Twenty/Twenty

I'm not even going to sugar coat it. Being rich gets you to the front of the line. It gets you results. It gets you attention. It's not fair. It's not right. But it's reality. It's why Saint didn't get a speeding ticket when he was stopped for speeding last year. Twice. And two more times the year before that.  It's why Jax was able to get a police officer to gather fingerprints off a door knob the other night when it was so blatantly obvious it's the last thing he wanted to do.

It's why there's a detective currently sitting across from us in Daphne's living room. Dan's connections to the law enforcement community and the St. Alban name got him here with surprising ease. Even though it's the evening. Even though this might not be the usual protocol for starting an official inquiry into someone it's the route we're trying to navigate. I would have liked to think I'm not the kind of person who would take advantage of privilege. As it turns out I am. I may look back on this with shame one day in the future but that's not what I'm feeling now. Avery's volatile. Vicious. A verified threat. That needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later. If you're paying to read this story, it's been stolen from the original author, BlueGranite. You can find it for free on 抖阴社区. Hopefully, we're taken seriously. It's hard to tell. This guy is pretty stoic. Hard to read.

Detective Wes Black. The leftovers from our dinner are scattered about. As are a lot of the documentation from the Dan's private exploration into the situation. Certain things have mysteriously vanished. Such as the copies of Avery's medical records. There's no need for us to turn over everything we know. But there's still a very robust amount of evidence that we have the right to be concerned. Especially with the in person account given directly from Adam. We were so grateful when he told us he was more than happy to go on the record and share his story with anyone who needed to hear it.

All in all we've just essentially had a repeat walk through of the afternoon. It doesn't get any easier to comprehend the second time around. Detective Black has some great questions. He quickly notes there's a gap in information. The time period between adoption and college is missing. He's right. Daphne explains to him that in her initial conversation with Dan she'd asked him to focus on before Avery was welcomed into the family and after she entered adulthood. It had been our intent to gather what we could about her middle and high school years. Then point him in any direction we felt would warrant his skill set later on. It was our pathetic attempt to do some investigating of our own. It seemed to make sense at the time. I wanted to talk to a lot of the people, particularly family, who were closest to her during that season anyway for my own curiosity's sake. Two birds. One stone. It felt logical. Now it seems very inadequate. Almost silly. I was expecting to find some lies along the way. A lot of pick me vibes. Possibly some inappropriate affection. Not stalking. Not mysteriously producing keys and codes to enter a private residence under false pretenses. Not obsession. Not attempted murder.

The more I process what has unfolded over the past week the weightier it all becomes. This is so far beyond the scope of what I thought was taking place it's not even in the same universe. Even after I developed the theory that she'd put something in my drink I still considered it exactly that. A theory. Thinking of it as a potential poisoning. Questioning whether she would really go that far. Wondering if she did it what her goal was for the outcome. Sickness or death? Now there's no doubt in my mind that she did it. And that she wanted to stop the wedding and end me. Any sickness I might develop would only increase Jax's level of attention and concern for me. Pulling it away from her. There's no way she'd allow that to happen. No way. She wants me six feet under. Eliminated from the picture entirely. It's a staggering thing to realize someone wants to kill you. Even more so when you know that person is roaming about in public. With complete freedom to continue to scheme your demise.

Since there is a gap Detective Black digs into the shared history between Jax and Avery during those years. Asking him a lot of questions. When Jax shares about Avery's suicide attempt I happen to catch the look on Dan's face. He seems puzzled. For a few seconds I think he's going to say something but then he leans back and continues to observe.