A/N: Since I took so long to get the last chapter up this one is a lot sooner, don't get too use to it cause it will probably be a few more weeks till I start putting them out closer together. Thanks as always for the reviews, I'm glad people are enjoying the little normero bits I've been giving and I assure you there will be a lot more soon enough. Also thanks to the person who said they are enjoying the missing boy case Alex is working on, I don't always like writing crime related stuff but for where his storyline will go I felt he needed something at work that could really impact the way he thinks in terms of the law, and to be honest I actually had a lot of fun with it so I'm looking forward to your reactions when we get deeper into that. Let me know what you think and please enjoy!

Seven days had passed already and Ford hadn't returned back to White Pine Bay yet, Alex got tired of waiting and wondering so he decided to take a different approach. He wasn't sure of all the men that Ford had catering to him but he was sure of one thing, the man had a weak spot for his only daughter. That's how he got here, in some local shop that sold unusually large amounts of school supplies, sneaking around corners and hiding in aisles so as not to be seen by the woman he was following. He knew Blair Watson didn't live a simple life and it made things easier for him, and far less awkward to spy on her while she was doing something as boring as shopping. He watched as she went up to a shelf full of legal pads, standing in the far side of the aisle to keep his distance. She put some of her selections in the cart before walking out of the aisle and toward a bin of erasers, Alex walked half way down the aisle and stopped when she turned to throw a few in the cart, he reached forward and grabbed a notebook quick, opening it and pretending he was looking through it. When she turned back away he closed it, still holding it in his hands in case she looked back again. So focused on what she was doing he hadn't noticed the other people in the aisle till he heard Norma's voice.

"You're school supply shopping?" She asked and he turned around to face her.

"Ah, yeah." He said, still a little on the edge from his spying.

"I didn't know you had a kid."

"I don't, I heard they had the scented markers on sale." Alex said, trying to joke so she couldn't tell he was actually caught off guard.

"Really?" She asked, amused.

"No, I needed pens for the office and you can buy them in bulk here."

"I was actually asking if the scented markers were on sale, I love those things."

Alex smirked and shook his head. "I have no clue."

Norma looked at the notebook Alex was holding and smiled. "I'd never expect you to be into unicorns."

"What?" Alex asked and Norma nodded at the notebook, he lifted it up and saw the design on the front, purple and pink with unicorns walking on rainbows. He quickly set it back on the shelf like he was found holding something illegal. "I wasn't paying attention to what I was grabbing."

"Something distracting you?" Norma asked, not admitting that she had seen him watching some woman in the store.

Alex glanced over at where Blair had been standing then back at Norma. "No." He said then looked over at Dylan and Norman who were busy picking out notebooks and folders. "Are they excited to be starting school soon?"

"Not really, Dylan has never liked school much and Norman hates being away from me."

"That's better than them liking school just to get away from you."

"Do you think I'm that horrible to be around?" Norma said with slight offence in her tone.

Alex chuckled lightly. "I was drawing from my own experience, that's what I did when I was a kid."

"I guess I did the same."

Dylan walked over to their cart and put in the items he picked, glancing over Alex quick before looking at Norma. "You're supposed to be helping us shop."

"Two minutes ago you told me you wanted to pick your own stuff out."

"Well now I need help."

Norma exhaled and looked back at Alex. "I guess I should-"

Alex noticed Blair walk past the aisle and cut Norma off. "I'll let you get back to your shopping." He said and Norma gave him an unsure look.

"Yeah, okay, bye."

"Bye, Norma." He said and turned around walking away from her, he found Blair again and continued to spy on her around the store. After she had paid he followed her out to the parking lot, she got to her car and stopped by the back of it when her phone started to ring. Alex got as close as he could to hear without being seen, luckily it was a rainy morning and sight wasn't as easy.

"Hello?" Blair said, answering her phone. "No, I'm not picking you up, have one of your workers do it." She said, annoyed with whoever was on the other line. "You made a fool out of me and now you expect me just to forgive you?" She asked and whatever the person said back clearly offended her. "Have a nice rest of your trip, find your own ride home." She said and slammed her flip phone shut, she shuffled around the brown bags in her hands so she could put her phone back into her purse and knocked one of them to the ground, the contents spilling onto the pavement. She let out a loud groan and set her purse on the back of her car before kneeling to the ground to pick her things up.

"Here, let me help you." Alex said, kneeling down across from her and gathering a few things.

"Thank you." She said kindly, setting the bag between them so they could put the supplies back inside. "It's very sweet of you."

Alex smiled at her while he set the rest of the stuff into the bag, he stood up quickly and gave her his hand to help her up. She took it gratefully as she got onto her feet, Alex leaned down and picked up her bag and put it into her car for her. "I hope I'm not overstepping but I heard you talking on the phone, it seemed like someone was bothering you."

"Oh, it was nothing. My father and I aren't really on the best terms right now."

"I understand the dilemma, I don't get along well with my father either."

"We used to get along, but at some point you start to realize that pretending their flaws aren't there doesn't make them a good person, or a good parent." Blair said while closing her trunk. "Sorry, I'm just unloading all my problems on you."

"It's no problem." Alex said and she turned to him, standing there a moment quietly. "Take it from me that parents don't always turn out to be the people you imagined them being when you were younger, they are cruel and disappointing but they are your parents, there is no changing that."

"Are you saying I should give him another chance?"

"That's your choice to make, just make a decision you won't regret later, think it over."

"Well his flight gets in Friday and he wants me to pick him up, so I don't have much time to decide."

"Three days." Alex said, not actually talking to her at that point, just confirming the date in his mind. "I'll let you go then, you got a lot to think about."

"Thank you." She said with a smile and stepped a little closer to him. "If you wanted we could meet up for a drink, help me work through the decision."

Alex stepped back a bit, not expecting to be asked out so quickly by a woman he didn't know. He had flirted with his desk clerk for months now and it never went any further than that. He talked to this girl two minutes and she's ready to meet up, and by the way she was smiling at him it had a different meaning then what he knew of. He looked away from her for any excuse to get out of this situation, as luck would have it Norma and her sons were standing across the parking lot walking toward their car, he waved a hand at her when he saw Norma look over at them. "I'm sorry, I gotta go help my wife load the car."

"Oh." Blair said awkwardly, looking over to the woman he had gestured toward. "Well thank you again for your help."

"You're welcome." Alex said then walked away from her, his plan was to head toward Norma till her car pulled away but she hadn't drove off right away so he had to keep it going. When he reached Norma the boys had already climbed into their seats and she was opening her trunk, he reached into her cart and pulled out a few bags.

"What are you doing?" Norma asked, looking him over.

"Helping you load your car." He said and set the bags inside.

"Okay, I can see that. But, why?"

"I noticed you over here, I thought I'd help." Alex said and she stared at him with squinted eyes. "Does there really need to be a reason to help someone."

"Apparently not with you, you are quite the superman today."

"What?"

"Nothing." Norma said while loading the rest of her bags into the car and shutting the trunk. "Thank you."

Alex nodded and patted his hand on the top of her vehicle, looking back to see her car still hadn't left he knew he had to make more conversation. "How's it been running?"

"Well it's starts now."

"Always a good sign."

"It's not the best form of transportation but it gets us from point A to B, I'm just glad to have it back."

"Getting tired of walking everywhere?"

"More like getting tired of Dylan complaining about having to walk everywhere."

"You know I can hear you?" Dylan said from his open window.

"I should probably get them home, I told Maggie I'd have lunch made by noon."

Alex looked over and saw Blair's car pulling out and leaving the lot. "Yeah, I'll see you around."

"Always seems to be that way." Norma said jokingly and they said their goodbyes before Norma got into the car.

Dylan watched as Alex walked to his car, he glanced back a few times to where Blair's car had been parked. "You think that was his girlfriend?"

"What?" Norma asked, looking back at him in her mirror as she backed out and started to drive.

"The girl Romero was with before, she kept smiling at him."

"I'm not sure, but people can smile at each other for a million different reasons."

"Not the way she was smiling."

"How was she smiling?" Norman asked.

"Like she was about to make out with him right in the parking lot."

"Gross."

"I don't think she was looking at him like that." Norma said.

"He helped her put away her bag."

"He helped me put mine away too and there is nothing going on between us."

"Yeah but you had like twenty bags, she had two, why would he need to help her with that?"

"I don't know Dylan, maybe he just likes helping people."

"Why are you so against that woman being his girlfriend? He's an adult, do you really think he doesn't have someone in his life?"

"I'm not against it, I'm only trying to point out to you that you can't just assume things you know nothing about. Up until now you were convicted he was flirting with me when he wasn't."

"I'm still sure about that, I know what guys do."

"He can't flirt with her, she's married." Norman said.

"Romero knows she left town to get away from him, which makes her fair game, besides it's not like they are together anymore."

Norma rolled her eyes from the front seat while she pulled into the motel parking lot. "Okay if you two would like to debate my availability more do it while carrying in the bags."

Later on at the station Alex sat at his desk going through files, earlier when he got there he had told Oliver about Ford not getting back to town till Friday. He was interrupted from his trance when Oliver spoke from behind him.

"Romero, come in my office a moment." Oliver said and Alex stood up, walking into the office with him. Oliver didn't bother closing the door, knowing they wouldn't be in there long anyway. "McCall just called me."

"The manager at the pharmacy?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, he's worried about his assistant Lynn, the woman I talked to the day all those prescriptions went missing."

"Why?"

"Apparently she quit right after, said she was too shaken up by the robbery to keep working there. McCall didn't think much of it but he sent her last check out a week ago and she never cashed it, he called a few different times to find out if she got it and hasn't heard anything back."

"You got her address?"

"I figured that would be the first thing you asked." Oliver said, holding up a piece of paper with an address on it. "Let's go."

Alex followed Oliver out of his office and stopped when he saw Norma walking into the station, Chloe noticed her and asked for her name. "Norma Parker." Alex answered before she could.

"This is Norma?" Chloe asked, looking back at Alex.

"You can let her in." Alex said then she unlocked the door, Norma walked over and opened it coming inside. "What's wrong?"

"That's not a good way to greet someone Romero." Oliver said from beside him then he extended his hand. "I'm sheriff Mackenzie, it's nice to finally meet you."

Norma took his hand kindly and shook it. "Likewise."

"I'll be in the car, you can meet me out there." Oliver said, leaving the station.

"Really Norma, what is it?" Alex said, not meaning to sound rude but he was in a hurry to find Lynn.

"Can we talk somewhere else?" Norma whispered, glancing back at Chloe.

Alex raised his hand toward Oliver's office and she walked inside, he followed behind her and shut the door. "Where are Dylan and Norman?"

"They are hanging out with Maggie, I had to run to the store again because we ran out of laundry soap and we have to clean the bedding in all the rooms today. I figured since I was out this way I'd stop in and talk to you about something."

"I'm really busy Norma, what is it?"

"I'll make it quick, I got a call from Dylan's new school and they said they are going to need immunization records before his orientation on Friday or he won't be able to start on the first day this year, I called the elementary and they said the same thing about Norman."

"You have to bring them into the doctor to get those, they will do an exam and give them any shots they need."

"I'm aware of that but the only medical I have for them is in our real names."

"I'll get you set up with a medical plan as soon as I can but I really have to get somewhere now."

"Alright, just please let me know as soon as possible otherwise I'm gonna have to pay out of pocket to get them in."

"I will." He said then he walked with her out of the office, saying a quick goodbye once they got to the parking lot. Alex got inside the car with Oliver and he started off to Lynn's house.

"So that is Norma." Oliver said, a smile plastered on his face.

"Yeah, that's her." Alex said then looked over at him. "Stop smiling, it's not like that."

"What? She's good looking, you're good looking."

"Please don't say I'm good looking, it's bad enough when you do it while you're drunk."

"You two just seem to have a good connection."

"You saw us together for half a minute."

"It was that strong." Oliver said then Alex exhaled, rubbing his eyes with his hand. "You have seriously never considered it?"

"What is there to consider? She doesn't think of me that way, and technically she is still married."

"Norma Bates is still married, Norma Parker on the other hand."

"I'm sure Krista would be very pleased with the fact that you think a fake last name changes things."

"You know I don't mean it like that, you understand better than anyone the situation she is coming out of, what she had wasn't a marriage."

"More of a reason to not go there, she just left her husband and she's in a vulnerable state."

"Well some guy is going to go there, and I'm guessing it's going to be sooner rather than later." Oliver said as they pulled up into the driveway of the address he found on file.

Alex looked around the yard and pointed out things that seemed off. "Looks like at least seven newspapers on the porch, grass hasn't been mowed in a few weeks judging by the length."

"You thinking she skipped town?"

"Let's find out." Alex said then they both climbed out of the car and walked up to the door, he did three loud knocks on the door and waited, with no answer he tried a few more times.

"Lynn, open up. It's sheriff Mackenzie, I just wanna talk to you a minute." Oliver said then Alex knocked again before his hand went to the doorknob. "What are you doing? We don't have a warrant."

Alex stopped and walked across the porch, peeking in through the window to the spots the curtain wasn't hiding. The first thing he noticed was pill bottles laying on the coffee table, he tried to look around more but he couldn't get much of a view. "Plain view doctrine." He said pointing into the window, Oliver walked over and looked inside. "You see the same prescriptions on the table? The same ones stolen from the pharmacy."

"It's too far away to see any of the labels, they could just as easily be her medications."

"They aren't hers, I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, but your hunch doesn't give us reason to enter the house."

"Maybe I can see the labels."

"It's more than fifty feet across the room, you can't see it. I can barely read the labels when I hold the bottle in my hands, I accidently took a couple of Krista's birth control pills once."

Alex looked inside again and noticed the curtain start to move. "Look." He said pointing to the curtain.

"Someone is on the other side of the window."

"No, it wouldn't be moving like that, the air conditioning must have kicked on." Alex said then examined the new areas he could see, his eyes freezing on one thing.

"Is that-"

"Lynn's body laying on the floor next to the couch."

Oliver rushed over to the front door, finally deciding it was time to go inside. He tried opening the door but it was locked so he took his nightstick and busted out the window on it then reached in to open the door. The both of them entered and rushed over to her, stopping when the awful smell hit their noses. "Okay, I don't think we're saving her." He said, covering his nose.

Alex mimicked him and covered his own face, walking closer to get a better look. "Vicodin, Oxycodone, Hydrocodone and Demerol."

"Every drug stolen from the pharmacy." Oliver said then leaned down at looked at Lynn's body. "I don't see any foul play, looks to me like an overdose." He took out his radio and informed them to send more officers out to Lynn's house.

"How did she act that day you meet her?"

"She seemed fine, very smart, she sounded like she knew what she was doing."

"By the way her body is composed it wasn't too long after that day that this happened, so what makes someone who supposedly has a good head on their shoulders rob their workplace and do this."

"In most cases, a man."

Over the next few hours the house was examined by forensics and no signs of forced entry or foul play were found, now they'd have to wait on an autopsy to reveal the cause of death which could take awhile depending on how quickly they could find her relatives. When Alex got a break in work he found a good insurance plan for Norma and her sons, it wouldn't be approved for several weeks but he knew it was a sure thing and they would go back three months in medical bills so she didn't have to worry about paying for their visit. After he got off work he decided to stop at the motel to let her know figuring it was on the way home anyways, he knew the boys wouldn't be up now but judging by the last time he came over Norma was likely awake. He walked up and gently knocked on her motel door, he didn't hear much inside till she got right next to the door and opened it.

"Alex." Norma said, greeting him. "One second." She said then turned back inside and returned with a pair of shoes in hand, slipping one onto each foot before stepping outside and shutting the door behind her. "Did you have time to figure out the insurance?"

Alex nodded and followed Norma to the patio furniture, sitting the same way they had the other times before. "It will take awhile to be fully set up but you can make them appointments and let the office know you will have insurance that will be picking up the bill, I got you the company information and the application number you can give them so you shouldn't have any trouble." He said, handing her a few papers.

"Thank you, the boys were already worried they weren't going to get to start in time and end up falling behind."

"Yeah, I didn't think about them needing medical reports for school."

"Well it's your first time, you'll get better." Norma joked, making Alex smirk. "Can I give you a little advice?"

"If you must."

"If you like someone you should find a better way to approach them, stalking can get you in a lot of hot water."

"What?" Alex asked unsurely.

"Today at the store-"

"I'm not stalking you." He said cutting her off.

"I'm not talking about me, I'm talking about the woman you practically followed around the whole shop and out to her car."

"I wasn't stalking her either, I was following her around to get information on one of my cases, it was strictly work related."

"I don't know, she seemed pretty taken with you."

"Doesn't matter, even if she wasn't apart of a very major case she isn't my type."

"Well what is your type then?" Norma said then before he could try and change the subject she spoke again. "Wait let me guess, obviously someone young. Maybe by ten years, fresh outta high school."

"I'm thirty-three, so if the ten year thing were true it would be fresh out of college."

"Okay, but in my head the girl didn't go to college. She's more street smarts, not the real streets though, more like sesame street smart."

"You really don't think much of me, do you?"

"And she's bubbly. Good childhood so she's close with her family, especially her father which is why she's got the whole turned on by men of authority thing going on. She's a pushover so you can easily control her, something you enjoy.. Am I close?"

"No, not at all."

"Fine, she went to community college." Norma said and Alex leaned back into his chair, shaking his head. "Okay, what is your type?"

"Do we have to play this game?"

"If you don't tell me I'm just gonna keep imagining the boppy college girl."

Alex paused a moment deciding on whether to expose those things about himself then he exhaled. "I don't like younger girls, at least not that much younger. No more than five years in either direction. I don't care if they went to college but they have to be smart enough to have an interesting conversation. And no pushovers, I prefer strong women."

"Really?" Norma said, surprised. "You know strong women won't take any of your shit, right? She asked and he only smirked in response. "Interesting."

"What about you, what's your type?"

"You're not even gonna try and guess?"

"It wouldn't be a guess if I said it, I'm already sure of the answer."

"You sure are full of yourself."

"Not really, I just can read people, it's like a gift."

"Try me."

"Okay, your type of guy is the typical asshole. You feel so little self worth, likely from bad experiences growing up so you think they are the only person you deserve. You're tough but you also enjoy having someone who can take care of you, but won't care enough to get in the way of you and your sons." Alex said and Norma stayed quiet a moment, picking at a splintered piece of wood on the table with her finger nail. "Am I close?"

"You made this game less fun." She said then they both looked at each other and chuckled.

"It's not true though."

"What?"

"You deserve way more than you give yourself credit for." Alex said and Norma looked away, trying to hide the hint of smile on her lips. "I'll let you get to bed." He said, standing up from his seat.

"I'll see you around."

"Always seems to be that way." Alex said, mimicking her earlier comment as he walked to his car.