Her Eyes

Chapter 12: BULLETPROOF

The next morning Alex walked in to find the station in a pool of laughter. "What's going on?" he asked Officer Lopez, smiling at his colleagues' temporary happiness. It was nice to see the station in such a bright mood.

            "Some woman called Lee Berman a dick in front of the entire council at the meeting yesterday," he laughed.

            Alex chuckled and walked back to his office knowing exactly who that woman was. He was proud of her. Only Norma Bates had the guts to say what she was actually thinking, in front of an audience no less. It was one of the things he liked about her the most...that and her eyes. The way they—

            His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Yeah," he called out in a tone of annoyance.

            "Sheriff, Gil Turner's housekeeper called...he's dead," Officer Lopez stated from the doorway.

            Alex grabbed his keys and headed over to Gil's house. Another housekeeper traumatized and unemployed. The officers went into the house to find Gil on the couch a bullet hole in his head and a mural of blood on the glass behind him.

Alex was outside talking to an officer when he spotted Dylan's truck. He shot him a displeased look and turned around to approach the car. "What are you doing here?" He asked, resting his arm on the car door.

            "Nothing we came over to see Gil," Dylan muttered. His expression intensified at the sight of the cadaver.

            Alex turned around to watch the men carry the body out. "There he is...what's left of him. Minus the whole in his face." He turned back to study Dylan's awestruck expression. "Anything you can tell me about this? Anything unusual going on or anything he was upset about?"

            "No, nothing," the kid stated, still watching the men.

            "Think about it a little harder cause this wasn't nothing," Alex interrupted. He didn't want the same bullshit he usually got with Norma, he wouldn't stand for it. "This wasn't some piss head who got shot—this was Gil Turner. Are you hearing me?" Remo shook his head in disbelief. "He knows what this means." Alex nodded to Remo. He observed Dylan for a while. He found it hard to believe that he was Norma's son. Though they looked alike, he was much more relaxed than her and Norman were around the sheriff. Now that he thought of it, Dylan didn't look too much like his brother. He assumed they had different fathers, but now he began to wonder where Dylan's father was. "You hear anything you let me know cause I'm gonna get who did this," he threatened. He let go of the truck and watched the men drive off.

Alex made a call to Nick Ford's office. They told him Ford was at the graveyard, so that's where Alex went. He pulled into the graveyard and spotted the man. They were the only two people at the graveyard. "Haven't seen you around lately?" Alex stated, climbing out of the car.

            Nick turned around to see him. "I've been in mourning, Alex. Hasn't been easy. Especially given how she and I left it." He was clearly distraught over his daughter's death.

            But Alex didn't seem to care, he had a job to do. "Somebody killed Gil Turner." It was an accusation.

            Nick was taken aback by his indifference to Blair's death. "Let me put your mind at ease, we had nothing to do with it."

            "Nick, I tolerate certain things. I know the nature of the business that fuels this town. Violence goes with territory, but not this. I'm not gonna sit by and watch things get out of control between the two families." He hated when people made decisions without him. He hated when people were killed...even if they weren't good people.

            "I can't help but wish you used the same level of effort to catch Blair's killer. But then she was just a schoolteacher. Not some big player in the drug business," Ford huffed. His words hit Alex hard. He didn't mean to make Blair's death seem unimportant—if it was he wouldn't have spent the last four months trying to solve her murder. "I understand your priorities."

            "That's not the case at all, Nick. We're working on it," he urged.

            "It's been four months and nothing," Ford shot back.

            Alex sighed. He didn't know how to word things well. "Your daughter didn't live a simple life."      

            "I know exactly the kind of life my daughter lived," he growled. He took a step towards him. "You know we all work together, Alex. Try to respect each other, try to accommodate each other, and because of that...things in this town are pretty nice. But it's not a given...that's not the way things have to be." He gave Alex a glare before returning to his daughter's grave.

            Alex got in his car and drove back to the station...it was going to be a long night.