Chapter 25
Mort was completely taken aback by what Deja had just said. "I'm pregnant!" rang through his ears over and over. He dropped his knife and sat back on the couch. He looked at Deja to see if he could see any trace of deceit in her face. He couldn't even see a hint of it. Her eyes were like windows inside of her being and they expressed her true thoughts.
Suddenly, Mort felt a change come over him. He became very tired and wanted nothing more than to lie down and take a nap. He got up and headed for the stairs. Deja called out after him, but he ignored her. He made his way into the bedroom and slept for the next two hours.
Deja tried to untie herself, but it was no use. She didn't know why Mort had gone upstairs, but she was glad her news had some sort of affect on him. She was glad he believed her. She hoped that when he returned to her he would be the person she had grown to love. She was willing to be with him if he agreed to get some type of psychiatric help. She didn't want her child to grow up fatherless.
She glanced over at Todd who was still out of it. She didn't know what Mort, or rather Shooter, had done to him, but it must've been pretty brutal. He had blood stained all over his clothes. He had stirred a few times, but never fully awoke.
Deja's positioning was too uncomfortable for her to attempt to go back to sleep. She hoped Mort, and not Shooter, would come back down the stairs and untie her. As if reading her mind, Mort made his way down to her.
She looked up, trying to force a smile upon her face. She wanted him to trust that she wouldn't do anything crazy like run away. If he freed her, she was sure they could work something out.
Mort sat down on the couch and just stared at Deja. She wanted to know what he was thinking, but decided to wait on him to make the first move.
"Are you okay?" he asked softly.
"As good as I can be...given the situation," she put her head down and stared at the floor.
"Deja, I'm so sorry about all of this. There's a lot going on inside of me, that I haven't been honest with you about."
She looked him in the eyes as he continued, "I lied to you about who John Shooter was. He's not a real person," he paused, as tears began to roll down his face, "He's a part of me."
"You don't have to explain it to me right now. I've met plenty of people with the same," she paused, trying to find the right word, "affliction. What we need to figure out is how to correct this situation."
"What do you mean?"
"You need to untie me and Todd, and let him go."
Mort sat and thought about what Deja had just said. After a few moment, he said, "I can't Deja."
"What do you mean you can't?" Deja's heart rate was beginning to increase.
"I might be able to let you go, but I...I can't let him go," he said, pointing at Todd who was still passed out.
"Why not?" Tears were beginning to stream down her face.
"Shooter got me into this mess. Todd wouldn't understand that. He'd be ready to go to the police with this, and I can't have that."
Deja wanted to reason with him. "Mort, if you keep him here against his will it'll be even worse for you. You'll be facing assault and kidnapping charges!"
"I'm fully aware of that, Deja!" his tone increasing in volume.
"Maybe we can reason with him. He's a sensible person, I'm sure he'll understand that you were caught off guard at the sight of the two of us."
"I'm sorry, I just can't." Mort got up from the couch and walked into the kitchen to get something to drink. Deja didn't know what she could say to try and rectify the situation. All she knew is she had to get Todd out of there before Shooter took over again.
Walking back into the living room, Mort had two glasses of water. He placed his half empty glass on the table and lifted the other to Deja's lips. She instinctively took three long sips before Mort set it down next to his glass.
"How long have you known?" he asked her.
"About what?" Oblivious to his question.
"About the pregnancy?"
"Oh...for about...a little over two weeks, I guess."
"Do you know how far along you are?"
"Not really. I'd say maybe a month to two. I was planning on making an appointment with an OBGYN next week," she answered softly.
"When were you planning on telling me?"
"Tonight, actually. I was so excited to get home to you so I could share this wonderful news with you," her voice was quivering. "I was hoping you'd be as happy as me."
"Deja, I am. I want nothing more than to be a father. I just wish what happened with you and Todd would've never gone down."
"Mort, I know. And I'm so sorry I let it happen. But you have to believe that there's no one else for me. I want to make this work with you."
Both of them were overcome with emotion. Mort got up from the couch, took her face in his hands and passionately kissed her. She could taste the saltiness of their tears in her mouth and it only increased their intensity. She wanted him so bad at that moment, but realized she was still bound to the chair.
Mort began to undo the ropes on her wrists and before she knew it she was free. Her hands found their way to his neck and she began to run her fingers through the back of his hair. Mort kneeled down and untied the ropes on her feet. She was completely free. He picked her up and laid her down on the couch.
Forgetting that Todd was even in the same room with them, Mort ripped her shirt from her body to reveal her black lacy bra. He began to kiss the tender flesh on around her bra as she ran her hands under the back of his shirt. She had to have him right then and there. They were like to primitive animals, only concerned with physical needs.
Mort undid her jeans and practically tore off her panties. He threw his shirt to the floor and Deja worked on unbuttoning his pants. Before either of them knew it, they were naked and Mort was inside of her. Her legs had him in a tight grip. She needed him at this moment like she needed air. She dug her nails into his skin as he plunged himself into her deeper and deeper. This wonderful feeling was unbearable. Deja had never wanted anyone this much. She didn't want it to end. After several minutes of intense pleasure, he erupted inside of her. They were both spent and breathing heavily. Mort collapsed on top of her.
After reveling in their throes of passion, Mort removed himself from on top of Deja and carried her up the stairs. He could tell she was worn out. The events of the day, coupled with the pregnancy had taken it's toll on her. He draped her in Amy's robe and laid her on the bed. She was in need of a lot of sleep. Mort got dressed and went downstairs to figure out what needed to be done about Todd.
Mort had pondered over what to do for the last few hours. What Deja had said to him really got him thinking. He didn't need kidnapping charges to be added to his list. He decided he would untie Todd, lie him down on the couch and talk things out with him whenever he woke up. Todd was not a small man, it took Mort almost ten minutes to complete the task.
He hoped Todd would wake up soon so they could discuss this. He'd given him a severe blow to the head with a paddle he had in the house, but didn't think it would knock him out for this long.
Mort began to think about his relationship with Shooter. The lines were starting to blur more and more between the two men. Sometimes Shooter would arrive and Mort would have absolutely no recollection of what Shooter had been up to and other times, like now, he remembered everything exactly as it happened. But there was nothing he could do about it. He didn't know which was worse, not knowing, or knowing and not being able to stop it.
Mort heard a noise behind him and turned to see Todd stirring. His eyes began to flutter and he was checking out his surroundings. Mort took a deep breath, knowing that the next few hours would be difficult to get through.
"Take it easy, buddy," Mort said to Todd.
"Stay the fu.ck away from me!" Todd yelled.
"Look, I'm not gonna hurt you. Just calm down so we can talk." Mort walked into the kitchen and brought Todd a glass of water. "Drink this."
"Yeah right! It's probably poisoned."
"If I wanted to kill you, I could've done it by now. I just want to talk with you about what happened."
Todd reached for the glass and within seconds the glass was empty. "Give me the phone. I'm calling the police," he told Mort.
"Whoa there. The police do not have to be involved. We can work this out man to man." Mort wanted to rationalize with Todd, but he was having no part in it.
Todd stumbled to his feet, heading towards the phone. Before he could get there, Mort ripped the plug from the wall. He was becoming agitated. "I told you, no police! Now sit down!"
Todd went back to the couch and looked for any sort of weapon he could use against Mort. He decided he would do what Mort said all the while regaining strength and then go after him when the time was right. Mort went on about how the kiss between him and Deja startled him and he just lost control. Todd pretended to listen to Mort, and occasionally nodded in agreement.
Todd realized that he was a bit larger than Mort and if he lunged forward using all of his weight he could try to pin him to the ground and strangle him. Todd had to get out of there some way. He didn't want to kill Mort, but he needed to do whatever was necessary to get out of there alive.
He had completely zoned Mort out and was thinking of what his next move should be. Mort had heard something from upstairs and turned his head for just a second. Todd made his move. Before Mort could grasp what was happening, Todd had him pinned from to the floor. He was on top of Mort and had his hand firmly placed around Mort's neck. Mort was gasping for air and fighting to get Todd off of him.
Hearing the raucous from the living room, Deja ran out of the bedroom. She saw Todd on top of Mort choking the life out of him. She yelled for him to stop, but Todd paid her no attention. Mort was losing consciousness, but Todd still held him down firmly. Deja needed to take action, fast. She jumped on top of Todd and tried freeing his hands from around Mort. It was no use, Todd was too strong for her.
Deja was persistent. She wasn't about to let Todd take Mort away from her without a fight. She bit down on Todd's neck trying to get him to take his hands off of Mort, if only for a second. Luckily, her tactic worked. Todd howled as she sank her teeth deep into his flesh. He grabbed his neck with his hand. Then he turned to Deja and slapped her hard enough to send her hurdling across the room. She let out a cry as she landed against the fireplace.
Todd had gone right back to taking the life out of Mort. Mort was able to catch some of his breath, but he was in losing struggle. Deja searched around the room for something to injure Todd with. She didn't want to hurt him, only to make him stop attacking Mort. Then she remembered the knife. Mort's knife. It had been in his back pocket. Their clothes were still lying on the floor from their earlier 'session.' She reached for his jeans and found what she was looking for. She wasn't sure if she'd actually be able to use the knife, but maybe the sight of her with it would scare Todd enough to leave Mort alone.
Deja walked up to Todd and cleared her throat. "Todd, let him go!" she yelled, raising the knife above her.
"Deja, put the knife down and call the cops! This guy was going to kill us. You're in just as much danger as me!"
"We want to talk this out, Todd! Let him go before I have to hurt you!"
"Don't do anything you might regret, Deja!" he yelled.
Deja saw Mort's breathing become shallow. His eyes were rolling to the back of his head. She had to make her move soon or Mort would be dead. With no hesitation, she took the knife and thrust it into Todd's shoulder blade. She had to move fast because he was sure to come after her the moment he could regain his composure.
She pulled the knife from his arm and slashed it against his back, ripping his shirt and the flesh underneath. He was now on his feet and began chasing after her. She noticed that Mort was still breathing and she let out a sigh of relief. Unfortunately in that small moment of letting down her guard, Todd had caught up with her. He backed her into the wall and grabbed her neck with one hand. The blood from his shoulder had soaked his shirt and he was wincing with pain.
Deja was gasping for breath, when she remembered she still had the knife in her hand. She sank it deep into the side of Todd's stomach. He wasn't prepared for the impact and his mouth fell open. He looked down to see the knife sticking out of his body. He staggered backward and finally fell to the ground. Deja wanted to take the knife from his body, but Mort was her main concern at the moment.
She ran to Mort's side to see if he was okay. He was breathing, but his eyes were still heavy. She began talking to him to keep him awake. Mort was barely responding, so Deja lifted his upper body and placed it against hers. She thought if he was elevated he may respond better.
"Mort? Mort?" she whispered into his ear.
"Hmmmmm," he replied.
"Can you talk?"
"Barely," he managed to get out.
"What do you need me to do?" she asked.
"Nothing. Where's...Todd?"
"He's on the other side of the room. I...I...think I killed him." Her voice began to shake at the thought of what she'd done to Todd.
"Did he hurt you?" Mort asked.
"Not much. I'm okay."
Mort's words were becoming stronger. He looked up at her and saw the tears forming in her eyes. "Do not blame yourself for hurting him. If he'd just listened to me none of this would've happened."
Deja wiped her tears away. She knew that Mort was right, but she still had to live with hurting Todd. She came to the conclusion that it was justified because he tried to attack her. She was just protecting herself and her baby.
Interrupting her thoughts, Mort asked to be lifted up. She helped him to his feet and the couple made their way over to where Todd was lying. Deja crouched down beside him as Mort pulled the knife out. She checked for a pulse, but couldn't feel one.
"Listen for a heartbeat," Mort instructed.
Placing her ear on Todd's chest, she listened intently. To Deja's horror, Todd's heart had stopped beating. She had killed him.
