Free Off the Beaten Path by Unknown

hard on the accelerator the car threw gravel and the tires spun until they found enough asphalt to send the sports car flying down the two lane road, the ring disappeared in a cloud of dust behind her.
    She had three thoughts running through her mind, it was going to be a great for driving, she could not wait to get back to work, and she had absolutely no idea when she would see Jack Evans again, but she was sure that she would see him again.

PART II
    Behind the Pain

Chapter Seventeen

     
    The old judge slammed his gavel down on the bench repeatedly as the fever pitch of chatter in the courtroom died down to a dull murmur. The silky smooth defense attorney that had caused the uproar with his first question of his cross-examination spread his hands magnanimously and offered to the packed courtroom,
    “I withdraw the question your honor.” The leading question that the defense had asked the young women sitting on the witness stand was,
    “Miss Conley, weren't you stalking the man that you accused of raping you?”
    After the judge regained control of his courtroom the defense attorney continued, “Miss Conley, how well did you know Daniel Gather?”
    The revised question by the defense attorney was a perfect example of one of the tactics that he used to personalize and humanize whatever client he was defending. He never referred to one of his clients as The Defendant or My Client. He always used their name and not just their first name whenever possible, but the friendliest version of their name or a nickname that he would establish early on in the proceedings that his client was just a regular guy. Among his legal peers this type of legal maneuvering had earned him the nickname “Mr. Congeniality.” He did everything within his extraordinary legal skills to make his client friendly to the jury.
    The accused rapist was the son of a prominent and very successful preacher of one of the largest mega-churches in the south.
    Daniel Gaither's father Jacob Gaither presided over a religious empire that included three packed to the rafters worship services each Sunday, all on live television. A small but rapidly growing Christian college, a dozen books on role of a Christian in today's world. And a steady stream of appearance on most of the major television networks when anything religious was in the current news cycle.
    The accused rapist, Daniel Gather, was tall and extremely handsome with coal black hair and deep blue eyes that seemed even a deeper blue against his permanent tan. He was an avid golfer and played tennis three days each week with one of the local tennis professionals. A Houston newscaster had to publicly apologize for referring to him on air as a “Country Club Christian”.
    The young Mr. Gaither was married to a beautiful socialite, Wendy Nelson. Whose father was the CEO of a large investment firm. And who was also one of the founding members of the Gaither's foundation. They also had two perfectly adorable children, Alyssa and Dan Junior.
    The slick defense attorney finished up his cross-examination of the girl sitting in the witness stand by doing what he did best. By portraying his client as a victim of an obsessed young lady fixated on a successful, handsome man with a beautiful family.
    He left the impression as he excused the young lady that she did just want to seduce Daniel Gather, she wanted to take over his life.
    It didn't hurt his defense that during the trial he had placed the Daniel Gaither's drop dead gorgeous wife in the gallery directly behind the defense table. Before the trial had begun he had instructed Daniel and his wife to show as much love and affection for each other as they could tactfully demonstrate in public, holding hands during breaks in the proceedings, little love notes of support on expensive linen stationary passed back and forth during the trial, smiles and winks when they thought no one was looking. But everyone was looking, by the time the closing statements were