Sookie Stackhouse 3
Charlaine Harris
SUMMARY:
Sookie is getting frustrated with Bill for always working. It seems like he has been spending every waking moment on his computer, leaving very little time for her. One day, she looks at the computer screen over his shoulder and he yells at her, telling her to forget whatever she might have seen. Soon after, he tells her that he has to leave for a business trip in Seattle. Bill tells Sookie that if he does not return within eight weeks, check to see if he put his computer in the hidey-hole at her house. If it isn't there, check his house. He wants her to make sure that no one else can get to it.
Sookie goes about her normal business until she is attacked by a werewolf wearing a leather vest with a pack's insignia on the back. Bubba, who was sent by Eric to protect Sookie, kills him. She then receives a call from Pam. She informs Sookie that Bill has been captured because of whatever he has been working on for the queen of Louisiana. Pam asks if Bill came to see her before he was captured. Sookie is confused because she didn't know that Bill was planning to return to Bon Temps. Pam explains that Bill was going to deliver some bad news to Sookie. Eric is furious that Pam let this detail slip. Eric is then the one to explain that Bill lied about where he was going and has been unfaithful to her with a vampire named Lorena. Sookie decides that she needs to go to Jackson, Mississippi to look for Bill. Eric decides to send help along with her.
The next morning, Alcide Herveaux, a werewolf who owes Eric a debt due to his father's gambling problem, comes to escort Sookie to Jackson. The two take a liking to each other and don't really hold back in telling each other what they will actually need to know about each other. While the two are in Jackson, waiting until they can go to the vampire bar, Club Dead, Alcide goes to take care of some business. In the meantime, Sookie goes to his sister's salon to meet her and they become fast friends.
Later that night, they arrive at Club Dead. Sookie stays close to Alcide and tries to read the human minds. She learns that Russell Edgington may be involved in Bill's capture. When Alcide slips away for a moment to use the facilities, a man hits on Sookie. She turns him down and he creates a bit of a scene until Russell Edgington steps in. Russell insists that her and Alcide return to the club the next night as his guests. On their way out, Sookie goes to collect her shawl and finds that it has been burned by Alcide's ex-girlfriend, Debby.
The next day, Sookie and Alcide find the werewolf that was hitting on her at the club dead in the closet. They take care to roll it in the shower curtain and dispose of it in the river a good distance in the country. They return to the club that night. Sookie and Alcide sit with Russell, his human mate Talbot, Franklin Motts, and his human mate, which happens to be Sookie's friend Tara. She immediately takes Tara to the bathroom so that she can keep her identity secret. Later in the evening, Sookie senses that there is a vampire-hating fanatic in the room with a stake. She starts to approach him and yells when she sees him pull the stake and aim for Russell's second in command. Sookie sees that the man has a companion who happens to be Steve Newlan from the Fellowship of the Sun that the vampires had destroyed in Dallas. Sookie is stabbed with the stake and taken to Russell's place to be healed. Eric, who as posing as a Alcides's friend who is looking out for the new girl, informs Sookie that Alcide when after the second assailant. She senses that Bill is on the grounds.
Eric heals Sookie with his blood. He then goes out to get her a car with a large trunk so that she can rescue Bill. Bubba shows up, apologizing for not being able to protect Sookie at the bar. Sookie is surprised that he was still following and protecting her. She asks him to look around the compound for Bill. He eventually returns to tell her that he is in an outbuilding. When day arrives, Sookie takes a blanket and goes out to find Bill. She finds him chained in silver and sees that he has obviously been tortured. Lorena, Bills old/new lover and maker, comes in and is shocked to find Sookie trying to free him. This gives Sookie enough time to stake her. She gets the rest of the silver off of Bill, covers him in the blanket, and gets him to the trunk without the werewolf guards hearing her. She goes back for Lorena's body and pushes it under the pool cover, hoping no one will find it.
When Sookie finally finds her way back to Alcide's, she asks for a temporary parking sticker and the attendant gladly gives it to her since she caught him taking a break. She falls asleep in the dark car and is awakened by the cold. She goes to check on Bill and is shoved into the trunk with him. She senses that it was a shifter that did it. She knows it was Debby. Unfortunately, the trunk release has been disabled. When Bill wakes up, she tries to tell him that it is her, but he bites her anyway. He then goes to fill his other needs before coming back to himself. Bill rips the trunk open and Sookie is so exhausted that she passes out. When she wakes up, the three men that all seem to want her are staring at her. They start trying to decide what has been going on and what to do about it. Alcide makes them all go to the apartment next door because Debby is coming. They fight for a while. This gives Bill a chance to explain what happened to him. He has been compiling a program that keeps track of all vampires, which it seems that most vampires would love to get their hands on. Sookie gets fed up and asks Eric to take her home. He agrees.
When they are almost home, they stop at a gas station. Sookie goes to use the facilities and when she comes out, the clerk is being robbed. The men ask about the blond with the vampire and Sookie knows that she's in trouble. She reads that the attendant has a shotgun in his truck. Since he has been lying about knowing where Sookie is, she sneaks out back and gets the shotgun. She then goes out front, steals a knife from the robbers cars, and pokes a small hole in one tire (to not make it suspicious). Eric comes up behind her and they go in together to save the attendant from the beating he is receiving. Eric glamours one of the men and they find out that there are hooligans at every gas station waiting for them.
Eric takes Sookie the rest of the way home. They are so frustrated that they end up arguing with each other over the state of the driveway. Sookie storms inside, thinking that there is a friend in there waiting for her, but instead she is beaten by some werewolves and humans. Eric ran off in the woods because he was shot twice. When he returns, Bill is with him and they kill all the men in the house. She has been badly hurt and eventually passes out.
When Sookie wakes up again, it is daytime. She calls Jason to let him know that she is home. He comes over to drop off her mail and mentions that her driveway has been re-graveled, paid in full by Eric. Alcide comes to visit as well. He apologizes for the wolves attacking her. He kisses her, but she is too sore to respond well. He gives her his card and tells her to call him for anything.
Later that night, Pam comes over to help Sookie out (bathing, dressing, etc). Pam seems to find Sookie humorous. Eric and Bill arrive and they all start talking. Eventually, Pam leaves. Bill tires to make excuses for his behavior, but Sookie rescinds the his invitation into her house. Just as Eric starts to become smug about this, she also takes back his invitation. She then realizes that Bill's project is still in her house and there are no vampires that can get in (though she seems to have forgotten about Pam).