Breaking Free by C.A. Mason Read Free Book Online

I would throw up. I could only imagine how she felt.
    “Go on,” the prosecutor said gently. “Tell the court what he did next.”
    Go on? Can’t you see this is killing her? Leave her alone! Don’t make her do this!
    “He drove for about ten or fifteen minutes before parking and getting out. He jumped in the back and—”
    “Did he walk around to the rear of the vehicle?”
    “No, he just crawled into the back of the van without getting out.” She paused until the lawyer nodded for her to continue. “Then he…” She glanced at the back of the room, no doubt looking to her parents or boyfriend for support. “Cut my clothes off with a knife. It wasn’t difficult. I was wearing a dress, no bra, and”—she dipped her head, looking ashamed—“no underpants.”
    Damn it. I thought of how enraged I’d been when I’d learned she wasn’t wearing panties that night. I’d accused her of trying to attract other men, but never in my worst nightmares did I suspect she’d attract a psychopath who would try to kill her.
    “What happened next?”
    Tears fell down her cheeks quicker than she could brush them away. Her flawless makeup smeared, and her beautiful blue eyes swelled. “He took the gag off, and I begged him not to hurt me.”
    “Was he still wearing the mask?”
    “Yes. He never took it off.”
    “What did he do next?”
    If I hadn’t been compelled to stay, I would have ducked out of the room. I couldn’t stand to listen to the details. I couldn’t stand to watch what it was doing to her. It wasn’t fair. She didn’t deserve this.
    “He raped me.” She bit her lip, her voice trembling. “He was rough. It hurt. I cried, but he wouldn’t stop. It seemed to go on forever.” She closed her eyes, the tears still falling. “But I was afraid for it to stop because I knew when it did, he’d kill me.”
    “He told you he’d kill you?”
    “Yes.”
    I covered my mouth, fearing I might throw up all over my lawyer’s polished shoes. I couldn’t imagine the hell she’d endured or how she could have thought I would do that to her.
    “Did you recognize the man’s voice?” the lawyer asked.
    “No.” She looked torn as she looked from me to her parents. “He whispered the entire time, this fierce whisper. I never heard his normal speaking voice.”
    “I see.” He shuffled through some notes. “Tell us how you got away, Miss Lancaster?”
    “After he was finished…” She cleared her throat and looked at the jury. “He buttoned his pants. I thought he was going to let me go, but he started tracing his knife all over my body. Some places he pierced, others he just grazed.” She twisted her hands in her lap. “He drew blood. He seemed to get off on that, watching the blood break through my skin.”
    “Can you tell us what happened next?”
    “He moved behind me, tipped my chin back with his hand, and slid the blade across my throat.” Her voice broke again, and she took a moment before she continued. “Then he dragged me out of the van. He pushed me down an embankment. I rolled once or twice before a rock broke my fall. He waited for a few minutes, I guess until he was satisfied I wasn’t going anywhere.”
    Even the prosecutor seemed impacted by her horrific story. He gave the jurors a moment to absorb those images before he asked, “How did you survive?”
    She was sobbing. “I couldn’t die out in the middle of that field. I’d lost some blood, but the wound obviously wasn’t as deep as he’d thought. I knew that because I was still conscious. I was terrified he was going to come back, so I knew I had to try to find help before it was too late.”
    Quiet fell over the courtroom. Everyone admired the brave woman who’d fought for her life and won.
    “How did you get help?”
    “I heard a dog growling from the top of the embankment. I was scared at first. It was a big dog, a German Shepherd, I think. His owner was out walking him, off leash. He came to find out why the dog was