a/n: Here's a long chapter! I have more written, and to be honest, I'm struggling with this story. But if you can bend your boundaries of belief, you may like it.

Corners

Nick and Catherine bent over the dead body. The victim was male, 19 years old, a member of a gang. He'd been shot three times, all in the chest cavity. The vic had been eating, hanging out in a burger joint, and then someone came in and shot him.

The witnesses were hazy, as usual. Catherine stood up and adjusted the latex gloves on her hands.

"There's no weapon," she said, glancing around. "Last gang shooting I was on, they left the weapon."

Nick nodded. "Better to leave it and give you a dead end, instead of being caught with it later." He stood up as well. "I'll check outside, see if I can find something."

"I'll process in here," Catherine said. Nick grabbed a few things, including a camera, and headed outdoors.

The front just seemed too obvious. Too many potential witnesses could see the perpetrator or stumble on the weapon. Nick circled around the building to the back exit, mainly for employees.

His footsteps were damp echoes in the alleyway. Someone had dumped something recently, like dirty water or bad food. He tried not to dwell on that.

He pulled out his flashlight and started searching. Bags of trash, beer bottles, newspapers . . . The monotony of the garbage in the alley was making his mind wander. It started to drift to Paige.

And then he saw it. A glint of metal shown beneath a bag. Nick slowly removed the bag, placing it away from the gun. He took several photographs of the weapon and the surrounding area before he crouched down to gather it.

He'd just bagged it when he heard footsteps coming.

"Hey, Cath," he said over his shoulder. "I found the gun." He started tagging it when he noticed Catherine hadn't answered.

Nick looked up from his position, and standing there was Paige Landry. He almost fell back on his butt when he saw her.

"What are you doing here?" He couldn't help but notice the panic in his voice. Though she was intriguing, Paige's mysteriousness made Nick uneasy. "There are police everywhere," he added. She certainly didn't seem worried about being seen, and that just contradicted all the discretion she urged on him.

"I missed you," she said. Simple, quick, and also weird. She took a step towards Nick, and he did actually fall back. He almost dropped the evidence bag with the gun, but caught it just in time.

"I'm working," Nick said.

"So?"

"So, I'm supposed to be focusing on the crime scene," he said. Paige smiled proudly, and held out a hand to him. He took it and she pulled him up to his feet.

"Supposed to be," Paige repeated. "Does that mean you haven't been?"

Nick rolled his eyes, but then stared hard at her. "I'm still bothered by some things." She cocked her head to the side as if inviting him to go on. "Did you really love Christian Patterson?"

She quirked a grin at him. "Jealous?"

Nick shook his head. "No. I'm asking you because you didn't seem too torn up about it months ago."

Her grin disappeared as a fire started in her gaze. "I was acting, Nick," she said. "I had to make you believe I was guilty, and I did. But I loved him. I'm still not over him."

"Really?" Nick said. "You seemed eager to move on with me." She glared at him, but Nick pushed on. "Not that I'm complaining. You're a great kisser, but—"

She slapped him. His head snapped with the slap to the right. He felt the fire from the contact dissipate through his skin, and then stinging. He gingerly touched his cheek, and his hand came back with a little bit of blood. Nick glanced at her hand, and his eyes zoned in on a ring twisted wrong on her finger.

She didn't seem to notice.

"You still don't believe me," Paige seethed. "After everything I've told you?"

Nick took a deep breath, and held up the bagged gun. "I rely on evidence. I have nothing but your word and mysterious circumstances," he said. "You haven't given me anything I can verify."

She crossed her arms in front of her and pursed her lips. "My employer is very serious. I can't just tell you everything without consequences."

Nick shook his head, and swiped at the cut on his face. He turned to where he'd found the gun and snapped a couple more shots. When he finished, he glanced at Paige.

"Then tell me where Patterson was killed," Nick said. "And stop popping up like this, unannounced at my crime scenes."

"What does that have to do with verifying my story?" she asked, slightly amused at his last comment.

He smirked at her and gave her a taste of her own medicine. "It's for your own safety, so your employer doesn't get upset."

"Fine."

After his shift, Nick went straight to the location Paige had given him. It wasn't far from Henderson, but not in the best part of town either. Old supermarkets and questionable video stores lined the area. Nick went behind the plaza of stores, back to the loading and docking areas.

Paige had said Patterson was found there. Now it was busy with large semis towing food and whatever else.

His foot scrapped against the ground, and Nick looked down. There was dirt, a dusty brown lightly covering over the pavement.

Dirt. Nick bent down and collected a sample to compare.

Workers milled around, unloading trucks and moving them out. Employees came out and dumped boxes in the large garbage bin. They took cigarette breaks and gossiped on cell phones.

Nick frowned. Months ago—this isn't a crime scene anymore. He sighed and rolled his head, trying to crack his neck.

He froze when he saw it. Cameras. The surveillance system looked old, but sure enough, there were two cameras by the loading docks.

Nick quickly made his way inside.

The store manager was indifferent, but helpful.

"The system works half of the time," he said honestly, "but go ahead and take a look." Nick nodded.

"I need the tapes for a specific night over six months ago. Whatever covered your loading docks area," he said. The manager shrugged.

"I'll show you were they are. Take whatever you want."

Nick half-snuck back into the lab. It was primetime during the day shift hours, but luckily they were out on a scene. He dropped off the dirt on Greg's desk, and headed to the audio/visual area.

Nick queued up the surveillance tapes from the grocery store. He had exactly what he wanted—two tapes, one for each camera.

As the first tape sped along, Nick thought about Paige. She was . . . Well, he was intrigued.

Intrigued. Was that the best he could come up with? The only word that fittingly came to mind for her.

Yet he always was on edge too. Paige was like a snake—poised and ready to strike, but yet able to be charmed.

Or is she the one doing the charming?

The way she had kissed him. Nick shuddered. The way she had slapped him. His hand came up to the cut on his face. Her reaction to his questioning seemed genuinely upset. He had questioned her feelings, her sincerity.

Bad idea, come to think of it. But he just didn't trust her.

Yet. The tape sputtered suddenly, and went to noise. Nick frowned and backed it up. The time code read 7:30 p.m. About the time of death for Patterson. He leaned forward and watched the tape.

It moved forward, but suddenly turned to noise. The noise continued for 12 minutes, and then returned to normal footage of the docks.

"What the . . ." He backed up the tape again and re-watched the part before the noise. Everything seemed normal.

He fast forward to the end of the noise, and paused it.

Nothing was going on. Whatever was blocked out had been what Nick wanted to see. He pursed his lips together, but zoomed in on parts of the still frame.

He first saw nothing out of the ordinary, but then he focused on the pavement beyond the docks.

It was a dark spot. Nick frowned. It hadn't been there before. He zoomed in tighter and tried to improve the resolution.

It wasn't just a dark spot. It was splatter and a pool.

"Blood," Nick said aloud, nodding to himself. Paige was telling the truth. Patterson had been killed there.

Nick pushed away from the desk and brought his hands to his head. He swiveled slightly in the chair as he thought.

Why would someone blank out the tapes?

Well, Paige did say her employer found Patterson, and then they all staged his murder at Phoenix Telecom.

Nick shook his head.

So they altered the tapes so no one would see them there? Protecting themselves? Why didn't the store manager say something?

Nick knew the man probably had no idea. He'd be surprised if any of them knew about the tapes. Probably don't even have anyone watching them.

Nick put in the other tape. He was starting to feel exhausted as he reviewed the same footage, even the noise, just at a different angle.

He retrieved the tapes and glanced at the clock. It was 3 p.m. He only had a few hours before he was supposed to be back.

He got home as quickly as he could, his energy fading fast. Nick put the tapes down on the kitchen counter, along with his keys and wallet. He headed back to his bed.

He woke up at 6:30 p.m.

"Oh, crap!!" He jumped out of bed, and practically dove in the shower. Nick was out and dressed in record time.

He ran out to the front room, searching for his keys and wallet. He finally found them on the coffee table, and without any thought, bolted out the door to his SUV.

He and Catherine visited the victim's family and "friends." It was never pleasant, and a little edgy, especially where gangs were involved. Nick was glad when it was over.

Catherine had said something about the cut on his face, but Nick managed to get out of it with a lame excuse. She didn't press the matter.

Nick yawned as he made his way to the locker room. Greg was there, changing socks for whatever reason.

"Hey, I got the results on that dirt," he said, wrinkling his nose. "I put them on your desk."

Nick's eyes lit up, though they quickly dimmed as Greg's feet made themselves known.

"Thanks," he said, and quickly darted out of the room. Nick couldn't get to his desk fast enough.

He pulled out the results from Patterson's case, a copy of the whole file buried in his desk. He placed the results then side by side with the current ones.

They were the same.

Now he knew that dirt was dirt, and that it was common dirt at that. But dirt did vary, and yet here he had match.

It backed up Paige again, and part of Nick was really glad for that.

She was waiting for him again when he got home. Paige looked tense, nervous even. Her hands wouldn't stop moving—they didn't shake, but they were constantly wringing or reaching for something.

"What is it?" Nick asked as soon as he shut the door. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Nick frowned. She seemed to have an answer for everything, but not now.

She wore a dark tank top, just hugging her body and overlapping her jeans slightly. Nick took a step towards her and stopped.

"Paige?"

She looked to him, her eyes wide with . . .fear And then suddenly she moved in on him.

Paige started kissing air before she reached his lips, but as soon as she made contact, her hands were all over him. Nick tried to stop her, to get her to talk to him. But she was consumed.

She practically dead-legged him, and he fell to the ground. Paige followed, lying on top of his body and renewing her fervor.

Those kisses ran over his lips, and he responded back. She fought for control, and Nick just for participation. Suddenly she broke the feverish kisses and started trailing them down his neck. Her hands roamed south, down the sides of his torso and up under his shirt.

Her hands were warm on his skin. Nick gulped as she nibbled on his skin and up to his ear lobe.

Suddenly Nick captured her arms and brought her hands away from him.

"Paige," he said in a throaty whisper. She stared at him, then tried to pick back up. Nick gripped tighter on her arms. "Paige, please."

Please? What are you doing?

Stopping.

Something wasn't right, and it was sending red lights off in his mind. He disentangled himself from her and got to his feet. He tried to straighten his clothes, but suddenly Paige was on him again.

She was fierce—something about it scared Nick.

This isn't about love, or even attraction. Nick gulped again as she kissed him roughly, pinning him back against the wall so hard that his head banged against it.

This is domination. She wants control.

And the degree to which she was going frightened Nick. He pushed her away with both hands, hard.

"Leave," he said in a low growl. His heart rammed against his chest, and he knew it was from adrenaline, not hormones.

Paige glared at him but didn't say a word until she reached the door. She turned at the last second and said, "Be careful."

And that was it. She was gone.

Nick sighed and locked the door behind her.

What the hell just happened?

He'd been asking that a lot lately.