Amish Passion (Erotic Romance) (Amish Heart Trilogy) (9 page)

Rushing Jakob, Nick caught him off-guard and hurled them both onto a coffee table which splintered beneath their weight.
Each of them battling for the knife, Jakob’s fist came down upon it first as the men rolled together on the floor.  Nick cast blows to Jakob’s face—
one, two, three!
—but Jakob came out on top, knife in hand, sitting astride Nick. 

Sweat poured off Jakob and blood was soaking Nick’s shirt.  
Jakob thrust the knife fiercely at Nick’s eye. 
Oh God, no!
  Nick met Jakob’s fist and twisted, attempting to force the knife out of Jakob’s hand only to have it come within millimeters of his carotid.  Rebekah resisted the urge to cry out
.  Please oh please God, don’t let Jakob hurt him.

With a herculean effort, Nick forced Jakob’s
clenched hand back, and twisted once again.  The blade dropped out of Jakob’s grip and clattered noisily to the floor.  Jakob’s face registered acute surprise.  Nick took advantage of this opening and, with all his might, head butted Jakob.  Jakob’s sputtered, dazed.  Swearing softly, Nick rolled Jakob off of him and hit him squarely in the eye. 
That’s for Jakob hitting me in the eye,
Rebekah thought with no satisfaction
.
  Nick then took the monster’s head in his hands and beat his face soundly down against the floor.  SMACK!  SMACK! 
SMACK!
  Blood foamed up at Jakob’s mouth and nose and spurted over the floor with each blow.  Bloodied teeth went flying.  One skittered across the floor until it landed at Rebekah’s feet.   

Nick was not finished.  He climbed on top of Jakob and
, using bitter fists, delivered blow after punishing blow to Jakob’s head.  Each punch made a soggy
thwack
against Jakob’s skull.  Finally, whether it was because Nick’s anger was spent or because he was disgusted with the bloodlust, he stood up, holding his bleeding arm and towered over Jakob.

“You sick, sorry mother
fucker.  You just be glad I didn’t kill you.”

Jakob wheezed wetly.

Nick sniffed disdain and continued.  “If I ever hear of you laying a hand on anyone again, I will come back and finish the job.”

He turned to
Rebekah and said, “Go get your things.”

Taking
the wailing Rachel with her, she hurried upstairs to pack.

She had never before ignored Rachel’s cries.  She only did so now because she knew that if she stopped, she was doomed.  She would never get out.  She would never get out and Rachel would get hurt, maybe not today, but someday. 

Ezekiel followed her upstairs, once again looking lost.

“What happened?”

She glared at him.  “You raised a demon, that’s what happened!”

“Did he . .
. strike you?”

“No, Ezekiel, he raped me.”
She spat out the words.  Ezekiel flinched as if struck.  Rachel howled.  Disturbed, Ezekiel was oblivious to her cries.

Rebekah
grabbed the small suitcase and stuffed some items in: her scriptures, a clean smock, diapers and clothes for Rachel, and the irreplaceable letters.

“Where are you going?”

She didn’t answer him; she didn’t even look up from her packing.

“Are you coming back?” 

This is the most he has said to me our entire marriage!
  She said coldly, “No, I won’t.”

“Wait, I’ll send
the boy to Booneville.”  Booneville hosted a home for wayward Amish boys.  It was run by the Mennonites.  It would be a difficult thing for Ezekiel to do as his standing in the Community would suffer.

She hesitated, not knowing what to say.
Is this the best you can offer me?  Only to send Jakob away?
It was not enough.  She thought of Nick, waiting for her and the love he had for her. She turned back to Ezekiel.  No, anything he could give her would never be enough.

“You do that.  Goodbye, Ezekiel.”

At the sound of her coming down the stairs, Nick came up to help her with the suitcase.  She carried Rachel down.  Jakob was still lying on the floor, although he had changed position. 

“Ready?”  Nick asked her.  He was no longer holding his arm but blood was
streaming down his hand and dripping off the tips of his fingers.  She nodded.  With one last menacing glance at Jakob, he followed her outside.

She took
Nick’s hand as he extended it out to her, ignoring the blood that trickled warmly onto her palm.  The sun was starting to rise.  She got in the van with the howling Rachel, lifting her out of her seat to cuddle her as Nick slammed the door and drove away. 

Summer’s dance was over; autumn’s crisp days had ripened into wet, cold earth, Christmas snows, and bitter winds.  Soon, it was February and their little Rachel was not just cruising around the apartment, holding onto furniture, but standing on her own and ta
king her first tentative steps.

Nick was excitedly planning Rachel’s first birthday party.  Only among the English for six months,
Rebekah had a lot to get used to with the way birthdays were celebrated.  She wanted to protest that they shouldn’t go overboard, that they didn’t have the money, and that they would spoil Rachel if they gave her everything she could want before she could even want it.  However, she saw joy light up Nick’s eyes and knew she couldn’t deny him.  After all, as he kept saying, their child had only one first birthday.

He was inviting all his friends from
his place of work at the hog farm and their children.  He was getting a lot of overtime there and they hoped to get a house of their own someday soon.  They could get one in less time if Rebekah also worked.  She could easily get work at the hotel in town, as a maid.  But Nick refused to hear of it, saying he wanted her to be at home for their daughter.  He said, “There will be plenty of time for you to work when she goes to school.”

Things had not been easy, nor had they been pleasant the past six months.  Nick’s cuts from the fight with Jakob required stitches
.  The emergency room doctor, after looking at the bruises and cuts on Rebekah’s face, decided he did not believe Nick’s story of tripping in the barn.  He called the sheriff who grilled Nick, threatening Nick and Rebekah both with criminal charges if they didn’t “cough up the truth.”  Their story resulted in a criminal jury trial against Jakob, despite Rebekah’s impassioned plea that the matter be dropped.

There was an arraignment,
a pretrial, and depositions.  Rebekah could not believe that so many hearings could be held for one crime, even one such as this.  She had to recount the gruesome event time and time again.  There were interminable weeks in between each hearing in whichf she would go over every detail of Jakob raping her in her mind.  More hearings.  Rebekah did not want justice; she just wanted the trial to be over so she could stop reliving the nightmare of that day. 

At long last, the trial day arrived.
  The morning dawned bright and icy cold.  She had prayed that God would make Jakob accept a plea so that she would not have to testify again nor have to recall it again in front of a roomful of strangers gawking at her.  She abhorred having to be in the same room with Jakob, let alone having to face him with her testimony once more.  But she was prepared to do it. 

She dressed carefully in a dark skirt and
a starched white blouse selected for the occasion. 
After this is over, I will burn this outfit
, she thought bitterly.  She could not eat breakfast but drank two cups of black coffee instead.  Nick took Rachel over to a babysitter despite Rebekah’s objections.

“I want to be here for you today.  Rachel will be fine,” Nick said and finally
she agreed.  While he took the baby over, she downed a third cup of coffee and instantly regretted it.  A queasy stomach and jitters beset her. 

Nick came back hurriedly.  “Are you ready to go?”

No, I’m not ready.
  She nodded.  “As ready as I’ll ever be.” 

“You look great.”

She didn’t feel it.  She felt small, cold, and afraid.  He took her hands in his.  They were warm and firm. 

“Everything will be okay,
” he said.  “If you get upset in the courtroom, just look at me.  You’ll do fine.  Trust me.” She did trust him, but didn’t see how that fit in with whether things would go well today or not. 

They got in the
van and drove to the courthouse.  Walking in the courtroom, she saw Ezekiel seated with her mother.  Ezekiel’s eyes drew on her as she made her way to her seat. Rebekah’s mother only looked at her once with sorrow and then looked away.  She had not expected any of her family to be there.  She wondered what her mother mourned the most: Rebekah’s shunning or what Jakob had done.

The courtroom filled with people
Rebekah didn’t know.  The jury filed in and sat in wooden chairs.  Jakob had retained an attorney, Joseph Payne, out of Kansas City for his defense.  He came in with a blonde, petite paralegal with long red painted nails.  She brought in a box full of files.  Mr. Payne carried a briefcase.  He was a tall man with a hooked nose and small strands of grey hair combed over his balding head.  Soon, Jakob was ushered in by two bailiffs.  He was dressed in an orange jumpsuit that had “Harrison County Jail” printed in black on the back.  His greasy hair was slovenly long and he was many days unshaven.  He hobbled along, wearing handcuffs and ankle restraints. After he was seated, his handcuffs were removed.  Anxiety ate a pit into Rebekah’s stomach.  Jakob turned around, scanning the courtroom and met her eyes.  Her heart thundered and nausea threatened to overtake her.

All stood as the judg
e came in and then were seated.  Rebekah was called as the first witness.  She raised her right hand and swore to tell the truth.

She tried desperately not to cry as she gave her testimony
.  Her gaze kept being drawn back toward Jakob, who licked his lips lasciviously while boring his eyes into hers.  He took great pleasure in her distress. Once again, she could feel his brutal ripping and pounding of her body.  Once again, he was jeering at her.  As she recounted for the jury all the abuses he had perpetrated on her, Jakob sat in full view of her and the jury and continuously made a circle with one hand while sticking the middle finger of his other hand in and out of the circle rapidly in an obscene depiction of intercourse.  Rebekah blanched.

Jakob’s defense
attorney asked her why she didn’t go to the police at first.

“I didn’t want to think about what had happened,” she said truthfully.

“And again what happened?”

“He raped me.”

“Are you certain that that is your testimony?”

Sh
e was confused. 
Why is he asking me a thing like that?
  “Yes.”

“Isn’t it true that you had an adulterous affair with Jakob instead?”

That’s ridiculous!
  “No.”

“You never had an adulterous affair?” 
The question was sharp and pointed.

She took a deep breath. 
Here it comes.
  “Not with Jakob.”

“But you’ve had an adulterous affair with Nick Collins for the past eight months.” 
She felt soiled, disgraced.  She peered at Ezekiel and her mother.  Her mother cringed.  For once, Ezekiel was not staring at her.  She looked at Nick.  He smiled warm encouragement at her. 

“Yes.”

“Isn’t it true that you also then had sexual intercourse with Jakob Yoder and upon finding out, Nick Collins beat you?”

Oh, so th
is is how he is going to explain the cuts and bruises to the jury. 
She knew the Prosecution had detailed, full color photographs of the damage of her face wrought by Jakob. 

“No.”

“You didn’t have intercourse with Jakob Yoder?”

“Nick would never beat me.”

“Did you have intercourse with Jakob Yoder?”

“No.  He raped me.”

“Isn’t it true that you were thrown out of the Amish Community?”

She was aghast.  This man would twist any truth he wanted to his own ends.

“No.”

“You haven’t been excommunicated?”

“I left of my own accord.”

“Didn’t you leave because you knew that you would be thrown out because you had committed adultery?”

She almost retorted angrily, and then realized that he was provoking her in order to make her react badly in front of the jury.

“No, I left because I had been raped and my husband could not defend me or my daughter
,” she retorted haughtily.

“And that daughter you speak of . . . it really is Nick Collin’s child, isn’t that right?  Isn’t it true you’ve been passing off a bastard as your husband’s legitimate child?”

Holy shit!
  She felt as though she had been clubbed in the stomach.  She stole another glance at her mother.  She was looking down at her lap.  Ezekiel was staring at her once again, his expression unreadable.  She remembered to look at Nick.  He once again smiled at her, nodding slightly. 
It’s okay
, he was saying.

She found her voice.  “Yes, Rachel is Nick’s child.” 

“No further questions.”

Instead of
feeling relief that the cross examination was over, she only felt shame.  Now the whole world would know of her sin.  Then she thought of Rachel. 
No, no matter what, Rachel is not a sin.  The love that brought her into this world is not a sin. 
She stepped down off the stand and Nick squeezed her hand once she was seated next to him.

Next the officer who had taken
Rebekah’s statement testified.  Then the crime scene technician who had performed tests on Rebekah’s ruined clothing from the night of the rape gave her testimony.  Photos of Rebekah’s bloodied face were passed around to the jury.  Jakob’s semen and pubic hair had been found on her shredded bloomers and dress. A rape kit had not been performed however, as she had refused to let anyone touch her.  Upon cross examination, the defense made much over the fact that none of Jakob’s DNA was actually found on her body.  At the time, Rebekah had refused the rape kit exam because she did not want the matter to be pursued.  She was afraid of the probability of Jakob’s retaliation.  Now she wished that she had submitted to the officer’s request for the test.  She had showered, but it may have shown something . . . possibly.

She didn’t get the chance to dwell too long on the rape kit, however.  The
Prosecution rested and the court was in recess until after lunch.  She turned around to see her mother and Ezekiel hurrying out of the courtroom.  Ezekiel turned and glanced at her briefly.  Again, she could not detect his mood. 
Why do I even care?  He never cared for me, s
he told herself. 
He sired a monster
.

Despite’s Nick’s urging, she could not eat much at lunch.  The few bites of a hamburger she did
take set like a stone in her stomach.  She elected to drink her soda, however. 
I need caffeine.
  She hadn’t slept well the night before. 

Court came back in session promptly at one o’
clock.  She watched nervously, clasping Nick’s hand as the jury filed in and then Jakob came trudging in wearing full restraints.  This time his handcuffs were not removed, she noted.  He turned around to gawk at her.  She did not meet his eyes.

The judge came in and the Defense called its one and only witness.

“Ezekiel Yoder.”  He was sworn in.

Oh, God, what would they ask him?
  What would he say?

After the preliminary information of his name and address and relationship to the accused and the victim were related to the jury, the
Defense requested Ezekiel to give his fatherly opinion of Jakob.

“He’s a pretty
gud boy. Goes to Church every Sunday.  Never in trouble with the law.”

“Obedient?”

“Mostly.”

“As well as teenaged boys can be, right?”

“I reckon.” 

“So, in your opinion, would you say Jakob isn’t capable of rape?”

Rebekah’s heart sank.  Here Ezekiel was the wronged husband, the victim of the cheating wife.  He would tell the jury Jakob was innocent and they would believe him out of sympathy.

“No.”

The attorney nodded brightly.  “No, he isn’t capable of rape.”

“No
. I mean, no, I wouldn’t say that.”

The surprise from the jury was audible. 
Rebekah watched as a twist of embarrassment and ire rose brightly from Jakob’s lawyer’s collar and flooded upward.  By the time it had reached the top of his bald head it was a florid pink showing through the strands of hair. 

“Didn’t you tell me that you were surprised Jakob was accused of rape?”

Ezekiel’s face was impassive, making Mr. Payne’s struggle to control his emotions that much more apparent.  The jury watched, fascinated.

The D
efense asked for permission to treat the witness as hostile. 

“Mr. Yoder, is it not true that when I first interviewed you back in,” he glanced at his notes, “August that you said you were,” he snuck another peek at his notes, “
’surprised and shocked’ that Jakob was accused of rape.  ‘That he could never have done such a thing.’”

“No,” Ezekiel said calmly.  “I did not.”

Rebekah did not know what to think.  Was Ezekiel lying to the jury to help her?  It was unthinkable. 

The D
efense took a different tactic.  “Mr. Yoder, were you aware of your wife’s adulterous affair?”

Ezekiel paused for just a moment before replying.  “Yes.”