Her Eyes
Chapter 4: BLOOD
As they turned to take Norma to the SUV, a voice came calling out from inside the house. "I'll be back," Alex told the officers, nodding for them to head down to the car without him. He stepped inside the house and waited for the boy to finish coming down the steps. Alex didn't know who this kid was or how he knew Norma.
"What's going on?" the boy asked when he finally reached the bottom step.
Alex paused taking in the boy. "I'm Sheriff Alex Romero, we're here to take Norma Bates down to the station…are you—?"
"I'm her son, Dylan," the boy cut him off before he could finish. "What'd she do?"
Alex sighed setting his gaze on the floor. "That's something you'll have to ask her." He gave the boy a sympathetic smile and left, closing the door behind him. He made his way down to the SUV and climbed in, immediately feeling the tension in the air. Norma didn't say a word the whole ride to the station, no one did. But to Alex, Norma seemed different—like someone had stolen her will to fight back.
When they got to the station, they went through all the standard procedures: the fingerprints, the mug shots. Alex couldn't help but notice Norma's emotionless behavior. Sure she had just been arrested, but she seemed so defeated, something Alex thought he'd never see from this woman.
By the end of the night he noticed that her eyes had turned a tired pale blue. Alex hated leaving her there, but he had to. What was he going to do take her home with him? Keep her prisoner in his house? He didn't even know why he cared about leaving her there—she killed a man in cold blood, she deserved to be there. He left the station and took the long way home, hoping to clear his mind.
Sure enough by noon the next day her boys had bailed her out, and Alex was still bothered by the sanctity of this case. In the evening, he received a call about a burglary and chose to deal with it alone, leaving Zack behind to finish paperwork. The case was nothing major…just some forgotten house keys. When Alex returned back, Zack had been acting strangely. It's not that Alex missed the awkward conversations that Alex would normally avoid anyway, but he could tell by the look on his face that Zack was hiding something from him. Alex let it go though, figuring it was probably nothing to worry about.
The next morning Alex went over to the evidence room and he saw it…the empty container that once contained the evidence to convict Norma Bates. "Dammit." Alex cursed himself for leaving Zack alone. That must have been why Zack was acting so strangely. Alex couldn't figure out why Zack hadn't just told him that he'd misplaced the carpet sample. But Alex had no idea what his deputy was actually capable of.