“You’re not going to get away,” I said dispassionately. “They’ll be here in two shakes of a lamb’s tail. You’re hurt too bad to escape. If you don’t go to the hospital, you’ll die.”

“I might as well,” she said drearily. “I’ve killed a man now.”

“You’re counting this as the first?” I was shocked. “You’ve been responsible for so many deaths, but this is the one that matters?” Of course, this one counted to Sarah because Collins had been human and on her side, and the others who’d died had been vampires and weres and humans who didn’t believe what the Fellowship of the Sun advocated.

“Why’d you shoot your disciple here?” I asked, since Sarah seemed to be in confession mode.

“Steve and I knew Collins from his website,” she said weakly. “He had all the right ideas, and he was full of the fire of God. But the plans we had for today failed. God must have changed his mind, turned his face from us. Collins never came to the church. I came here to ask him why, but he was angry, angry with me, with himself. I think he may have been drinking. He challenged me to go with him, to shoot you-all next door. He said we could kill most of you, just like he killed the dogs.”

“You weren’t up for that?” Luna asked bitterly. “You sure missed an opportunity to get a bunch of us at once.”

“Couldn’t risk myself,” Sarah whispered. “I’m too important to the cause. He even thrust a gun in my hand. But God didn’t want me to sacrifice myself. When I told Collins that, he went nuts.”

“He was already nuts,” I said, but she wasn’t listening.

“Then he said I was a hypocrite, and he shot me.”

“Looks like you shot him back.”

“Yes,” Sarah whispered. “Yes, I shot him back.”

A police car pulled up in front of the Collins house, the flickering light visible from the kitchen. Someone called from the front door, “Police! We’re coming in!”

“Hurry with the ambulance,” I called back. “There are two of us who came and discovered the situation. We’re unarmed.”

“Stand with your hands against the wall!” the officer’s voice called back, and it sure as hell sounded like Porter Carpenter.

“Porter,” I said. “It’s me, Sookie Stackhouse, Sam’s friend. And my buddy Luna Garza is with me.”

“Hands!” Porter said. “Anyway.”

“Okay.” I appreciated his caution. Luna walked over to me, and we turned our backs on the doorway and put our hands on the wall. “We’re ready,” I yelled.

You’d think I’d be distraught and upset. You’d think I’d be overwhelmed, having seen this horrible scene.