wasn’t the vibe he was giving off. Roy seemed like a conventional Were to me: tough, macho, strong-willed.
    There weren’t many “granola” Weres. But Alcide, though not exactly beaming at Roy, wasn’t scowling, either.
    I wondered what Roy thought of Palomino’s nestmates, Rubio and Parker. I wondered if Roy knew Palomino had been part of the massacre at Fangtasia. Since Roy was a bit clearer to read than some Weres, I could tell he was thinking of Palomino going to a bar with him. Something clicked inside me, and I knew I’d gotten an idea, but I wasn’t sure what it was. There was a connection I should be drawing, but I’d have to wait for it to pop to the top of my brain. Isn’t that the most irritating feeling in the world?
    The next time I passed Alcide’s table, Roy had gone to the men’s room. Alcide reached out to ask me to pause. “Sookie,” he said quietly,“I got your message. Nobody’s seen Mustapha yet, and nobody’s heard from him. Or his buddy Warren. What did he say to you?”
    “He gave me a message for you,” I said. “You want to come outside for a second?”
    “Well, all right.” Alcide rose and walked to the door, and I trailed after him. There was no one lingering in the parking lot on a day this hot.
    “I know you won’t want to hear this, but he said Jannalynn was out to get me, and not to trust her,” I said.
    Alcide’s green eyes widened. “Jannalynn. He says she’s untrustworthy.”
    I raised my shoulders, let them drop.
    “I don’t know how to take that, Sookie. Though she hasn’t been herself for a few weeks, she’s more than proved herself as my enforcer.” Alcide looked both bewildered and irritated. “I’ll think on what you’ve told me. In the meantime, I’m keeping my eyes and ears open, and you’ll hear soon’s I know something.”
    “He wants you to call him,” I said. “When you’re alone. He put a lot of weight on that.”
    “Thanks for passing along the message.”
    Though that wasn’t the same thing as telling me he’d place the call, I made myself smile at him