Her Eyes

Chapter 21: PLAYING NICE

Alex woke up—sweat dripping down his brow. It had been a long night and it would be an even longer day. He got up and walked over to the bathroom, splashing some water on his face before brushing his teeth. He threw on his uniform and moved over to the desk. There were a million thoughts circling his mind and they all led back to Norman Bates. He picked up the stress ball that lay on the desk and began to bounce it. The rhythm soothed him. He needed to talk to Norman—soon. He got up and sauntered to the door, opening it to find Norman sweeping the office doorway. He slid on his leather jacket and made his way down to the office.

            Norman went over to the desk and sat down. "Morning. Coffee's fresh."

            "Yeah, I was counting on it," the sheriff laughed, moving over to the coffee maker and pouring a cup. He glanced over his shoulder at the boy, trying not to make it obvious he was watching him. He turned back to his cup and stirred the sugar in before glancing at him again.

            Norman's gaze met his. "Is there something the matter?"

            Alex kicked himself for being caught, turning a bit more. "You're out of cream," he stated, lifting up the evidence.

            He smiled politely. "Oh, sorry. I can run up to the house and get some."

            The last thing he needed was Norma knowing he was 'talking' to his son. "No, it's fine. I'll drink it black." He left the office quickly—he needed a better plan.

            "Bye, Sheriff," the boy called after him. Something was up and Alex would find out what...even if it killed him. When he got in his car, the radio buzzed something about Ford's warehouse. He sighed and sped out of the parking lot, flipping on the siren when he got to the main road.

The warehouse looked like there had been a massacre. He walked around and inspected every corner and crevice. It had Zane Morgan written all over it.

Deputy Lynn approached him. "There's twenty-one fatalities in counting."

He looked over at the corpses, cringing. "You recognize any of these guys?"

"That's Dave Wilson's kid." She pointed to the one lying closest to them—bullet holes covering the flesh. "He was running the shift. All these people were level workers."

Alex sighed looking around the room. "All right I want you to find where Zane Morgan is. Put every resource we got on him." He moved over to the other side of the room; the smell was getting to him. "And when you find him don't arrest him."

"What do you want us to do?" she stated, placing her hands at her hips.

"Tell me where he is," he uttered before moving into the next area. He needed to take care of Zane himself.

Alex stayed at the warehouse till sunset looking for anything Zane might have left behind. He drove back to the motel in search of Dylan. He got out and walked a bit, making sure he wasn't in view of Norma, but the kid's truck wasn't in its usual spot. As he walked back to his SUV and closed the door, a sports car pulled up. He watched as Norma ran out of the office towards the car. The mystery man that was at the station during the Jimmy Brennan incident climbed out and approached her. They talked outside the office for a while. Alex watched them from the rearview mirror of his car. His gut twisted when he saw her smile at him. He needed to be working, but he couldn't leave—not until after he left. Luckily, he did leave. Alex waited as Norma waved goodbye and went back inside the office. He cursed himself for being so affected by this woman—it was affecting his work ethic.