13.

~ Norma looked sadly at her pale reflection in her vanity mirror. She'd scrubbed her face clean and had used the opportunity to cry quietly in the bathroom so Alex wouldn't hear.

He suspected Norman had killed that poor woman. Suspected, just as she'd suspected, that her son was murderer.

She wondered what had changed. How they had gone from being so happy that day to things shifting so rapidly. To her husband, a man who loved her so well, looking at her with such distrust.

She hadn't been able to lie to him. Not this time. She didn't want to lie to him anymore. Didn't have the strength left. Not after all these secrets were on the table and he'd stood by her. Not caring about Caleb or even the truth about Keith Summers.

He'd only wanted the truth and would settle for nothing less. So, she'd looked him in the eye and gave it to him. The best way she knew how. If felt awful. It felt like a betrayal to Norman to tell an outsider anything.

She didn't tell Alex her deep dark suspicions about what happened. Only what she knew was true. She knew when she last saw Emma's mother. What they had talked about. Norman's odd behavior afterwards and the earring she'd found. It might mean nothing.

She wasn't about to mention the pit or her fears Audrey was buried there. There was every chance in the world this woman had simply run off with a boyfriend. She'd abandoned Emma at a young age hadn't she? What if she had simply heard the call of the road and gone off on her own again? Norman wasn't involved at all.

'Don't worry about it till there is something to worry about.' she decided and neatly rearranged her cosmetics on her vanity table.

She wished Norman was here. Wished she was here so she could talk to him. Comfort him and have him comfort her. They talked to each other all the time like they were children who shared a secret, magical world. A world no one else was allowed in and now she felt very alone without him. Even with Alex here, it wasn't the same. Alex didn't share the same history she had with Norman. Didn't have the same taste in movies and music. Didn't know what it meant to delve into a world no one else understood but them.

Now, she missed the times Norman would sit with her here at this very table while she did her make up and they would talk. They could talk about anything then. In the beginning when things were good and simple. Before everything became so complicated, frighting and strange.

"Can I come in?" a voice interrupted her thoughts and Norma turned to see her husband standing in the doorway of their bedroom. It was strange how she hadn't noticed before how handsome he was. She had always been intimidated by Sheriff Romero and had never really thought about him that way until he started staying at the motel.

Now she wondered why she hadn't noticed his natural good looks all along. How they could have been so much more so much sooner if they had wanted it. Fate always seemed to have other plans for the both of them. They were always destined to suffer.

"Of course." she said although she didn't really want to see him just now. She knew he suspected her son of something awful and her instincts were to protect her child from any harm. Sheriff Romero meant the law. Meant for her son to go to prison. A place he wouldn't survive.

"Sorry. About all the questions before." Alex said coming to sit beside her at the vanity table, His back to the mirror and his hand gently grasping hers. The little bench wasn't used to their combined weight and in squeaked. Alex was much heavier than Norman who was slight and lanky in built.

Norma looked away from him. Afraid she my cry up again.

"What happened?" she asked simply. "Why were you asking about… about that woman?"

"I found her suitcase." Alex explained simply. "Buried by the front steps."

"What?" Norma asked. She must have heard wrong. "She took her suitcase with her. She checked out."

Alex was quite.
"Her suitcase was buried on your property, Norma." he said.

She felt dizzy.

"I don't understand." she admitted honestly.

"I know you don't." he said easily. "I don't think you were involved."

"Of course I wasn't." she said quickly and tried to pull her hand away. Offended he would even make the suggestion.

Sheriff Romero's hands were strong and held her fast. His grip was firm, but didn't hurt her. In any case, he didn't let her go.

"I'm going to go to PineView tomorrow and talk to Edwards about Norman. About things he's been saying." Alex told her in a calm, even tone.

"What things?"

Alex waited a few breaths for Norma to relax before answering.

"Norman told Doctor Edwards that you killed Blair Watson. That you killed Bradly Martian and Audrey Decody." he told her.

She must have heard wrong. That was insane.

"He didn't say that." she said in disbelief. "Norman… not Norman."

"He took it back, but I have to investigate because Audrey is missing and if there is a chance Bradley Martian wasn't a suicide-"

"Norman told me he was going off with that Bradly girl right before he ran away and was picked up by county." Norma interrupted. "I thought he was imagining that because she was dead. I kept telling him she was dead. She committed suicide over a year ago. Then Dylan tells me this crazy story that she faked her death. I don't know what to believe."

Alex blinked as if he'd been slapped and Norma shook her head.

"I don't know if it's true. I never saw Bradly. Norman was talking crazy and I couldn't keep him in the house. He got out of the basement after he pushed me down the stairs." she said quickly.

"He pushed you down the stairs?" Alex asked.

"I was fine." she insisted quickly. She didn't need him thinking Norman was violent towards her. "But I think he was making it all up, I don't know why Dylan told me Bradly was alive unless he believed it to."

"Norman pushed you down the stairs." Alex repeated.

"No, don't make a big deal out of that." she told him. "Norman just had a bad episode and I wouldn't leave him alone. I kept trying to keep him in the house."

"You're sounding like every abused woman I've ever talked to right now. Making excuses for him. Defending him." Alex told her.

Norma felt her jaw set hard enough to bring on a headache. Her son didn't abuse her.

"I'm going to talk to Edwards tomorrow." he said.

"Don't you need my permission to talk to him?" Norma said smartly. "I'm his mother."

"And I'm his step father." Alex retorted just as smartly.

Their eyes locked and she wasn't sure if she was impressed or hated him just now. It was as if she'd been challenged and was losing.

"I have to protect my son, Alex." she said soberly.

"I know."

"Do I need to hire a lawyer for him?" she asked.

Alex looked away from her. He didn't want to make eye contact.

"It's just talking." he said. "He's not mentally competent, and anything Edwards tells me isn't admissible to a grand jury."

"So why do it?"

"Because, I need to know." Alex told her. "You need to know. We have to know exactly what Norman is capable of. We can't ignore this anymore."

She didn't want to know the truth. She wanted everything to go back to the way it was. When Norman was about six or seven and was so playful and sweet. She wanted it all to be magically fixed like that. For Norman to be forever a child and Alex to alway be her kind and protective husband. A man who made her feel safe and who had a smile only for her. For Dylan to want to spend time with her and for everyone to be together under one roof.

Why was everything so broken? Why was it so beyond mending?

Why couldn't she get her world back?

Alex was silent for a long time. His grip on her hand loosened and his fingers playing carefully over hers.

"Can I stay the night with you?" he asked. "Dylan's mattress is hard on my back. Marsh might be suspicious if I stayed down at the motel."

She nodded and understood why he felt he had to ask to stay in the same bed with her. Something had fractured between them. Something that would take time to heal.

"Thank you." he said humbly. "We can go to PineView in the morning."

~ Marsh peered out his motel window and could see right through the lacy curtains of the upstairs windows. That lovely Mrs. Romero had looked sad till her dashing husband came in and sat down next to her. They looked to be having a serious conversation. Sheriff Romero's face was intense from what Marsh could see through his binoculars.

'There's no fraud here.' he decided when he saw Mrs. Romero lean in to kiss her husband at long last. Both of them looking sad but delightfully romantic at the same time. He'd seen plenty of shame marriages before and this wasn't one of them. Sheriff Romero was affectionate to his wife and Mrs. Romero was exactly the type of woman any man would snap to marry. They had a natural body language to that suggested real intimacy and kindness towards each other.

Marsh had noticed the new landscaping that had appeared in front of the house. People who weren't really in love certainly didn't do home improvements.

It had been a good enough case to investigate. The city hall wedding with no family members attending. The sudden admittance of her son into a private mental ward the day before the no frills wedding. Not to mention Miss Hamilton's less than savory tales about her many late night hook ups with the Sheriff just weeks before he said his vows to Norma Bates.

Rebecca had seemed more than a little bitter about the whole thing and Marsh suspected that whatever she thought she had with Alex Romero, wasn't what Norma had with him. If he submitted her statement, it would come across as a jealous ex girlfriend who was angry she's been dumped.

Anyway, he was ready to close the case. Especially after having to spend a long day in this motel room with nothing to do but sit in the near darkness. He could find no evidence from coworkers, or friends, or from the couple themselves that they were committing fraud. The couple had no close friends it seemed and although the towns people were surprised their Sheriff got married, they didn't seemed terribly shocked he'd married Norma Bates.

Apparently, he'd devoted a lot of free time to her. Enough to raise eyebrows in fact. Several deputies had explained how he'd responded to calls from her house personally that didn't require his attention. One witness from a local bar even saying he'd seen Norma Bates picking him up and apparently taking him home several months ago.

Then there was Norma Romero's son Dylan who'd called him yesterday. The young man approved of the marriage and had a decent relationship with the step-father he simply called 'Romero'.

"There are worse guys." Dylan had said. "I don't live at home anymore so I really don't know how they are together. Romero and I had lunch together a few times. Talked about politics."

"Nothing about your mother?" Marsh asked curiously.

"He didn't ask for dating advice if that's what you mean." Dylan told him.

"Why didn't you go to the wedding?"

"I was in Portland. My girlfriend had a lung transplant. I needed to be with her." he explained. "Besides, Romero and Norma always kept their relationship to themselves. My mother keeps a lot of things to herself and I guess Romero is the same way."

Everything checked out. Alex and Norma Romero were just private people who wanted to be left alone. Maybe they had finally decided to tie the knot so her son could go to PineView, but that wasn't a strong enough case for fraud. He would check out in the morning and finally put this town behind him.

~ Alex couldn't sleep and felt Norma's body was just as restless. She was hugging her chest protectively. An action he noticed she hadn't done as much since they'd been married.

Norma was good at creating barriers. Wanting to keep people as a distance and herself safe.

If Norman really did kill those women, if he was so broken that he'd done these terrible crimes, Alex had to get Norma away. He had to use what was left of Bob Paris' run money to leave White Pine Bay forever and get them as far away from Norman Bates as possible.

They would abandon the house. Just as it was now. Not pack much and leave the car behind. Not even tell Dylan where they were going. They could even fake their deaths, take on new names. Move across the country.

Bob Paris had fake passports and Alex had a pretty god idea where he'd gotten them. If Norman believed his mother and step-father were dead, he wouldn't look for them. She'd be safe.

Norma would never go with this plan though. She would never just abandon her son even if confronted with proof of what he'd done. Even if Alex showed her that Norma had put her robe in Audrey Decody's suitcase to frame her for murder. It was the only explanation that made sense to him. It wasn't as if Norman got dressed up in his mother's robe to kill a woman. That was odd; even for Norman Bates.

And it wasn't possible for Norma to have killed a person and worked alone either. Norma didn't have the physical strength to drag a body down the basement steps and heft it into a freezer like that. Much less drag it back up again. Norman would have had to help her, but it was much more likely he did it by himself.

"What are you thinking about?" Norma asked in the darkness. That familiar blue neon light of the motel coming in through their bedroom window and casting everything in an odd glow.

"I'm thinking about how much I love you." he said honestly. "About how I wish I could fix things for you."

"You can't fix everything, Alex." she said sadly. "I've been trying to fix them for years now."

He had to admit she was right about that. She'd tried so hard to help Norman. So hard to keep him protected from outsiders and it had left her exhausted.

"Do you think Norman killed that woman?" she asked. Her voice breaking slightly.

"Do you?"

She took a long time to answer.

"I don't know." she admitted. "It feels like you're always ready to believe he's capable of the worst. He passed that lie detector test. Remember? I mean, what happened to Sam, he was just defending me. You would have done the same."

Alex wasn't going to argue with her. Wasn't going to point out that true psychopaths, or even people on intense pain medications, could easily pass a lie detector test. He wasn't going to justify all the men he himself killed to protect what was his either. Bob Paris being the most innocent and harmless, but still the most deserving.

"If I was a better mother, if I'd protected him more-"

"No, don't think like that." Alex told her quickly. She sniffed a cry but pulled her arms tighter to her chest. She didn't want to be touched right now.

"I've been thinking, maybe we should go away for a little while." he said without thinking. "Just us. Forget about all this."

"What about the motel?" she asked dryly.

"We'll hire someone. I have vacation time saved." he told her.

"It's a nice thought, Alex." she sighed.

'The three million dollars Rebecca kept asking about.' Alex thought helplessly. He hadn't gone near the bank where it was sitting. He still had the key to the deposit box. He'd thought about giving it to Rebecca. He knew the feds were watching that box after following the money, and would track her and arrest her for money laundering in connection to Bob Paris.

If he just gave her the key, she would take the cash and try to run. She'd be arrested quickly and try to roll on everyone Bob Paris had dealings with, including him. It was part of the reason he'd kept the key hidden behind his badge.

That, and he couldn't stand the idea that Rebecca might actually get her money after she'd broken into the house and scared Norma like that.

No. He had to keep the key to himself. Keep pretending ignorance about it. Even if meant that cash sat in that safe deposit box for the next twenty years.

It would be a hard thing though. With three million in untraceable bills, he and Norma could go anywhere. They could pay for new identities and really start over. No one would ever find them. Not Norman, not even the DEA. They would truly be free.

"I do love you, Alex." she said into the darkness. Her voice sad and tired.

"I love you to." he told her easily. "I'm your husband. I have to keep you safe."

"Are you?" she asked. "Because sometimes you're my husband and sometimes you're Sheriff Romero."

Alex almost felt insulted by that. Almost. She was probably right to feel this way.

"I'm your husband, Norma. Forever." he said.