TEARS OF RAGE

Chapter 13

Captured beneath the beautiful gleam of sunshine that illuminated the city of Atlanta, the buildings and shopping centers that dotted the landscape had the surreal look of a snow globe.

From a perch beyond the scope of the streets, it was a world captured upon the sight of a person like a postcard.

A vicarious view of a partially rotten peach...

Fruitful but deadly.

Atlanta was a southern city, in which most people would often overlook how prevalent crime and corruption were entrenched in its streets.

Its metropolitan structure of buildings hid its battle against vice and lawlessness behind beautifully manicured shrubs and trees, that lined the streets in a designed artwork of civic expression.

The masquerade of men who prey upon the weak was veiled in a picture of peace and tranquility.

As cops and law enforcement personnel continued to converge upon the area, in which the bank robbers had made their escape from the interstate, most of the residents within the city were too preoccupied with their own affairs to realize that a major criminal case was taking place.

But for Brad Riner, his moment in the spotlight was taking place that morning...

Within the antiquated walls of the Dekalb county courthouse, the Robert Baker murder case was in session.

Dubbed by the media as the "Rainy Day Rapist", Robert Baker's murder trial had become a high-profile case.

With his reputation as a hotshot prosecutor for the district attorney's office on the line, Brad Riner watched intense anticipation as the jurors reentered the courtroom, to resume the final phase of the prosecution's case.

There were never any guarantees when people came together, to make a decision, he knew.

From the first day of trial, Brad Riner had launched a relentless attack upon Robert Baker's defense of innocence.

In the eyes of the public, Robert Baker had the innocent appearance of an Angelfish.

He came off as a man who was gentle and harmless, but his crimes were horrendous.

According to the substance of the prosecutor's case, which had taken nearly two years to fully develop, there were an estimated thirty-seven women within the surrounding counties of Cobb, Fulton, and DeKalb that had become victims of the man referred to as the "Rainy Day Rapist".

Seven of them had been found murdered.

With each victim, investigators were able to develop a criminal profile, based upon his signature.

But most of the women had been too afraid to come forward and provide testimony, due to fear of ridicule, and reoccurring attacks by their attackers.

It had taken Brad months to convince twenty-six of the thirty women to come forward.

And only one was willing to come to court, and testify against their assailant.

If he lost this case each of them would vanish.

It was Brad's responsibility to convince the jury that Robert Baker was guilty of the crimes being charged against him.

Otherwise, he could lose every witness that had come forward seeking justice.

Without using the other three women to build his case, Brad had to establish Robert Baker's mode of operation with the circumstances laid out from Diane McPherson's ordeal.

According to the investigation that had been conducted, the only evidence that linked each crime was based upon a similar pattern.

A pattern that each of the victims could relate to, that had been established as a trademark, used by the man known as the "Rainy Day Rapist".