Beautiful in the Lord's Eyes Page 9

  Once she got back to her room, Pastor Mark and Rachel came to visit. They’d gone to see the babies first, and prayed over them before visiting Nicole and praying over her.

  Rachel hugged Nicole with a wide grin. “This is sure a better reason for you to be in the hospital than last time!”

  Nicole was able to go home from the hospital in three days, but both of the babies stayed for a couple of weeks, growing bigger and stronger every day. Nicole and Troy visited often, along with Nicole’s mother, David and Emily, Pastor Mark and Rachel, and the rest of the gang.

  Nicole was healed from the attack and healing nicely from childbirth before she began to remember the details of the attack. She began to have nightmares that seemed to be too realistic to be just regular dreams. During the day, details from that horrific day began to become clearer to her.

  She saw her friends sitting around the table laughing. They were drinking coffee and eating the pastries sitting on a tray. She saw the photographer’s assistant, Adam, hanging back off to one side, never really joining in the group. She sat to one side away from everybody to gather her concentration and to make sure that she didn’t soil the garments she was supposed to wear for the shoot.

  She remembered turning her head when she heard a thump and seeing Lacey on the floor. Hans was leaning against the table, almost looking drunk and Ivan was nowhere to be seen. She heard a sound behind her, and before she could turn to look she felt the blow to the back of her head.

  She was not completely out, she felt herself being dragged across the floor and into another room. There was a funny smell in the air, at first she remembered it being the smell of a fire, but very faint. Now, as her memories grew, she realized it was the smell of gasoline and not a fire. The fire came later.

  As her memories grew, she began to remember being beaten and attacked viciously. It was a long time before she remembered the actual rape, and it was horrible. As he raped her he called her names, degrading, horrible names and he was vicious to her in every way a man can be vicious to a woman.

  She felt herself lying on the floor, barely conscious as he left. That was when she smelled the flames, at first faint and growing stronger. She felt the spray of water, but she passed out, unaware that being dragged into the other room had saved her from the worst of the flames and saved her life. She never knew how close she had come to dying before the firemen rescued her and the ambulance hauled her off to the hospital. She had fleeting memories of the terrifying ride to the hospital. She remembered being wheeled into the burn unit.

  She was very badly injured with second and third degree burns, some broken ribs, and a concussion. Those were the injuries from the fire, there was also bruising and damage throughout her body from the beating and rape.

  She never knew until later just how fast her mother had gotten there, catching the first flight in from Florida. She didn’t get to see her mother for almost a week. She thought she’d heard the sound of her brother’s voice calling out for her in the emergency room, panicked and worried, but she learned later that it had taken him over a day to get there. It was her own panic and desire for his comfort that put his voice in her head.

  Chapter Ten

  “A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.”

  (Proverbs 14:5)

  It seemed like forever before the trial started, but it was only a matter of months. Nicole both dreaded and anticipated the proceedings. She wanted to testify about what had happened to her, more importantly, she needed to be the voice for her murdered friends. She had to stand up for herself, to regain the last of her confidence and self-respect. The problem with her coming testimony was that the painful memories of that day were spotty and indistinct. Luckily, the detectives had plenty of physical evidence to back up her memories.

  Because she was a witness, she was not allowed in the courtroom during the trial. Troy and David had front row seats and told Nicole they would give her the details after she testified. One thing they told her was that Adam had no one to support him, no family and no friends.

  The trial started with jury selection, which was hindered to some extent by the reaction of many of the prospective jurors to a Muslim man being tried for a violent attack on a Christian woman. While such things were common in Muslim countries, the idea of it occurring in America resulted in a great deal of anger. During the questioning of potential jurors, many people admitted to harboring a prejudice against Muslims. And then there were the opposite ones; the Muslims who were in the jury pool and held a prejudice against Christian women. The next problem they had in selecting a jury was determining which potential jurors were in favor of the death penalty. It seemed like forever before they were able to seat twelve jurors and three alternates. Because of the high profile nature of the case, the jury would be sequestered.

  The trial began with the prosecutor, District Attorney Anthony Strongfield, making his opening arguments to the jury. The courtroom was packed, but some of the police who were present for crowd control had also been acting as bodyguards for Nicole, and they promised to make sure that Troy and David always had front row seats for the trial.

  During his opening statement the District Attorney outlined the crimes the defendant was accused of committing. He described the murder of Nicole’s manager and talked about the murder of the three people at the photo shoot. Then he went into details about Nicole’s attack and how she was viciously raped and beaten. He explained to the jury that it was a miracle that she got out alive. He described the evidence against the defendant including fingerprints, blood samples, DNA, footprints, tire treads, witnesses and more. He also talked about Nicole’s identification of the defendant.

  The last thing he described, in his opening statement, was a history of similar crimes against women that the defendant had been accused of committing. The defense fought against letting this information in, claiming it was prejudicial, but they lost the motion because the evidence was determined to be part of a pattern of behavior. Despite the ruling, the defense did win a small victory since the amount of evidence and many of the details regarding his previous crimes were going to be very limited.

  The defense Attorney, Aiza Maro, gave her opening statement. Most of her arguments consisted of accusing the prosecution of engaging in prejudice against Muslims. She wanted it to sound as if all of the events were a big misunderstanding. She accused Nicole of setting a trap for her client, and being behind the attack herself. Once the opening statements were done testimony could begin as the government presented its case.

  The District Attorney first began with the forensic testimony. He started with autopsies of the three victims at the photo shoot and Melinda Jacobson, Nicole’s manager. He presented testimony from Nicole’s doctors. Then he began calling in crime scene analysts to testify regarding the physical evidence found at the scene. The defense attorney fought each piece of evidence, but made very little headway. The District Attorney brought in the building’s owner, who said that Adam had rented the building for just a day, paying a large sum of money for the use of the space. He called witnesses who had seen the defendant in the area carrying in tables, chairs and what they thought was photographic equipment.

  Finally, the day came for Nicole to testify, and facing him was one of her greatest desires and worst nightmares. As she walked into the courtroom there was a gasp. For many her scarred face was a shock, even for those who had seen the public service announcements. Seeing her in person made the incident seem more real, more awful. Nicole had chosen to wear a simple powder blue sheath, and had her hair pulled back in a loose chignon.

  She looked directly at Adam, seeming calm but seething inside. She swore the oath and took her seat at the witness stand. She gave her name and it started.

  The prosecutor asked her, “What was your professional name?”

  “Nikki Silver,” she replied.

  “And what was your profession?” the prosecutor questioned.

  “I was a fashion
model. I did magazines, runway and commercials.” Her voice was firm and clear.

  “Are you still a working model?” he asked.

  “No,” Nicole replied calmly. “My scars ended my career.”

  “Whore!” Shouted the defendant, jumping up. “You are a slut!”

  The judge banged his gavel and ordered the defense attorney to get his client under control. Adam sat down, staring unblinkingly at Nicole.

  “Okay, let’s take it from here.” The prosecutor asked calmly, “Were you a whore?”

  “No, I was a fashion model and,” she turned to stare at Adam, “I was a virgin and you know it. How could I be a whore?”

  “You enticed me!” he shouted, earning more censure from the judge.

  “Did you entice him?” She was asked next.

  “In fact, I hardly noticed him. To me, he was a photographer’s assistant. Our entire interaction was when he came up to me and said the photographer was running late and offered me some pastries and coffee.” She kept her eyes on Adam. “He seemed nice enough, but we barely talked.”

  “Did you have any of the coffee and pastries?” he asked.

  “No, I had brought my own coffee, and I had already eaten breakfast,” Nicole said calmly. “One of the truths about modeling is that we do have to watch our weight.”

  “Who else was there with you?” She was asked.

  Nicole paused, swallowing a few times, before she answered, “Hans, my stylist and a good friend. He was one of the best people I know. Lacey was my make-up artist, and also a good friend. She had a baby girl who was just 3 months old at the time.”

  Nicole paused again, controlling the urge to sob. “And Ivan, my hairstylist, also a good friend. A lot of people think the model does it all, but we’re a team. I’m just the part of the team that gets the attention.”

  “What happened next?”

  “I heard a thud and turned my head to look.”

  “What did you see?” the prosecutor pressed.

  “I’ll never forget it. I saw Lacey lying on the ground, lying still.”

  “And next?”

  “I felt something hit me on the head, hard, but I retained some conscious awareness. I felt myself being dragged across the floor, into another room.”

  “Did you notice anything else?”

  “Yes. There was a chemical smell.”

  “And next?”

  “I was badly beaten and raped, my hymen was torn to shreds and I was brutalized. I suffered a concussion during the beating,” Nicole stated firmly.

  Adam shouted, “She was a slut. She hadn’t even been circumcised like a proper woman.” Once again, he was told to be quiet or he would be removed from the courtroom. “Your court has no power over me, I refuse to recognize your so-called authority!”

  He was removed from the courtroom kicking and shouting all the way.

  “I object, Your Honor.” His attorney stood and protested, “He has a right to be present during the trial.”

  “If your client doesn’t learn to maintain courtroom dignity, he can watch on closed circuit TV,” the judge said sternly. “It’s his choice.”

  Nicole continued as if nothing had ever happened. “And then suddenly there was fire everywhere. I learned later that my friends were trapped and died.” Tears flowed openly down her cheeks.

  “How did you survive?” came the quiet question.

  “Apparently, the one thing he hadn’t counted on as he planned this attack was that the side room he dragged me into had a working smoke detector and sprinkler system. They were renovating the building and had started on that room. I was the lucky one, even if I was badly injured. My friends all died.” She cried openly, tears running down her face.

  She reached for a glass of water as she heard the prosecutor say, “No further questions, Your Honor.”

  Then it was time for the defense lawyer.

  She got up, a woman of about 30 with brown hair covered by a headscarf, and sharp brown eyes. “Hello, Miss Silver, I am Aiza Maro, attorney for Adam Hannan.”

  “It’s Silvan,” Nicole said firmly.

  “What?” The attorney’s head came up.

  “My name is Nicole Silvan, Silver was my modeling name.” Nicole was firm.

  “Oh? You felt a reason not to use your real name when you were working?” She sounded annoyed. “While you were enticing men to sin?”

  “I used a professional name for my work, and I never enticed any man to sin,” Nicole said with defiance.

  “Why do you say that? Wasn’t it your job to entice men?” the woman shot back.

  “My job was to sell products, whether they were clothes, make-up, fragrances, jewelry, cars or whatever. I was a sales representative. Also, a real man has the character and self-respect to see a beautiful woman and not lose control of himself by committing rape and murder,” Nicole said with some contempt. “Only a weak coward commits rape.”

  The defense attorney turned to face Adam, putting her back to Nicole in an effort to control her volatile client. She faced Adam as she asked, “So you consider yourself a beautiful woman?”

  “Not anymore.” Nicole was quiet, somber. “But I was once. It’s how I made my living as a model. I know that beauty is only outward, it fades or it can be destroyed. I also know that inside, in my soul, I am still beautiful.”

  “Yet you are not religious?” the attorney sneered.

  “On the contrary, I am very religious. I am a Christian.” Nicole smiled softly. “My love of Jesus Christ is what makes me beautiful inside where it counts, it’s why I was a virgin.”

  “You are a Christian. Does that not mean you hate Muslims?” the attorney accused.

  “No, I do not hate anyone,” Nicole explained patiently. “I hate what some people do in the name of Islam, but I do not hate Muslims. I know there are Muslims who work hard, raise their families and live decent lives. I would like to see them convert to Christianity because I believe that is the one way into heaven, but I do not hate them. I do hate what Adam did to me and to my friends, but I do not hate Adam.”

  “Yet you make these ridiculous charges against him, do you not?” she argued.

  “The only thing I said about him, at first, was that he was the photographer’s assistant, and I thought he was killed in the fire too. I actually mourned him,” Nicole replied, staring at Adam.

  “Then, who accused him?” Was the question.

  “The police investigating the case determined that he was alive and a suspect. They tracked him down to where he was hiding in London.”

  “You had a concussion. Tell me, how much of your testimony is based on your own memories, and how much was fed to you by the police?” the attorney accused.

  “Every word of my testimony was based on my own memories, observations and knowledge,” she replied with strength and determination. “I gave the police information, I did not take information from them except for vague updates on tracking your client. The facts I testified to were mine.”

  “No further questions.” The defense attorney sat down.

  Since Nicole was still not allowed to attend the trial in case she was recalled, Troy and David went to the courthouse every day and kept her abreast of the developments. They were the ones who told her what Adam said when he got up to testify. The three sat around the kitchen table after dinner and they told her what was going on in the courtroom.

  “He was vile,” Troy said, getting up to get a cold drink. “He was spewing hatred and throwing wild accusations against you all over the courtroom.”

  “Hey, Troy. Please bring a soda, too,” David said.

  “He claimed it was his right to rape you, and that murdering your friends was justified because they were Christians and therefore infidels,” David added with cold outrage. “He bragged about killing other women, all over the world. And he said that you should be executed for adultery and for your lack of honor, because he knew you were not a virgin.”

  “I felt sorry for his attorney, s
he couldn’t keep him under control,” Troy admitted. “He seemed to have nothing but disdain for her. I think she was hired just to show that he felt more open to women than we’ve realized, but I think it backfired on him. All he’s shown is his intolerance and arrogance. I also think she’s afraid of him and maybe of someone else, whoever is paying her legal fees. I think if she loses this case she may be in danger.”

  “I wondered about that.” Nicole paused. “I couldn’t figure out why someone who hated women so much would hire one to defend his life.”

  “He never admitted to committing the crime he’s accused of, but he bragged about similar crimes he committed in other countries. I don’t think the jury is going to have any problem convicting him,” David said. “Anyway, closing arguments begin tomorrow and the judge said that you could come into the courtroom now that testimony is completed. Right now, I think his only hope is for his conviction to be overturned on appeal due to ineffective counsel.”

  Nicole went to court for closing arguments. She sat next to Troy and David and listened as the prosecuting attorney outlined the evidence against the defendant. It was very painful for her to listen to the details of the deaths of Hans, Ivan, and Lacey. And it was excruciating to listen to the evidence about her own brutalization, the beating and the rape, and hearing how she was left in a burning building to die.

  Hearing it outlined in cold detail only heightened the terror and horror of her memories. She sat there and listened with tears flowing down her face, and Troy handed her some tissue. As she listened she struggled to gain control of herself and prayed for God’s help. She didn’t realize how bad things could get.

  At least she didn’t realize how bad things could get until the defense attorney began her closing arguments. In the defense arguments, everything Adam did was a made to sound logical. Not just logical, but necessary. And she herself was demonized as an evil woman who set out to entice innocent men into sin and dishonor. She almost seemed to call for Nicole to be stoned. According to her, Adam was blameless. There was something almost desperate in the defense attorney’s presentation, and Nicole remembered the speculation between her, Troy, and David the night before that the defense attorney was under the control of somebody else, that she was being directed in what to say, and that she would be held accountable if she lost the case. She seemed out of her depth, confused, and scared. By the time she sat down, Nicole felt that his attorney had done Adam’s case more harm than good.