Previously…
– Elly admitted to Spencer that Loretta has been blackmailing her with the knowledge that Elly’s bar exam results were fixed.
– Molly came up with the idea to sue the hospital and Dr. Longo for malpractice, in hopes of discovering the truth about her baby’s apparent death.
– Rosie was upset to learn that Travis hadn’t told her the full story about Molly bringing a rocking horse as a gift for Gabrielle.

“Three… two… one…”

Excitement and anticipation hang in the air, as the entire party holds its breath. Then the exclamation rings out — “Happy New Year!” — and the room explodes with applause and celebratory whoops. 

“I’ve been waiting all night for this,” the man says.

“Oh really?” She feels herself filling with desire as their eyes lock together. Balloons and confetti fall all around them, but they might as well be in their own private room.

He licks his lips, and the tip of his tongue tantalizes her even further.

“For sure,” Spencer Ragan says, and then he leans in and plants his lips on Elly‘s. The kiss is hot and full of passion, their lips moving together as their tongues twist, his faint stubble brushing against her skin, their bodies pressing into one another–

“I know you’re in there!” 

The shouting and the aggressive pounding that accompanies it jolts Elly Vanderbilt from her slumber. Although her eyes snap open immediately, it takes several seconds for her mind to acclimate to reality. She is in her own bed, in her own studio apartment above The Wild Lady, with someone banging on her door very insistently. 

Even as she swings her feet out of the bed, the sights and sounds and feels of her dream wash over her like the strong, steady flow of water from a shower head, and she could swear that she really was kissing Spencer on New Year’s Eve a moment ago — when, in reality, that was days ago, and she spent the evening with her father and stepmother.

Still, she can practically taste Spencer’s lips on her own, even now.

“Gross,” she mutters as she pulls on the plush robe hung on a hook near the bed. Then she shouts, “Coming!”

The knocking subsides. After taking a moment to evaluate herself in the mirror, her heart racing at the prospect of whatever alleged emergency might await just outside her apartment, she unlocks the door and opens it.

Loretta Ragan stands there, dressed in all black, her devilishly red lips pursed. A frightening intensity radiates off her.

“You think that you can try to outwit me?” she snarls, and without waiting for an invitation, she pushes her way into the apartment.

“What are you talking about?” Elly stands by the open door, torn between shutting it for privacy and leaving it open should Loretta attempt to harm her. She opts to leave it open for the time being. 

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“I don’t–” But then the dream flashes across Elly’s mind again. There’s no way Loretta could know — Elly doesn’t even want him — but if he’s caught wind of Elly’s recent meetings with Spencer–

“This!” Loretta proclaims, and her hand thrusts an iPhone toward Elly, whose eyes hurriedly scan the headline on the screen.

“Oh my god,” Elly says as she brings a hand up to cover her mouth.

“I’ll tell you one thing: somebody over at that hospital isn’t happy this morning!” Luke Berman declares with an outsized chuckle.

“Definitely not,” Diane Bishop says. The two cohosts of the KBAY morning radio show sit in the booth, large microphones in front of them, as they look through a pane of glass into the studio, where a handful of production staffers mill around. 

“In case you’re just tuning in,” Diane continues, “we’re talking about the major lawsuit that was filed against King’s Bay Memorial Hospital last night–“

“–by the police commander and his ex-wife!” Luke says, his voice working overtime to convey the astonishment that listeners can’t see on his face. 

Diane swivels slightly in her chair. “And I should repeat my disclaimer that these are people I know in real life, so I’m doing my best to discuss this impartially, but… you know.”

“Feels like you say that a lot when we’re discussing big local stories. Especially the crazy ones.”

“Apparently everyone around me leads very dramatic lives.”

“Sounds like it!” Luke says. “And this one sounds pretty gnarly. It’s gonna be interesting to see how it shakes out. The police commander and his ex — by the way, who has a baby with their ex?! — are alleging that the hospital covered up the circumstances of their baby’s death last year. And that ex-wife was recently arrested for assaulting the doctor who’s singled out in the suit. What do you make of it?”

He looks expectantly to Diane, who nods her head as she contemplates what she can (and should) say on the air.

“I think it’s got to be pretty damn traumatic to lose a child during delivery, or right afterward,” she responds after her brief pause, “and if there was negligence, or something worse, the way that the lawsuit alleges, that family deserves justice.”

“Definitely agree with that! Now, another question for you…”

Luke lifts his bushy eyebrows as Diane awaits whatever is going to come out of his mouth next.

“Why do they call it King’s Bay Memorial?” he asks. “Who exactly is being memorialized there? The town…?”

—–

Molly Taylor stands at the granite countertop in her kitchen, concentrating as hard as she can at rolling the tortilla on the cutting board. She hears the patter of footsteps coming down the stairs and heading right for the kitchen.

“I’m making breakfast burritos,” she announces without glancing back to see which of her teenage sons it is. “This way you guys can take them with you–“

“Good, because we’re running late!” Christian Taylor says. “I hate the first day back after winter break.”

“It’ll be good to get back to your routine and your friends.” Molly falls quiet as she folds and tucks the ends of the burrito; she knows that everyone at Objection Designs will be returning from their holiday break, too, and yet she will be here all day, wondering what is going on inside the company that she helped build. 

With a sigh of resignation, Christian pulls open the refrigerator. “I guess.”

“Besides, it’s your last semester! Perk up.” 

Molly directs her attention to rolling the second burrito and finds the process much smoother than the first. She is packaging both in foil when Christian speaks again.

“There was some stuff about the lawsuit online,” he says cautiously.

She spins around, pressing the small of her back against the counter’s edge. “What do you mean? It’s a local case–“

“Just on NextDoor. Some people are freaking out the hospital might not be safe.”

“And I’m sure other people are calling me a lunatic,” Molly says. His silence is all the confirmation she needs. “I knew that would come with the territory. But your dad and I, we really believe–“

“What? That a big, messy fight in public is gonna bring the baby back?”

Both Molly and Christian turn to see Caleb standing at the entrance to the kitchen, a dark glower on his face.

—–

Inside his office at the local police precinct, Brent Taylor sits behind his desk. He has the door closed and the blinds pulled shut; since the lawsuit was filed last night and word seeped out, he feels as though there are eyeballs fixed on him from every direction, and all he wants right now is freedom from that. When there is a knock at the door, he tenses and hesitates — but, knowing that he has a job to do, he manages to reply.

“Come in!” he calls.

He is relieved when the person who steps through the door is Rosie Jimenez, outfitted in her navy KBPD uniform, with her black hair pulled back into an efficient ponytail.

“Here are those license plate records you needed for the hit-and-run,” she says as she hands him a set of sheets held together by a paper clip. “I went through and highlighted everything that looks like it could use attention.”

Brent takes the papers with a grateful nod. “Thanks.” He glances over them quickly before placing them on the desk. 

“How are you doing?” Rosie asks.

Again Brent hesitates. When he lifts his chin to indicate the door, she understands the wordless communication and closes it.

“So you heard,” he says. “I guess word is out there.”

“It’s very out-there. I know this has to be a rollercoaster for you.”

“It is. I’m just trying to…” He shakes his head as he trails off. “I was back and forth a lot on the idea of suing, but maybe this is what we need to find closure.”

“I’m sure that’d be good for both you and Molly,” she says. 

Something about her clipped tone catches Brent’s attention. 

“I should apologize again for what you overheard Molly saying at your wedding,” he says. 

“It isn’t that. She apologized, and we accepted it. But there was another incident.”

“What kind of incident?”

“I guess she showed up at our place one day with a present for Gabrielle,” Rosie explains. “It was a rocking horse that she said she’d bought for your baby’s nursery, and she couldn’t bring herself to give it away and thought we’d like to have it for Gabrielle–“

“Jimenez, that’s nice.”

“I’m not saying it isn’t. But she showed up and insisted on hanging out and holding the baby. And I didn’t even know until she told me on Christmas — Travis had said it was a gift from the family, and he left out the part about Molly hanging around to spend time with Gabrielle.”

He leans back in his chair. “That sounds like a you-and-Travis issue.”

“I know. Believe me. But you’ve gotta admit, she’s gotten kind of attached to Gabrielle — or the idea of her–“

“Molly’s still grieving. She’s been through a lot,” Brent says. “I’ll talk to her.”

“I don’t want this to be a big thing.”

“It won’t be. And like I said, maybe this lawsuit will give us some real answers about what happened the day our baby died, and that’ll help both of us find closure.”

“I really want that for you.” She moves for the door. “I mean it.”

“Thanks, Jimenez,” Brent says as she lets herself out.

—–

With arms folded, Loretta stands mere feet from Elly’s bed, waiting impatiently as the younger woman scans the article.

“I had no idea they were filing so soon,” she says as she thrusts the phone back at Loretta. “I swear.”

“A likely story.” Loretta takes the phone. “I thought you were in Molly Taylor’s inner circle now.”

“I’m not even technically allowed to practice law in Washington state. So I’m only consulting. And I tried to voice concerns–“

“Not loudly enough, it seems,” Loretta says with a voice full of venom. “Do you realize how ruinous this could be?”

Elly uses every ounce of willpower she possesses to force her nervousness down and face Loretta.

“Ruinous for what? For who? The hospital?” she questions. “I know you hate Molly, but–“

“The woman drove my son insane and then covered up his murder.”

Knowing better than to argue that point, Elly pauses and then says, “But what does it matter if she sues the hospital? If something really did happen with their baby — who was my cousin, by the way–“

“Yes, I’m aware,” Loretta says with a roll of her eyes. “If this lawsuit proves successful, then public favor could turn toward Molly. Maybe the assault charge will be dropped. Maybe she’ll be reinstated at that silly little dress company.”

“And you’re counting on her life going to shit so that you feel she’s been paid back for what happened to Philip.”

“What she did to Philip. And her entire family! Not to mention how this all started with my beloved James…” Loretta appears to get lost in thought for a moment before snapping back into her characteristic, ferocious focus. “Now tell me: what are you going to do to correct this?”

“Correct this?!” Elly feels her fear of Loretta giving way to a mixture of anger and exhaustion. “What am I supposed to do? Talk them out of the lawsuit? Don’t you think that would look weird?”

“That’s for you to figure out, isn’t it? I know you’re resourceful — the way you spread your legs for that law firm partner to get ahead–“

“Enough!” Elly says forcefully. “You want to expose me? Tell the world that Anatoli fixed my bar results? Go ahead. I have nothing to lose at this point, anyway.”

She marches to the door and pulls it even further open, motioning for Loretta to go.

—–

Molly feels cowed by Caleb’s intense glare. It takes her a moment to gather herself.

“Something wasn’t right about the day I gave birth,” she says. “That doctor was not telling us the whole truth.”

“So you went and beat him up,” Caleb says as he strides toward the fridge. “Wasn’t that enough?”

“I didn’t beat him up,” Molly replies, “and I’m mortified that I lost control that way.”

“Imagine how it felt to have everyone talking about our mom going ham on some doctor.”

“Can you, like, be sensitive for thirty seconds?” Christian interjects. 

Caleb directs his focus toward his twin but doesn’t speak immediately. Molly recognizes the stubbornness in his expression; he knows that Christian is right to call him out, that he was out of line, but he won’t apologize for it.

Sure enough, the next words out of his mouth are, “Seems like everyone should be trying to move on, right? Not getting stuck in the past?”

“I’d like nothing more,” Molly says as she resumes rolling the burritos in foil. “But I need to know what happened to my baby. I need the truth.”

The twins remain quiet behind her as Molly finishes wrapping up their breakfasts. She turns back, a burrito in each hand. 

“Breakfast. Don’t eat while you’re actually driving.”

“Then you can drive,” Caleb says to Christian, as he grabs one burrito and smacks his brother in the arm with it. He hurries out of the room.

“I’ll drive,” Christian tells his mother as he takes the other burrito. “Thanks for breakfast.”

“Thanks for… being you,” she says, shoulders slumping in exhaustion. 

He leans in and hugs her.

“This is all gonna work out,” the teen says. Molly nods, badly wanting to believe that. 

—–

Instead of exiting Elly’s apartment, Loretta remains in place, an amused grin upon her face. 

“Someone’s found their voice, I see,” she sneers.

“I don’t know what else to tell you,” Elly says, exasperated. “I already did what you asked with Peter’s custody case. As much as I hated being a part of that.”

“And you handled that very well,” Loretta replies. “Now, look: Spencer gets to raise his son. Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Yeah. But I don’t know how to get Molly and my uncle to drop this lawsuit without raising a ton of questions.”

“You can find a way.”

“But I don’t want to!” Elly says. “Go ahead and blow me out of the water if you want. I’ll figure something out.”

Loretta sets her jaw, and Elly hates the current of fear that shoots through her body as she feels the older woman’s anger upon her. Steeling herself, she presses on:

“I think you need an insider who can feed you info more than you need to ruin my life right now,” she says. “Because what does that accomplish? You lose access and you risk people finding out about all the strings you’ve pulled.”

Several anxious seconds pass.

“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do,” Loretta says. “I’ll admit that you’re right about one thing: you’re more valuable to me in play than you are eliminated at the moment.”

Elly lets out an involuntary exhale of relief.

“But don’t even begin to think this means you’ve somehow outsmarted me,” Loretta continues. “If you dare to disobey me, or cross me… there’s far more than your middling legal career at stake.”

“Is that a threat?”

“I don’t waste words on meaningless sentiments,” Loretta says, and now she does go to the door. She pauses there, placing her body well within the comfortable bounds of Elly’s space.

“And let’s make certain we’re clear on one thing,” she adds. “You do not have the luxury of negotiating with me. I’m sparing you this time because I see a benefit to keeping you around. But if that benefit should cease to exist…” Loretta takes a step back. “I hope you aren’t operating under any delusions about the nature of our relationship. That’s all.”

With that, the black-clad woman sweeps out of the apartment. Elly forces herself to wait another few seconds before closing the door, perhaps as some display of strength, of seeming not afraid. But as soon as the door is shut and the lock is flipped back into place, she realizes that she has been holding her breath.

END OF EPISODE 1113

Will Elly be forced to further Loretta’s agenda?
Is the lawsuit Molly’s best chance at regaining control?
Will Brent and Rosie’s relationship be jeopardized?
Discuss all this and more in the comments below!

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