The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

assures them that Bubba isn’t like him at all once you get to know him, an honest truth as Bubba is no longer of the same mind.
    Sam tells them that he needs to hire a new waitress. He asks Sookie to go through the applications he has on file. She reads Maudette’s application and reluctantly becomes suspicious as she realizes that her brother isn’t the only man with a connection to the murdered women. Sam knew them both as well. Sookie remains uncomfortable with her boss for the rest of the day and finds herself nervous and restless once she gets home. Terry Bellefleur calls from the bar to let her know that Jason is there and wants to buy her a drink, so she drives back over to Merlotte’s, parking in the employee lot and taking a moment to pat a stray dog on the head. Terry denies having called her. Since the dog is still out back, Sookie decides to take him home for company for the night. She names him Dean, and he watches attentively as she gets ready for bed. She initially makes him sleep on the floor but doesn’t push him back off the bed when he climbs on as she is falling asleep.
    THURSDAY, JULY 29. Awaking the next morning, Sookie is stunned to find a naked Sam in bed with her. He confesses that he is a shapeshifter and can turn into any animal he wants. He admits that he wanted to guard her overnight. He planned on being out of the house before she woke, but he overslept. Sookie realizes that shapeshifting is definitely supernatural and accepts that vampires are not suffering from a virus. She understands that Bill is really dead, but she loves him anyway.
    Sam has to return to being a dog when Andy arrives to let her know that another woman has been murdered. She persuades the exhausted detective to rest in her old bedroom, and Sam shifts back to human form so that Sookie can sneak him back to the bar. They are stunned when they arrive to find Jason unconscious in his truck and covered in blood. Panicked that he is seriously hurt, Sookie has Sam call an ambulance for her brother. The police, believing that Jason killed the latest victim and then got drunk, arrest him at the hospital. Sookie leaves a message for Bill at his New Orleans hotel and then contacts lawyer Sid Matt Lancaster about representing her brother.
    Later that night, Sookie hears Bubba shouting. When she calls out to him, he tells her that someone was in her yard.
    FRIDAY, JULY 30. Jason makes bail. He is too ashamed to even speak to Sookie. She sits in the bar, doggedly listening into the thoughts of the patrons until Sam sends her home. She is washing her face when she hears something outside and goes to the door to yell for Bubba. He doesn’t answer. She calls 911, but her phone is dead. She decides to run to Bill’s house, figuring his phone will be working. She looks in the hall closet for an old gun Adele kept there but finds it missing. Sookie is horrified to realize that the killer has been in her house. She creeps out her back door and is stunned when she finally gets a peek into the killer’s mind. It is Rene Lenier, and she reads in his tangled thoughts that his first victim was his own sister, who was dating a vampire despite her brother’s protests. Rene catches Sookie and begins to beat her, but he is surprised by her strength when she fights back. She falls to the ground, and he straddles her, trying to hold her while he feels around for his rope to strangle her. Sookie’s left hand is free. She is able to get his work knife off his belt and stab him. When he falls to the ground, she stumbles to Bill’s house and calls 911 before losing consciousness.
    SATURDAY, JULY 31. When Sookie wakes up in the hospital, she finds that Rene has confessed to everything. She has visitors and flowers from the Merlotte’s employees, from Sid Matt and his wife, and from Eric. She dozes and awakens to find Bill at her side. He considers killing Rene, but Sookie tells him to let the law deal with the killer. Bill promises to take care of her at night when she is released. She turns down his offer of blood and asks him what he accomplished in New Orleans. He announces that he is the new investigator for Area Five, Eric’s area. This puts Bill and, thereby, Sookie under Eric’s protection. As Bill looks forward to getting back to normal, a collie looks into the room before continuing down the hall, and a smiling Eric floats past the hospital window.

The Secret Dialogues of Bill and Eric
    To: Eric Northman,
Sheriff of Area Five,