Chapter 26
"Oh my God," she repeated over and over.
"Is he dead?" Mort asked her.
Deja nodded. She was about to be in hysterics. Her breathing intensified and she felt as if she was having a panic attack.
"Breathe," Mort instructed her. He began rubbing her back, trying to calm her down. The last thing they needed was for her to hyperventilate.
About a minute had passed and Deja was finally able to catch her breath and relax. She needed to think clearly during this time of stress. She had to come to grips with the fact that she killed someone. She was no longer an innocent bystander.
Mort grabbed her hand and led her to the couch. They sat down and Mort began to plan out what their next move should be.
"We need to gather everything here that belongs to him and put them in his car. Then we need to get his body, put it in the car and drive it over the cliff."
"What!" Deja interrupted. "We can't just get rid of him like that! He's a person, Mort."
"Do you want to go to prison?" he asked earnestly.
"If we explain to the police..."
"I'll be going to jail, Deja. They already think I've killed before. This will just seal the deal for them!"
A realization crossed Deja's face. "Did...did you kill the others?" she asked softly.
"Yes...Shooter did."
Deja didn't know what to think. She was living with a murderer. A murderer that she loved. She couldn't really hold him accountable because it wasn't him that was doing all these terrible things. She had to find a way to get rid of Shooter for good.
"So what do we do?" She decided going along with Mort's plan was probably the smartest thing to do.
Over the next few hours, Deja and Mort planned out what they would do next. They had cleaned up the apartment to put it back in presentable condition and moved Todd's body into his car. Mort was pretty certain that if they sent his car over the edge of the cliff, into the water, that no one would find it.
It took some doing, but they finally managed to sink the car and erase any trace of Todd ever being there. Mort told her to return to work the next day to have her car towed back home. She was to act as though everything was normal. She would tell her coworkers that Todd took her home the night before and that was the last she'd seen of him. She ran the scenario in her head at least a million times and each time it sounded more and more believable. She just hoped she'd be able to convince everyone else.
Deja kept replaying the events of the last 24 hours in her mind. She hated the way things had turned out. If she would've never let Todd kiss her, none of this would've happened. She knew the majority of what happened was due to her weakness. She should've told Todd from the minute he leaned in to kiss her that she wasn't a willing participant. But it was too late for that now. Todd's body was at the bottom of a very large waterway. He was literally swimming with the fishes.
Mort lay in the bed next to her. He was sound asleep. It was almost as if what had happened today were a normal occurance for him. He talked to her for a little while before coming over with sleepiness. They'd been in bed for a little over four hours and Deja wasn't any closer to falling asleep. She decided to get up and go watch some television, hoping that would tire her out.
She made her way into the living room and sat down on the couch. After channel surfing and not coming up with anything, she turned the television off and turned the CD player on. Her Maroon 5 CD was already in rotation so she pressed 'Repeat' and let the smooth sounds fill the room. She turned down the volume and laid back down on the couch.
She began thinking of what would happen if her and Mort got caught. They would be sent to prison and their child would grow up never knowing them. Deja swore she would convince the police that her and Mort had nothing to do with Todd's disappearance.
Stroking her belly, she began to talk to her unborn child. "Mommy and daddy did something incredibly stupid, but it was only to protect you. If I could take it all back I would. But I promise you that I will do whatever I have to to make sure the three of us remain as a family. If we have to move to an entirely different country, I swear that you will be safe," she began to silently weep, "Daddy loves you just as much as I do and he wants to be with us forever."
"Yes, I do," Mort's voice said, behind her.
She hadn't even heard him come down, but she was glad he did. She needed to feel his closeness. He made his way onto the couch and she rested her legs on his lap.
"Talking to the baby, huh?" he asked.
"Yeah. It always seemed kind of silly to me, but I just felt I owed him, or her, an explanation."
Mort lifted her shirt and began to rub her stomach. Her belly hadn't grown yet, but Mort was excited by it just the same.
"Wow," he said, shaking his head.
"What?" Deja asked.
"I just can't believe I might actually be a father," he answered in amazement.
"What do you mean 'might be'?"
Mort hesitated. "Well, Amy had gotten pregnant once before. We were so elated, we rushed right out and started buying baby items," a smile spread across his face, "I'd put together this amazing crib and we began to paint one of the spare bedrooms. Well, one night about five months into the pregnancy she started to have contractions. We both knew something was seriously wrong. I rushed her to the emergency room and after hours upon hours of just waiting, the doctors came to me and said the baby died. It was a boy," tears began to form in his eyes, "They told me a lot of medical mumbo jumbo that I still don't understand, but the bottom line was that our child was gone. Amy became severly depressed for about eight weeks. I wanted to try again, but she wasn't up to it. I kind of sank deeper and deeper into my own world and she started to cheat on me. It was the beginning of the end of our marriage."
Deja was stunned. She didn't know Mort was almost a father before. He had to be terrified of the same thing happening to her. She knew she would have to take extra special precausions to make sure her baby was as healthy as possible. She didn't want any added outside factors like stress, second hand smoke, etc to cause something to go wrong with the pregnancy.
"Mort, I...I don't know...what to say," she mumbled.
"You don't have to say anything. Just promise me you'll take additional care of yourself to make sure this baby goes full term."
"I will. I'll do everything in my power to bring a healthy child into your life." She sat up and kissed him deeply. Wiping his tears away, she whispered into his ear, "I'm going to give you the child you've always dreamed about."
Deja pulled up to 'The Lounge' around 2:10. Mort decided to stay at the cabin so things wouldn't look to suspiscious. She told the tow truck company to meet her there at 2 pm, but there was no sign of him. She hoped he hadn't come and gone.
Butterflies filled her stomach and she felt like throwing up. She made her way inside to see if the tow truck driver had stopped by. Lilly, along with one other waitress was there.
"Hi," Deja said to Lilly, trying to sound normal.
"Hey," Lilly answered. "Have you seen or talked to Todd?"
"Not since he dropped me off last night," she said, taking a seat on the bar stool.
"He took you home last night?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, he was supposed to help me open up today and he's not here. I've called his house and cell phone and he's not picking up on either one." Deja could here the strain in Lilly's voice. She felt bad having to lie to her.
"Well, my car wouldn't start after you all left last night, so Todd offered to take me home and that was that. Have you called the police?" Deja immediately regretted asking that, but it was too late now. She was nervous and whenever she was nervous, stupid things would fly out of her mouth. She needed to get a handle on that.
"The police? Oh honey, you obviously don't know Todd well enough yet. He's probably taking a personal day. This isn't the first time he's done something like this. He'll just take the day off and not tell anyone. Immaturity if you ask me."
Lilly went right back stocking the bar. She didn't seem too concerned with Todd's whereabouts, so Deja decided not to press the matter. She figured she needed to change the subject. "Has a tow truck guy been by here?" she asked.
"Not to my knowledge. Maybe you should call him again."
"I'll do that." Deja pulled her cell phone out of her purse and called the towing company. They said that Bob, the driver was on his way and would have her car delivered to their service station. As soon as she hung up, she heard the truck outside. She told Lilly good-bye and made her way outside. After riding with the Bob to the service station it was determined that a part would have to be ordered and it would be the next day before it could be fixed.
Bob offered Deja a ride home, but she was a little uneasy about that. She phoned Mort and within 20 minutes they were on their way out of the shop.
"So, how did it go at 'The Lounge'?" he asked, quietly.
"Good, I think. Lilly is under the impression that he's just taking a personal day. I just went along with her."
"Good, good," Mort said, placing his arm around Deja's waist. "What do you say we go in town for some ice cream and a movie. They've got this great old theater down town that I know you'd love. I feel like I've had you cooped up in the cabin since you got here. You need to see what Tashmore Lake has to offer."
"Are you sure, Mort?" she asked.
"Yes." He grabbed her hand and they made their way into his car.
The theater was playing the remade version of Imitation of Life starring Lana Turner. It was one of Deja's favorite movies growing up. Mort had never seen it so she was excited to share this experience with him.
By the end of the film, they were both in tears. It was so moving that neither of them could hold back. Mort, trying to be a tough guy, wiped his tears away as soon as they formed, but Deja could tell the movie had touched him. She couldn't count how many times she'd seen it, but her reaction was always the same.
Making their way to the ice cream store next door, Deja asked, "Did you like the movie?"
"Very moving. I can't believe I've never seen it before."
"Well, I love watching classic movies, so hang around me long enough you'll see all the good ones at least once," she smiled.
In the ice cream store, Deja ordered mint chocolate chip and Mort had cookies and cream. They had it put in cones and decided to take a stroll down the street. They learned to ignore the stares of the town's people. Anytime the two of them showed up together, eyes were always on them. It bothered Deja at first, but then she decided that as long as they lived in Tashmore Lake that they would get these glances. She'd have to learn to live with it.
Deja began to laugh at Mort and he was clueless as to why. He had a huge dallop of ice cream on the side of his lip. She wanted to tell him, but the sight of it threw her into fits of laughter. That was just what she needed. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to ever laugh again after what happened with Todd. Now she knew that she would.
She leaned over to Mort and licked the ice cream off. "What was that for?" he asked seductively.
"You had a little...ice cream on your face," she began laughing again.
"And I thought you were just up for a little p.d.a.," he smiled back.
"Oh, you'd love to give the people here a show, wouldn't you?"
"Well, we'd definitely be the talk of the town." He wrapped his arm around her waist, touching the small of her back and pulled her body close to his. Then, without hesitation he kissed her. It wasn't a screen kiss either. It was an enticing, real kiss. Although Deja was enjoying the kiss, she was fully aware of her surroundings. She opened her eyes to see several people stopping to stare at her and Mort.
Breaking their kiss, she said, "I think we should take this back to the house. People are staring."
"So let them stare," he said, moving to her neck and placing warm kisses all over it. The tingle of his lips against her soft skin made her giggle.
"Mort, seriously. There's like kids here, I don't want to give them some sort of porn show." It was hard for her to make him stop because she was fully enjoying what he was doing to her. Mort was the type of man that could make the most innocent of women lose all their inhibitions.
"All right grandma," he laughed, "let's go home." He took her by the hand and led her to the car. He knew that the sight of him and Deja being so free with each other was infuriating some of the people there, but he didn't care. As long as the two of them were happy was all that mattered.
The next morning, Deja was in the kitchen making breakfast for her and Mort when she heard a knock at the door. Making sure Amy's robe, which was now basically hers, was tied securely she opened the door.
In front of her were two young police officers. Male and female. Her heart felt like it had fallen to her feet. She knew why they were there, and she hoped that she could pull off the lie she knew she'd have to tell.
"Deja Brown? How are you doing today ma'am?" the young, male officer asked.
"I'm good. What can I help you with?" she asked, wiping her hands on her dish towel.
"Do you mind if we come in?" the woman officer asked.
"No, not at all." They followed Deja into the kitchen and she offered them a seat.
"We won't be in your hair long," the woman began, "but we're investigating the disappearance of a Todd Baker. Your boss I believe."
Deja decided not to say anything until they started asking questions. The woman continued, "Lilly Baker, his sister, said that he was last seen by you, after he dropped you off here. Is that correct?"
"Yeah, my car wouldn't crank up, so he offered me a ride home."
"Did he make mention of going out of town or anything?" the man asked.
"No, nothing at all. I just told him I'd be by the bar the next day to have my car towed. He made it seem like he'd be there," she said casually.
"You talked to Lilly that day right?"
"Yeah. She asked me had I spoken with Todd."
"Lilly also told us you instructed her to call the police. Any reason for that?" he asked her suspiciously.
Letting out a nervous laugh she said, "No. She just seemed a little worried and so I just mentioned that maybe she should call the cops and have them check it out. She said he took personal days a lot, so I let it go."
"Well, Lilly ended up going by his house after they closed up that night and neither Todd nor his car were there."
"She said he's never gone that long with any type of contact or notice," the woman added. "You're sure you don't recall him saying anything about taking a trip or something of that nature?"
"Nope, not a thing."
The two officers looked at one another and got up from their chairs. "Well, if you happen to think of anything, give us a call," she said, handing Deja a business card with a number written on the back.
"Definitely. Good luck," Deja said, and then closed the door behind them. She let out a long sigh of relief. She couldn't believe she managed to get through that. She was a better actress than she had led herself to believe.
Making their way to the car the female policeman, Officer Johnson turned to her partner, Officer Reid and gave him a funny look. "What's that look for Johnson?" he asked.
"Something just didn't sit right with me about her."
"Must be woman's intuition because she sounded pretty clean to me."
"I can't figure out what I'm trying to pick up on, but something just doesn't fit well to me," Officer Johnson said.
"I think you're just reading too much into this," Officer Reid said brushing off her feelings.
As they drove out of view of Mort's house, Officer Johnson couldn't let go of the nagging feeling she had. Deja seemed like a nice enough woman, but something about her was very suspicious. Officer Johnson decided that she'd have to do some further investigating.
