Her Eyes

Chapter 43: REGRET

Alex woke up the next morning with his arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer to him. He sighed a bit, knowing that it probably wouldn't last. He could confess his love for her a thousand times and she'd never once say it back. All he was to her was security. She'd hold on to him until she found something better, and she would...that's what always happened. He kissed her forehead lightly as she woke up. She stared at him for a while, a drowsy smile grazing her face. "Hey," he mumbled.

She nuzzled her face into his neck. "Do you have to go to work?"

"Yes," he laughed. She hugged him tighter. He wasn't even sure what this was, but he found himself hugging her back. When she released him, he got up from the bed. "I'll head home early and we'll go check on Norman, okay?" She nodded in response. He smiled softly at her. "It's gonna be all right." He leaned down and kissed her cheek, giving her one last smile before leaving. He felt odd leaving her in his house. It felt like they were together and they just weren't admitting it. He sighed at the thought, hopping in his SUV and heading to work.

He didn't know what to do about the Bradley Martin case. All evidence they would have found had washed away in the bay. They couldn't possibly link it back to Norman, though Alex knew it was him—it had to be. He sighed. Now he was covering up other peoples' murders rather than his own. But Amelia deserved to know what happened to her daughter—she'd already been through enough the first time.

"Sheriff Romero." Agent Babbit stood at the doorway of his office.

He glanced over at her. What could she want now? "Yeah?"

"I need to have a word with you." She closed the door behind her. "You and Bob Paris were friends?" She approached the front of his desk.

He leaned back in his chair. "Not exactly. We grew up together. I don't think that constitutes a friendship between us."

"Yeah, but you went to his parties. I checked. You went to every single one of them." She narrowed her eyes. "You didn't miss single one, did you?"

He furrowed his brow. "I went to discuss some matters with some city council members...I never talked to Bob while I was there. He was busy doing 'other' things. And I don't think attending some party incriminates me in anything."

She laughed. "You sure make it seem like it." She tried to study him; he was unreadable. "The night we went to Bob's house to arrest him—where did you say you went afterwards?"

He glared at her. "I didn't say I went anywhere. I said I went looking for him."

"But where exactly did you go?" She leaned in over the desk.

He felt his heart start to pound harder and harder against his chest. "I went a lot of places." He wasn't exactly lying.

She dropped her eyes to the desk. "We received a tip about you being at the boatyard. Witness says they heard a number of shots ring out." She looked at him smugly. He shrugged. "Sheriff Romero, do you know where Bob Paris is?"

"No. I don't," he muttered gruffly.

"Did you kill Bob Paris?" He felt like he was sinking with every beat of his heart. He needed out. "Sheriff?"

He was shaking a bit, but he maintained his stoic demeanor. He couldn't let her see through him. He wouldn't lose everything over something as menial as this. "Did you find a body?"

She stared at him, slightly defeated. "No."

"Maybe you should do that, then come ask me." He smirked.

She crossed her arms. "Things aren't looking too good for you, Sheriff. With the election coming up, I'd be a little worried if I were you."

"Well, you're not me." He stared at her until she turned and left. There was no one he hated more than Liz Babbit.

It was still fairly early, but Alex left the office anyway. He needed to get away from Babbit and everything else that had been circling around him. He was beat. He didn't know what to do anymore or what he was becoming. It scared him. He's never been so scared in his life. He tried not to show it in front Norma though. She was waiting for him when he got home. He avoided eye contact with her as she approached him.

She knew him well enough to know when something was up. She stood in front of him, blocking his entrance to the kitchen. "What happened?"

"I killed Bob Paris—that's what happened," he yelled at her.

She grabbed his arms. "Alex."

He looked away from her, sighing deeply. "It's stupid...it's really stupid." He couldn't believe he was getting this upset over Bob Paris—the kid who used to bully him and force him to eat the gum off the sidewalk. "Let's just go check on Norman."

She shook her head, tightening her grasp on him. "We're not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on." Her motherly side was showing.

He rolled his eyes, knowing she was right. "I don't think I'm gonna get reelected." It was stupid. He hated himself sometimes.

She laughed lightly. "That's what this about—some silly self-confidence issue." She looked at him in disbelief.

"It's not about that." He looked into her eyes. "I killed someone—someone that I knew, that I grew up with...and I can't rationalize it. They were on their way to arrest him and I went out of my way to sabotage it. I knew that if he went to prison you'd never really be safe. He knew about us. He used it against me. He used everything against me until I finally cracked. I didn't just shoot him once, Norma. I was just so mad. I couldn't control myself. I wasn't thinking straight. I watched him die. I tried to make it about something else, but I know. I'll always know why I did it, and that it wasn't a good enough reason. And it's killed me every single day since." He swallowed hard. "I just don't know how much longer I can keep doing this. Maybe it's best that I don't get reelected. Maybe this town deserves someone better than me."

She looked at him sadly. "There is no one better than you." She kissed him softly. He returned the kiss a bit more passionately, pushing her against the wall for support. He loved her and there wasn't anything he could do about it.