The four walls of the medium sized office were beginning to close around her. For Haley it was hard to breathe. Her normally soft, pretty face had given way to stress and fatigue. She looked pale and gaunt as heavy bags loomed underneath blank brown eyes. It had been just a few days since the anniversary party in Tree Hill. As planned, she and Nathan had returned to Massachusetts immediately while Lucas and Brooke had flown to Jamaica for a second honeymoon of sorts. Dan and Deb had stayed behind and were due to return after a quick trip to Atlanta. It had given Nathan and Haley time alone, normally something she would revel in. But things had changed.

The only thing worse than knowing something bad was the not knowing at all. Being in limbo, suspecting but not being able to prove, it was a truly awful thing. Ever since the night of the party, Haley hadn't been able to look at Nathan the same way. Who was he really? Was he just another arrogant, cocky, talented but overpaid athlete guilty by association only? Was he the innocent, warm, wonderful man she had fallen in love with? Or was he a cold blooded monster, responsible for every heinous crime of which he had been accused of?

He had been called away with Peyton unexpectedly on an overnight trip to New York but Haley had declined to join them. She had mentioned something about being sick and neither Nathan nor Peyton pressed the issue any further. By looks alone it was plain to see the girl wasn't feeling very well and Nathan had noticed a change in her behavior as well. So with a kiss on the lips, he had left her resting in his bed. But she hadn't remained there for long. As soon as the coast was clear, she had made her way into the city, quickly ushered away to a top secret location.

Haley had been sitting in that chair for hours. Her butt, arms and legs had started to go numb. Even though the FBI had generously provided her with a meal, she had only picked over several bites. After six hours, she was functioning on coffee, Dr. Pepper and Red Bull alone. Spread out on a table was every document and piece of evidence they had on the Scott case.

"You sure you don't want something else to eat?" a deep voice with a northern accent asked, interrupting her work.

Haley looked up. It was Arnold Edmondson, the young, dark haired local federal affiliate working on the case with them. They had only met twice before, once when her bosses had initially suggested they trap Nathan Scott with seduction and the other time when that seduction had nearly cost her her badge.

"No," she murmured, going right back to the task at hand. "No thanks. I'm good."

"It's getting pretty late. You've been at this for a while. Are you sure you're okay to keep going?"

"I have to. I needed access to some more case files and stuff and besides, Nathan will be back from his trip tomorrow."

Edmondson nodded.

"What have you got so far?"

She narrowed her eyes. She didn't know him that well. Colleague or not, the case she was working on was to important to trust to some stranger.

"Where's Agent Alston?"

Alston was one of the good guys as far as she was concerned. He had always tried to help her.

"Back in Phoenix. He and Bailey should be back soon especially since things are starting to close in."

"Close in?"

"You know with Scott. Between his confession to you, the papers found inside the Cape Cod house you submitted and tons of other evidence from independent investigations, we got enough to put this guy away on the white collar crimes."

Haley bit her lip.

"Then why don't you?"

Edmondson laughed.

"You know better. They want him on the homicide, both of them."

"Look, I've seen all the evidence. Right now it would be pretty hard to get an indictment on Nathan for all of that, with the exception of lying to the feds. His out of mouth confession and a year old case on tax evasion is the only real solid thing we have on him. Everything else points to Dan."

"Maybe. But that's why we have to keep digging."

"Why?" she asked.

"To nail Scott, Nathan Scott."

"What is with this with witch hunt? I mean, think about it. Do you think Nathan is really guilty, especially of murder?"

"Hell yeah. I mean, don't you?"

Haley looked away.

"Listen…"

"Oh come on," Edmondson leaned in. "Don't tell me you think…"

"I don't know what I think, alright?" she snapped.

He eyed her carefully for a few minutes.

"You love him, don't you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Scott. You fell in love with the guy and now you think he's innocent."

"You're out of line, Agent. First of all, that is way too personal and second of all, you don't know anything about me, anything at all."

He shook his head, leaning back in his seat.

"I knew it was a bad idea."

"What?"

"You and Nathan. Us trying to get him by making you his girlfriend."

Haley folded her arms.

"If I remember correctly, Agent Edmondson, you were pretty into it that day. You were kissing Bailey's ass the entire time and pushing and defending every suggestion he made. Alston was the only one with second thoughts."

He shrugged.

"What can I say? That was then, this is now. Hey, I haven't been at it this long. I'm not as new to the force as you are but I'm trying to make a name for myself, too. I guess I was so hyped up on getting the guy and cracking the case, I almost would have said or done anything."

Haley rolled her eyes.

"That's comforting to know."

"Look, I feel bad, especially for you. We put you in a tight position."

"You think?"

"Honestly, I thought you'd just breeze in there, do whatever, get some kind of confession or hard core evidence and it would be over, just like that. I guess I never saw how emotions could come in to play, that you'd really fall for the guy."

"Please stop saying that."

"Can I ask you a question?"

Haley looked right at him, taking off the reading glasses she had been wearing.

"At this point, I really wish you wouldn't."

"Whose side are you on?"

"What?"

"Are you still with us or are you going to do whatever to make this look good for your boyfriend in the end?"

"I cannot believe you just said that to me," Haley angrily fired back. "You know what, in this business, that attitude, that double standard is so typical. But let me tell you something, I'm getting really tired of it. I am a federal agent and I went through hell and high water to earn my badge just like you did. I took an oath to this bureau and to my country and my career means the world to me. When I got assigned to this case, I thought it was the opportunity of a lifetime. Yeah, maybe I was naïve about how grueling it would be. And maybe you and Agent Bailey's brilliant little suggestion is something I probably should have walked away from. But I didn't and now I have to live with that."

"Look…"

"No, I'm not finished. You pigs practically pushed me into his bed. Yeah, I know it's a job but at the end of the day, I'm still a real human being with real emotions and feelings. Why don't you try it, Edmondson? Why don't I assign you to target a beautiful woman? Let's put you with her 24 hours a day and let you get to know the real her and let's see what happens. But through all of this, I still know who I am, okay? I'm not Haley Webb, I'm not a nurse. I know I am Haley James, I know I'm an FBI agent. I am reminded of that every time I know you guys are listening in on me having sex!"

"Whoa, James…"

"I am doing my job. When I'm finished here, I can guarantee you that we'll have an arrest warrant. I just want to make sure it's for the right person and no, I don't think Nathan Scott is our guy. So this is the deal, I have a case to solve and not a whole hell of a lot of time to do it. I totally get the fact that you're Bailey's little puppet or whatever and that's fine if he sent you here to babysit me but the truth is, I don't want your help and I don't need it. I damn sure didn't ask for it. So you can take your briefcase and your badge and your pompous, chauvinist, judgmental attitude and get lost, buddy!"

Haley had never before felt so relieved to get something off of her chest. Her rant may have been unprofessional but she didn't care. He deserved it and a lot more.

"Agent James…"

"Are you still here?" she demanded hands on her hips.

"Just one more thing."

"What?"

"You said you're gonna work this case to the end. You say you want to find the bad guy. What if it is Nathan Scott? What if after everything, he turns out to be our man? What then?"

It was a question Haley had asked herself hundreds of times.

"Then I'll put the cuffs on him myself," she answered honestly.

"You mean that?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then I'm with you," he announced.

"What are you talking about?"

"I want to take down criminals, not innocent people. Sometimes with all the politics you forget why you really wanted to do this job in the first place. Personally, I'm convinced of Nathan Scott's guilt but you really seem to believe in him. Innocent until proven guilty, right? At first I wasn't too sure about you. It's obvious you love the guy and if you were willing to throw the investigation just to save his ass, I wanted nothing to do with you. But I now I see how it really is. You're a good agent and you're only looking for the truth. In my eyes, that changes everything. Look, you know as well as I do how much everybody, especially Bailey wants to see Nathan behind bars for the rest of his life. I want that too but only if the guy deserves to be there. I'm not trying to see this kid railroaded. So whatever you got, whatever it is, I'm here and I'm listening and I'm willing to help…if you'll let me."

His voice sounded soft and sincere. She knew she couldn't trust him just yet but she did need help.

"What's in it for you?"

"Justice," he didn't miss a beat.

Haley sighed reluctantly.

"Okay, um, right now I'm focused on solely on Asher's death."

"Alright. Talk to me."

"The official cause of death was drowning. Now I just have to prove it was accidental."

"If it was."

Haley cut her eyes at him.

"Right. Anyway, I've got the autopsy and police reports but I don't have a picture of the crime scene or the body. You think you can get me some?"

"Yeah. That shouldn't be a problem."

"Good. Okay, we know Asher had blows to the left back portion of her head. It didn't kill her but it would have made her unconscious and that makes it easy for someone to drown. It's suggested Nathan or whoever the killer was, beat her to death, presumably on land and put the body, post mortem, in the water."

"Let's say it wasn't Nathan. You think it was Dan?"

Haley exhaled.

"On Daunte Johnston? You bet. On this one, no. I was thinking, hoping it was an accident but now with the recovery of the ring, I don't know."

"Explain it to me. Bailey's ass was jumping for joy when he found out. What is the signifigance of this damned ring?"

Haley closed her eyes. The ring, that damned ring that had changed the tide on everything.

"Okay, I'm gonna admit to you that this looks and sounds really bad for Nathan but please try to hear me out."

"Okay."

"By all accounts, Asher always wore her expensive wedding ring at all times. The band itself was plain but it was bonded with an engagement ring that had a six carat centerpiece, clustered by smaller diamonds on a platinum setting. According to the local police report, there are photos of her on the day of her death, out in the water with her ring on the entire time. It is presumed she wore it when she died and even Nathan's own statement collaborates that she had it on the whole time. He says he saw it on her finger right before she drowned and that he hasn't seen it since."

"Alright, go on."

"When her body was recovered, the ring was missing. Nathan told the cops and I quote, '…there's no way it could have been taken off her finger.'"

"Of course not. If the ring was sized properly. I mean, she wasn't underwater but for a couple of hours. In all likelihood it wouldn't come off unless another person took it off."

"Right. So the ring was supposed to be somewhere at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean but uh, I recovered it alive and well in Nathan's bedroom in Tree Hill, engraved with their initials and wedding date and everything. I submitted it for processing and a positive ID at the federal crime lab earlier today."

Edmondson frowned.

"James, that does look really bad."

"I know it does. Trust me, I've been sick ever since I found it."

"Yet after that and after what he told you about the day she died, you still believe him."

"Yes," Haley said softly. "I know this sounds nuts but if you knew him like I did, then you'd know he isn't a murderer. He loved her."

"I don't know…"

"I need more access to both Asher and Daunte's autopsies and preliminary coroner's reports. I need every picture and statement in existence."

"And you think it's gonna prove he didn't do it?"

"Yes."

"We need more than that. I think we need to prove who did it. Our accidental drowning theory just went down the toilet so we need to find out who was out on Nauset Beach with them that day. And we also need to prove that old Danny boy offed Daunte Johnson."

"I know. You're right."

"You also know we don't have a whole lot of time on this."

"I know."

"You have to get Nathan to talk to you. I don't care how you do it but he has to open up. Talking to all of them is the key. You're in there, James, you just have to force it a little more. Hell, and I can't believe I'm agreeing with you, maybe there is some sort of explanation. But you have to get Nathan to start talking now. It's the only way. Because if you don't…"

She closed her eyes. He didn't need to finish the rest of his sentence. Haley already knew. She also knew what she had to do next. And she knew none of it would be easy.