Her Eyes

Chapter 14: FIRE

Alex tried to shake the thought of Norma Bates from his mind when he got to work. The thought of her eyes smiling at him, pleading with him for protection plagued him. That was until the calls about Zane Morgan came in. Alex was up to his knees in paperwork and this would push him over the edge. So as soon as night fell, he went on a search for Zane.

            He pulled up to the docks to find him sitting around with some friends smoking. "Zane Morgan, right?" he asked stepping out of his car and approaching the men.

            "Yeah. What do you want?" he replied rudely.

            Alex observed him from the distance. He knew his kind—childish. "I thought it was time for us to meet. I'm Alex Romero."

            "Yeah, you're the guy with the god complex," he laughed, looking over to his friends for approval. They chuckled along with him, which only pissed Alex off more.

            "Come here," he told him.

            He got up from the crate, taking one last hit of his cigarette, chucking it to the ground. He cracked open a fresh beer and slurped obnoxiously in Alex's ear.

            He glared at him in disgust. "You've been away a long time, Zane. I think you may have forgotten how things work around here."

            His gaze met the sheriff's. "Well things didn't work out too well for Gil, so I thought maybe there were better ways." He smiled childishly.

            "No, none of that," he cut him off.  He stared at him, trying to read him.

            He took a step closer to Alex, almost pressing his face to his. "What the hell you looking at?" he growled.

            Alex looked over to the men. He hated to embarrass him in front of his friends, but— "Well a guy like you, Zane. I can just see you making some big mistakes. You're taking things a little personally, feeling like you have to prove yourself...like yelling the loudest, doing the most damage, taking the most sums, make sure people take you seriously cause nobody does." He loved to play the tough guy.

            Zane took a step back awkwardly. "Aye, you wanna beer?"

            Alex nodded his head in validation. "All right. I'm gonna take that as confirmation that you actually heard me cause make no mistake...it's a warning," he threatened. "I can be a real nice guy...till I break you." They had a silent stare down. It felt like minutes before Alex gave up. He wasn't worth his time. He got in his car and the radio beeped.

            "Sheriff, someone was mugged at the west end of the docks," the voice buzzed through.

            "Yeah. I'm right there," he mumbled into the speaker. He pulled his car over to the other side of the docks to handle the situation. About a half hour had passed, standing on the boardwalk talking to the victims. The other officers had showed up and things were getting handled until it happened.

            "Sheriff! Sheriff!" Officer Lopez shouted from the car.

            "Hold on a sec," Alex told the victims. He turned to see Lopez approaching him.

            "You got to get out to your house right away." His voice was filled with concern. He was nearly pushing Alex to the car.

            "What is it?" he asked, trying to read his face.

            "Just go. I'll take care of this," he told him.

            Alex got in his car and rushed over to his house, the sound of sirens and crackling becoming apparent from a block away. Panic began to fill his heart. He turned down the side street gazing up at a brightly lit night sky. He turned the corner to find a house ablaze...it was his house. He got out of the car and gazed up at his burning house. Everything he owned was gone, everything he had ever worked for was now quickly turning to ash.

            It was his childhood home. He obtained it after his father was imprisoned. It was the last memory he had of his mother. Now everything was gone...his whole life was burning to the ground before his eyes.

            The firefighters had told him that the fire was so bad they didn't think that they could salvage anything—they'd try, but they didn't think it'd be possible at this point. They told him he was lucky he wasn't home. Part of him wished that he were home. He wouldn't have to put up with this shit anymore.

            He got in his car and drove around for a while. He had nowhere to go. He didn't have any friends. He didn't have any family. He pulled into the station and unlocked the doors. The lights flicked on as he walked down the empty halls back to his office. It was the only thing he had left. 

            He tried to sleep in his desk chair, but couldn't. He sure wasn't going to sleep on a bed in one of the cells. He couldn't live at the station. He needed to find a more comfortable, more permanent place to stay. The Bates Motel seeped into his thoughts. He shook his head. He couldn't stay in a place so close to Norma Bates. He didn't need her around him. She made him crazy...but what other choice did he have.