Sookie Stackhouse Boxed Set (Books 1-8) - Charlaine Harris [384]
“Or you’ll do what?” Her thin face was twisted into a snarl. But she genuinely wanted to know what kind of pull I had; I could read that much.
“Yeah, what?” asked a calmer voice.
I looked at the doorway to see a man who was probably on the upside of forty. He had a trimmed beard salted with gray, and his hair was cut close to his head. He was a small man, perhaps five foot seven or so, with a lithe build and muscular arms.
“Anything I have to,” I said. I looked him straight in the eyes. They were a strange golden green. He didn’t seem inimical, exactly. He seemed curious.
“Why are you here?” he asked, again in that neutral voice.
“Who are you?” I had to know who this guy was. I wasn’t going to waste my time repeating my story to someone who just had some time to fill. Given his air of authority, and the fact that he wasn’t opting for mindless belligerence, I was willing to bet this man was worth talking to.
“I’m Calvin Norris. I’m Crystal’s uncle.” From his brain pattern, he was also a shifter of some kind. Given the absence of dogs in this settlement, I assumed they were Weres.
“Mr. Norris, I’m Sookie Stackhouse.” I wasn’t imagining the increased interest in his expression. “Your niece here went to the New Year’s Eve party at Merlotte’s Bar with my brother, Jason. Sometime the next night, my brother went missing. I want to know if Crystal can tell me anything that might help me find him.”
Calvin Norris bent to pat the toddler on the head, and then walked over to the couch where Crystal glowered. He sat beside her, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands dangling, relaxed, between them. His head inclined as he looked into Crystal’s sullen face.
“This is reasonable, Crystal. Girl wants to know where her brother is. Tell her, if you know anything about it.”
Crystal snapped at him, “Why should I tell her anything? She comes out here, tries to threaten me.”
“Because it’s just common courtesy to help someone in trouble. You didn’t exactly go to her to volunteer help, did you?”
“I didn’t think he was just missing. I thought he—” And her voice cut short as she realized her tongue had led her into trouble.
Calvin’s whole body tensed. He hadn’t expected that Crystal actually knew anything about Jason’s disappearance. He had just wanted her to be polite to me. I could read that, but not much else. I could not decipher their relationship. He had power over the girl, I could tell that easily enough, but what kind? It was more than the authority of an uncle; it felt more like he was her ruler. He might be wearing old work clothes and safety boots, he might look like any blue-collar man in the area, but Calvin Norris was a lot more.
Packmaster, I thought. But who would be in a pack, this far out in the boondocks? Just Crystal? Then I remembered Sam’s veiled warning about the unusual nature of Hotshot, and I had a revelation. Everyone in Hotshot was two-natured.
Was that possible? I wasn’t completely certain Calvin Norris was a Were—but I knew he didn’t change into any bunny. I had to struggle with an almost irresistible impulse to lean over and put my hand on his forearm, touch skin to skin to read his mind as clearly as possible.
I was completely certain about one thing: I wouldn’t want to be anywhere around Hotshot on the three nights of the full moon.
“You’re the barmaid at Merlotte’s,” he said, looking into my eyes as intently as he’d looked into Crystal’s.
“I’m a barmaid at Merlotte’s.”
“You’re a friend of Sam’s.”
“Yes,” I said carefully. “I am. I’m a friend of Alcide Herveaux’s, too. And I know Colonel Flood.”
These names meant something to Calvin Norris. I wasn’t surprised that Norris would know the names of some prominent Shreveport Weres—and he’d know Sam, of course. It had taken my boss time to connect with the local two-natured