I met up with Roman and his deputy about five miles away from the vampire bar. I had brought one of my biggest and strongest deputies with me, Kyle Bauer. He was impressive to look at, and if you add Roman and me into the picture – well, we looked imposing. Roman had brought one of his deputies, George something, I didn’t catch his last name, but George was to stay out with the patrol cars and have our backs, so to speak.

Fangtasia. Who the hell names a vampire bar Fang-tasia?This guy, um – actually dead guy, vamp – whatever, must have a real good sense of humor or was a bit ‘off.’ I was hoping for the first option.

Kyle was driving and I told him to pull up next to Roman’s patrol car and leave the headlights on, following Roman’s example. We got out and joined Roman and George at the trunk of their car, where they seemed to be doing inventory on its contents.

Roman started to change out the bullets in his revolver. He reached over to me and tapped my holstered revolver. “I’ve got ammo for you. You need to switch out with these,” he stretched out his arm so that Kyle and I could see what he was holding, “they’re special bullets, silver tipped. They won’t kill them but it will drop them and keep them down long enough to get a restraint on them.” He glanced over to George, while loading up a rifle with silver tipped bullets. “George, hand them some cuffs.” George did as he was told, reaching into a box and pulling out a good amount of cuffs, at least 6 or more.

Kyle and I took them and sorted them out. Roman was now attaching some of the cuffs to his belt. “They’re silver coated. These all have plastic coating on them to reduce the burn. I have the other kind but I don’t think we’re going to need them.”

As if reading my mind, Roman said, “I ordered all this stuff for you and your station. My team and I only use silver; we don’t use regular stuff anymore. I want y’all to start doing the same.” I nodded. Kyle looked like he was in seventh heaven; he liked being part of the action, as he told me earlier, and now he was in ‘it.’

The headlights from our cars illuminated our surroundings pretty well so I could make out the expression on Roman’s face. He was tense. I half-whispered, “Are we expecting trouble?” He glanced quickly at me, then over my shoulder at Kyle. He bent down, shifting through luggage tote and gym bags, “Trooper, be prepared. Lock, load and keep low.”

He turned around and leaned against the open trunk of the car so that he could see the three of us at one time. “We’re going in for a friendly meet and greet. We will keep it professional. We will be on high alert at all times, do you understand? ” We all nodded. He made a point to look at both deputies straight in the face as they nodded.

He continued on with his instructions. He made a change to the plan, Kyle would now stay outside with George and only Roman and I would go inside. I got his drift, I had to make an impression on my own, stand on my own two feet, show no fear. We finished upgrading equipment, packed up and pulled out.

________________________________________________________________________

We pulled into Fangtasia’s parking lot and chose to park towards the back of the parking lot, but under a light. We all got out, the deputies immediately posted themselves around the cars, and Roman and I did our Andy Taylor strolls up to the front door. The music from the bar was so loud that it could be heard all the way back at the cars. You could actually feel the thumping of bass speakers somewhere in the bar.

There was a line out front, with some dressed in their hooker best and others trying to take Goth to an art form. Unbelievably, there were college frat kids and Asian tourists with cameras mixed in the line.

A tall, gorgeous, blonde woman was standing at the bar entrance. She was wearing a leather mini skirt, tube top, and four inch heels, all in black. What little she was wearing barely concealed that fact that she had a killer figure.

Even though she had a skillfully applied make-up, she was extremely pale. The expression on her face announced to all in the vicinity of her, that she did not feel she was surrounded by her equals. Her head was held high and her upper lip was slightly curled into a sneer. It looked like she was trying not to smell something. As Roman and I approached, she registered our presence by adjusting her sneer. I wasn’t sure if she was smiling at us or baring her teeth. I guess it was a smile because I didn’t see fangs.

Her gaze shifted over Roman and lingered at his crotch area. Her smile deepened. She then licked her lips – oh, yes she did! “Well, Deputy Chief Jeffers, welcome…welcome! I was so very…very…glad when I heard that you were coming by tonight.”

She slowly sashayed her way over to him and slightly leaned into his face. “I will personally attend to any of your needs tonight.” She then did a perfect runway model’s turn and walked to the door, beckoning him with a sexy smile. “Eric is expecting you. Please do come in. I won’t bite, unless you want me to.” She let out a deep, throaty laugh and then turned and walked through the door.

During the woman’s runway show, I stood there feeling like a football referee. She ignored me and made her play, he received and dropped. Incomplete pass – no good. I just had to joke or I would have felt insulted.

Actually, this frequently happens when both male and female officers jointly answer a call. The female officers are nearly always ignored by the perps (perpetrators) or witnesses. We’re brought into play when the opposing team is seeking sympathy. But on the flip side, a female officer’s presence has been known to diffuse a tense situation. The FBI and the IRS are two government agencies notorious for using this technique. Female agents are brought in as “shields,” they use their womanly wiles and presence to keep the situation calm. Bad guys normally don’t like to shoot at pretty girls. I shit you not, it’s true.

I slightly bumped Roman to get his attention and ever so slightly nodded my head in the blonde’s direction, raising my eyebrows in a figurative question mark. He nodded just as slightly, indicating that yes, indeed, the blonde was a vampire.

The place was wall to wall freaks; it smelled of beer and sweat and looked like your typical dive bar. There was a little stage in the back with what looked like a throne on the stage. Interesting, did they hold vampire pageants or something?

We followed her back beyond the bar then down a corridor and stopped at a rusty, red metal door. She opened the door just enough so that she could scoot in but not enough for us to see the contents of the room. She was looking at someone but I couldn’t see who, but I could hear her quietly talking to them.

“Eric, our Deputy Chief of Police Jeffers is here, fully armed and ready to meet with you. Oh, and he brought a friend.” I heard a muffled male’s voice and sounded like it said, “Let them in.” The blonde stepped further into the room and then swung the door open wide so that Roman and I could enter.

The room was not well lit, but definitely enough to fully see the contents of the room. A swivel chair was behind a metal desk and though it was hard to really make out the occupant, I could see that he was blond. He was bent forward with, his back to us, rifling through a lower drawer of a credenza behind his desk. The occupant spoke over his shoulder to the blond woman, “Pam, you can leave.” Pam, the blond did an ever so slight curtsy to the chair and while walking past us to leave, she quickly ran her hand up Roman’s arm, and quietly said, “Let me know if you want anything. Anything at all.” Then she left, closing the door behind her.

Roman glanced over at me; we exchanged glances, doing a mental shrug together and in unison, turned to face the back of the swivel chair. Mr. Eric Northman was staring back at us, having turned around the chair without our notice.

DAMN! That’s a fine looking dead man. He’s a big boy, too. His hair was slightly lengthy and slicked back away from his face. He had that two-day old beard stubble look that all post-pubescent males have deemed as the ultimate chick-magnet look. Personally, I’m not keen on the look at all, but he made it look good.

While I was looking at him, he was looking at Roman, which allowed me the time to really focus in on his appearance. From what I could tell, he had blue eyes, strong chiseled facial features and a sexy cleft chin. He was extremely pale. He was buff, though he didn’t have the large, rock muscles of Roman. He was leaner and long limbed, but still had well defined muscles. He was wearing a black wife-beater tee shirt and black jeans. Despite the clothes, I got a vibe of strength and fierceness. This Viking had been to war and hadn’t forgotten the experience.

To sum it up in one word, Eric Northman was ‘hot.’ Okay, two words – sexy and hot. Oh yes, indeedy.

For some inexplicable bizarre reason, my mind decided to float above the room and it started to take note that I was in the room with two of the most gorgeous men this side of the Mississippi.

They were the complete opposite of each other, and this difference actually enhanced their individual beauty. The two extremes - dark and light; two strong males with amazing physiques and were so handsome that everyone who came into contact with them would immediately feel a little insecure. Damn these hormones! I’m at the sexual peak of my life, my hormones at their highest level in the month… Maybe I’ll stop off and get some new batteries on my way home. I really think I should...FOCUS JO, FOCUS!

I actually did a little head shake to pull me out of my hormonal haze and then looked straight ahead, into a pair of cool, Tiffany blue eyes. I actually made a tiny, silent gasp. Damn, his eyes were gorgeously intense. His whole face was devoid of an expression, except his eyes. After holding his gaze for a few seconds, I started to feel uncomfortable; I could feel a headache starting. I jerked my eyes away and looked down at my watch, doing a fake adjustment to the band.

Whoa! Was he trying to ‘glamour’ me? Shit, what did I read about being glamoured? Shit! I can’t remember. I had read about it on line and the military had given us training, but I remembered having many unanswered questions.

I willed myself to focus and some of the information started coming back to mind. I remember that the most important rule in resisting the effects of glamouring was to not hold eye contact for more than three seconds.

The Viking rose and waved out his hand towards the two chairs sitting in front of his desk. “Please be seated, I’m sure all that gear that you’re wearing is heavy.” How nice of him to notice that we came heavily armed. I looked at him to see how he was serving that insult, but again, the dead man didn’t have any expression on his face.

He turned to me and slightly smiled. I looked down and away, this time checking the buckle on my belt. Damn, this was going to be annoying if I had to keep playing eyeball hide-and-seek with the dead guy all during our meeting.

Roman winked at me, placing his hand under my elbow and softly pushed me towards the chairs.  He wanted me to sit down, which I did. He sat down, and then the Viking sat down.

When we all sat down, Roman and the Viking resumed their glaring contest. The score was still even, folks.

I cleared my throat slightly – I really did have something in my throat. Both men looked at me simultaneously. I had to clear my throat again, which I did as quietly as possible, while fixing my eyes on a pen holder sitting on the vampire’s desk.

“Would you like something to drink? A soda, water or something else?” I suddenly realized that he was talking to me; before thinking I looked up into those liquid blue eyes. “No thank you, I’m good.” At the very same time, Roman replied, “No, she’s fine.” I did a quick head bopping thing to emphasize the fact that I was fine and dropped my gaze back to the pen holder.

“Are you sure, it seems like you’ve got something caught in your throat, Miss or Mrs…Sorry, we haven’t been properly introduced.” He then tilted his head to the side and shifted his eyes to Roman.

Roman just sat there and stared back at him. Pause, pause…imaginary crickets started to chirp. Then it occurred to me…Oh God, what if Roman was being glamoured? I quickly glanced up at Roman’s face and saw that he had a slight smirk on his face and then I glanced over at the vampire. He had a matching smirk. They were just staring at each other. Enough with the glaring! I ever so slightly nudged Roman with my elbow.

Roman let out an impatient breath, glanced at me and then turned his eyes to the Viking. “Sheriff Josephina Lautner, may I introduce you to Mr. Eric Northman, owner of Fangtasia.” Roman then nodded at the vampire, “Mr. Northman, may I introduce you to the new sheriff of Bon Temps and surrounding areas.”

Roman turned his slightly swung chair to face directly at him. “This is indeed a pleasure.” Roman did one of those fake yawn stretches with his arm and let it rest behind me on my arm. Roman slightly leaned towards me and said without any sarcasm in his voice, “In the vampire society, Mr. Northman is a sheriff and his area covers a good part of the state. I glanced at Roman, nodding my head ‘yes,’ in acknowledgement of what I had heard him say. Actually, he had told me this before, but I guess he was putting up a front of some sort.

I turned to the vampire and with a slight, flaccid smile, I said, “Sir, it is my pleasure to meet you, as well.” He smiled, it actually looked genuine, and then he flashed some nice pearly whites, “Really, well, I’m pleased to hear that. Please call me Eric.”

“Well, thank you sir. Everyone calls me -” Roman interrupted me, grabbing my shoulder with the hand of his draped arm. “Mr. Northman, we’ll get out of your hair as soon as possible, I can tell you’re having a busy night. Sheriff Lautner and her staff’s jurisdiction is Bon Temps and surrounding areas but she will also assist around the entire Caddo parish. Homeland Security is requesting a no-borders policy, as I explained in our last meeting. Since you have properties in Bon Temps and here in Shreveport, which Jo…Sheriff Lautner has jurisdiction over, I wanted you to meet her. I’m sure you’ll be seeing a lot of her…and me.”

I got Roman’s drift, keep my distance, keep it at a total professional level. Okey-dokey.

During Roman’s speech, I had been staring at the pen holder and nodded when appropriate. All of a sudden, Northman reached over and picked up the pen holder and brought it up level with his eyes. He was looking at me through narrowed eyes and a slightly tense smile on his face. “Really, well that sounds…swell. I’m sure we’ll become great friends.” He then turned and placed the pen holder on the credenza behind him.

He then crossed his arms and looked at me. What an asshole! Now what am I going to stare at? He’s also a control freak, got ‘your message loud and clear, buddy’.

The vampire looked at me and I pushed myself to return his stare. Come on, ‘woman-up!’ Roman is here, so he’s got my back. I made eye contact with him, but I was blinking or glancing away every three or four seconds. In retrospect, I probably looked like I had a bad nervous tick.

“Sheriff Lautner, it’s my understanding that you just returned from Iraq approximately 11 months ago. You were wounded, correct?” What did he just say? “Are you sure you are physically and …mentally… ready for such a challenge?”

Ohhhhh, you are a bitch, Mr. Vampire – that was a lousy hit below the belt. Trying to unnerve me, motherfucker? Game on.

“I’m quite recovered, Sir. Thank you for asking. In turn, I’m concerned for your well being. There seems that you have been faced with some …issues…in this very establishment - suspected V trafficking, bar staff members disappearing…I really hope that the continued surveillance on this property won’t be too much of a burden for you.” I smiled sweetly, tilting my head slightly to the side like an insipid beauty contestant.

Northman’s smile froze momentarily on his face and then his whole face became animated. He smiled a broad smile, eyes glistening; his smile actually looked somewhat genuine. “Ouch! Sheriff, I do believe that you took my sincere concern the wrong way-”

Roman interrupted him, “No she didn’t. She knows exactly what you meant and now you know what she means.”

“Deputy Chief, are you sure she’s up to the responsibilities of her position, since it seems that she is not able to speak for herself.” Their glare-down just went into overtime. I lost score way back before Viking verbally bitch-slapped me.

I glanced over at Roman and he turned and gave me a certain stare that I knew so well, it said ‘go get him, girl.’ I mentally cracked my knuckles. Big boy, let’s play.

“Ouch back at you, Mr. Northman.” I gave him one of my sweetest fake smiles. “I thought we were just nibbling around here and there, I didn’t realize that we were going for the jugular.” I was so pleased that I was able to quickly mesh together vampire references, both metaphorical and literal – just for you, asshole with the fangs!

The vampire’s face lost of all expression and froze into a blank mask; I continued, “Sir, if you sincerely believe that I can’t handle my responsibilities, then I will make sure that I accompany myself with enough man power, at all future visits which will be held during your prime hours, in hopes of alleviating any doubts in you that I can accomplish my objective.” I glanced at Roman; he had on the biggest shit-eating grin.

Meanwhile, the Viking thawed enough to ask quietly, “What is your objective, Sheriff?”

I stared back at him and then did a slow once over on his body, like men do to demean women, knowing full well that he was watching me. I couldn’t tell if it was accomplishing its purpose. It probably wasn’t, but it was worth a shot.

“I want to make America and Louisiana a safer and better place for all of its citizens. I plan to work closely with you in figuring out why so many people go into your bar without fang marks but come out covered with them – especially since such transactions are illegal all over the country.” I gave him another beauty contestant smile.

The vampire had turned into a complete statue, absolutely without motion or expression. It was a little creepy.

I turned to Roman and in my best Andy Taylor drawl, asked “I hoped I phrased that clearly, sir. Would you like to say or add anything?”

Roman winked at me “I don’t feel a need to add anything. Mr. Northman, do you have any questions?”

The Viking leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs cricket style, one leg crooked over the other. He shook his head ‘no,’ looking straight at me with an unwavering, non-blinking stare. He still had no expression on his face.

Roman abruptly stood up and said, “Well Mr. Northman, I guess we should be leaving, we’ve taken up enough of your time.” I stood up and in unison, we turned to leave.

Eric called after us; actually, he called to me. “Sheriff Lautner…welcome home. And please call me Eric. I very much look forward to working…closely…with you.”

A slight thrill ran up my spine, followed by a spark of fear in my stomach. Well, the game is definitely on, no doubt about it.

Roman and I left without any response.