Her Eyes
Chapter 50: HOW TO BE BRAVE
Alex headed into work early. He figured if he got all the paperwork done now, he wouldn't have anything to worry about during his date. He got through about half the stack before Babbit came in. She shot him an accusing look from across the desk. "You're girlfriend seems nice."
He glared at her. "She's not my girlfriend." …not yet, at least.
She crossed her arms in front of her—this had become her signature pose. "Then what has she been doing at your house these past few nights?"
He furrowed his brow. What was she following him? "How did you—"
"I told you I'd be keeping an eye on you. You didn't think I'd have your house patrolled?" She looked down at the desk, spying on his paperwork. "Look, Sheriff, whether she's your girlfriend or not—that's irrelevant. What does matter is what she has to do with all this."
"She doesn't have anything to do with this." He'd kill her if she brought Norma into this. She already had enough going on; she didn't need to be dragged into this as well.
She stared at him for a moment. He was slipping up. He couldn't stay consistent. She was beginning to see through the iron wall. "Then why did you bring her into this?"
"I—" She was right. He screwed up. A year or two ago, this would have never happened. This is what Norma Bates did to him. She drove him mad. He couldn't think straight, even now when his life depended on it. "You asked me where I was that night. I told you I was out looking for her son because he ran away."
She crossed over and took a seat on the windowsill. "Yeah, but you originally said that you were looking for Bob Paris." She raised an eyebrow. She knew she had him beat. "You couldn't have been looking for both of them."
He sighed to himself. His job never got any easier. "I was looking for Bob. Norma called and said that Norman ran away so I went looking for him."
"And did you find him?" Her eyes were calm, yet demanding.
He stared at her. "No." Norma probably told her Norman came home, at least he hoped she did. He couldn't make any more mistakes.
She nodded at him, staring down at the floor. "How long have you and Mrs. Bates known each other?"
Her eyes were on him now. He stared back at her plainly. She didn't scare him. Nobody scared him. Not anymore. "A little over three years."
"And how exactly did you two meet?" Why the hell did she care?
"I was out patrolling with my deputy. We saw the light on at the motel—it had just been foreclosed on, we didn't know anyone had bought it yet." It was funny really…how he and Norma met. He knew that she murdered Keith from day one. He could see it in her eyes. Those eyes held a lifetime of damage, and he knew he would fix it just for her.
"That's the deputy you shot on her property?" Her voice broke through his daze. She obviously did her research.
He didn't want to talk about it. He thought when he filed the police report he'd never hear of it again, yet here they were. "Yeah. I found out that he was involved in a sex trade and he was keeping a girl locked up on this guy's boat."
"But why were you at the Bates Motel?" He knew it was coming. He always knew what she was going to say next; she was that predictable. "How did the Bates family somehow get involved in this?"
His expression never changed around her. His stoic demeanor was reserved just for people like her—people who thought they knew it all. He was a rock—he had to be. He couldn't trust anyone. "They weren't involved. He knew I knew where the girl was so he thought he could move the girl to the motel."
"Why would he move the girl to the motel? They had to have known about your deputy's business." She got up and moved back in front of his desk. "I'm just wondering how, in the past three years, Mrs. Bates and her sons have managed to have some part in a lot of the major crimes of this town."
Even he didn't know the answer. It still surprised him somehow. "Luck."
Her eyes glued themselves to the wall behind him. She was looking at his certificates and plaques. "It just makes me wonder if they might have anything to do with the death of Bob Paris."
This was new. "Death?" He knew she was trying to get under his skin—see if he'd falter. He wasn't an idiot. "Did you find a body? I don't remember hearing anything about the death of Bob Paris."
She shot him an annoyed look. "I will find Bob Paris…dead or alive." He watched as she turned and left. He hoped she'd never come back.
He was at the Bates' house at precisely seven o'clock. He decided to wear a suit since she seemed to like it so much. The sound of the doorbell released the butterflies in his stomach. He's never been this nervous about a date, but this was a date with Norma Bates. He had spent the last three years pining over her, and now here he was standing on her porch waiting to take her out. She opened the door and stared at him, a bright smile grazing her face. He smiled back at her. "You're beautiful."
She stepped out and locked the door behind her before turning to face him. "It's nice to hear you say that when you're sober," she laughed.
He furrowed his brow, a smile still on his face. "What?"
She laughed and made her way down the steps without looking back at him. "Don't we have somewhere to be?" He'd never win. He sighed and followed after her.
He took her to a nice restaurant just outside of White Pine Bay. He didn't need people staring at them. He'd already heard enough from Babbit. He smiled at her after the waiter left. He never could have imagined this in a thousand years.
She smiled back at him as she took a sip of her wine. She really was beautiful. "So tell me about yourself?"
He leaned back in his chair, gazing at her. "Like what?"
She laughed softly. "I don't know. Anything."
"You know everything." He knew she wasn't going to give up.
"I don't know everything." She rolled her eyes playfully and leaned in closer to him. "Tell me something about yourself."
He sat still, unamused. "I'm the sheriff."
"Alex," she scolded.
He sighed deeply. He knew where this was going. "Fine. How bout you ask me a question then I'll ask you a question?"
She smiled at the thought. She looked off trying to think of something to ask. Her eyes soon reconnected with his. "What was your first impression of me?"
He smiled at the cheerful look on her face. "You mean before you opened your mouth or—"
She glared at him. "Alex."
He smirked. "I thought you were beautiful." He watched as her face lit up. He hadn't seen her this happy in a long while. "But I also thought you were a murderer. What about you?"
"I thought you were a hard-ass. I thought you were out to get me." She rested her chin on her hand. "What made you want to be the sheriff?"
He sighed. He had a feeling she'd ask. "My dad was corrupt. I hated him…and his friends. They were all criminals. I wanted to put them all behind bars—protect the people that needed protection. Why'd you move to White Pine Bay?"
She bit her lip nervously. He knew it had something to do with her husband's death. "I needed to get as far away for Arizona as possible. Why'd you stay at my motel?"
So now she was placing the heat on him. He stared at her plainly. "Some shit burned my house down, I wasn't really making a conscious choice." It wasn't the whole truth—she knew that.
She raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You could have stayed at the Kings."
He wasn't the best at admitting his feelings. He didn't have much practice. He looked at her softly. "I wanted to be near you…as much as I hated you. I couldn't stay away."
She seemed offended. "You hated me?"
"It's not your turn. And I don't know. You were a little irritating." At least he was being honest.
She didn't get it. "I was irritating?"
He looked at her with apologetic eyes. "Norma." She knew how she was. He needed to change the subject fast. "What happened to your first husband?"
He obviously wasn't very good at picking a new topic. She recoiled back in her seat. "I left him for Norman's father. Have you ever had a serious relationship?"
A pain formed inside him. He didn't want to think about it. "I dated this girl in high school. Is that why you and Dylan don't get along so well?"
She tried her best not to glare at him. He knew the topic upset her. Regret filled her eyes. "I made a lot of stupid decisions." She looked at him sadly. "What happened to your mom?"
His mother was always a touchy subject for him. She was all he ever really had, and he'd lost her. "My dad started the drug business when I was little—he was sheriff. He started hanging around the wrong people and my mom didn't like it. He wasn't treating her the same. They were fighting a lot more often. Some days he wouldn't even come home. He drove her crazy…until one day she just snapped. Found her lying in bed. I thought she was asleep, but she'd overdosed."
She reached across the table and grabbed his hand. "Alex, I'm so sorry."
He gave her a sad smile. "What about your parents?"
She pulled her hand away, keeping her gaze on the white tablecloth. He could almost see the memories replaying in her head. "My dad was abusive and my mom was sedated all the time. They're both dead now." She said it matter-of-factly.
He could feel the pain radiating off her. "Norma."
"It's fine." Her eyes stared into his. "Why didn't you tell me you killed Bob Paris after you did it? Why did you wait? Were you ever going to tell me?" There was a sadness in her voice.
He sighed, looking off to the other couples in the restaurant. "I was upset. I thought that if I never saw you again the pain would go away…but it didn't. It only got worse. I couldn't just stop by and tell you that I killed him. What would you have thought?"
Her eyes warmed his. "You saved me. You've always saved me." Just then the waiter brought their dinner and they ate without much talking. When they got in the car, Norma turned to him sadly. "Alex, can I stay the night at your house? I don't like being alone at the house it makes me think about Norman."
He nodded, gazing at her softly. "Yeah." They sat in silence on the way home. He wanted to reach out and touch her—hold her; he knew that was what she needed. He sighed as he shut off the engine. "We're home."
She looked over at him. "I had a really good time tonight, Alex."
He smiled at her. "Me too."