Sookie 10 Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris

came to my front porch. He knocked, low and firm.
    I counted to ten and opened the door. I tried not to stare at the blood. You could tell he’d washed his face in the stream, but he’d missed his neck.
    “Miss Stackhouse, good morning,” Basim said courteously. “Alcide says I should tell you that other creatures have been passing through your property.”
    I could feel the pucker between my eyes as I frowned. “What kind, Basim?”
    “At least one was a fairy,” he said. “Possibly more than one fairy, but one for sure.”
    That was incredible for about six reasons. “Are these tracks. or traces. fresh? Or a few weeks old?”
    “Very fresh,” he said. “And the scent of vampire is strong, too. That’s a bad mixture.”
    “That’s unpleasant news, but something I needed to know. Thanks for telling me.”
    “And there’s a body.”
    I stared at him, willing my face to stillness. I have a lot of practice at not showing what I’m thinking; any telepath has to be good at that. “How old a body?” I asked, when I was sure I had my voice under control.
    “Around a year and a half, maybe a little less.” Basim wasn’t making a big deal about finding a body. He was strictly letting me know it was there. “It’s quite far back, buried very deeply.”
    I didn’t say anything. Geez Louise, must be Debbie Pelt. Since Eric had recovered his memory of that night, that’s one thing I’d never asked him: where he’d buried her body after I’d killed her.
    Basim’s dark eyes examined me with great attention. “Alcide wants you to call if you need help or advice,” he said finally.
    “Tell Alcide I appreciate the offer. And thanks again for letting me know.”
    He nodded, and then he was halfway back to the truck, where Annabelle sat with her head resting on Alcide’s shoulder.
    I raised my hand to them as Alcide started the truck, and I shut my door firmly as they left.
    I had a lot to think about.

Chapter 2
    I went back to the kitchen, looking forward to my coffee and a slice of the applesauce bread Halleigh Bellefleur had dropped off at the bar the day before. She was a nice young woman, and I was real glad she and Andy were expecting a baby. I’d heard that Andy’s grandmother, ancient Mrs. Caroline Bellefleur, was beside herself with delight, and I didn’t doubt it for a moment. I tried to think about good things, like Halleigh’s baby, Tara’s pregnancy, and the last night I’d spent with Eric; but the disturbing news Basim had told me gnawed at me all morning.
    Of all the ideas I had, calling the Renard Parish’s sheriff’s office was the one that got almost zero brain time. There was no way I could tell them why I was worried. The Weres were out, and there was nothing illegal about letting them hunt on my land. But I couldn’t picture myself telling Sheriff Dearborn that a Were had told me fairies had been crossing my property.
    Here’s the thing. As far as I’d known until this moment, all the fairies except my cousin Claude had been barred from the human world. At least, all the fairies in America. I’d never wondered about those in other countries, and now I closed my eyes and winced at my own stupidity. My great-grandfather Niall had closed all the portals between the fae world and ours. At least, that was what he’d told me he was going to do. And I’d assumed they were all gone, except for Claude, who’d lived among humans as long as I’d known him. So how come there’d been a fairy tromping through my woods?
    And who could I ask for advice on the situation? I couldn’t just sit on my hands and do nothing. My great-grandfather had been looking for the self-loathing half-human renegade Dermot until the moment he closed the portal. I needed to face the possibility that Dermot, who was simply insane, had been left in the human world. However it had come about, I had to believe that fae proximity to my house couldn’t be a good thing. I needed to talk to someone about this.
    I