A/N: Thank you all for the positive feedback from the last update. It was the chapter in this story that I had felt most worried to post so I'm glad it didn't end up scaring everyone away. Let me know what you think of this one and enjoy!
Disposing of a body wasn't easy, Alex actually had to give serial killers credit for the work they had to do just to get rid of them. Keith was not a light guy to drag either, luckily his truck was only parked a few feet from where it had all went down so he didn't have to bring him far. He got him loaded into the bed of it and tied him up in traps and fishing gear that had been laying in it to way him down. The trailer looked out to White Pine Bay's largest lake, he could only imagine how many bodies had been dropped in it in the past never to be found again. He drove right up to the water and put the car in neutral, hopping out and going around to the back. He shoved the truck with all his strength and it sunk into the the waters, sliding further and further in till it disappeared completely from his sight. After staring at the still water a minute he turned around and walked back to the trailer, avoiding the blood that was still pooled out on the patio. There was no use in trying to clean it up, it would never come off the stone. And he hoped someone would find it eventually, Maggie would need to know her brother was gone and Norma could find comfort in the fact that her attacker wouldn't come back. He ripped part of his shirt sleeve off and used it to cover his hand while he opened the door. Going inside he found a lighter then headed back outside stopping at his car to grab out a spare tee shirt he had then walked over to the fire pit. He unbuttoned his bloody uniform shirt and lit the end of it before throwing it in then replaced it with his tee shirt. He grabbed a bottle of lighter fluid that was sitting on a tree stump and poured it onto the slow burning clothing then he tossed the empty container in the fire pit along with it. After every piece was destroyed he went back to his car and got out of there before anyone showed up.
His first stop was to the motel, it was on the way back and on the off chance she was still there he wanted to see her right away. He spoke with one of his officers who was there examining the crime scene, he was told she was taken to the hospital to do a rape kit so he drove straight there and went up to the front desk.
"What room did you take Norma Calhoun to?" Alex asked the woman who was sitting behind the desk.
"Are you her family member?" She asked then he pulled out his badge and held it up to her.
"Which room is she in?" He said then she looked in her files.
"One 'o two." She replied then he hurried down the hallway till he came up to her room and walked right inside.
Norma was talking to the doctor when she heard footsteps and looked over to see him entering her room. "Alex." She said then he walked over next to her bed and they pulled each other into a hug.
"I'm all done for now, I'll give you two a minute." The doctor said and walked out the door, as soon as he did Alex rested his forehead on hers and wiped away the tears that had formed in her eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Norma." Alex said, finally letting himself lose it as he started to cry.
"It isn't your fault Alex, you're not the one who did this to me." Norma said, reaching up and holding onto his face the same way he had done to hers.
"I should have been there, I should have stopped him."
"He waited till I was alone, unless you were by me every waking hour of the day it still would have happened." Norma said and Alex remained silent. "Did you find Keith?"
Alex opened his eyes and looked into hers, shaking his head. "No, I couldn't find him."
"I hate him, I hate that he did this to me." Norma said as she started crying again, Alex laid on the edge of her bed and wrapped his arms around her.
"Me too, and he's never going to lay another finger on you again." Alex said and she tucked her head into his shoulder. They stayed laying that way in silence till there was a knock at the door.
"Mind if I come in?" Oliver asked and Alex waved him in, getting up from the bed and standing next to her. "I'm sorry but I gotta ask you to explain to me everything that happened."
"Oliver, I can handle that." Alex said.
"You know as her boyfriend you can't, it's protocol."
"Alright." Alex said then turned to Norma. "I'll be right outside."
Norma reached over and grabbed Alex's hand to stop him then she looked at Oliver. "Can he stay in here while I talk to you?"
"Yeah." Oliver said then looked over at Alex. "He can stay if he wants to."
Alex nodded then sat back on the bed with Norma, keeping her hand intertwined with his the whole time. She explained in great details all the events that had happened, it pained Alex more than anything hearing what he had done to her but she needed him there and there was no way he was going to leave her side.
"Thank you Norma, I know it's a difficult thing to discuss so I appreciate you doing this." Oliver said, closing the notepad he had. "If you don't mind I'm gonna steal Alex a minute, we will be right outside the door so if you need anything you can yell for him."
"Okay." Norma said and let go of Alex's hand.
Alex got up and followed Oliver out of the room, closing the door most the way behind them. "What?"
"You didn't have any luck trailing that bastard?" Oliver asked.
"No." Alex said, shaking his head. "By the time I found Norma in the bathroom and made sure she was safe there he had already been gone."
"But you went looking for him?"
"Yeah, I couldn't tell which way he went so I took a right out of the motel driveway and drove up about twenty miles before heading back the other way, then another twenty in that direction. He would have been too far gone by that time and I wanted to see Norma, I had to give up on looking for him."
"Don't worry Alex, we are gonna find him." Oliver said, putting a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "We won't let him get away with this."
"Thank you." Alex said, trying his best not to break down again.
"You go take care of your girl, I'm going to handle this." Oliver said and Alex nodded, walking back into the room.
"I don't know what I'm going to tell Norman and Dylan." Norma said as soon as he was inside.
Alex looked at his watch and noticed the time, they had been out of school almost an hour now. "Where are they?"
"They both took the bus to Emma's after school. Will is in town and I spoke with him, he said he'd keep them there till later. I told him he could tell them I got hurt but that I'm okay and just leave it at that."
"Do you want them to know?" Alex said, pulling up a chair next to her bed.
"I don't. I don't want them to know what he did to me, but I also don't want them not to know. I don't want them to ever be in a position like mine where they don't know what to do, and I know they are boys and that is less likely but in any situation they need to be prepared. You were right when you said they have seen a lot of bad things, and sure they have reacted to them in the best way possible but who knows what they would do if someone tried to hurt them. I don't want them to be afraid of what can happen but I do want them ready if it does."
"Okay." Alex said and thought a moment. "How about we ease them into it? We start with saying he broke into your room and hurt you, we see how they take that then you can decide if you want to go any further into it."
"Alright, we can try that." Norma said then Alex reached over and took her hand.
"And I want you to move in with me." Alex said and she looked up at him. "For good this time, not just so I can protect you."
"Alex-" Norma stopped, not knowing what to say next.
"And I'm not just asking because of what happened, so please don't think that." Alex said and scooted closer to her. "These last few days when we weren't speaking were hell, I was completely lost without you and I have never felt that way before with anybody. I don't want there to be any less time that I can be with you, I want you to be there when I come home every night and I want you to be there when I wake up in the morning. And we can start with it being like when you stayed with me before, you can sleep in the den so it doesn't feel like things are changing too quickly."
"Yes." Norma said as soon as he stopped talking.
"Yes?" Alex asked, making sure that was what she said.
"Yes, I'll move in with you." Norma said and Alex leaned in and kissed her. "You know I have to bring Norman and Dylan with me too?" She said and he chuckled.
"Well I hope so, I want them there all the time too."
"Can we get out of here now? I wanna go get the boys."
"Yeah, let me check and make sure they don't need anything else before we go." Alex said then he got up and left the room.
After she was released they drove toward the motel, deciding it would be better to pick up their stuff first so the boys didn't have to go back there today. Alex pulled up into the driveway, looking over at the car parked next to them and nodding at the man who sat inside it.
"Do you know that guy?" Norma asked.
"That's Stanley, he's one of my officers." Alex said, taking his seatbelt off.
"What is he still doing here, didn't they already finish getting everything they needed?"
"Oliver called me while you were changing and said he was going to keep him posted here till later tonight in case Keith shows back up." Alex said then he looked over at room four. "You ready?"
Norma looked at the door and her heart started to race, she looked back at Alex and shook her head. "Do you mind going in without me?"
"Yeah, I can do that. What all do you want me to grab?"
"You can just throw together whatever for now, we'll need clothes and the boys would probably like some of their games."
"Okay, I'll be right back." Alex said then hopped out of the car, he walked around the back of it and over to Stanley's car knocking on the window so he would roll it down. "I'm gonna run into Norma's room and get some of her things, keep an eye on her while I'm in there."
"Yes, sir." Stanley said.
Alex went to walk away then turned back quick. "Stanley."
"Yes, sir?"
"It's okay that you were late the other day, keep taking care of that grandma of yours."
"Thank you, sir, I will." He said then Alex walked into her room, he left the door open some so he could listen to what was going on outside in case Norma thought of something else for him to grab or she needed him. She must have rolled down her window because he could hear her and Stanley were chatting up a storm as he gathered up some of their things. He made sure to get a few changes of clothes and pajamas for each of them, their shower items and games to keep them entertained with for the next few days till they were ready to come back and get the rest of the stuff. He loaded up his car with the things he had packed then him and Norma were on their way to Emma's house, Alex went up to the door to get them.
"Alex, where's my mom?" Dylan asked in a worried tone, tossing his backpack on his shoulder.
"She's in the car waiting for us."
"What happened to her?" Norman asked.
"We are going to talk about that when we get back to my place. She's okay though, she's going to be fine."
"Why are we going to your house? It's already late." Dylan asked.
"You are going to sleep there, we'll talk about all this more when we get there." Alex said then he thanked Will for looking after them and they all went out to the car. The ride back was only a couple minutes long but Norma could tell it was killing the boys not to ask questions, she knew Alex must have told them to leave it be for awhile. When they pulled up in his driveway Alex went to the trunk and pulled out a few of their bags, Dylan noticed and went around to help him.
"A lot of stuff for a sleepover." He joked, already figuring out that it was going to be more than a one night kind of thing. Alex ignored it and they carried it into the house, setting it down in the foyer.
"Let's go sit." Norma said then they all walked over to the dining room, Alex sat down in the chair next to Norma and held onto her hand under the table.
"What's going on?" Dylan asked, not wanting to wait any longer for the explanation to why they were acting so strange.
"Today I went back into our motel room during my lunch break, while I was in there Maggie's brother Keith came by. He tried lying to me to get inside but I didn't fall for it then he forced his way in and attacked me." Norma explained to them as well as she could, the look on their face the whole time was one the most heartbreaking parts of telling them.
"He hurt you, that's why you were at the hospital? Dylan asked.
"Yes, they had to double check and make sure I was okay. It could have been a lot worse but Alex showed up and helped me."
"Is he in jail now?" Norman asked.
"No, he got away."
"But we are going to find him, don't worry about that." Alex told them.
"Why did he break in and go after you?" Dylan asked. "Did he steal something?"
"He didn't take anything, he only wanted to hurt me."
"But why, why would he do that? He didn't even barely know you."
"Sometimes people do things that aren't right simply because they enjoy taking pleasure in someone else's pain, it's cruel but they just do."
"Where did he hurt you? Norman asked, looking at her to see if he could notice any harm.
"You can't see where he hurt me."
"You can show us, we won't be scared if it looks bad."
"Norman, sweetie, it's something I can't show you."
"Why not?" He asked and Norma exchanged glances with Alex.
Dylan watched them both looking at each other as if their expressions were trying to talk to one other, he knew enough to know what it meant when two adults would shy away from a certain topic. "Norman, drop it, okay?" He said and Norma looked over at him, they both knew now yet this is where the conversation was going to end for them.
"Okay." Norman said.
"I didn't really want to have to tell you this but I wanted you to use it as a lesson." Norma said. "I know that we are good friends with Maggie but don't ever think just cause someone knows your friend you are able to trust them automatically, until you know them well enough yourselves you are not to be alone with them."
"What about at school?" Norman asked.
"This is mostly for grown ups you will meet, you shouldn't have to worry too much about your classmates, at least not till high school. And this is a big one, if you two are ever alone and this includes when you are alone together you do not open the door for anyone. I don't care who it is, unless I say otherwise."
"Wait, we can't even open the door when Alex comes over?" Dylan asked.
"That's something else we need to talk to you about. Alex and I decided that the three of us are going to move in here." Norma said and their faces lit up for the first time during this conversation.
"We aren't going back to the motel?"
"I'll still be working there but as far as living goes we are going to be staying here."
"As long as it's okay with both of you, we don't want to make you uncomfortable in any way." Alex told them.
"I want to move in." Norman said, happily.
"I'm fine with it, it will be nice to get out of that room." Dylan said.
Norma smiled over at Alex. "Well it's starting to get late, why don't you two go find your pajamas and get ready for bed." She said and both the boys stood up, leaving the table.
"That went as well as it could have." Alex said.
"Dylan knows."
"Yeah, I know." Alex said, wrapping his arm around her back. "Do you want me to stay down here too tonight? I can sleep on the loveseat."
"You don't have to do that, I'll be fine."
"You sure?"
"I got my boys." Norma said and they looked out into the other room at them, they had already gotten their pajamas out of the suitcase and Norman was sitting on the bag so Dylan could get it shut again.
"You're right, if I saw them I'd probably run in the other direction." Alex said and Norma chuckled.
"Don't worry, as long as you're in the house I'll always feel safe." Norma said then Alex leaned in slowly toward her and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
"If you need anything come upstairs and get me."
"Okay." Norma said and he gave her another quick kiss.
"Good night, Norma." Alex said then stood up, he stopped and said night to the boys before heading upstairs to get ready for bed.
When the boys were done getting changed they started making the beds up while Norma went to take a quick shower. The downstairs bathroom had a large mirror above the countertop and Norma stopped in front of it to remove her clothes. When she lifted her top off the bruises on her hips caught her eye instantly, she had known they were sore from where he was holding her down at but she had avoided looking at them earlier when they took photos for the report. She traced her fingers over them lightly, recounting the moments from today. It hurt to think about but her anger overpowered every other feeling inside her, how he could do that to her. She wouldn't admit it to anyone else but she wished she could kill him, and watch that smug look leave his face. She pushed the thoughts out of her mind, that would be crazy and she could never do that. But she did know one thing, she wanted him to pay for what he had done.
When she got back into the den Dylan was laying awake on his bed, he glanced over at a sleeping Norman. "He passed out a few minutes ago, he tried waiting for you."
"Neither of you had to wait for me, I'm okay."
"Norma, there's no way you are okay."
Norma smiled at him. "But I will be." She said then walked over and laid on her side of the bed. Dylan watched her the whole time, she scooted as close to Norman as she could and wrapped her arms around him. She would look back behind her every once in awhile like she was worried someone would somehow appear there.
"Norma." Dylan said in the almost dark room, getting off the air mattress and walking over to her bed with his blanket and pillow.
"Yeah?" She said, looking back at him.
"Can I lay with you and Norman?"
"Of course." Norma said then he set his stuff down on the bed next to her. She turned to face him as he climbed onto the bed and laid down beside her, they both closed their eyes and soon fell asleep in the comfort of each others presence. None of them had even noticed Alex come downstairs and set up a spot for himself to sleep on the loveseat.