Chapter 2: The Phone Call

"Are you pulling a prank on me...?"

"No, sir, I'm telling you the truth. You need to come here as soon as possible"

"What's your name again?"

"Halia Segreti, S-E-G-R-E-T-I. You wrote down my number, right?"

"Yeah. I'll go right away, I'll text you once I know the arrival time. Goodbye and thank you."

"Goodbye."

Dylan went to the backyard, trembling. His face was as pale as a sheet of paper, and his hands and feet were freezing, even though the weather was scorching. Emma went up to him, wondering what took him so long and why did he come back in such a deplorable state.

"What's up, Dylan?" She asked her husband, "Looks like you saw a ghost"

"They called with news about Norma, they know where she is"

Emma jumped with joy, grinning from ear to ear. "Really? Oh that's great!" she said and trapped him in a hug. "That's great news Dylan, you should be happy!"

Caleb heard them from the other side, and immediately went to them. "News? What news?" he asked.

"They've found Norma!" Emma replied.

"Really?" He said, and took a deep breath. "Wow. That's, that's awesome." He made an effort to keep his composure; but his blue eyes, bright like the stars, and the smile that wouldn't let him crush it down, betrayed him. His son, however, didn't share his and his own wife's enthusiasm.

"I'm not so sure it is"

"What do you mean you're not sure?"

"She's in the cruise ship. The one from the news."

Dylan wished he had paid more attention to the TV. A tragedy occured in a cruise ship going from Honolulu, Hawaii to Los Angeles, California. At least 2000 people had died asphyxiated from carbon monoxide, and another 1500 were sick from it. It was comparable to 9/11, they suspected a terrorist attack. Maybe if he had listened, if he had seen for once in his life, he would have caught her name, her photograph. Something. Or maybe not. Maybe the tragedy was too grand and it was too much to expect anything just yet.

"I heard they didn't have much information yet, did they tell you she was dead or?" Caleb said.

"They don't know anything yet."

"Then we must assume she's alive."

"Did they tell you anything about Norman?" Emma asked.

"No. I was so shocked I forgot to ask. They will surely tell me about him in Honolulu. I'm packing and flying there right now."

"So he might be in the cruise ship?"

"He might. I hadn't thought of that. Goddammit"

"We'll go with you," she said, "you can't do this alone." Caleb nodded along.

The young man looked at them both, and tears threatened to leave his eyes. "Thank you, thank you so much."

Gunner was left in charge of the farm while the family went to sort their business, and Will Decody offered to take them to Portland Airport. As they were about to leave, Sheriff Romero pulled up in his police car.

"Hey guys, I didn't know you were going on vacation!"

"It's not a vacation," Dylan said.

"Then why the luggage?"

"They found Norma," said Emma. "She's in the cruise ship in Hawaii."

Romero took a deep breath, and the smirk fell off his face. He opened a can of Coors Light. "I'm going with you guys." The sheriff had taken a liking to drinking beer over the last years. He never got drunk, but he was always tipsy. He did not have an alcohol problem. That was for those loser grunt workers who trimmed weed during the day and picked fights in the town's dive bars at night. He just needed a little something to get through the bullshit he had to face every day.

"Why would you wanna go? What's your dog in this race?" Caleb replied.

"None at all. Norma and her son brought nothing but trouble to me," he said as he gulped down his third beer of the day. "But I don't like having unfinished business."

"We're not paying for your shit," Dylan replied.

"S'okay, I've got a bag in the trunk. I've got money too."

"You always keep a bag in the trunk?"

"In my line of work, you never know when you need to go somewhere"

"Or run away from something," Dylan said. The sheriff nodded. "Okay then, Romero. Hop up in the van."

"Don't worry. I was thinking of driving to Portland myself"

"Yeah that is not going to happen," Mr. Decody replied, pointing to the now empty can in the cop's hand. Not that it would've made much of a difference since it, indeed, happened every single day, but it wouldn't harm to spare the people of White Pine Bay a sloppy driver for once.

"Ok then," Romero said. He parked the car, took his luggage out and got in the van with the others.

Luckily (or unluckily) for them, it was rather easy to buy four tickets in the middle of peak season, and for a relatively reasonable price. An international tragedy was a surefire way of making tourists reconsider their choice of traveling destination. Halfway to Portland, Sheriff Romero had a thought.

"You guys didn't say anything about Norman. Is he in there with Norma?"

Dylan and Emma gave him a cryptic look. "They didn't tell me," Dylan said. "I really hope not."

A/N: I'm planning to make a mirror fic to this one, from Norma and Norman's POV, and publishing it after this one is complete. Stay tuned.