Her Eyes
Chapter 25: REMEDIES
Alex sped down the highway, his thoughts focused on Norma. That was until a figure popped out of the tall grass—he slammed on the breaks recognizing the figure to be Dylan. Norma's sons were always up to something. Alex put the car in reverse and backed up to meet the kid. He stared at him for a moment—afraid to say anything.
"Nick Ford's dead. I just killed him," the kid confessed. He waited for Alex to reply, but he didn't know what to say. "He's got Norman, but I don't know where."
The sheriff squinted at him. He'd just eliminated their only possible chance of finding Norman. "Get in the car," he sighed, setting his eyes back to the road ahead. He waited for the kid to climb in before speeding off to Ford's house. Luckily they weren't too far and they wouldn't have to suffer the awkward silence for too long. When they reached the house, Alex got out of the car with Dylan a step behind. "Stay out here," he growled at him. He didn't need him getting in the way of things. Or even worse getting shot and having Norma hate him for allowing her son to get hurt.
"We gotta find Norman." There was a saddened look on his face.
Alex could tell how much his brother meant to him. He didn't know what it was like to have a sibling—to have someone to care about unconditionally like that. "You're following instructions here. You're doing what I tell you. Is that clear?"
"Yeah. It's clear," Dylan mumbled, staring back at him a bit dumbfounded.
Alex gave him a reassuring look before entering the house alone gun in hand. He stumbled through a couple of rooms before spotting Ford's dead body. He winced at the sight of it. It hurt him to see the people he had known so well dead—murdered. As he bent down and checked his pulse, a shuffling sound drew his attention. He followed the noise up the stairs and into an office. There was a man filtering through Ford's safe. "No respect for the dead, huh?" Alex greeted pointing the gun at him. He watched as the man attempted to get up. "No. Stay down. Hands up." He reached over and took the man's gun off of the desk, placing it in his pants. The sight of jewelry and other valuables caught his eye. "You're a nice security guy, aren't you? What's your name?"
The man stared at him, a confused look on his face. No one had called the police. "Ben," he stated, hands up beside his head.
"Ben, you wanna help yourself? Tell me where Norman Bates is." His voice was stern. He loved playing the tough guy.
The man shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know where Norman—"
Alex socked him in the face, shutting him up. "Don't do that shit, man. Come on, it's over. All of this is over. You get that right?" It was like the world was coming to an end for White Pine Bay. Everything they had known was in shambles. His whole childhood was falling to pieces. "I know you do cause you're looting your boss's safe. So don't piss me off and force me to shoot you." He pointed his gun at the man's leg. He was serious. He needed to find the boy. "Where's Norman Bates?"
The man fell apart before him. "He's locked in a box out in the woods by the trailer on highway 96."
"All right." Alex left the man in the room, rushing down the steps back to the SUV. Dylan was already in the car waiting for him by the time he climbed in. They sped down highway 96 towards the woods. They got out and approached the trailer. Alex took his gun out and motioned for Dylan to stay back, before opening the door and jumping inside. It smelled like fresh dog shit—it looked like dog shit. Alex exited the trailer quickly. "They must know Nick Ford was killed…they all cleared out," he told Dylan, approaching him.
He was too focused on finding his brother to notice the sheriff. "Norman!"
They started walking deeper into the woods. Then it came—the faint sound of Norman calling back. The two men looked at each other before dashing off through the woods after the sound. They stopped for a moment to look around, when Alex spotted the box. Dylan rushed over and began fumbling with the lock.
"Back up," Alex shouted at him, aiming his gun at the lock. When the lock busted off, they lifted the lid revealing Norman. His face was paralyzed with terror. The men reached in and helped him out.
Dylan pulled the boy into his arms. "We got you. We're both here. Norman, we got you outta there."
Alex watched as the brother's hugged. A pain formed inside him. It was moments like this that he realized just how lonely he was. He reached out and patted Dylan on the shoulder. "Let's go." He drove them over to the hospital, driving off as soon as they went inside. As lonely as he was feeling, he needed to be alone. He drove back to the motel to finish his bottle of scotch.
After a few days passed Alex called Declan and scheduled the polygraph test. It was time. He couldn't wait any longer. Now it was just the matter of telling Norma—which was an uphill battle all in itself. He stepped in the dim light office to find her sitting in the back.
Her eyes smiled at him. "Hi, Alex."
He stopped in the doorway. He didn't want to get too close. They were both slightly vulnerable. "How's Norman doing?"
"He's doing better, still not himself though." She shrugged a little.
"I'm glad he's doing better." His gut twisted when she smiled. He couldn't look at her. He set in eyes on the floor, reaching into his pocket and grabbing a piece of paper. "I scheduled the polygraph test. Here's the address, the date, and the time." He leaned over and handed her the paper.
She was completely defeated. She ripped the paper from his hand, glancing down at it. "This soon? He needs to rest. He's been through so much."
The hurt in her voice pained him, but he couldn't just let this slide. "Norma, it's got to happen. I'm not happy about it, but we need to know." They both deserved to know the truth, even if they were both too scared to face it. "There's enough circumstances here…I can't look away. I'm sorry." He allowed her to see the pain in his eyes. "I may have sent the wrong guy to prison for a crime he didn't do and I can't live with that. And the only way I'm not gonna reopen this case is if he passes the test."
She looked into his eyes, sighing. "Okay." They stared at each other for what felt like years. Alex couldn't tell her what he was thinking—what he was feeling, so he left.
On his way to his SUV, he spotted Dylan walking to his truck. "Dylan!" he called after him.
He watched as the boy spun around at him. "Yeah?"
"I need you to call Jodi Morgan up. Tell her we're gonna pay her a visit," he stated, approaching him.
The kid stared back at him confused. "But what if I—"
"We're going over there right now." Alex shot him a stern look that made him shut up. They got in the SUV and headed over to Jodi's house while Dylan called her informing her of their visit. Alex parked his car in the woods near the house and climbed out walking towards the house.
The kid ran to catch up to him. "Why are we even—"
The sheriff kept his gaze on the house. "You'll see." They knocked on the door and waited for Jodi. She shot Alex a surprised look. "We need to talk," he told her, stepping inside. "This end's tonight. I want you to call Zane and tell him you need him to come over to discuss what to do about the business because Ford's dead. Dylan killed him. That's what you tell him."
She nodded hesitantly and walked them into the living room, dialing her phone. She waited as the phone rang. She seemed a bit nervous. Her breath hitched when he answered. "We need to talk," she told her brother. "Ford's dead. Because Dylan Massett killed him." Dylan looked over at the sheriff, an uneasy look forming on his face. "How do you think it happened? I worked him up into doing it and he did it. So now everything's changed." Alex gave the kid a reassuring look. He hated to put him in between things, but he had gotten himself involved and Alex would use him to his advantage. "I don't care. Whatever you wanna do with him," Jodi continued. "Can you come over? Can you come now?" Alex brought his eyes to the back of her head. "Kay. I'll see you in a little bit." He watched as she hung up the phone and turned around. "So what now?"
He looked at her grimly. "I'm gonna take care of him," he mumbled. "I told you this ends tonight."
She simply nodded and led the men upstairs to the guest bedroom. "We can wait in here for him." The sun had set as the minutes passed waiting for Zane's arrival.
The sound of a car pulling up dragged Alex to the window. "All right. Here we go." The dogs began to bark from downstairs. Then the lights went out. He moved over to the doorway. "All right. Listen to me, wait right here no matter what happens," he urged. "Right here."
He left the room and moved down the stairs, pulling out his gun. He spotted Zane's guard and shot him before he could say anything. He picked up the man's massive rifle, placing his handgun in the back of his pants. It was hard for him to maneuver around in a dark foreign house. He looked around for other guards but the sound of voices brought him to the foyer.
He heard a man roar. "You bitch!" It was Zane Morgan. Then there were two shots.
Alex stepped into the doorway, spotting the back of Zane. "You remember what I said about burning you down." He watched as the man turned around. This was for his house—his mother's house. "Well I'm a man of my word." He fired the rifle, a bright flash blinding him for a moment. When he could see again, both Jodi and Zane Morgan laid dead on the floor.
"So what happens now?" Dylan spoke up after a moment of silence.
The sheriff sighed…he'd killed again. "All right. Here's what the story's gonna be. I got a tip by a confidential informant that Zane and his men…they just killed Nick Ford. I came here to find out if Jodi had any information about where he was. And when I arrived Zane was already here. I took out his men, but he had shot her by the time I got inside the house." He took a breath and looked over at the kid's baffled expression.
"What about me?" His voice was full of concern.
He gave him a firm look. "You were never here. Now let's go." They walked out of the house together like nothing happened, but Alex could tell something was bothering the kid.
He stopped just before the car, turning to face the sheriff. "Why are you giving me a free pass? Not that I don't appreciate it."
He was a good kid. Alex kinda liked him. "Because I think you get it. I think you're smart enough to understand how things work around here." He studied the kid's face. "What you can do…what you can't do. And right now—right now there's a vacuum. Somebody's gonna fill that vacuum. That's as inevitable as the sun rising."
"I'm not you're guy," the kid spoke up before he could continue. "I didn't sign up for any of this."
Romero glared at him. "Well somebody's going to and I want to be sure that person who fills that vacuum, Dylan, understands the rules. Because the rules are what make it possible for all of us to live together in a peaceful manner. Does that make sense to you?" He stopped for a moment. He was giving him the same speech his father gave him when he was a kid. He shook it off and got in the car, driving Dylan back to the motel. Dylan got out and said goodbye, shuffling up the steps to the house unnoticed. Alex sighed and drove back to the Morgan's house. He called for back up when he got there. He should have been relieved that it was over, but part of him knew it wasn't over—it wasn't ever going to be over.
Soon Saturday came and it was time for the polygraph test. Alex headed over to the warehouse early to check on everything. When Declan arrived he set up everything and looked up at him. "You seem nervous," he stated, fixing the machine.
Alex glanced at him before exiting the building to wait for the Bates'. Within a few minutes they pulled up and he lead them to the back hall.
Declan came out of the room and gave Alex a comforting nod. "We're ready to go." He glanced over at Norma then back to Alex.
"Norma, Dylan, why don't you wait right here," the sheriff suggested, motioning to the chairs near the door.
Norma sighed lightly, taking her boy into her arms. "Go ahead, Norman. We'll be right here. I love you." She kissed him on the cheek the way she always does. "It's gonna be okay."
Declan watched them for a moment before breaking them up. "All right. Let's go." They watched as he led the boy into the room and closed the door behind them.
Alex looked over to Norma who didn't say a word. She just sat and waited silently, a slight look a heartache flushing her face. It seemed like hours before they were done. Alex had become accustomed to pacing the hall. He couldn't stand still, because standing still might cause him to collapse with worry. Soon enough the door opened with only Declan exiting. "He passed," he told Alex. A pain formed.
"What exactly does that mean?" Norma asked hesitantly from her seat.
He turned to face her. "In my opinion, Norman Bates did not kill Blair Watson."
Alex watched as she swiftly stood from her seat wrapping Dylan in her arms. He wished he could do the same to her—to someone. He waited as they grabbed Norman and left, sighing a bit when they did. He was glad it was over…a little sad he went to all the trouble. There was a sense of relief, but it pained him to think he caused Norma a moment of heartache.
Declan approached him. "So that's the famous Mrs. Bates."
"Yeah," he sighed, staring off in the direction they had left.
The old man studied him for a moment. "She's pretty."
Alex looked over to him, a grin playing on his face. He let out a laugh, before walking down the hall back to his car. "She's crazy."