11.
~ Her face looked surprised. Her eyes going wide and a smile blooming when she recognized him.
"Oh!" she said and Alex found he was once again smitten by such an enchanting smile. She brushed back her damp hair and secured the towel better. Her cheeks blushing slightly while her arms crossed protectively over her chest. A sudden act of modesty after all he'd witness already.
"You surprised me." she admitted shyly.
"Yeah." he said nodding. At first he thought she hadn't heard him call her Norma. "I was out checking the grounds."
He nodded at the pool.
"You went for a swim." he said and she looked embarrassed.
"Water was a little too cold." she smiled looking eager to escape the conversation.
"The indoor pool is heated." he offered. "Next time you go swimming."
Her smile faltered a little and she looked uncomfortable.
"Right." she nodded and smiled nervously.
"Well, I should let you get back. You don't Dylan to wake up and wonder where you are." Alex said cooly. His attention focused unflinchingly on her reaction.
As if cold water had been thrown on her, Norma's face fell. Her color running out of her cheeks again and Alex was afraid she might faint.
"You… you called me Norma before." she nodded gravely. Realizing now that she'd been tricked. "Dylan…" she added and refused to look at him.
"That's your name isn't it?" he said more confidently. "Norma Bates. Your son's name is Dylan."
Her eyes flitted nervously around as if looking for a way out of this conversation.
"People back in Arizona think you and Dylan died. That something terrible happened to you." he said. "Your husband Sam is a prime suspect in your disappearance, Norma. They think he murdered you."
She refused to look at him. Her face seeming to be made of stone. The only thing on her that showed any sign of life was her eyes. When she would blink slowly. Her blue eyes becoming glass like and lost.
"Norma, we have to go to call the authorities in Arizona. Let them know you're alive and safe. The news report says Sam Bates-"
"I'm not calling anyone to tell them where I am." she snapped harshly. Her mouth going into a strait line as she cast those luminous eyes on him in judgement.
"Look, I understand why you did what you did." Alex said calmly. "He wasn't a nice guy and you wanted to get away. You wanted to get your son away. Lot of women do it, but this guy could easily be convicted if you don't step forward."
The look on her face had become menacing; manipulative and crafty. What was worse, it wasn't fearful or embarrassed, it was angry.
Alex knew all he needed to know from that look. He could see it all play out perfectly. As though in a movie with a skillful narrator to guide him along to the only conclusion that made sense.
"You want them to think you're dead." he realized and she looked away. "You want them to think you and Dylan are dead; and for Sam to go to prison."
He could almost feel the puzzle pieces snapping into place. It wasn't enough that she left him. She wanted him to burn for all the abuse she and her children had suffered.
"Norma." he said rationally. "You can't fake your death. You can't just assume another identity. You'll eventually get caught."
He could feel his heart pounding at the radical idea. Everyone at one time in their life had wanted to just vanish and start over under a new identity. This woman had actually done it.
She remained silent.
"Norma?" he asked. "Talk to me. Tell me what happened."
She shook her head. Her lips were now a frown.
"Norma?" he asked again.
"I think I should go… check on John." she said dreamily.
Without meaning to, Alex grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. He wasn't the kind of man who'd ever been physically aggressive with a woman before but he felt almost out of his mind just now. He wasn't sure at all what was real or not.
"This isn't a game." he warned her.
"I'm not talking to you." she hissed back and tears brimmed her eyes. "You… you're trying to trick me? Where'd they put the wire, deputy?"
"Wire?" he laughed but it felt dry and humorless. "People who worry about that kind of thing are always guilty, Norma."
Her eyes fought with his and he was forced to look away.
"I'm not wearing any wire. You can talk to me." he said at last. "You can be honest."
"I don't believe you." she said weakly. Her voice sounding broken and childlike.
Alex wasn't sure how to make her believe him. He'd just put the puzzle together that day, did she really think that was enough time to contact the FBI or record their conversation.
"We can go swimming." he laughed meaning it as a joke. He didn't think for a moment she would take him seriously. "The indoor pool is heated. We can talk there."
~ Norma shook away the nervousness she'd felt since Alex told her he knew the truth. She didn't think he was wearing any wire to entrap her into admitting everything, but she couldn't risk it.
She glanced behind her at Alex undressing on the other side of the indoor pool. His back was respectfully to her, as though he didn't care in the least she was naked.
Norma let the large beach towel fall carelessly down and, eyeing that Alex's back was still away from her, she dove in.
He hadn't been wrong, the indoor pool was heated to a comfortable temperature. The waters once more ticketing her naked flesh in places she wasn't used to being touched. If she had her own heated pool, she would swim naked in it everyday.
She resurfaced just in time to see Alex descending the built in steps into the water. She looked respectfully away just in time, but he hadn't bothered with clothing either. His body defined with impressive muscle tone, but not overly so. Not enough to intimidate or scare her. Just enough to make her appreciate it.
She felt her face flush hot with embarrassment and kept her eyes averted away from him. Pretending to have great interest in the tile work of the indoor pool room.
Alex moved towards her and she had to be careful not to let the tides he was creating expose her bare breasts. It was easier for him, he only had to worry about exposure below the waist. She had everything else to keep hidden. It didn't help the pool had under water lights and the only cover she had was distortion of the waters surface.
She heard and felt the lapping of water and Alex moving gracefully towards her, both of them standing in the middle of the pool with Norma on tiptoe at the deeper end.
She noted that Alex looked especially handsome soaking wet and how unfair it was that a man like him would always be good looking without really trying hard.
"Happy?" he asked and moved closer to her. Her feet automatically stumbling backwards in retreat. They were both naked after all and they hardly knew each other. She kept finding herself in awkward siltations with him. If her life wasn't so tragic, it could be a romantic comedy.
He looked around the pool room with its' high ceilings that echoed and the noise of water.
"No wires, no one else can hear us." he told her. His voice low and intimate. "Tell me."
Norma looked at his face. A face that had shown her nothing but kindness and concern. She wanted to trust him but trusting the wrong people was dangerous.
She moved her arms around her as if treading water but it was really to keep Alex from coming too close. This was by far the most intimate she'd been with a man since Sam.
"It started when I had to take the boys to the emergency room." she admitted. "I had to lie for him. I had to lie to protect Sam and it felt like I was sacrificing my children to protect him. He beat our son Norman for the smallest thing; crying too much or running in the house. I knew then…"
"Why didn't you just leave him? Why fake your death?" he demanded. "The man's going to go to prison. It's serious."
Norma felt defensive.
"He should go to prison." she said darkly. "He broke Dylan's arm, gave Norman a concussion and abused me for years. He would have killed us if I'd stayed."
"Why didn't you call the police?"
"You think I didn't?" she laughed. "You think the neighbors didn't call the police?"
Alex looked wounded but she felt a certain power rush over her.
"The cops would come, look at my bruised and bleeding face and do nothing." she said. "Sam owned a business that employed hundreds of people. We had a nice home and he would tell everyone how his wife is mentally unstable and made things up. How she wanted attention or drank too much and he wanted to put her in treatment. They always believed him. Always. They wouldn't even look at me. It was like I wasn't even there. Like I was already dead."
She said this last part with such sourness that she couldn't bear to even look at him. Alex was a cop after all. Who knew how many domestic abuse cases he saw a day. How many he walked away from because it was so easy to dismiss the wife as being hysterical. Once the husband accused her of being mentally imbalanced or on drugs, it was all over. No one would take her seriously after that.
"He got away with it. He got away with it because everyone gets away with everything. There's no justice. After a while… I learned. I learned not to cry out for help. I learned to lie to people if they got suspicious. Lie to doctors and never have anyone over. Never make friends. Never say anything bad. Just hide. Hide in the house and hope it will be a good day." she shrugged and her breasts became slightly exposed from the water.
Alex looked winded. As if he'd been right there with her for all of Sam's abuse.
"Why not just leave him?" he asked. "File an order of protection?"
"He broke Dylan's arm and threw me down the stairs in the same week." she scoffed. "He'd been doing it for years. You really think a piece of paper will stop him? He doesn't even care if Dylan and I are still alive. He waited two days before he even reported us missing and he didn't say a word about Dylan's broken arm. He doesn't want us found, he doesn't care. And when he's in prison, when he's in a place where he can't hurt us ever again, I'm going to go back there and get my other son."
"Norma, you can't live under an assumed identity. You'll get caught. People always do. We have airport cameras with face recognition now. You can't just assume another identity and think no one will ever find out." he said calmly.
They'd been moving around each other in the warm waters. Alex always approaching, Norma always retreating; moving in a circular pattern without end. She wasn't sure what he would do if he finally did capture her. If she let him get too close to her.
She didn't like that he was fighting her with logic. That she might lose this argument.
Alex looked at her questioningly. Seeming to read her mind.
"The police would have to have good reason to think you and Dylan are dead. No bodies." he said slowly. His eyes narrowing. He moved closer to her and Norma stepped away on tip toe. The waters hardly covering her breasts at all now. Alex chanced a look down at her exposed flesh and then back at her face.
"Why? Why would they think that?" he asked.
"I left our SUV behind." she said simply and sank a little further into the water. "I left my purse with my ID behind to."
Alex's brows furrowed.
"What else?" he asked.
Norma swallowed.
"I had… learned to draw blood. Off of youtube. You can lean anything off YouTube. I drew my own blood, put it around the bathroom, then cleaned it up. Cleaned up just enough of it…" she swallowed hard. "That it would be found by the people looking for it."
"You staged a crime scene?" Alex whispered in shock. "Norma, you could go to prison for that."
"I won't." she said confidently. "Norma Bates is dead."
"Who's the real Vicki Deeds then?"
"Someone I met at the gym. I'd hired a personal trainer, went on a diet. Lost a lot of weight." she explained easily.
Alex's eyes went wide and he didn't hide the fact he wanted to see more of her body that was hiding under the water.
"The real Vicki is alice and well. She was my friend. She's living in Spain now and isn't going to come back to the US. I was able to get cash from Sam's business safe. More than enough to get away. She helped me get new birth certificates for the boys. She wanted to help." Norma explained.
"Help you right into prison." Alex corrected. "What if she comes back stateside?"
"She won't." Norma said quickly although that was always a possibility.
"So only one person knows who and what your plan was." Alex accused.
"She only knew we needed new identities." Norma explained. "She had no idea I was faking my own death."
"Norma, you have to step forward. Before it's too late." Alex said shaking his head. He'd stepped closer to her and pulled her arms towards him. "They'll arrest Sam any day but if you come out and say you and Dylan are alive and you were escaping an abuser-"
"What about the blood in my bathroom?" she accused hotly. "How do I explain that?"
Alex shook his head but wouldn't let her go. He still had her hands in his and they were moving again around each other. A strange sort of dance in the pool.
"If you're caught… and you will be caught… you will go to prison." he said rationally.
"I won't get caught." she said quickly.
"Norma, I found out the truth in less than a month." he told her.
"Only because of Dylan's broken arm. You saw my old pictures. No one would recognize me now."
Alex looked annoyed. Like he wanted to yell at her but couldn't bring himself to do it.
"I'm trying to help you here." he said at last with some exhaustion in his voice. "Why won't you let me help you?"
"I don't need help." she said pathetically. "Dylan and I can leave tomorrow. You never have to say you saw us at all."
She winced at the hurt expression passing over his face.
"Tomorrow?" he asked pulling her closer. Norma tried to step away but his grip was too firm.
"I think it's for the best." she whispered back.
"Norma, I'm… I'm not going to tell anyone." he promised. "I'm not making you leave. You're safe here. I just wanted to know the truth."
It would be so easy to let him in. To fall for him just a little. To let him pull her out of the pool and take her to bed with him. The two of them not even bothering with clothes as they fumbled in the darkness of his bedroom. Or maybe they wouldn't even make it to his room. The couch in the family room were large enough; comfortable enough.
Norma swallowed again. Her throat feeling dry and her stomach feeling like it was full of excited butterflies and fireworks.
"You can stay." he said seductively. His voice luring her in even as he pulled her closer to him. "I want you to stay."
"I should go… I need to check on Dylan." she said ripping herself away from him.
She slipped away and swam out into the deep end. Her arms grasping towards the ledge like a drowning woman. She could feel his eyes on her. Feel how he wasn't going to politely turn away this time when she climbed back out.
She spotted her beach towel and had to reach for it. Her clumsy movements of holding onto the ledge and keeping her towel aloft were a bit difficult.
She managed to maneuver to the shallow end without looking back at him. Her side vision detecting he was standing in only hip deep water. Daring her to look back at him.
Gracefully, yet awkwardly, she wadded out of the waters with her back to him. Her bare buttocks exposed but that fine. She wrapped her towel around herself and hurried away. Not looking back until she was on the path to the cottage.
