Breaking Free (4 page)

“All I know is that her parents have a lot of pull in this town. They’re determined to make someone pay for this, and it looks like you’re their man.”

“But I’m not!” If it was my word against theirs, I was screwed. “Did they find anything else when they did the rape kit? Anyone else’s…” God, I couldn’t even say the word. I couldn’t stomach the thought of someone violating Maura.

“Semen?” He shook his head. “No, but according to the victim’s account, he wore a condom.”

“Which proves it wasn’t me. I didn’t use condoms with her.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Pretty stupid, don’t you think? Weren’t you worried about pregnancy or STDs?”

I hated discussing my sex life with a man I wouldn’t have given a stick of gum to on the subway, but I had no choice. “She didn’t want me to use condoms. She was on the pill. We’re clean.” I shrugged. “It made her happy.” Who was I kidding? Bareback had been a long-time fantasy of mine, and Maura knew it.

“I see.” He scribbled in his file before looking at me. “I may be able to defend you against the other charges; the evidence is circumstantial.” He sighed. “But this Lancaster case is going to be more difficult, maybe impossible. They have solid evidence and once the DNA tests come back, I’m guessing the prosecutor will consider it a slam-dunk.”

“This is crazy.” I felt as if I was getting sucked into the bowels of hell, and no one could pull me out. “I didn’t rape, kidnap, or murder anyone. I don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.”

“Apparently the Lancaster case fits a profile. A man wearing a ski mask has been preying on women in your neighborhood. He abducts them, rapes them, then slits their throats, barely taking the time to hide their body. He’s cocky. He doesn’t think he’ll get caught. Or maybe he wants to get caught.” Rhodes looked at me as though he was testing me.

I knew I would fail if I lunged across the table and squeezed his throat until his beady little eyes bulged out of his head, so I refrained myself. Barely. “I’ve read about it in the papers, but if you think I’m their guy, you’re as crazy as they are.”

Rhodes continued to size me up, obviously trying to gauge whether I was lying. “Still, it begs the question, why would you let your girlfriend leave your apartment alone at”—he consulted his file—“two o’clock in the morning? Weren’t you concerned for her safety?”

“We were fighting,” I said, leaning forward. My voice was dangerously low. I hoped the suit could tell I’d been pushed to my limit. If one more person accused me of violence, they would see evidence of it. “She ran out before I had a chance to stop her.”

“So you just let her go?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” I pushed my chair back, not trusting myself to be so close to him without going for his jugular. Rhodes was supposed to be on my side, but he was making it clear he wasn’t buying my story any more than the detective had. “I didn’t have any clothes on, all right? By the time I got dressed and outside, she was already gone. I assumed she’d grabbed a cab and headed home. I may have made it downstairs in time, but I got into it with my neighbour. He can corroborate that.” Every time I thought about what had happened to her while I was supposed to keep her safe, I got enraged all over again.

Rhodes glanced at my battered hand. “How’d that happen?”

The detective had asked the same question. “Like I said, we were fighting. I got pissed and put my fist through the wall. Go to my apartment, and you’ll find all the evidence you need to back up my story.”

Before Rhodes could respond, someone knocked on the door.

“That might be about your case,” he said. “If they don’t have enough to press charges, they can’t hold you.”

“But you think they do, don’t you?” My heart was hammering, and I knew when he refused to meet my eyes, the person on the other side of the door was likely a cop with cuffs and shackles. “You think they’re going to arrest me?”

My father, Sergeant Matthew Cooper Sr., poked his head in the door, looking older and wearier than he had just days before.

“Dad.”

God, he couldn’t even look at me. He thought I did this. “Counselor, would you mind giving me a minute alone with my son, please?”

“In an official capacity?” Rhodes asked, eyeing his decorated uniform.

“Get the hell out of here,” I snarled. “I need to talk to my father.”

The old man had been my hero for as long as I could remember, and I’d disappointed him more times than I could count. I dropped out of high school for a spell when I was fifteen, started drinking and experimenting with drugs, built a rap sheet with a slew of assault charges, and took a construction job when he pleaded with me to go to college instead. My kid brother may have stolen a piece of my father’s heart when he died, but I continued to break it over and over again.

My father waited for the lawyer to pack up and leave before he sank into the chair across from me. His piercing, light blue eyes, so much like mine, filled with tears. “Tell me it isn’t true, Mattie. Please. Tell me they’ve got it all wrong.”

My father would rather sever a limb than let anyone see him cry, so his show of emotion gutted me. I’d done that to him. I’d fucked up again, and he was the one paying the price.

“I’ve been seeing Maura for a few months,” I said, hanging my head. I’d never told my parents about her because I knew they’d warn me against getting mixed up with
those
people. My parents were working class through and through, and experience had taught them to be wary of the filthy rich. Maybe they were right. Maybe Maura had been playing me all along.

My father scrubbed his hands over his face. “I was hoping you’d tell me you’ve never seen that girl before in your life.”

Obviously he hadn’t heard the whole story, and I hated to be the one to tell him. “Dad, they have evidence.” I took a shaky breath, unable to keep my emotions in check. Fearlessness had been drilled into me by my trainer, but I was scared out of my mind. “My semen was inside her when they did the rape kit.” As my father lowered his head in defeat, I rushed to say, “But it was consensual. I swear to God, I didn’t rape her.”

“You know how bad this looks.” His voice shook as he ran a hand over his thick silver hair. “And with her parents’ connections, I don’t know how the hell we’re gonna fight this.”

My parents would do anything for me, but I sure as hell wouldn’t let them put their reputations on the line for me. I’d made this mess by acting like a jealous idiot and driving Maura out into the street. I just had to find a way to clean it up.

Detective Jones returned and gave my father a remorseful look as he unhooked his handcuffs. “I hate like hell to do this, Searg, but the D.A.’s office is ready to press charges.”

My stunned gaze locked with my father’s. I knew the terror in his eyes was mirrored in my own. I was really going down for this. I felt as if I was frozen in the path of a train, and I didn’t have the strength or sense to jump out of the way in time.

The detective hauled me to my feet and cuffed me as he read my rights and the charges against me. When the words “first-degree murder” echoed around the small room, I watched my father’s world collapse around him.

“Oh God,” Dad said, his chin trembling. “They think you’re the Thriller Killer, don’t they? They think you raped and murdered all those girls.”

I cringed when my father repeated the name the press had used to glorify the man committing those horrific acts. Before I had time to respond or even declare my innocence, the detective was hustling me outside for processing. No matter the outcome, I knew from that day forward, my life would never be the same.

***

I sat in prison awaiting trial for 166 days, but it was finally time for my day in court. I had the opportunity to hear from my accuser, to try to understand why Maura was so hell-bent on seeing me rot in prison for the rest of my life.

When she crossed the courtroom to take the stand, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She looked stunning in a demure black pantsuit, her long blond hair swept off her neck, her makeup tasteful, and her eyes… filled with terror.

She was afraid of me.

“Miss Lancaster, can you describe your relationship with the defendant?” the prosecutor asked.

Maura’s eyes drifted to the back of the courtroom, where her parents were seated. I turned and looked as well.

After a curt nod from her father, Maura said, “I met him when he was doing some work at my parents’ house.”

I noted a good-looking guy Maura’s age seated with her family. Was he Maura’s new boyfriend? Even though I hadn’t heard from her since the night of her attack, the thought of her being intimate with another man didn’t sit well with me. She’d left me twisting in the wind for a crime she had to know I could never commit, but I couldn’t forget our visceral connection. Especially since I hadn’t had sex in months.

The prosecutor moved closer to the witness stand. “Were you and Mr. Cooper dating when you were attacked?”

Maura licked her lips before looking at her hands. “We were… uh… friends.”

Friends?
I was pissed, but I couldn’t let it show. My lawyer had warned me that if I couldn’t contain my anger, the jury would see me as volatile, someone capable of committing the crimes I was being accused of.

“Then you and Mr. Cooper did see each other outside of your family’s estate?” the prosecutor pressed.

It was crazy, but I still wanted to protect her. She was scared from being on the witness stand and reliving the worst experience of her life, and part of me wanted to jump up and tell the lawyer to leave her the hell alone. I loved her still, and that made me a serious sucker.

“Yes, we did,” she said, nodding slightly. Her voice was low, tentative. “We, uh, had drinks a few times. Met for coffee after a couple of my evening classes. I think he took me to dinner once or twice. Like I said, we were friends.”

I hadn’t taken her out on real dates because she didn’t want to risk running into someone who would tell her parents they’d seen us together. We’d always gone back to my place and spent the night in bed.

I expected the lawyer to question her about under-age drinking, but he let that slide. My lawyer leaned in, whispering something about cross examination, but I couldn’t focus on anything other than the words coming out of Maura’s mouth. I was waiting for her to acknowledge our connection, to tell the crowded courtroom that I was a decent guy who’d always treated her with respect and she knew I could never hurt a woman. I was waiting for her to save me. She was my only hope.

“Witnesses at the bar the night of your attack said your exchange with Mr. Cooper looked more like a lover’s quarrel. Were you and the defendant lovers, Miss Lancaster?”

She winced. The silence was deafening as everyone awaited her response.

The prosecutor obviously wasn’t pleased. He’d probably spent hours prepping his star witness for her time on the stand. “Please answer the question, and remember you’re under oath.”

“We had sex a few times,” she acknowledged.

A few times? We’d had sex a few times every night. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other when we were together, and we were always together. From the first time I laid eyes on her, I’d wanted her, and the feeling was mutual. She didn’t subscribe to the three-date rule, and I couldn’t wait to get her in my bed. So I didn’t. The first night, we ended up back at my place. When she found the handcuffs in my closet, she wanted them on her all night long.

“Did you and the defendant have sex the night of your attack?” the lawyer asked.

She cast a quick glance in my direction. I felt the intensity of it ricochet through my body, touching me in places that had been cold and lifeless since the guard ushered me inside that prison cell. We still had amazing chemistry. She could deny it, but the heat between us had to be as obvious to everyone else as it was to me. Surely the jurors had to see it. I just had to try to engage her, get her to look in my direction so those twelve people could see and feel what I did when she looked at me.

Maura hesitated as long as she could before she said, “We did, but we had an argument. I ran out on him.”

“Tell us about the argument,” the prosecutor said. “Did Mr. Cooper become violent during your encounter?”

She snuck another peek at me. I narrowed my eyes, pleading with her to tell the truth, to set me free of this hell. That’s when Maura started to cry. I could see how confused she was. The trial was obviously tearing her apart, and suddenly, I wasn’t thinking about the years I may have to spend in prison for a crime I didn’t commit. I was thinking about the hell she had endured at the hands of a monster.

“No, Coop was never violent with me.” She bit her lip. “He had a bad temper. He got jealous sometimes, but I was never afraid he’d hit me or anything.”

“He got jealous sometimes?” the prosecutor said. “Is that why you argued the night of your attack?”

“Yes. My ex-boyfriend was at the bar. Coop saw us slow dancing. He got angry and demanded I leave with him. I feared for my ex-boyfriend’s safety. Coop was a professional fighter, and I knew my ex wouldn’t have stood a chance against him.”

Rage ripped through me. She was worried about protecting her ex? She’d sworn she didn’t feel a thing for him, that it had been over for a long time. Did she have sex with me that night just to placate me?

My lawyer touched my forearm, obviously sensing the tension in my body. I withdrew my arm. I didn’t need him to remind me we would get our turn to question her. The damage was already done. She’d made up her mind that she wanted me to pay for this crime.

“So you left the bar with Mr. Cooper that night?”

“Yes.”

“Did you fear for your own safety, given his state of mind?”

“Some of my girlfriends were there,” she said. “I told them I was leaving with Coop, you know, in case I needed help.”

“So you thought he had the propensity to be violent?”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Sure, I was jealous and possessive, but she claimed that turned her on. I beat the hell out of other guys for sport, but I’d never laid a hand on her in anger. The sex was rough, but she liked it that way. She’d begged me to slap her ass. She moaned when I tugged her hair. She came when I forced her to take my cock harder and deeper. She loved it when I tied her up and had my way with her. She wanted everything I gave her.