"So," Paige asked smugly, folding her arms. She was sitting across from Tanner, Veronica at her side, after having been called in for the results of the blood and fingerprinting tests. "What did you find?"

"See, that's the interesting part," Tanner replied sweetly. The look on her face was starting to make Paige nervous. The confidence she had felt coming in was starting to slip away. If Tanner so desperately wanted to send her to jail for this crime, what if she somehow obtained falsified results? What if she found a way to make Paige look guilty?

That's impossible, she thought, watching as Tanner stood up. She couldn't pull that off. Unless she got someone else to do it for her. I am so fucked.

"Can you tell us what you're getting at?" Veronica asked impatiently.

"Certainly. Interestingly enough, Paige's results were tampered with. The lab could not send us the results we need to match them with those on the murder weapon."

"What?" Paige exclaimed. Tanner smirked.

"Well, then she needs to take the test again."

"This was no accident. Someone broke into the lab and damaged the entire section of samples hers were contained in." She paused, watching gleefully as it sunk in. Paige's mouth dropped open. "Were you at the lab, Paige? Did you know that your samples would be a match?"

"No, I swear I-."

"Did you think tampering with police evidence in a murder investigation was a smart thing to do?"

"Of course not, I didn't-."

"Do you know what a crime that is? It's serious. But then again, so is murder."

"Are you accusing my client of breaking into the lab?" Veronica snapped.

"Yes, I am. I find it highly coincidental that the locker containing her results was the one damaged. We have seen that happen before. When a criminal wants-."

"I didn't go near your fucking lab! I don't even know where it is!"

"A likely story."

"I'll take the test again. I didn't touch those results."

"The murder weapon is missing. Surely you know that."

"That isn't true. It can't be," she replied, her stomach sinking. Her only out was being destroyed right before her very eyes.

She was panicking. If Tanner was telling the truth, it certainly didn't look good. They had no proof she did it, but they had no reason to think otherwise.

"I hope you are aware, Paige," Tanner started, leaning against her desk as she stood in front of her. "That if your father wasn't who he is you would be in jail right now."

"Now, you can't-."

"Then arrest me!" she blurted, stopping Veronica in mid sentence. They both gaped at her. "You are doing everything in your power to send me to jail for a crime I didn't commit and it's only a matter of time. So just save us both the trouble and do it."

"Paige, stop it," Veronica pleaded. "Don't let her intimidate you."

"I'm tired," she replied, in such a panic she wasn't thinking clearly even slightly. "No matter what I do she's going to say I did it."

"Do not tell her to-."

"Are you just going to fucking stand there?" she snapped, holding out her wrists. She didn't know what she was doing but she couldn't seem to stop herself. She was telling this woman to put her in jail. Away from Emily, and even more in the public eye. What was she doing? Emily. The thought of Emily cleared her mind, even if just for a moment. And that was when she remembered she had one last thing to try. "I just have one question first," she continued calmly. Veronica stared at her, as if she was waiting for her to go completely ballistic. "Does anyone here know about your affair with Shana?"

Veronica's mouth dropped open as Tanner's face paled. Her mouth hung slightly open as she tried to come up with a response. Paige sat in her chair, smirking, the pounding of her heart slowing as she realized she had gotten her. Maybe she couldn't be officially cleared, but they would surely have to look into other people now and she wasn't in any immediate danger of being sent to jail.

"How….. that isn't true," she replied shakily. Paige laughed coldly.

"Yeah, it is. And according to her girlfriend, who knows all about your relationship with her, she said you two had quite the argument before she died. You know Jenna Marshall, don't you?"

The room was silent. Even Veronica had nothing to say as Tanner stood frozen, unable to speak.

"This is why you've been so focused on getting me locked up. I have the perfect motive, and it keeps the attention away from you. If I get locked away for her murder, no one questions you and no one finds out that you had a pretty damn good motive, too." She stood up, smiling sweetly at her. "If you don't mind, I think Officer Holbrook would like to hear about this. Thank you for your unprofessional time. I'd say I'd sue you for the way you treated me, but I think you're pretty fucked already."

Without another word, she walked out of the office, still feeling panicked but not helpless. Emily anxiously rose out of her chair, puzzled as Paige walked right past her. She followed her, wondering what had happened and why she looked like she was in a trance.

"Paige!"

"We need to talk to someone about Tanner and Shana," she replied. "She fucked with my results and now the murder weapon mysteriously disappeared. She was going to try and say I did it."

"Oh, Paige….."

"So no, I'm not clear. But things have to get better once it's known that she had an equally good motive for Shana's murder."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So… you're claiming Lieutenant Tanner had an affair with the victim and then sabotaged you to prevent that from coming out?" Officer Holbrook asked. His partner, Officer Chadwick, looked absolutely stunned.

"I'm not claiming. I'm telling," Paige replied. "Have you even talked to Jenna Marshall? She has all the information on it."

"Hmm," Holbrook replied. He looked at them a moment before nodding and standing up. "You do realize what serious allegations these are, Miss McCullers? If it is true that she was tampering with evidence to sabotage you, and withholding information on a murder investigation, that is a very serious crime."

"I know. But you have to admit it makes sense, Officer. I mean, who ever heard of a murder investigation where only one person is held as a suspect? Especially when there are at least three other people that have a motive."

"Three?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Did Tanner even talk to Shana's family about people who may have wanted to hurt her? No, of course she didn't," she answered before he could. "There are a lot of people in this town that had a reason to hurt her. And she only talked to me, without caring if I did it or not, because she thought if she got someone arrested for it her relationship with her would never be found out."

"I get your point," he replied, holding up his hand. "I hope you understand that in light of what happened with your results we cannot officially clear you yet. Detective Ackard will be taking over the case, and while she will need to question you, I promise that we will be looking into other people as well and you will be treated fairly. If, in fact, you did not do it, you have nothing to worry about."

"Thank you," she replied. It wasn't what she had been hoping for last night, but it was better than where she would be if she hadn't told someone at the station about Tanner. There was no doubt in her mind that eventually Tanner would have found a way to put her in jail, and that terrified her. Emily seemed to sense this and gave her hand a squeeze.

"Now, I can either send you to Detective Ackard's office now, or you can come back tomorrow. Which would you prefer?"

"Now. I want to get it over with."

"I don't blame you. Follow me."

He led them upstairs to an office in the corner. He knocked on the door before opening it and sending them in. Paige's mouth dropped open when she saw the young man sitting behind the desk.

"Sean?"

"Paige?" the young man asked in surprise. "I… wow."

"You know him?" Emily asked nervously. The last thing they needed was someone else to make things difficult for them.

"He was my boyfriend in high school," Paige replied. Emily groaned out loud. "No….. it wasn't like that."

"Paige and I stayed friends," Sean assured her, standing up. "Who is this?"

"Emily," she replied, smiling as she slid her arm around Emily's waist.

"Sorry. We can catch up another time," he told her, leaning against the desk. "I've vaguely heard about your case. Why don't you tell me your story from the beginning?"

A/N: Sorry for the wait, guys! Things have been absolutely crazy lately. I also plan to have chapters of Silent Night and Holidays up soon. Thanks for sticking by these stories!