7.
~ Sherif Tom Wilson hadn't been Sheriff of White Pine Bay for long. Yet he had made a lasting impression on the people after the DEA purge. Wilson was qualified for the job after twenty-five years of experience in law enforcement in Texas. He had been the elected sheriff of a small town near Austin for four terms before coming to Oregon.
When the scandal over Sheriff Romero's arrest and conviction broke, he had been on the short list to replace the infamous 'Bear of White Pine Bay' and weed out all the corruption that had no doubt flourished in the police ranks.
Wilson had acted swiftly. He fired anyone who he remotely suspected of being involved with the drug trade cover up. He seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to finding the trouble makers. Wilson hired new deputies from other states and only kept those who he believed were trustworthy. This included the former sheriff's son, Alex Romero.
The town fathers and councilmen had made a point of telling Wilson not to keep Deputy Alex Romero in the department. His father was, after all, behind the drug profiting. Who's to say Alex wasn't a dirty cop to?
Wilson had laughed that off and did what he wanted. The fact that these men were warning him about Alex Romero was a good thing. Just because the DEA hadn't caught these upstanding citizens and politicians, didn't mean they weren't guilty. The fact that they fought so hard to have Alex gone had to mean something. For Wilson, it meant that Alex was nothing like the Old Bear and that those who were guilty, were afraid of them working together.
Wilson paid the price of his defiance. He had his tires slashed, his home broken into, even his dog had been killed and hug high in a tree. All of it was to scare him away. Nothing had stuck when it came to frightening the new Sheriff or his wife.
The morning that Wilson found his dog hanging from a tree branch with it's throat slit, Alex had shown up at the Sheriff's house with a ladder. The deputy had heard what had happened to the dog and, without asking, had climbed the massive tree and cut the poor animal down. Gently bringing the body back for a proper burial. It was that moment that Wilson was certain he'd made the right decision in trusting Alex. That the younger man wasn't like his father at all.
After they'd buried the dog, things changed dramatically. With Alex Romero openly having Wilson's back, things went a little easier. It seemed the stoic young man had his own ways of handling things that he didn't clue the Sheriff on.
Wilson never asked what they were, but there was a noticeable amount of men who left White Pine Bay in a hurry soon after. A few, the worst of dealers and con men, conveniently went missing altogether.
A few years had passed and the dust seemed to have settled. There were a peace established with proper businessmen in town. Families who kept to themselves and didn't cause trouble with there well hidden pot fields.
To keep this fragile peace, Wilson had made the decision to look the other way when the pot fields slowly sprung up again and when burn outs arrived to trim and transport the product.
His philosophy was that the drug trade in White Pine Bay was like a damn. You had to let a little pressure out at a time or everything would fall apart and destroy them. Without the money from selling pot, the town would go under. If he tried to stop it completely, there would be only be violence and if he succeeded, no economy in the town at all.
~ It was early Sunday morning and Sheriff Wilson and Deputy Romero were practicing their true religion. A few hours of fishing while the good people of White Pine Bay were saved from damnation. They did this every Sunday without ever making official plans to met. It was an arrangement that they both understood.
Wilson liked Alex. The younger man was quite when he needed to be and didn't fill the silence with useless small talk. Alex Romero was also sensible and direct. Wilson could always talk to him honestly.
Since that awful Sunday morning five years ago, Alex hadn't stepped foot in the Old County Chapel. His mother had been the religious one in the family, not Alex and certainly not the Old Bear. Besides, Deputy Romero had a chip on his shoulder when it came God after finding his mother dead.
He had no one to blame for her suicide. So, he naturally turned his anger towards God. His anger had been a quite rage that his mother had been allowed to suffer for so many years before taking her own life. He'd known that she had issues. He could remember the blood and the cutting and the crying for him not to tell.
All of that and her faith still hadn't saved her. What was worse, was that Alex didn't know where his mother was now. If she was in Heaven or Hell because she'd taken her own life. It was a painful wound he didn't want healed. He wanted it to fester and hurt even more.
"The U.S. Marshals were at my door last week." Wilson said casually after the sun finally rose up over the bay. He had a deep voice with a lazy Texas drawl. It gave him an aloofness that people found hard to read at times. He'd always gave Alex the impression that he knew more than he'd ever say out loud.
Alex looked back at the Sheriff and pretend to not be interested. His instincts telling him to say very little about Sam and especially Norma Bates. Wilson could always ferret out the truth from anyone.
~ "Tom's door or the Sheriff's door?" Alex asked carefully.
"The Sheriff's door." Wilson corrected. He let his line out as little and breathed in the cold morning. There was a chill in the air that gave no hint to it being so close to spring.
"I arrested a man who had a bench warrant." Alex explained.
Wilson nodded.
"I read the report. I hate drunks behind the wheel. Especially the wife beaters." the Sheriff said.
Wilson saw Alex stiffen from his place on the fishing boat.
"I saw the paperwork you started for a restraining order. That man's wife sign them yet?" he asked.
Alex shook his head.
"Did she ask you to file a restraining order for her?" Wilson accused harshly. "Or fax a statement to the court in Arizona about witnessing domestic abuse?"
"No. I saw him be a little rough with her the night of the arrest. Sybil Lawson told me that Norma Bates had a bruise on her face, I saw it to a few nights later. I was also told by Sybil that the wife was trying to get a quick divorce. I felt it would be to her advantage to have a restraining order in place. Just in case something happens." Alex said calmly. Wilson saw that Romero kept his eyes fixed on the water.
His deputy's response was too well rehearsed. Like Alex had planned for this exact conversation in advance. No one did that unless they felt defensive.
"I see." Wilson said.
"What?" Alex snapped. "What do you see, Tom?"
"I see what I need to see, Alex."
"Care to clue me in?"
Wilson took a long sip of water before speaking. He had quit drinking years ago and missed it everyday. But his wife, his precious Dee, has said she would leave him if he didn't stop. Like most men in law enforcement, Wilson would have been broken without his wife.
"I was talking to Zac Shelby the other day and saw this Norma Bates picking up her son from little league practice." he said.
"Dylan. So?" Alex asked.
"It's just that Norma Bates is… well, a very attractive young woman. I know Shelby agrees with me." Wilson said carefully. "Is that why you felt the need to go out of your way to help her?"
"I didn't go out of my way." Alex told him. His eyes going back to the water.
"Not what Sybil said." Wilson laughed.
"The two of you talk a lot about me I see. Don't you have anything better to do than gossip, Sheriff?"
Wilson smiled.
"Well, I feel you should know that Zac Shelby has been trying to make time with this woman. I saw it a mile away. Personally, I don't think that's a good match. Zac is too young to try and fool around with a woman who has two little kids thrown into the mix." the Sheriff said.
"Shelby?" Alex huffed. Wilson could tell he'd struck a nerve.
The Sheriff nodded.
"You really think this Norma Bates will divorce her husband?" he asked. He could feel a slight tug on his line but experience had taught him not to pull in the line too soon.
"I hope so." Alex said curtly.
"For her benefit or someone else's?" the Sheriff asked.
He saw Alex roll his eyes.
"Look. I'm not interested in a woman who has two kids and isn't even divorced." the younger man spat.
"I see." the sheriff said. "There was nothing appealing about Norma Bates at all?"
"No." Alex told him smartly.
"I see." Wilson sighed. "You know, I was just re-elected. I have four more years here and then I think I might be done."
Alex turned to him in surprise.
"Retiring?" he asked.
"Law enforcement isn't like it was. Technology and what not, it's for the younger generation." Wilson sighed. "Everything is on computers and I there's no place for an old dog to learn new tricks.
"You're being a little dramatic, Sheriff." Alex said.
Graceland had been sprawled out by Wilson's feet, waiting for him to slip her some more bacon from home. Like most dogs, she knew who to go to for treats and affection. She knew that Wilson was a dog lover and had always loved her since she came to the department. The Sheriff had allowed the dog because Alex had a tendency to be curt and rude to people, including other deputies. Yet, Romero had proven to be better than the others at every task and case appointed to him. If Alex wanted the dog to ride with him and no one else, that was fine.
"I'm going to promote you to my first deputy, Alex. I'll announce it Monday. It will be easier for you to replace me after I leave. The city council will approve my recommendation if I remind them about all the evidence I've sat on over the years to keep them out of prison. They'd be too afraid not to nominate you as Sheriff." he said.
"And then I'd be the one with the target on my back." Alex said defensively. He looked at Graceland and both of them were thinking of another dog hanging from a tree after Wilson had taken over.
"You should be used to it by now, son." Wilson said sternly. "With who your father was and what he did, you're no stranger to people hating you."
Alex looked annoyed, hurt even, by Wilson's bluntness.
"What if I don't want to be Sheriff of this town?" he asked.
Wilson looked indifferent.
"I know you want the chance to prove you're not your father." he said. "Whenever you and I talk shop you have better insights than most men I've worked with. Also, you know this town. You know the people and you know their secrets."
"I know how dangerous it can be." Alex said.
"I think you can handle it." Wilson said. "You're stronger than you think you are."
~ Alex was quite for a long time. The sun had come up and cast an angelic light over the bay. Pink, yellow and blue highlighted a scenic view and promised beautiful weather.
He was reminded of Norma Bates when he saw the blue of the sky becoming lighter. Her eye color wasn't quite this dark, but it was quickly coming close. He wondered briefly what she would look like sitting here in the boat with him. How she would just appear out of the darkness in the light of such a beautiful dawn.
"You know, it wouldn't be a terrible idea for you to get married." Wilson interrupted.
Alex tensed and wondered if the Sheriff really could read his mind.
"Man certainly wasn't meant to live alone." the older man added. "A nice woman would be good for you, Alex."
"I'm never getting married." Romero said quickly.
"Never say never." Wilson told him. "The right woman comes along and you'll snap her up quick enough."
Alex ignored him and focused all his attention on his line.
~ It had been over a week since Norma and the boys had arrived in White Pine Bay and she hardly recognized herself now.
Sybil had miraculously found them a run down, but cozy, rental home that came fully furnished and ready for them to move in. It was settled at the end of a dead in street, but with plenty of room outside for the boys to play. Dylan and Norman had to share a room again, and all of them had to share a bathroom, but the rent was affordable with her government aide check and she couldn't ask for more in life right now.
Norma had never lived on her own before. Never had to rely on just herself to make sure the rent and other bills were paid on time. It was overwhelming but she felt oddly free at the same time.
It was a quite Sunday morning and Norma was appraising her new hairstyle for the hundredth time. A new life required a new look she decided. So her trip to the local beauty parlor yesterday was still fresh in her mind. A gaggle of gossipy women with hair styles from the sixties had intimidated Norma at first. She wasn't raised to waste good money on silly luxuries like professional haircuts. Not when she'd always cut her's and the boys hair.
The older woman who owned the place was knowledgeable and decided within a few seconds what would look best.
"Your hair needs to be shorter and lighter. Something clean and fresh that will bring out that nice skin tone." she had told Norma. "Always classy, and never trashy."
Norma had trusted the stylist with the comical bouffant hairdo and submitted to being dyed, cut and styled. When she saw her new look, she almost didn't recognize her own reflection. Gone was the ragged frizz and dirty blond locks. Her hair looked like something from old Hollywood with it's lighter shade of blond and flirty, rebellious, flip.
The stylist had been right. A lighter shade made her skin look better. The cut gave the illusion that her face was slimmer and she couldn't help but marvel at this stranger in the mirror.
"With the two boys, this will an easier upkeep I think." the stylist had told Norma. "Just use styling gel, blow dry and go. Not much fuss. You've got the right kind of face that can pull off a shorter hair style. Not many women can and your pretty enough that you don't need to be too fancy."
Norma hand't thought she was attractive till the hair dresser said it so casually. With her new look, she felt more confidant than she had in a long time. She no longer looked like the trailer park wife she had been with Sam. Now, she could be anyone she wanted and the first thing she wanted was better clothes.
She'd bought all them some good winter coats and sweaters at the local resale shop earlier that week. Norma was shocked at how many high end labels were on the racks there. Some still had price tags on them. Even though the second hand clothes were very good, Norma wanted at least one thing new to wear.
'I'm going to buy a new dress today.' she decided. 'A new life, new job, new home, new hair, and new clothes. I'm going to be the kind of woman who wears lots of dresses.'
Once the decision was made, it was like she couldn't accomplish her goal fast enough. She woke the boys up and got them dressed. Grateful her job always gave her Sundays off so she could stay at home with Dylan and Norman. They had been so busy setting up their new place, they didn't have time for much else.
"We need to do some shopping and maybe we can go out to eat." Norma promised Dylan when he complained that he was too sleepy.
"Norman was talking in his sleep again." Dylan yawned when Norma guided him to the bathroom to pee and brush his teeth.
"What was he saying?" she called out to her oldest. She dressed her youngest son who sat sleepily on the edge of the bed. She could hear Dylan urinating through the open bathroom door.
"I don't know." Dylan said lamely.
Norma looked at her youngest. Norman showed no signs of losing sleep. On the contrary, he looked happy to see her. His blue eyes bright with the promise of a new day.
"It's just something little kids do, honey." she told Dylan when he raced back into the room to get dressed.
~ "Can we look at toys now?" Dylan asked hopefully. They had just left the local boutique where Norma had found a beautiful spring dress in royal blue. She had been impressed her boys had behaved so well in the shop and they did need a reward.
"Yes, but don't expect to get anything." she scolded.
She knew Dylan and Norman would be walking out of that shop with a new toy car or robot. She didn't know why she fought it. Money was coming in now from her job and it was nice to finally be able to give her boys something when they had so little. Besides, Dylan never asked for anything and there was a sense of guilt at allowing her son to do without things he wanted for so long.
Dylan waited at the crosswalk for the light to change. He was excited to be able to go into the toy store across the street and was fidgeting slightly in anticipation.
Norman, still in his mother's arms gave a sudden scream to be let down and squirmed to be free. She gasped at almost dropping him when he pushed away from her so quickly.
"Norman!" she scolded and managed to hoist him back onto her hip. He was getting too heavy for her these days. Norman grinned at his mother as if he had played a very clever trick.
She turned back to Dylan and saw her oldest child wasn't waiting at the crosswalk anymore.
"Dylan?" she called out. Her heart almost stopped when she saw her son just a few steps away. He had forgotten to wait for the light to change and was about to walk into incoming traffic. His little body hidden behind a parked truck and any car coming would see a green light and not a five year old boy.
"Dylan!" she screamed and tried to get to him in time.
Like something from a nightmare, a large SUV appeared on the street and all Norma could hear were the screeching of tires.