I Dared My Best Friend to Ruin My Life - He's Succeeding

Part 6 - 24 Hours Later

Hi everyone!

Thanks again for all your support! I've been jumping from store to store today to prevent tracking, so I've written on and off today and replied to as many as possible.

I was just posting this when I almost ran right into David. Forgive me for hiding before I got my phone back out and finished posting. EDIT: Guess I was on time after all.

Sorry about the incident earlier with Part 5 disappearing. It was my own fault, and the mods were very helpful in restoring it.

I've said to a few of you that I estimate there being 1 to 2 more parts until I have caught up to the present day. I believe that after Part 7 we will be fully at the present day. That may change, so don't get mad if it does. I just wanted to let you know what to expect.

I'll jump right in, as usual.

I laid in an empty cell, trying to catch a small nap since I'd been up all night. My mind was racing though, and made it hard to sleep. I kept rehearsing what I was going to say when Hernandez finally came to get me.

They'd emptied my pockets into evidence bags, took my fingerprints, and one cop was heading out to search my car. I wasn't dumb. I knew that the evidence would point the police to three conclusions.

One, that I'd been in David's home recently. After all, the data on those flash drives had been updated just the day before. Even the ones that didn't have the kidnapping transcription on them.

Two, the flash drive containing messages between David and his partner might lead them to believe I had kidnapped Katie.

And three, that I'd stolen David's hard drive, as well as confidential medical information.

I kept trying to play out the conversation with Hernandez. I hoped it would pan out the same way it was running in my head.

I was woken up by a slight knock on the bars. My eyes peeked open to see a man in a suit standing there accompanied by an officer.

"Hello, sorry to disturb you," he said sheepishly. "I'm Terry Jayson, your public defender. May we talk?"

"Yes, of course," I said, sitting up. The officer entered and cuffed me. We were both led to the interrogation room where I'd met Hernandez for the first time.

"I trust you will shut off the cameras," he said to the officer. The cop nodded, removed my handcuffs, and closed the door.

"You can call me Terry," he said, reaching out to shake my hand. We sat down opposite each other with the table between us. "I've heard a little about your case in a brief overview from the Chief," he said, pulling folders from a briefcase.

"It's... well it's long," I admitted.

"So I hear," he said. "I'm going to have to apologize in advance. It's likely that you'll have to repeat your story many times during these proceedings. To prevent this as much as possible, you and I are going to sit down and write your version of events down. That way, you can fall back on your statements and ensure that what you say is consistent and accurate. Does that sound good to you?" He said.

It made sense, so I nodded.

"First, I have a contract here for you to sign that says you agree to let me represent you in criminal proceedings." He pushed a paper and pen across the table to me. I skimmed it and signed at the bottom. He pulled it back.

"Would you like me to call you Zander or Mr. Jones?" He asked with an easy smile.

"Zander is fine," I replied.