“And you think this Heidi, who’s supposed to be such a great tracker, is here in Shreveport to be Victor’s eyes and ears?” I said briskly, trying to throw off the chill that had fallen on me.

“Yes,” said Pam. “Unless she’s here to be Felipe’s eyes and ears, so Felipe can keep track of what Victor is doing in Louisiana.” She had that ominous look on her face, the one that said she was going to get her vampire game on. You did not want Pam to look that way when your name entered the conversation. If I were Heidi, I would take care to keep my nose clean.

“Heidi,” which conjured up braids and full skirts in my imagination, seemed like a very perky name for a vampire.

“So what should I do about the Long Tooth pack’s warning?” I said, to bring the discussion back to the original problem. “You’re going to send Heidi to my place to try to track the fairy? I have to tell you something else. Basim scented a body, not a fresh one, buried very deep at the back of my property.”

“Oh,” Eric said. “Whoops.” Eric turned to Pam. “Give us some alone time.”

She nodded and went out through the kitchen. I heard the back door shut.

Eric said, “I’m sorry, my lover. Unless you’ve buried someone else on your property and kept it from me, that body is Debbie Pelt’s.”

That was what I’d been afraid of. “Is the car back there, too?”

“No, the car is sunk in a pond about ten miles south of your place.”

That was a relief. “Well, at least it was a werewolf who found it,” I said. “I guess we don’t have to worry about it, unless Alcide can identify her scent. They won’t go digging the body up. It’s none of their doings.” Debbie had been Alcide’s ex-girlfriend when I’d had the misfortune to meet her. I don’t want to drag out the story, but she’d tried to kill me first. It took me a while, but I’m over the angst of her death. Eric had been with me that night, but he hadn’t been in his right mind. And that’s yet another story.

“Come here,” Eric said. His face held my very favorite expression, and I was doubly glad to see it because I didn’t want to think too much about Debbie Pelt.

“Hmmm. What will you give me if I do?” I gave him a questioning eye.

“I think you know very well what I will give you. I think you love me to give it to you.”

“So . . . you don’t enjoy it at all?”