Her Eyes

Chapter 19: JEALOUSY

It was around four o'clock when the station received the call about Jimmy Brennan. Alex sighed, another childhood friend knocked off. They drove to the house to find a flustered Norman and a dead Jimmy Brennan lying at the bottom of some steep steps. Alex tried to read the kid's face; he was obviously distraught over the incident. "What happened?" he mumbled.

"We were fighting and he came at me. I pushed him off me and he fell down the steps," he started to cry.

"Where's your mom at? The Motel?" he asked him softly.

"No. She's at city hall. She started her new job today," the boy told him through sniffles.

"All right. Well Officer Jeffcoat and Deputy Lynn are gonna take you two back to the station. I'll go get your mom." He wanted to make the boy feel comfortable—safe. He left the house and headed over to city hall. He rolled his eyes at the thought of her having the seat on city council. This was a bad idea—he could feel it.

The woman at the front desk looked surprised to see him. "Sheriff Romero, how can I help you?"

"Hey, Linda. I'm looking for Mrs. Bates," he muttered in a hurry.

She gave him an odd look before continuing. "She's down that hall right there." She seemed hesitant to tell him.

"Thanks." He shuffled down the hall, the sound of her voice becoming apparent.

"Let's cut right through the crap." It was a man's voice speaking now. Alex approached the door to spot Norma and a man sitting across from each other. "I know you don't want to bypass," the man told her. His words came to a halt at the sight of the sheriff.

"I need to talk to Norma," he mumbled. She looked at him as if he was the last person she expected to see.

"Oh okay," the man said hesitantly. His eyes darted back and forth between them.

"Excuse us," she smiled. She seemed relieved—like he was saving her. She followed Alex out into the hall. "That was really embarrassing, Alex. Why'd you pull me outta there like that?" And now she was scolding him.

He gave her a concerned look, but kept a calm tone. "Because something's happened. I need you to come with me."

Her face tensed with worry. She nearly stopped in her tracks. "What? Is it Norman? Or Dylan? What? What happened?"

He tried his best to soothe her and keep her walking. "It's okay. Just come with me." The whole building was staring at them like they were the newest attraction. Norma was fuming. He could tell she was getting fed up with him.

Once they were outside she gave up. "What the hell is going on? Tell me right now," she demanded.

He didn't want to frustrate her any more. "Norma, stop it. Something happened, all right. Norman's fine," his voice was stern. "He was with Cody Brennan at her place. And there was some kind of fight apparently. Her father's dead."

She was clearly annoyed by the mention of the girl's name, but she loosened at the news. She seemed worried for her. "How did he die?"

"Norman's saying it was self defense," he sighed. "It was a fight and her dad got pushed down the stairs." She looked at him gravely. "Let's just get you down to the station, all right?" He led her back to his SUV. This was the second time she's been in his car. The first time was when he arrested her. He looked over at her to see if she was all right. She stared out the window without saying a word the whole ride.

When he pulled up to the station sidewalk, she got out without him. He quickly ran after her. "Here's what's gonna happen," he stated, walking beside her.

"I wanna see Norman." She wouldn't look at him.

"I know you do, but there's a process we need to go through for something like this." He started to put his hand on her back, but pulled it away shyly. He didn't want to overstep a boundary and make her feel uncomfortable around him.

"Something like what?" She was getting more and more upset. He wanted to comfort her.

"When somebody dies and the circumstances aren't clear." He sped ahead a bit to get the door for her.

"You said it was self defense," she uttered, stepping inside the building. Norman was always a touchy subject for her.

"We're looking into it," he reassured her.

But ease never came easily to her. "You don't believe him," she nearly shouted.

"Norma, what I'm doing is I'm following procedure, covering all the bases…this is normal." He led her into the waiting room. "You want something? Water? Cup of Coffee?"

She shook her head sadly. "I just wanna see Norman."

He smiled understandingly. "Just sit tight and be patient…and you will." She took a seat and Regina let him back. He peered through the window at Norma, giving her one last comforting smile. She smiled back, allowing him to feel content.

It was around eleven o'clock when Alex went back to his office to grab some coffee and think things through. He had just poured himself a cup when Deputy Lynn walked in. "Got everything we need from Norman Bates; hair, fingerprints, you name it. I woke up my buddy at the state lab so we can get this stuff processed," she stated, from behind him.

He stirred in the sugar. "You woke him up? Did I even ask you to do this?" He was getting increasingly annoyed with her day by day. He hated this new deputy. He hated to admit it but he missed Shelby.

"Well no, but he doesn't mind. He was my assistant back when I ran the lab." He didn't care about her personal life. He moved over to his desk with her slightly shifting beside him. "This is one of those it's good to know someone situations. We'll get the results back fast."

This woman never shuts up. "I'm not sure nails and things are gonna tell us anything." He took a sip of his coffee, hoping she'd leave.

"You never know. You can't discount anything when you got a dead body." This woman was probably top in her class…and everyone probably hated her. "You want to know my opinion—"

"Deputy—No I don't actually think I do. So just go." He needed this woman to be as far away from him as possible before he lost his temper. "In fact, if you want to send those samples to your friend go ahead and do that."

"He's coming to pick them up. I told him, I can't leave here." She was so dedicated and it annoyed the shit out of Alex.

He fought back an eye roll. "Then go wait for him." He shot her a look that made her leave. He rubbed his temple—it was going to be a long night.

He opened the door to the holding room to find Norma and Norman. He had startled them. "Hey. Sorry about the delay," he told Norma. "Wanna come back with me, Norman?"

Norma shot him a scared look. "What's happening now?"

"We need to go through everything one more time," he told her. He tried to sound as comforting as possible.

"But he has to have me in there too. He's still a minor. Isn't that the law?" she festered.

"No, he's not under arrest. He's just talking to me." He hated to see her so heartbroken. "You don't legally have to be in there, but if Norman wants you in there, it's fine with me."

"No I don't. She can stay out here," Norman hissed, glancing at his mother smugly.

Alex could feel the tension between them. "Okay. We'll be back soon." He watched as Norman walked out the door and down the hall, turning to follow him.

"Alex!" Norma yelled.

He took a couple steps closer to her. "It's just a couple of questions. Just some things I didn't have time for." He didn't want her to worry anymore.

"Questions about what?" Her eyes glared at him.

He sighed, not wanting to step over any boundaries. "Norma, you have to try and disengage a little. You're gonna make you're crazy." He wanted to reach out and touch her—hold her.

He had clearly offended her. "Disengage? I'm his mother. Are you kidding?"

She could be so difficult sometimes. "Norma—"

"You're gonna patronize me over this? I've done your laundry," she mocked.

He furrowed his brow. He hated when she acted like this—the times she'd say anything to humiliate him. "We're just gonna talk and make sure we're not missing anything," he told her. "And then we'll be done." He turned and left her alone.

He led Norman back to the room. "You can have a seat." He tried to study the boy carefully. "Tell me exactly what happened."

The boy began to tremble. "I was trying to protect her. We were all pulling each other and he turned on me." His breath started to become uneasy. "And he lunged at me and I pushed back and he just stumbled back and went all the way down the stairwell and just didn't move." Tears began well in his eyes. "I keep seeing his face when he was falling."

"Yeah, that's a hard thing to see." He tried to sound comforting. He knew what the boy was going through. He's watched people die by his hand before. He knows the regret—the self-hate.

He wiped the tears that began to fall. "So what's gonna happen to Cody?"

Alex knew what it was like to lose a friend too. "Well you know she's seventeen, so she still needs a guardian. Her aunt, her mother's sister, she lives near Fort Wayne. We got in touch with her and she's gonna go there."

The boy began to smile a bit. "Was she nice?"

"Yeah. As much as you can tell on the phone," he laughed lightly. He needed to say something that would comfort him. "You know, Norman. Jimmy Brennan, he grew up here, so I knew him for a long long time." Memories of their childhood flashed through his mind. He cringed a bit. "And he was angry for pretty much all of it."

The boy stared at him somberly. "And if I hadn't been there when he woke up he'd still be alive right now," he stuttered. "Nothing can change that."

"You're right," he admitted, nodding. "You're right." He observed the boy's wounded demeanor. "Have some cocoa while it's hot." He watched him take a sip. He really was a sweet kid. He wouldn't harm anyone. He wouldn't even harm a fly. "You can go see your mom now. We're done here."

They got up and walked towards the door. Norman walked out and stopped dead in his tracks. Alex stepped out and looked to see what was bothering him. And there she stood with another man's arms wrapped around her, her face buried in his neck. His skin became hot watching them.

"Mother!" Norman's voice broke the moment.

Norma immediately pushed off the man, a little embarrassed—almost afraid.

Alex glared at the man. He didn't know who this guy was or what he was doing there. Was he Norma's boyfriend? He tried to get a good look at the man.

"Sheriff, phone for you," Officer Lopez shouted from down the hall.

He broke out off his daze. "You guys can have a few minutes," he told Norma. He looked over at the man one last time before walking back to his office. He hated that he was allowing himself to be upset over this. He picked up the phone and tried not to sound annoyed. "Romero."

"Sheriff, are we still holding your reservation for this weekend?" It was the host from the Arcanum club. They were throwing one of their 'parties'.

Romero rolled his eyes and sighed. Who were they to call him at work? "Uh, yeah, sure." He didn't like going to these things, but it was a way for him to keep the 'businesses' in line.

"All right. Well you have a good night, Alex," the woman flirted.

"Thanks," he mumbled, hanging up the phone. He hated that he knew these people. He stepped out of his office to find Norma peering out the window at her son. It wasn't any of his business who that man was—it's not like he and Norma were together. He scoffed at himself. He walked up and stood beside her, keeping his eyes on Norman. He couldn't bring himself to look at her. He was too upset with himself. "You guys must be exhausted. I'm gonna have the deputy take you home."

She looked at him, her lips forming a wide smile. "Really?"

He allowed his eyes to meet hers, but he stayed stern. He couldn't let her in. "We're done with Norman for now." He turned and left before he said too much.