30.

~ "Norman?" came a voice. "Norman? Wake up!"

Norman opened his eyes and saw her leaning over his bed. Her face free of make up and her hair unpleasantly pinned back.

"Mother?" Norman asked. His voice coming raspy and feeling strange from not talking for so long.

"Norman, you have to get out of here." Mother was saying. Her eyes were sharp and unblinking. Almost like Hannibal Lector in that awful movie Dylan had once made him watch.

Norma tried to sit up, but his body felt too heavy. Like his head was too big and he couldn't move. He felt sedated and thirsty but not hungry.

"Where am I, mother?" he asked.

She didn't look like herself. Her clothes looked unflattering and old-fashioned. Like something an old woman would wear.

"You left me alone with him." Mother accused him harshly. "With that… Sheriff Romero."

She spat the name as though it were pure foulness.

"I… you sent me here. I wanted to stay, but you sent me here." Norma said softly.
"Romero made you come here." Mother whispered. "He's responsible."

"Mother?" Norman asked feeling sick. He thought he might throw up and still Mother wouldn't go away.

"He makes me do awful things, Norman." Mother snapped. "He makes me to do them."

"No, Mother, no." Norman cried. He could imagine it. His poor innocent mother being hurt and abused by Romero just like Keith Summers had hurt her.

"All the time, Norman." Mother hissed. "He makes me do dirty things to him."

"Mother?" Norman croaked and he blinked as the lights came on and mother was gone. A strange nurse was there and a rough looking orderly. They were taking hold of his arm and injecting him with a needle.

"Norman, you're having another episode." the nurse said.

"No. Mother!" Norman cried helplessly before sleep took him back under again.

~ The Grove, as it was called was the more prestigious neighborhood that circled the rocky part of the lake. Here were the modern million dollar summer homes that tech entrepreneurs escaped to with their families. Those idle months when the incredibly wealthy could flee the crowded and dirty cities for the peaceful resort town of White Pine Bay. Where even in high summer, the heat never got too high and the waters were clean and perfect for swimming and boating.

With the county cut off, with the rioting and high death tolls rolling in, some of the properties were now laying vacant and at dangerous levels of neglect. Romero didn't have the manpower to check on each home everyday. Not when so many new homes had sprung up over the years. Many of them just like this one; tucked neatly away from the main roan and nearly impossible to find.

He could easily hide the gate if he had to, and the path was already fading away from lack of use. Alex left the Sheriff's SUV near the front gate and walked the rest of the way to the main house. A house that looked small an very unassuming when first approaching. The architecture had been clever in this respect. The house appeared to be nothing more than a stylish front door and a large bay window, yet it used the downward, rocky hillside to tastefully hide a three story home that opened right onto the lake. Complete with a small boat house and large dock. Unless you came to the mansion by the lake, you would never know it was there.

Romero had let himself inside. The locksmith in the town having changed all the locks to these empty homes during the winter when there had been a rash of burglaries. It was easier for the county to simply take possession of these empty houses if they had the keys and could do random checks. The Sheriff's department had employed a caretaker to go from house to house everyday, but it was a big job and a lot of land to cover. Besides, Alex thought he had a better solution.

The house was decorated with a smattering of Scandinavian style minimalist furniture and modern art. Nothing looked disturbed and there was a feeling of sitting empty too long. It echoed in a strange and spooky way that was different from Norma's house. The large house by the motel groaned with old wood and over a century of trying to settle. This house of steal and too many modern things seemed like it just didn't belong in the middle of nature and nature wanted it gone.

Alex went from room to room; looking for damage and approving of the large square footage. The place was huge and sound echoed from it being so large. The windows looking over the lake were a little unnerving. Almost as if you could't have any privacy in a house like this. He could even see the lights of the few neighbors across the waters.

Still, even though the house was too modern for his taste it was secluded and peaceful. Far more peaceful than the motel ever was. It had five bedrooms, a massive kitchen that looked like it had never been used, and even an office and decent gym. Alex was about to leave the house and lock up when headlights flooded the driveway and he saw Dylan's truck pull in next to his SUV.

"This place was hard to find." The young man said irritably. "This isn't where your'e going to kill me, is it?"

"No." Romero told him quickly. "I wanted to show you something."

"Look, I'm sorry for what I said at dinner." Dylan was saying and Romero shook his head.

"Never mind that now." he told the younger man. "I need to talk to you about something serious."

Dylan looked concerned.

"Norman? Is he okay?" he asked.

"Your brother is fine." Alex said calmly. "Everyone's fine."

"So…"

"Norma is pregnant." Alex blurted out. It sounded just as melodramatic as he knew it would. The kind of thing he thought he would never have to deal with. An unplanned pregnancy was the something a young man like Dylan worried about. Not someone like Alex who knew how to be careful. Or so he thought.

Dylan raised his brows and seemed a little surprised, but stayed calm.

"Oh." was all he said.

"She done't want to have it." Romero said.

"Oh." Dylan said. His voice sounding sad.

"I want her to." Romero told him.

"You can't make Norma do anything she done't want to." Dylan shook his head.

"No, I know that." Alex interrupted. "I… she's scared of having a baby now with the pandemic and all the stress with the motel and Norman."

"Is that why you two got married?" Dylan asked. "You could have told me."

"No. I only found out today." Alex said feeling offended. "You mother was in a car accident… she's fine." Romero said when Dylan looked concerned. "They wanted to do testes and… she's four weeks along, maybe more. She wanted to get an abortion but can't because of the lockdown."

"So you think you have the right to say what she can and can't do?" Dylan asked with a sly smile on his face.

"I want to show her that I can provide a safer home for us." Alex said. He didn't need to hear this from Dylan to. He wanted Dylan on his side.

"What do you mean?" Dylan asked.
"This house." Alex nodded behind him. "The owners were in Italy last year. The died of the virus and the county has had this empty property on the books since. They were an older couple, no living children and we can't find any relatives."

"So… where do you come in?" Dylan asked not understanding.

"It take a lot of manpower to patrol way out here. All these properties are so rural." Alex rolled his eyes. "I talked to the mayor and explained that if I were to move out to this empty house, we could expand our security net for these empty homes. All the burglaries that have been going on. I could only sell him on it if we agreed to keep the place secure and to move back home if the original owners family could be found."

"What happens to the house by the motel? Do you want me to stay there?" Dylan asked.

"No." Alex said. "I want you to stay here."

Dylan looked surprised and curious.

"Here?" he asked. "You want me to live with you guys?" his voice was uncertain. Like he wasn't used to being invited anywhere.

"Your mother isn't doing well with the isolation and being out here will only make it worse." Alex told him. "We can't stay so close to the motel. The noise and the stress; it worries me."

"Romeo." Dylan said uncomfortably. "Listen, I wouldn't mind… the thing is… I've been seeing… I've been seeing Emma Decody. That's who I go see every other night. She and her dad are losing their apartment and store. I have to help them get settled in a new place."

He looked like he was having trouble explaining more.
"And… I asked her to marry me. She said yes and we want to get married right away." Dylan said.

"Great." Alex told him. "You two can move in here."

"What?" Dylan asked as though he'd made a bad joke.

"It's going to be hard to find a place in town for you to live right?." Alex asked. "Unless you want to move Emma next to the motel next to all the people coming in and staying for a two week quarantine. You know how dangerous it could be for someone in her condition."

Dylan nodded.

"This house is much safer. It's cleaner, no allergens, no strangers around." he told him.

"Let me think about it." Dylan said. "What about her dad? He lost his business."

"He can do his taxidermy work in the garage around back." Alex nodded to a well built building that was now nearly overgrown with brush from lack of care. "I can't do this without you, Dylan. I can't take care of this place, much less convince Norma to come without your help."

"Well, so what about the house by the motel? We're just going to let it stay empty?" Dylan asked.

Romero looked uncomfortable. What he liked most about Dylan was his intelligence. There wasn't much he missed and it had been the right decision to deputize him.

"The motel is booked solid." Alex began slowly. "The deputies pulling watch there will need a place to rest and clean up; go to the bathroom. It's not right we have them use a Port 'o John like that."

"You wan the cops guarding the road and the motel to set up camp in Norma's house?" Dylan laughed. "She's never going to go for that."

"We can convince her." Alex insisted. "Convince her that living here is safer and that she's doing a public service-"

"By letting a bunch of cops stay at her house?" Dylan shook her head. "Norma-"

"Your mother won't even be there and you're going to be pulling guard duty at the motel most days of the week from now on." Alex told him in a surly voice.

Dylan looked annoyed.

"That might convince her; if I was there all the time. She's still mad about the whole search warrant thing when we first moved in." the younger man said. She can hold a grudge better than anyone."

"So you'll talk to her?" Alex asked. "Help me convince her this is the right choice?" he waved to the mansion that now looked gloomy and sad.

Dylan shook his head.
"I'll agree with you about moving here when we talk to Norma. I'll say it's a good idea." Dylan said. "Only because I think it is a good idea. The motel is getting over crowded and dangerous. That house… it's like it's cursed or something. We've had bad luck since we moved here." he sighed and shrugged. "But I'm not going to help you convince her to have a baby if she doesn't want to."

Romero felt his chest cave in a little. His shoulders slump.

Dylan shook his head again.

"She's not what you think, Sheriff. She's not a good mother." Dylan said soberly. "You think you see this perfect, loving mother when she's with Norman; but they don't have a healthy relationship. They never did. It's always been just the two of them. Always will be. I mean we're not inside their little bubble and we never will be. It's not fair to bring a baby into their world."

"You're wrong." Alex chastised quickly.
"Oh yeah?" Dylan smiled.
"Norma didn't even tell me where she moved when her husband died." The younger man accused. "There's a lot about her, about the two of them, you don't know. She'll do anything to protect Norman and that includes cutting you off at the neck."

Alex was about to respond when his phone buzzed.

"I want you to go see your mother." he said. "Don't tell her I told you about the baby or anything we talked about here if you want to keep your job. Just pick her up something to eat for dinner, please?"

Dylan nodded reluctantly before Romero was able to look at his phone screen.

Jefferson: Rebecca Hamilton was arrested and her Jeep was impounded. Took photos of the front bumper like you asked. Lots of damage. Her Jeep was at Tony's body shop getting fixed. Her lawyer is in with her now, will probably make bail in an hour.

Jefferson had attached several photos and Alex scowled at the large dents on the front of Rebecca's shinny new Jeep. The smear of vintage greenish paint would have been difficult to get rid of after she had hit Norma's Mercedes. It stuck out plainly on the modern red paint.

"Tell your mother I'll be home late." he said angrily. "Oh and one more thing?"

"Yeah?" Dylan asked lazily walking back to his truck.

"You call her 'mom' when you're at home from now on." Romero warned.

"Alright, Sheriff." Dylan said coldly.

I realize this set up of occupying a deserted mansion is unrealistic, but it could happen and stranger things have happened on this show. So we do have to suspend disbelief for a little while here.