Norma had long since given up on sleep. She'd spent the night restlessly tossing and turning, Alex Romero's comment about being able to see right through her bedroom curtains replaying in her head. No matter what else she tried to focus on, even that horrible new friend of Norman's, she couldn't distract herself for more than a moment or two. Then she heard what Alex had said, again and again and again. Now, she sat at the kitchen table, wishing that 6am wasn't too early to add liquor to her coffee. Unfortunately, being upright did nothing to stop her ongoing mental battle, and with a huff, she stomped out of the house. Maybe she could throw herself into the motel's upcoming room reservations, and distract herself that way.

She promised herself that she wasn't walking down to the motel so she might see Alex.

This early on a Sunday, no one was up and about yet, and Norma paused for a moment outside the motel office to admire her handiwork. She had turned that old shithole of a motel into a lovely little establishment, right down to the hanging baskets of white petunias.

Her contented smile shifted, though, when she spotted an unfamiliar car at the far end of the parking lot. Tucked right next to Alex's police-issue SUV was a vintage Mustang, cobalt blue with two wide, white racing stripes. The car hadn't been there last night when she closed the office, and none of the people staying at the motel already drove that car. It was parked very close to the Sheriff's car, too, suggesting the car was associated with him. Norma pondered all of this as she unlocked the motel office. Once inside, she decided to stay at the front desk instead of going all the way into the office; she could see both the Mustang and the door to room 11 from up front. She opened her laptop in front of her to give her something to do, but gave it up after a few minutes. She couldn't bear to take her eyes off the far end of the motel for more than a few seconds, afraid she would miss something.

Her vigilance was rewarded, because at 6:30am on the dot, the door to Room 11 opened. And the person standing in the doorway, back to Norma, was certainly not Alex, but a woman. Norma abandoned the pretense of sitting at the desk, jumping up and pressing her face close to the blinds, using her fingers to shift them apart for a better view. The woman seemed to be speaking, presumably to Romero, and then departed, closing the door behind her before walking towards the cars. Norma's mouth opened slightly in surprise. She didn't recognize the tall, leggy brunette, but Norma could easily imagine the woman's purpose at the motel. The woman was gorgeous, even with her hair looking a bit tousled. She was thin but busty, her eyes as dark as her hair, which fell well past her shoulders. She wore only jeans and a skimpy tank top, with stiletto heels. She slid into the Mustang with a practiced grace, a smile spreading over her face as she started the car. Norma watched her pull away from the motel until she was out of view, even then craning her neck for one last glimpse.

She stood at the blinds for a long time, hardly blinking as she stared at Romero's closed door. As she stood watch, her mind asked a thousand questions; she knew the answers to none of them. It was suddenly hitting her that she knew almost nothing about Romero, despite having a fair amount to do with him. He could be married for all she knew. Or at least dating. By the way he'd looked at her when she patched up the cut on his brow a few days ago, she knew he wasn't gay. But other than that… she didn't know anything about his interests or hobbies. She vowed that she would do something about that, though she knew full well that the Sheriff was anything but chatty. But he stood no chance in the face of a determined Norma Bates, she told herself.

Now if only he would come out of his room.

People thought Alex Romero never smiled. He smiled to himself at the thought. Sure, he kept a carefully blank expression on the job – and in White Pine Bay, when wasn't he on the job? But that hardly meant that he couldn't or didn't smile. He just needed a good reason.

And man, was Kate a good reason. She was a good, well, everything.

Alex stretched lazily under the covers, unwilling to get out of bed just yet. Kate left a few hours ago, before anyone would see her. It was safer that way, especially when idiots like Zane thought they could mess with him. There was also the matter of one Norma Bates; thinking about her right now made him uneasy. The fact that it made him uneasy also made him uneasy. His gut had told him right from the beginning that Norma was something different – something dangerous. He didn't entirely trust her, and yet he couldn't deny that he also wanted her. He forgave himself the latter, since she was, after all, a beautiful woman with a whole lot of charm. But the extent to which she occupied his thoughts, that was something else. It scared him if he thought about it for too long.

That's what Kate was for. She was so, so good at silencing his brain. His smile slowly returned as he recalled his long but highly enjoyable night.

His cell phone buzzed from the nightstand, and, with a grimace, he rolled over to pick it up.

"Romero."

"Hey Sheriff," Deputy Jeffcoat greeted him. "Sorry to call on your day off, but something happened down at the docks. You might wanna see this."

"Got it. I'll be there soon," Alex replied before hanging up. He knew better than to question Jeffcoat, or waste time with questions. If the Deputy said he was needed, then he was.

He got out of bed with a sigh, scanning the room for the necessary clothing. Most of it was still strewn on the floor from last night. But after a few minutes, he looked the part of the County Sheriff, glancing in the mirror to ensure everything was in place. He left the room, but only made it two steps towards his SUV when he realized that his car keys were still on the desk in his room. He retreated, grabbed them, and turned around to see Norma appear, as if from nowhere, in his door way.

"Good morning," she said in a tone he couldn't identify. Her face was indecipherable, too.

There was that uneasy feeling again.

"Norma," he stated in return.

For a moment, Norma simply stared at him, but then her eyes darted over the rest of the room. A small knot formed in his gut; it was like she knew. He couldn't stop his own eyes from glancing at his room, too, searching as fast as he could for anything noticeably out of place. A lifelong bachelor, his room was never tidy and spotless, which aided him this morning.

A flash of color suddenly got his attention, and he quickly realized that he was looking at a bright red lace bra strap, peeking out from under the end of the bed. Norma couldn't see it from where she was standing, but if she took one more step into the room….

Alex took a step forward, forcing Norma to take one backwards, while his body screened the incriminating evidence.

"Something I can do for you, Norma?" His face remained expressionless, though on the inside he kicked himself for asking that. God only knew what she'd like him to do.

"Just confused," she said, her eyes finally ceasing their search and meeting his.

He did not reply. She saw he wouldn't, and one side of her mouth pinched slightly. There were times he truly enjoyed pushing her buttons.

"I could have sworn I saw someone else parked here this morning, but I don't have any guests who drive a Mustang," Norma said, and the knot in Alex's stomach grew exponentially. "I was just wondering if you knew anything about it."

He was much too good at reading people to believe the innocence of her question. She not only saw the car, but he was certain she'd seen who was driving it. And probably what room the driver had left from. Years of experience allowed him to calculate the necessary response in milliseconds.

"Yeah, of course I know about it," he said in an offhand manner. "She's a witness in a case I'm investigating. Nothing to worry about," he explained.

"A witness? At that hour? And you're meeting her here?" Norma wasn't buying it. Not quite, at least, though her face belied her willingness to believe. He just had to sell her a little more.

"Yeah, well, in this town, it's better if no one knows you're talking to the cops," he replied. "Witnesses have been known to disappear," he added in a darker tone.

Norma paused to digest his story, and he knew he'd won.

"Anyway, sorry for the confusion. But I've been called to a scene, so…," he said, interrupting her train of thought before she could think of any more questions.

"Oh," she said, almost jumping. "Sure. Yeah. Of course." She took another step back, putting her on the concrete walkway outside the room, fidgeting her hands. "I'll see you later, then," she managed before walking back towards the office.

"Yeah," he replied, as he smiled inwardly at her awkwardness.

The moment she was out of view, he quietly closed the room door long enough to extract the damning evidence, secreting it away in the inside pocket of his leather jacket. A quick sweep of the room revealed no further problems, and he finally headed for the docks.

With a slight detour.

Kate smiled bemusedly as she saw Alex's SUV pull up in front of her house. She was stretched languidly on the wicker couch on her open front porch, enjoying the pleasant morning with a steaming cup of coffee – her second of the day, thanks to how little sleep she'd gotten the previous evening.

Alex had only been to her house once before, when her ex from Portland showed up to settle an old score with her. She still had no idea what Alex had done to him – before or after his certain death – but the guy was still listed as missing by the Portland police. But Kate wasn't sleeping with Alex out of thanks, or because she owed him. She was sleeping with him because he'd asked her if she wanted to. One of the more unusual conversations she'd ever had, but a rewarding one, because the last two years had been an awful lot of fun. Neither Kate nor Alex were inclined to settle down, nor did either want children. So the pair had come to an understanding, and a mutual need was satiated. There had been a brief pause after that idiot had torched Alex's house, but now that her favorite lawman was situated at the Bates Motel, they had resumed their arrangement - though more quietly than before.

So while she couldn't hide the smile that spread over her lips, she still wondered what on earth Alex was doing here. After a few seconds pause, in which Alex neither pulled into her driveway, nor got out of the SUV, Kate pulled herself to her feet, and went down her front steps. She glanced up and down the street, but thankfully, even at 9am, Sunday was a quiet day in the small neighborhood, and there was no one in sight.

The passenger side window rolled down as she approached, and, knowing the coast was clear, she couldn't resist pressing up against the car, allowing the upper half of her body to lean into the cabin. She propped her elbows on the door and gave Alex a sultry smile. As he had come to her, she didn't need to ask anything. She merely raised a coy eyebrow, tilting her head slightly.

He huffed a small laugh, smiled slightly, and then pulled a familiar lace bra out of his pocket.

"Pretty sure this isn't mine," he said, his smile growing a bit as he held it out to her. She took it from him, her smile widening, too.

"Pretty sure it's your favorite, though," she replied smoothly.

"It is," he admitted, looking back to the road. He needed to go, and she knew it. But she couldn't let him go quite yet.

"Who's Norma?" she asked slyly, as she tucked the bra into her shirt to keep it hidden from any prying eyes.

Alex jumped as though he'd been hit, his face snapping around to look at her.

"What?" he asked, utterly thrown.

Kate leaned a bit farther into the cabin, lowering her voice.

"You moaned her name last night," she informed him.

She took in the stunned look on his face; Kate had never seen Alex flustered before, yet here he sat, his mouth hanging open in shock as he stared blankly in front of him.

"I'm assuming you do, in fact, know someone named Norma?"

"Yeah," was all he managed to say.

"Ok. Just curious," she replied easily. He would tell her about it when he was ready. Patience was key with Alex Romero. She didn't know him as well as she did by asking questions, but by letting him talk. And for something as juicy as this, she would wait as long as it took.

"Later, babe," she said with a parting smile. She pulled herself out of the car, and made to move away, but his voice stopped her a moment later. It had returned to the steady, deep tone she was accustomed to hearing.

"Kate?"

"Alex?" she replied smoothly, turning back to him.

He looked her right in the eye, his face calm but his eyes devious. She'd seen this once before: the night he asked if she'd like to start sleeping with him.

"You still got that blonde wig?"

She grinned.

"I might."