Chapter 31
"Sure, we can talk," Officer Johnson said, revealing a little too much excitement in her voice.
"That rock that you found...it doesn't really prove anything. I mean...Todd could have injured himself somehow and been bleeding when he dropped me off."
"Deja, come on. We're both smart adults."
"Well, what if I had a confession for you. But not exactly from me," Deja said.
"From who then?" Officer Johnson had a question look on her face.
"Mort."
"How would you get him to do that?"
"He couldn't stand the thought of me in jail...especially since I'm pregnant. I'm sure I can get him to confess to everything."
"When?" Officer Johnson asked eagerly.
"Well, now I guess. Follow me home and we'll confront him together."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Officer Johnson watched Deja get into her car. She wished she had her cell phone with her so she could call her partner, but she was sure he'd find out soon enough. She was about to crack this case all alone. She couldn't wait to start reaping the benefits.
Deja constantly checked her rearview mirror to make sure Officer Johnson was following. She hoped she didn't bring her cell phone with her to call for some sort of backup. She couldn't make out any calls so she figured she was free and clear.
Taking her phone out of her purse, she dialed her house number. It rang three times before Mort answered.
"Mort! Listen to me. I've got something very important to tell you," she said in a rush.
"Deja, is something wrong?" he asked, worried.
"Just listen to me. Officer Johnson was waiting for me at the library. She said she had the rock, that she found by the house, examined and that it had Todd's blood on it. She's on to us."
"What! She's bluffing Deja!" Mort yelled into the phone.
"Just listen. She's following me home right now. I led her to believe that we did kill Todd."
"You did what!" he said, interrupting her.
"Mort, she was dead serious. I can't have our babies from jail. We've got to do something about this. I told her I'd get you to confess to everything. I didn't know what to do. I was panicking and words just started coming out of my mouth, with no control!" Deja was starting to cry.
"Calm down. Breathe, just breathe," he remembered once telling Amy the same thing. "Look, you made a good decision. Bring her here and I'll take care of everything."
"What are you going to do?" she asked, afraid of what the answer might be.
"To be honest I'm not sure. Where's Shooter when when you need him, huh?" he let out a nervous laugh.
"No time to joke Mort."
"I know, sorry. How much longer till you're here?"
"About five minutes maybe," she said.
"Okay. I'll figure something out by then." He hung up and began to brainstorm.
Within seconds his mind began working in overdrive. He ran up the stairs and opened the nightstand by his side of the bed. He dug through his things until he came across what he was looking for.
A flashback entered his consciousness. He was back at Irv's Lakeside Motel. He was standing in front of Amy and Ted, who were in bed together. The gun was pointed at them. It was cold that night, the wind cut through him like a knife. The look on Amy's face was priceless. She was scared out of her mind. And Ted, well he was pissed.
Mort remembered not having any bullets in the gun that night. He just wanted to scare them. But tonight he needed the bullets. He searched the drawer and came up with two. He placed them in the gun and headed back downstairs.
He saw the headlights of the first and then the second car flash across the living room. Sweat began to form at his temples. He assumed that Officer Johnson would be armed, so he would have to beat her to the punch.
Deja and Officer Johnson reached the front door. She fumbled with her keys and Officer Johnson noticed. "Nervous?" she asked.
"A little," Deja admitted.
"Why would you turn him in?" Officer Johnson asked.
"Too be honest, I'm a little frightened of him. I love him, but he's a dangerous man. And I can't have someone dangerous around my children. This will be for the best." Deja tried to look as somber as possible. She just hoped Officer Johnson bought it.
They walked inside and the house was completely dark, with the exception of the kitchen. Deja didn't know what Mort had planned, she just hoped it would work. She had created this mess and now she was relying on him to get her out of it.
"Mort? Mort?" Deja called. There was no answer. "He must be upstairs," she said to Officer Johnson. "I'll be right back."
She walked upstairs into the bedroom. Mort was nowhere to be found. Then suddenly she heard two gunshots ring through the air. She was so startled she let out a shriek. She ran out the bedroom and down the stairs. Mort was standing over Officer Johnson's body. Her lifeless form was oozing blood.
Deja ran to Mort's side and could feel how cold and wet he was. He was a paler shade of his former self. Deja knew it was Mort that had done this, not Shooter. He looked terrified. This was the first person that Mort had ever killed.
He stared at the body, unable to move. Deja led him to the couch and made him sit down. She tried to remain as calm as possible because someone needed to during this time. She knew they would have to dispose of the body, but she wasn't sure as to where. It would have to be somewhere new. Not where any of the other bodies had been buried.
Mort was in a fog for the next 30 minutes. He finally came to when he heard rustling in front of him. Deja was rolling Officer Johnson's body onto a large, black trash bag. She had torn it in half, doubling it in length. Looking at her in this moment, he was amazed at her strength.
Deja hadn't even noticed Mort changing positions. Before she knew it he was knelt down beside her helping her move the body. After positioning her just right, Deja retrieved another large bag and placed it over Officer Johnson's head. It went about half down her body. Another bag, put over her feet, met the first one. Mort taped the bags around the body making sure she was bound tightly.
The next step would be the hardest. Moving the body out of the house. Mort didn't want Deja straining herself too much, so he suggested she take a break while he worked. He towed the body to the edge of the lake and lifted her into a canoe. He walked back into the house to get a rope and removed one of the cement blocks lying idly on the side of the house.
Deja had began to clean the blood up from the floor as Mort finished disposing of the body. He got into the canoe with the items and rowed out to the middle of the lake. Tying one end of the rope around Officer Johnson's feet and the other end to the cement block he began to push her over the edge of the canoe. Her dead weight was heavy for him, but he managed to get her out along with the cement block. The boat nearly tipped over and he had to regain his balance. The body seemed to sink with no problem, but Mort sat in the middle of the lake for another 15 minutes just to make sure she didn't resurface.
He rowed back in to shore. He looked over the yard and forgot that Officer Johnson's car was still parked in his driveway.
Mort wanted nothing more than to go to sleep, but he couldn't. He still had a lot of work to do. He told Deja they would have to dispose of the car some way. He didn't want to drive it over the cliff because he'd worn that method out by now. They decided to just have Deja drive it back to the library and park it and then she'd leave with Mort.
It was almost 4 am, so Mort figured there shouldn't be much going on in town. Deja left five minutes before Mort and parked Officer Johnson's car exactly where it was earlier that night. She was careful to wear a long sleeved shirt, pants, closed in shoes, gloves, pinned her hair up and covered it with one of Mort's beanies. She didn't want any trace of her to be found in that car.
After parking, she made sure no one was in sight and met Mort at the location they'd agreed on. She slipped into the passenger's side and they made their way back home. Just before falling to sleep in their bed, specks of sunlight began to filter in through the window.
Mort woke up first. He decided to let Deja sleep. She had to be worn out from the night before and he knew she was in no condition to strain herself to the extent that she had. He was exhausted and his face showed it.
He began inspecting the living room for any sign that may show Officer Johnson was there. He couldn't spot anything. Deja had done a great job cleaning everything up. He plopped down on the couch and turned the television on. There was absolutely nothing on. He hated channel surfing, but wasn't in the mood to do much else.
Something on the Discovery channel had caught his attention. It was a program on personality disorders. He figured it was something he could watch and learn from. There was a slight chance someone would tell him how to get rid of Shooter.
The show lasted for two hours and Mort learned a lot of useful things. The doctors gave a lot of useful ways to confront the inner voices. Some ways were through medication, hospitalization, but the one Mort clung to the most was through confrontation. They told the story of a man that had two personalities inside of him and in order to eradicate them he was forced to draw them out and destroy them. His doctor was present when the encounter happened and he helped the man overpower his other two selves. He had been living for the last 12 years without them coming back.
This was the breakthrough Mort needed. He couldn't wait for Deja to awake so he could tell her he'd finally found a way to get rid of Shooter. He just hoped it would work.
