Her Eyes

Chapter 35: THE TRUTH

The next morning the station got a call about a convenience store robbery. On the way back to station Alex caught a glance of the flash drive that had been sitting in the empty cup holder for the past few days. He sighed knowing what he had to do. He pulled into an empty parking lot and dialed the number for the DEA. He told them everything—except the part about his own involvement. He wasn't going to lose his job because of some douchebags. He was done with everyone. He needed a fresh start. He hung up the phone and drove back to the station, waiting for the officer to come pick the flash drive up.

It had been a long day after all that. Alex had a lot to do at the station—they were still investigating the murders of the two women, though he knew it was Bob who killed them. He was in a deep hole...he didn't really know what to do. All day long he had been receiving calls from Norma and ignoring them. He never wanted to see her again. They were done. Alex was in the front room talking to Deputy Walker when she showed up.

"Why haven't you answered any of my calls?" The whole room shot up at the sound of her voice. She was livid, but he didn't mind. He needed to protect himself for once.

Who was she to embarrass him in front of his colleagues? He hated her. "Because I don't wanna talk to you, Norma." He could feel everyone's eyes on him.

She scoffed. "Whatever. You wanna act like a third grade girl right now—fine." It was only getting worse. She pushed inside as Officer Lopez left. "I can't control the universe. I just need the stupid flash drive back."

The last thing he needed was her screwing everything up for him. The station was already making jokes about the two of them—now she was just furthering their assumptions. "Come here." He led her out into the back hall. He couldn't believe he was giving in so easily. "You need to keep your voice down right now."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I understand that you are upset with me, but all I can tell you is just try living in my shoes for a week and then get back to me." He knew she was right, but all she ever thought about was herself and her son—he needed more than that. She gave up pleading. "I don't care about that. It's not my job to make you like me—it's my job to get the flash drive back. Bob wins, I lose...I don't give a shit. Just give it to me." He hated that she was such a mess over all this. It pained him to see her like that, but he wasn't going to give in to her. "I just want outta this."

He stared back at her indifferently. "Well you're out of it. I'm taking care of it." He moved past her to go to his office. He didn't want to see her anymore.

"What the hell does that mean?" she shouted after him. He turned around to face her; he needed her to know they were done. "How are you taking care of it? You don't just get to take care of it and not tell me what that means. I'm the one who gave it to you."

He smiled sarcastically. "Well live and learn, Norma. Be careful who you give things to." It was finally his turn to treat her the way she always treated him. She deserved it. He needed to move on. "And we're done talking...about anything." He turned and left before he could see the look on her face—if he had, he would've never left. He would have dropped to his knees in front of her, but the game was over. He'd find someone else—he needed to.

The next day Alex walked into his office to find a woman waiting for him. He stared at her for a moment. Had she been going through his things? "Oh Sheriff Romero." The woman walked towards him and stuck out her hand. "Special agent, Liz Babbit. I've been appointed the lead investigator on this case." She walked over to the middle of the room as he went to his desk. "We're analyzing the data on the flash drive...one of the names on the accounting ledger was your deceased mother."