Rescue Me ch 11: By Your Side

Song to listen to this chapter: By Your Side by Faber Drive

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. They are all the creation of Charlaine Harris. I just like to take them panty shopping.

Chapter 11

As the group walked to the elevator together Eric stopped and turned to Sookie.

He laid his hands on her shoulders and said: “Sookie I'd like to talk to the manager while you pack. I want to know more about this incident.”

“Ok Eric, it shouldn't take too long I don't have much to pack. I'll wait for you in the room.” Sookie said as she looked up into Eric's concerned eyes.

“I'll be back soon then we can leave for my condo.” Eric bent down to lay a kiss on Sookie's forehead.

Sookie nodded and rejoined Amelia and Tray who were holding the elevator open waiting for her. The doors slid shut as Eric turned away to find the hotel manager. He went to the front desk to ask for directions to the manager's office. When he was in front of the closed office door he knocked and waited for someone to answer it. He heard someone call out to come in so he turned the knob and entered.

“Yes? How may I help you sir?” Felipe stood from behind his desk and inquired looking a bit flustered.

“Hello my name is Eric Northman. I'm a friend of Sookie, Amelia, and Hadley's; the ladies who were staying in the room that was broken into today. I wanted to inquire about the incident and ask if you could share anything more with me?” Eric said from the doorway.

Felipe motioned for Eric to come in: “Yes, yes please shut the door and come in. I don't want to alarm any of the other guests if unnecessary. I'm Mr. De Castro and I want to do whatever I can to help the young ladies.”

Felipe held out his hand to shake with Eric and motioned to the seat in front of his desk.

Eric shook his hand, took the seat and asked with a furrowed brow: “Do you think this is an isolated case? Do you not have concerns for your other guests?”

“Well Mr. Northman I have reason to believe that this incident was aimed directly for the young ladies staying in that room.” Felipe revealed solemnly.

Eric was shocked as he continued to question: “What makes you think that Mr. De Castro?”

Felipe sighed as he said: “A few days ago I noticed a gentleman hanging around the lobby acting suspicious. I was busy helping guests so I was unable to approach him. The following day he was in the lobby again seeming to be waiting for someone but also trying to hide his appearance. I approached him to ask if he was waiting for a guest that I could call for him? The way he reacted to my talking to him raised my awareness that something was not right. I asked one of my employees, Victor, to keep an eye out for him and notify me if he was spotted again. The gentleman was spotted by Victor today in the lobby waiting to enter the elevator. Victor was busy helping a guest so he was unable to notify me immediately. Victor noted what floor the elevator had stopped at and decided to check on it after helping the guest to her room. When he stepped out of the elevator on the fourth floor he noticed the intruder leaving the room trying to be discreet. Victor called out to confront him but the intruder ran off and escaped through the fire exit. I'm not sure how he gained access to the key card to the room but we are looking into how he figured out the room number. It is strict hotel policy to never give this information out. After this event I have investigated and it seems that the day I first noticed this gentleman was the day the young ladies had checked into the hotel. I'm not entirely sure how this person knew where the ladies would be staying but this is most concerning. I'm believe that this person may mean to harm to one of those ladies. I ask that you try to keep a close eye on them. If this person has gained access to their hotel, their key card, and their room I don’t want to think about what else he may be able to accomplish.”

Eric sat back and let all the new startling information process. Someone was after one of the girls and he would do all he could to protect Sookie and the other two. How could something like this happen? What kind of person would break into a room while it was empty?

He lifted his eyes to Felipe's and said: “Thank you for listening to your intuition on this person. I appreciate all that you have done to try to help. Please extend my gratitude to your employee as well. He went above his job duties to help with this matter. I will definitely keep an eye out for anyone I think means harm to my friends. Is there anything more you can tell me about this person? Were there any surveillance videos?”

Felipe shook his head in regret and answered: “Unfortunately we are in the process of upgrading the interior and exterior video cameras. They were shut off during the day to change them out. It was just bad timing that this seemed to happen while they were offline. I've reviewed the other tapes from before but the gentleman seemed to be hiding his appearance in them. All we were able to capture was the back of his head and body. I can tell you that the gentleman was about 5' 10” thin built with brunette hair. He seemed to be in his 40's but that is about all I can recall of his appearance. I'm sorry I could not be of more assistance.”

“Thank you for what you have shared. Can I leave a number with you in case anything new is uncovered?” Eric asked standing up from the seat.

“Yes, I would be happy to help in anyway I can.” Felipe tried to smile.

He handed Eric a notepad to write his number on. Felipe wrote the number to his direct line at the hotel on the back of the hotel business card for Eric to call with anymore questions he might have. They shook hands and exited the office together.

Eric made his way up to the suite. He wanted to talk to Tray about protecting and keeping an eye out for suspicious men around the girls. He didn't want to alarm them anymore than they already were so he wouldn't tell them about the information he gained from Felipe.

Eric exited the elevator and walked to the suite door and knocked. Tray opened the door and let him in. Eric looked around the suite to see if the girls were within hearing distance.

He laid his hand on Tray's shoulder and said: “Hey, I need to talk to you about something I just learned downstairs.”

“Sure but why are you whispering?” Tray asked quietly.

“I don't want to scare the girls but it seems that there is someone may be stalking one or all of them. The hotel manager said a guy was acting suspicious in the lobby the first day they checked in and had returned the next day as well. When the manager approached him he was jittery and raised some warning flags for him. He asked one of the employees to keep an eye out for him and today he was back with the key card. The employee was who caught the guy coming out of the room. He yelled out to him but the guy took off running and managed to escape.” Eric told Tray quietly.

“No shit. What the fuck is this guy after? I'll kill anyone that means these girls harm. They're as sweet as can be.” Tray was closing and opening his hands making fists.

“I know. I feel the same way so I want you to be on guard when your with any of them. I'll do the same but one of us needs to be with them at all times. You got me?” Eric raised his eyebrow at him and gave Tray's shoulder a squeeze.

“I got you.” Tray patted Eric on the back.

They went to sit in the sitting room to think things over while they waited for the girls to finish packing. When they heard Sookie give out a loud gasp they ran into her room. Sookie was standing in front of the dresser with her hand over her mouth staring at the slighty ajar drawer.

Eric ran up to Sookie and threw his arms around her: “What's wrong?”

Sookie was shaking in his arms as she said: “My top dresser drawer was opened a bit and my underwear have been rummaged through. I don't want to touch them if someone else was handling them. What kind of a person would do that Eric? Go through someone's personal items?”

Eric gave Tray a look that seemed almost feral. Tray left the room and crossed over to check on Amelia.

Eric sighed and tried to calm himself. He placed a finger under Sookie's chin to tilt her head up to look at her, “Leave them. Well stop at a store and get you some new ones. This person is sick and I will not allow anyone to bring harm to you. I will protect you Sookie.”

A tear fell down Sookie's cheek as she nodded her head. She wrapped her arms around Eric's waist and gave him a squeeze. Eric stroked her hair to help her calm her nerves. After a few minutes Sookie untangled from his hold and turned to shut her suitcase.

“I'm ready. Let's get out of here, I don't want to be in this room another second.” Sookie said as she wiped her tears from her face.

Eric grabbed her suitcase and led her from the room. They walked into the sitting room where Tray and Amelia where waiting for them. Eric looked at Tray with an unspoken question and he just shook his head slightly. It seemed that nothing was missing or out of place from Amelia's room. This was not looking good. They left the hotel and split up in the parking lot. Amelia had told them that Hadley was stopping by to grab her things with Pam in a bit then they would head to the condo after that. Amelia let Sookie know that she would be by in the morning to talk to them both about what they would do next. They parted with a hug and a smile. Each trying to reassure the other that they were fine.

Eric and Sookie drove back to his place in silence. Eric was contemplating what he would do if anyone would harm Sookie. He was trying to suppress the growl that was threatening to come out when he thought of the strange man going through Sookie's underthings.

Sookie stared out the side window in shock after what had happened. This vacation was not turning out well. She had almost drowned, passed out in a bar, attacked Eric in his bed, and now someone broke into her room and fondled her panties. The only thing that seemed to be good out of it was meeting Eric. She turned to him and gave him a tight smile as she laid her hand on his over the gear shift and gave it a squeeze. Eric turned and returned the smile.

It was late when they finally arrived at the condo. They had stopped at Walmart since it was open all night so that Sookie could grab some underthings. When they had parked Eric exited the car and grabbed her suitcase, bags, and the picnic basket from the trunk.

Sookie knew that he would have his hands full so she exited the car and waited for him to join her. When he reached her she grabbed the basket to help him carry it in. She leaned into Eric when he threw his arm around her shoulders as they walked to the front door. He slide his arm from her shoulder and opened the door to allow her to enter.

“You can take my bed again and I'll crash on the couch.” Eric offered.

“No, I don't want to put you out of your bed. I can sleep on the couch.” Sookie said quietly.

“Sookie your a guest you will not sleep on the couch.” Eric said as he walked to his bedroom door to set her suitcase down on the bed.

“Well I don't want you all crammed up on that little couch. You can share the bed with me I don't mind.” Sookie said as she sat on the bed.

“I just don't want to make you feel uncomfortable. As long as your fine with it then I'm fine with it.” Eric said to her.

“I'm fine with it Eric.” Sookie smiled at him.

Eric nodded and said: “I'll be back. I'm going to empty the basket and store it away.”

Sookie opened her suitcase and emptied the underwear she had purchased at Walmart into it. She removed the price tags and put them into the larger bag to throw away. Any other time she would have thought shopping for panties with Eric would be sexy and fun but this was not a fun moment. She grabbed a few items to sleep in and her tooth brush. She closed her suitcase then set it by the dresser and headed to the shower. She had sand in places she didn't want and was ready to wash it and the night away.

Sookie exited the bathroom a while later in a cloud of steam. She saw Eric standing by the dresser moving things around.

Turning when he heard the door open Eric asked with a smile:“Feeling better?”

“Much better. What are you doing?” Sookie asked as she crossed the room to sit on the bed.

“I made some room for your things. You can use this drawer and I've made some room in the closet for you to hang some items as well.” Eric said while leaning against the dresser.

“You didn't have to do that Eric. I could live out of my suitcase.” Sookie looked down at her hands laying in her lap.

Eric moved to sit next to Sookie and grabbed her hands: “Nonsense. Your welcome to it and I want you to be comfortable. I want you to stay here as long as you want and not find better accommodations elsewhere.”

“Thank you Eric, for everything.” Sookie leaned up and laid a sweet kiss lightly on his lips.

“Your welcome Sookie but I should be thanking you for accepting my offer to stay here. I'm very happy that you trust me enough to stay here.” Eric smiled at her and stroked her cheek.

“You haven't given my any reason to not trust you.” Sookie smiled softly at him.

“Well I'm off to shower as well. Seems someone got me a bit dirty and I need a good scrubbing.” Eric smirked at her.

Sookie blushed and looked away from him.

“I do love that color on you.” Eric said as he allowed his finger to brush against his mark on her neck.

Sookie looked up at Eric with big eyes and was happy he was trying to lighten the mood. She watched as he grabbed some items from the dresser and entered the bathroom. She turned on the bedside table and crossed the room to turn the lights off before lifting the covers to settle in the bed. She lay there thinking about the day. It had be one crazy ride from all the ups and downs. She was happy to have Eric with her here he was such a great guy. Her thoughts suddenly turned to the intruder and she shuddered as she thought of the unknown person looking at her underthings. She felt tears start to fall again and wiped them away before Eric saw them.

Eric exited the bathroom all clean and saw that Sookie was in his bed again. He smiled as he turned the bathroom light out to join her. Sookie was laying on the side furthest from the bathroom and had turned her back to the door. He lifted the covers to slide under them then turned to turn the light off. He wanted to hold her but didn't know if he should give her space. He heard her sniffle and turned towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Eric whispered to her; “Sookie are you ok?”

Sniffling some more Sookie said;“I'm fine. Don't worry about it.”

He leaned over her and turned her slighty so he could look into her eyes. “Sookie please let me be here for you. I can't help you if you want to keep it all bottled inside.”

“I'm sorry Eric, your right. I just can't stop thinking about that person being in my room and touching my things. What will happen to me next?” Sookie said quietly while she cried a bit more.

Eric wiped her tears from her face and said: “Sookie, I'm here for you. I won't let anyone get to you if I have anything to do or say about it. I'm not letting you out of my sight while your here. Now close your eyes and know that I'm here to protect you. When you wake up I'll still be here. You have nothing to fear. Tomorrow will be a better day I promise you.”

Sookie turned into him throwing her arm across his waist and laid her head on his shoulder.”Thank you Eric. I don't know what I'd do without you here.”

Sookie feel asleep with Eric stroking her hair. She felt safe in his arms and slid into the comfort of his warmth.

Eric heard a small snore escape Sookie and quietly said: “I'll always be here for you Sookie.”

He pulled her closer to him and kissed the top of her head. He laid awake for a bit thinking of a way to make tomorrow better for Sookie. When he finally had a plan set he succumbed to his heavy lids while stroking Sookie's hair. If he had his way he'd fall asleep like this every night.