Okay. So a LOT of people are going to be pissed at me for this chapter. I dare you not to read.
25.
~ Norma woke up before dawn to see Alex gently snoring next to her.
'Oh, shit.' she thought. 'It wasn't a dream.'
In the deepest well of her heart, she felt joy wanting to spring to the surface. But that black bird was back on her shoulder, and it was laughing at her.
She remembered everything from yesterday. Her horrible car wreck, the boys screaming in terror, the water.
'Oh, God that awful water creeping up so quickly.' she closed her eyes tight and could still smell it. Her skin suddenly felt ice cold.
She remembered the feeling of the rising water reaching her shoulders and how she knew she was going to drown. Of Alex being there and the look of fear in his eyes. His eyes never lied to her, and when she saw he was afraid, she knew she was as good as dead. Perhaps it would have been better if she died.
Then the rescuers came and put that scuba mask on her. The air in it tasting funny and she almost hyperventilated in panic when the car went underwater. As soon as the water took the car under, it felt like she was in free fall. The old Buick sank quickly into the darkness and she was trapped. She hit the bottom of the bay softer than she thought she would. All the sand must have eased the fall. Her rescuers were still there, and she felt hands on her in the darkness. Then, like magic, she was freed. Strong hands were pulling her out of the car and away from death. She broke out of the water and was pulled onto the boat. Her rescuers had made her lie down and started taking her vitals. She could barely keep her eyes open from the brightness of the cloudy day on the surface of the water. The reality of almost dying hit her hard and her rescuers seemed to understand she needed a moment to collect herself. She felt ashamed for sobbing at being rescued. Felt ashamed for not being able to save herself and above all, for allowing that truck to hit her in the first place.
She remembered all the people around the dock watching her being loaded into the ambulance and taken to the hospital. Her sons were given back to her as soon as she was checked out. The boys relived to see her after the accident. All of them together again and she never wanted them to be apart.
Alex came, just like she knew he would. She knew he wouldn't stay away, just like she knew it was hard for him to leave her in that car. She saw the hurt in his eyes when he had been forced to swim out. It was like he was in physical pain. She felt guilt for causing him pain in the first place. She remembered him driving her home and how much she liked riding in his SUV. How she never felt safer in her life than when she was in the car with him.
She remembered how he'd carried her little boy into the house and how that made something inside her wake up. A long sleeping animal stirred in her at the sight of Alex carrying Norman in a way the child's real father never did.
She remembered her own shower after she bathed the boys. How she wanted to wash that smell of the bay off her. How she was still cold even after such a hot shower.
She remembered talking to Alex, how his words were soft and how they tried to comfort her. Then, she couldn't explain what happened next. She was so foolish to ask him to stay with her. She had wanted him to be in her bed. The two of them nestled together like the lovers they most definitely weren't. Alex hadn't made love to her, or even kissed her. He'd agreed to lay next her till she fell asleep. His body radiating heat that kept her warm even as the world outside grew cold again.
She didn't want him to go, and so he stayed without argument. She had fallen asleep quickly. Her body curled up in an almost fetal position next to him.
When she woke up a few hours later, she was alarmed there was a man in her bed. Her mind temporarily forgetting all that happened in that perfect world of sleep. She squinted through the darkness and saw Deputy Romero's features in the weak light that came in from her windows. She had no idea what time it was, but still felt sleepy.
She kept still and watched Alex breathing. He always looked so stoic, even in his sleep. Such a thought made a grin creep over her face.
He must of sensed it, must have not been asleep at all in fact.
"What is it?" he said in the darkness.
"Nothing." she said quickly.
"You have a bad dream?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"No. I just… I guess I forgot you were still here." she admitted. She blushed at the idea and Alex rolled over. They were both under the covers and it felt delicious to have him so near to her in such an intimate way. A way that could easily turn into something beautiful.
Norma shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. She wasn't going to fall into that pit again.
But Alex was awake and looking at her.
"You asked me to stay. Remember?" he said gently. His voice quite now that the rain had finally stopped.
"I know." she admitted. "I'm glad you did."
She wanted to tell him something, but her courage faltered. He was looking at her with those expressive eyes again and she felt her voice grow weak.
"I just… I always feel… safe. When you're around." she said slowly.
Alex looked awkward.
"Well, thank you." he said at last.
"It's not just because of your job." she amended quickly.
She felt him take one of her hands under the covers. His thumb rolling over her fingers in a way that made that forgotten animal inside her wake up again. She could see him through the moonlit window. His eyes focused on her hand, his fingers working hers with ease. She felt her heart beat quicken when it looked like he was bringing her finger tips to his lips. That black bird on her shoulder mocking her on how quickly she could replace a man in her bed.
"I should go check on the boys." she said and pulled away from him.
He let her go, but it was hard to slip out of that warm bed and into the cold air of early dawn.
~ Alex could take a hint. It had been a small taste of heaven to have her curled so neatly next to him. Her bed was comfortable and smelled of clean laundry. She had asked him to stay with her, just until she fell asleep and he had easily complied. She had admitted she missed him and he couldn't deny her anything at that moment.
It had felt a little strange to be in bed with a woman and know there would be no chance of that wild, almost violent sexual release he was used to. That kind of thing was all he really knew when it came to sharing a bed with a woman. And he certainly didn't stay over night with anyone.
This was something new for him to learn and try to understand. It was like tasting something so rare and delicious, you knew you had to eat it slowly or ruin the experience.
If Norma had asked him to bed her, to make love to her until they both were nothing more than bodies covered in sweat, he would have agreed. He wasn't sure why he didn't feel cheated out of that opportunity just now. Perhaps he felt satisfied knowing she was content.
It had been enough to have her body so close to his, to have her sleep next him and to be with her in such a way that didn't involve sex.
He could get sex from anyone, but this was something more than physical.
He waited for her to come back from checking on the boys. He had slept in the same bed with her, yet hadn't even kissed her. He had barely been able to hold her hand before she became spooked and made an excuse to leave their haven.
Alex realized what was happening.
'I need to go. She was vulnerable and said things she didn't mean. I shouldn't have stayed.' he thought.
Quickly, he slipped out of her bed and put his shoes on. His watch told him it was five in the morning. How had they been asleep for almost twelve hours? He'd never slept well with someone in the same bed. In fact, he didn't ever remember sleeping so well as he did last night.
Quickly, he escaped down the hall and avoided the boys room. He didn't see Norma in the house at all when he went into the garage where his SUV was.
He couldn't help but feel like a heel for leaving her like this, but he wanted to spare her the awkwardness of her having to ask him to leave. He started the engine and quickly pulled away from her house. The dawn was starting to break over the trees as he drove off of Pine Valley Lane.
~ Norma had checked on the boys who were still asleep. She watched them breathing for awhile and decided that they didn't have a cold or phenomena from their time in the cold water. She checked over Norman's sleeping body for bruises from the crash and didn't find anything. Dylan stirred awake when she checked him for bruises or a fever.
"Mom?" her oldest asked.
"It's okay, honey." she told him. "Go back to sleep. It's Saturday. We've got the day off so you don't have to go to school."
"Our car is in the water." he told her.
"Yes, but don't worry. We're going to get a new car." she whispered.
"Good." he told her.
Norma leaned in and kissed her son on his forehead. She closed their bedroom door and went back to her own bedroom. Maybe Alex could help her go car shopping today.
'I need to file a claim with my insurance.' she reminded herself. 'I hope they won't be the assholes Sam's life insurance holders were. I'd hate to have to wait till I'm on social security to get a car.'
It occurred to her to ask Alex for help with the life insurance policy. He was in law enforcement and surely he must know a good lawyer who could resolve this problem. A million dollars was a lot of money to just sit on until Norman was eighteen. They needed that money now. They needed it months ago.
She opened the door to her bedroom.
"Alex?" she whispered. "You don't have to work today do you?"
Her bedroom felt oddly quite. She saw in the dim light that her bed was empty. She went out into the kitchen and living room but could feel he wasn't there. A check in the garage proved his SUV was gone.
Norma shut off the light in the garage and went back to bed alone. That black bird on her shoulder was laughing at her the whole time.
~ Alex arrived at work that morning at his normal time. The girl at the front desk looked anxious as usual.
"Deputy, there's someone waiting for you at your desk. An agent from the FBI. She just showed up this morning and demanded to talk to you. Flashed her badge and everything. I told her you weren't in yet and that you had a family emergency yesterday with that car accident." Clarice chattered on from her spot up front.
"Wait, you told people I had a family emergency?" Alex stopped her. The news of an FBI agent wasn't what stuck out most to him.
"Yeah, your… your lady friend Norma Bates. The Sheriff said you'd need some time after what happened." the girl explained.
Alex looked back at her in surprise.
The front desk girl was sweet and only slightly over caffeinated. She was easy to make nervous in any situation.
"Clarice, I don't have any 'Lady Friends'." he said as sarcastically as he could. Clarice sat back down at her chair and looked properly scolded.
Alex looked around the office and saw people were staring at them. In a lower voice he asked.
"You said the FBI is here?"
Clarice nodded.
"Yeah, she just pressed her badge to the glass here and demanded to see you. Wouldn't say what it was she wanted, and told me not to bother the Sheriff. She said you'd know what it was about." Clarice said eagerly.
Alex nodded. He stalked past Clarice, past receiving and to the cluster of desks in a large room.
He didn't see this FBI agent right away. To many other cops were suddenly at their desks and all their heads were turned to his desk where a dark haired woman was sitting.
"Is no one out on patrol?" Alex barked to the room in general. A few stood up, but more wanted to watch the show.
He approached his own desk and felt every pair of eyes in the room were on him.
"Hello, Gorgeous." he said to the tall, slender beauty that sat at his desk. She had already guessed his password into his computer and was searching through his files.
The fabled FBI agent turned around in his chair and smiled with perfect teeth at him.
"Hello, Handsome." she said. "How's the only man I've ever loved?"
"I was doing fine till I came into work." he admitted looking around at the people still staring.
"You really need to update your software. I hacked into your terminal in like five seconds."
Alex should have been annoyed by the intrusion, but he could never stay mad at Charlotte Evans.
"How is the FBI treating you, Chuck?" he said with a smile.
"Better than White Pine Bay is treating you." she said mockingly. "I heard about your little adventure in the bay as soon as I came into town."
"Yeah. Gossip." he admitted sourly.
"Well, are you gonna take me out to breakfast, or am I gonna have to arrest you in front of all your friends?" she asked.
Alex pretended to be amused.
"Sounds kinda kinky. I think that's exactly how all my letters to playboy start out." he said.
Charlotte smiled her perfect smile again.
"You still subscribe to Playboy? You poor thing! I thought you would have moved on to internet porn by now." she teased him.
"Nothing wrong with the classics." he said defensively.
"Well let's go, Deputy. I have a lot of questions for you." she said in a loud voice so everyone could hear.
Charlotte looked rather menacing as they walked out of the station together. Alex could feel the air grow heavy with the gossip people were dying to start when they left.