Previously…
– Distraught after discovering that Landon hooked up with Fee, Tori planned to elope with Zane. But when she found the GPS tracker Zane had planted on her car, she finally realized that everyone was right about him.
– Zane and Tori struggled, and she was knocked into a pillar. Zane tied up his unconscious fiancée, put her in the backseat of her car, and hit the road.
– Elly and Spencer traveled to California to confront her former lover, Anatoli, about her bar exam results.

“What if this doesn’t work?”

Elly Vanderbilt poses the question as she stands in her hotel room in Palo Alto, California. The accommodations in the boutique hotel are contemporary and a bit stark. The queen bed’s headboard is wrapped in a gunmetal-gray leather; the bedding itself is all pristine white, save for a long, black lumbar pillow. The large window at the far end of the room overlooks a courtyard containing an outdoor dining space and a small dog run. 

“If it doesn’t work, we’re exactly where we are now,” Spencer Ragan tells her. “It’s the definition of having nothing to lose.”

The redhead thinks about that and folds her arms. “And what if Anatoli doesn’t even show?”

“He looked pretty desperate to shut you up when you caught him outside the gym. He’s going to show.”

Elly releases a loud, troubled sigh.

Spencer observes her carefully. “Or is that what you’re worried about?”

“What?”

“That he’s going to show.”

Her initial instinct is to snap at him — her entire body feels like a tightly coiled spring — but she feels cowed by his accurate reading of her emotional state. In a way, this would all be much simpler if her former lover didn’t show.

“I don’t even know,” she admits. “Seeing him again at all was…” She shudders. “I can’t believe this is a guy I used to be into. Ugh.”

“He also took advantage of the fact that he was a fucking partner at the firm and you were an intern. So, yeah. Not a great dude.”

“And now I’m about to be confronting him alone in a hotel room–“

“I’m going to be right here,” Spencer assures her as he slides open the closet door. “My phone’s all set to record you two talking.”

Elly blanches, but before she can respond, there is a no-nonsense knock on the door. Three rapid taps in a row declare: I’m here. Let’s get this over with.

Taking care to remain silent, Spencer mouths, “Good luck” and then conceals himself in the closet. With him hidden, Elly waits a moment — maybe too long a moment, but it feels painfully brief to her — before she opens the door.

“You came,” she says flatly.

“Yeah. Now let’s get this over with.” Without waiting for her to step aside, Mike Anatoli squeezes his way into the room. The broad-shouldered forty-something has changed out of his athletic clothes into well fitted jeans and a tucked-in navy polo. He swings around and shoots her a stern look, but he doesn’t say anything else until Elly closes the door. She makes sure not to deadbolt the lock, just in case.

“What the hell is this about?” he demands. “You show up here after all this time, threatening me–“

“Because I need answers.” She has to exert more effort than is normal to keep up the appearance of breathing normally. “I need to know the truth about my bar exam results.”

“I told you, I’d make sure you passed the  bar. You passed, didn’t you?”

“I need to know if I actually passed, Mike.”

As he contemplates what he is going to say next, she studies him for any hint, any tell as to what the truth might be. This secret and the lack of clarity have haunted her for years, but she has always kept it to herself — except, of course, when she revealed it to Spencer out of utter desperation. And now here she is.

“Why should I tell you that?” Anatoli asks. “You show up here and start talking in public about my divorce… about your part in it…”

“Because, like I said, I have nothing left to lose,” Elly tells them. “My legal career is going to be over, anyway, if I don’t get the truth from you — because of some lady named Loretta Ragan.”

She clenches her fists as she watches Anatoli for any sign that he recognizes the name. But he maintains his same square-jawed poker face.

“Do you know her?” she asks. “Has Loretta Ragan already gotten these answers out of you?”

—–

In the kitchen of her family home, Sarah Fisher Gray paces back and forth listlessly as she holds her iPhone to her face. The ringing line burbles in her ear for several seconds before there is a faint click, and then she hears her niece’s voice.

“Aunt Sarah? Hi,” Samantha Fisher answers.

“Sam. Hey.” Sarah feels equal spikes of optimism and dread. “I’m calling to see how things went with Tori.”

“Umm… I wouldn’t say last night went great.”

“What does that mean? Did she realize what you and Spencer were trying to do?”

“I don’t think so,” Samantha says. “But Fee C. showed up and picked a fight with Tori.”

Sarah lets out a groan as her free hand grips the back of one of Paula‘s wooden kitchen chairs. “What business does that girl have, still bothering Tori after all these years?”

“I don’t know. None. But they, um, had words, and then Fee threw a drink on Tori, and Tori went to clean up, and when she got back, Landon was there–“

“You invited Landon?” Sarah asks, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. She has spent months fearing that Landon might slip up and reveal that Sarah and Matt were the ones who tasked him with breaking into Tori and Zane‘s apartment to find evidence that Zane hacked Objection Designs’ server. 

“No, he just happened to stop in after his shift,” Samantha explains. “But then they got into it–“

“Tori and Landon? Why?”

“He told her some hard truths about Zane, essentially. Things we’ve all been afraid to say because we didn’t want to push her away.”

“Like that he’s a sociopathic manipulator who’s trying to cut her off from her loved ones so he can control her, and that he thinks that’s what love is?” Sarah says.

“More or less. And then Tori left all upset, so Spencer and I never even got to talk to her about Zane or the wedding.”

Sarah sighs as she steps up to the sliding glass door that leads out to the deck and backyard. The day is pleasantly sunny, as if teasing what spring might be like — before, no doubt, tearing that away and offering up weeks more of rain and gloom. 

“I’m sorry,” Samantha says. “We really wanted to help.”

“I appreciate you trying. Matt and I both do. Have you heard from Tori today?”

“No. She and I were texting after she left the bar, though. She told me she was home safely.”

“Billy tried to call her earlier — okay, I sort of strongly suggested to Billy that he would call her, because I figured she might pick up for him quicker than she would for me,” Sarah says, “and there was no answer. And she still hasn’t gotten back to him.”

“Are you worried about her?” Sam asks.

“No more than usual. Which is a lot. But thank you for making the effort.” Sarah continues to gaze out at the backyard. “Is your dad home yet, by the way? He texted me that they found Sonja and TJ.”

“They’re here,” Samantha replies, lowering her voice. “Rosie is setting it up so they can stay in some kind of safehouse — but they’re here, and Sonja admitted that TJ is my dad’s. It’s crazy.”

“I’m sure. But I’m really glad it’s working out. Tell your dad I’ll give him a call later.”

“I will, Aunt Sarah. And I’m sorry again.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Sarah tells her. “You guys tried your best. Talk soon, Sam.”

After ending the call, Sarah watches a squirrel zip along the top of the fence out back. She feels that same twitchy, unsettled energy moving through her own body as she contemplates, yet again, whether she should chase down her daughter or give her some space.

—–

In the hotel room in Palo Alto, Anatoli squints back at Elly. 

“Loretta who?” he questions. “No. What are you up to?”

“What am I up to?” She glares at him, desperate to determine whether she has just crossed a line by invoking Loretta’s name. She has always known there’s a possibility, however faint, that Anatoli might be in the devilish woman’s pocket — but, observing him now, she senses that his confusion is genuine. He might be a masterful lawyer, but there is a showiness to his manner, a winking tip of his hand, and she sees none of that now. 

“Yeah. You. Drop the act, Elly. What do you really want?” Anatoli asks.

“I’m telling you exactly what I want,” she says. “This woman somehow found out about your promise to make sure I passed the bar–“

“How would she have done that?”

“I don’t know! But she found out. And now she’s–” Elly stumbles over her words as she reminds herself that Spencer is recording all of this and that she would be wise not to say anything that could incriminate herself. “–she’s blackmailing me.”

He holds up both of his thick hands, as if in surrender. “I don’t know what you want me to do about this.”

“Just– tell me the truth!” Elly sputters, feeling her emotions spin out of control. “Help me, Mike. Please. You cared about me once, didn’t you?” 

Anatoli sets his beard-lined jaw.

“You did,” she says. “I know you did. You almost wrecked your life for me–“

“Don’t flatter yourself,” he retorts. “You were an intern who saw a chance to get ahead by seducing a partner.”

“Seducing?” Elly’s blood boils. “I was hardly out of college. You were a married man and my boss–“

“And you were a whore.”

Elly gasps and instinctively raises her hand to slap him. Time seems to move in slow motion; she has fantasized about doing this so many times, and yet she knows that however satisfying it might feel, it could send this entire thing so sideways that she won’t be able to recover it. She is about to lower her hand when Anatoli juts out his own and grabs her wrist.

“Don’t even think about it, whore,” he says, his voice full of venom and hatred that resonate all the way to Elly’s core. She feels a pang of terror as she attempts to yank back her arm and Anatoli’s grip only tightens.

“Let go of me!” she shrieks, shoving at him. But he only pulls her closer as he sneers at her.

“This is what you want, isn’t it? To be up against me like this again–“

In a flash, the closet door flies open, and Spencer dives out of it.

“What the fuck?!” Anatoli shouts, as Spencer tackles him, and all three of their bodies clatter to the floor.

—–

Sarah punches the access code into the callbox at the entrance of the apartment building. A buzzer sounds, and — balancing the gift basket she brought with her on her hip — she pulls open the glass front door. Not being able to get a hold of Tori over the phone, she decided to  concoct a reason to drop by. She hopes that this cellophane-wrapped peace offering might be enough to get her daughter to talk to her.

As she waits for the elevator, however, she feels her cell phone vibrating in the pocket of her jeans. Hoping that it is Tori getting back to her, she again shifts the gift basket into one arm and pulls out the phone. Landon Esco‘s name shows on the lit-up display.

“Landon, hey,” Sarah says.

“Sorry I missed your call,” the younger man says over the line. “I was taking a nap. I’m feeling a little worse for the wear after last night.”

“Samantha told me it was quite a night. That’s why I called you, actually. Have you heard from Tori today?”

She hears him suck in a big gulp of air.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Sarah says.

“Tori was actually hear this morning,” he tells her. “And, uh… it didn’t go too well.”

“I heard you two got into it last night at the bar.”

“Yeah. It wasn’t great. But this morning was worse.”

“Why? What happened?” she asks with alarm. “Is Tori okay? Are you?”

“Physically, yeah. But I’m pretty sure I’m even higher on Tori’s shit list than you and her dad are.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“I did something stupid,” he explains. “I mean, I didn’t fully do it, but I did enough of it — Tori’s pretty pissed. And I don’t blame her.”

“Do I dare ask what happened?” Cradling the phone between her shoulder and ear, Sarah uses both hands to hold the gift basket. 

“Umm… well…”

As Landon hems and haws, she walks through the lobby to the doorway that connects to the garage. Might as well see if Tori’s even home before I go upstairs, she thinks.

“Landon?” she prompts him.

“It was dumb,” he says, although he sounds quite pained. “It doesn’t matter. But I saw her this morning, and I hate to say it, Mrs. Gray — I don’t think there’s any talking her out of marrying that guy.”

“I don’t believe that.”

Sarah’s footsteps and voice echo through the open, hollow space of the concrete garage as she walks. 

“I don’t want to… but I’m not sure there’s anything else we can do, unless we lock her up in a room for the rest of her life,” he says. “I’m really sorry I couldn’t help you more.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Landon.”

“I just… I wish…” He trails off. “I’ll let you know if I hear from her, okay?”

“Thanks. And don’t worry — I’m just getting to her apartment. I’m going to see if I can get her to talk to me, at least.”

As they conclude their call, Sarah rounds the corner into the next block of the garage. She locates the tandem spots assigned to Tori and Zane’s unit, but only Zane’s car is there, pulled all the way forward. The second spot, behind him, is empty… save for a small item lying on the oil-stained ground. She moves closer and kneels down to find that it is a bottle of nail polish. She sets down the gift basket and picks up the bottle.

“Blushing Bridal,” she reads as she turns it around. The pale pink polish inside does not appear to have been used at all. 

Then she feels her phone vibrating again. When she looks at it, she is stricken with panic and instinctively swivels her head to see if someone is watching her. But there is no one there.

The text message from Tori simply states: Taking some time away with Zane. Tell Billy I’ll call him soon.

Sarah reads the message and then re-reads it. And then she looks at the bottle again.

Blushing Bridal.

“Oh no,” she mutters as she slowly rises to her feet. “They’re eloping.”

—–

At the gas station somewhere in Central Washington, Zane Tanaka finishes typing the text message and hits send. He watches to make sure it has gone through and then places the phone in his back pocket. As he is checking to see how much longer the gas pump has to go before the tank is full, he hears a murmur from inside the car.

He leans through the open driver’s door and across the seat. Tori lies in the backseat, her wrists and ankles still tied with cables.

“Hey,” he says quietly as she stirs, her eyelids fluttering. “Have some water.”

He holds up a bottle with a squeeze top and aims it at her mouth. She accepts the drink and swallows before settling back down, only half-conscious.

“That should keep you out until we get there,” he says quietly, putting the cap back on the bottle of water, into which he ground up a few sleeping pills only minutes ago.

—–

Elly’s wrist, now free of Anatoli’s tight grip, stings as she pulls herself to a sitting position.

“What the hell?” the attorney says as Spencer climbs on top of him to pin him down.

“Spencer! Get off him!” Elly insists.

But Spencer remains planted there, trying to pin down Anatoli’s arms. 

Anatoli grits his teeth. “Who the fuck are you?” 

“I’m a friend of Elly’s,” Spencer says. “She didn’t make it sound like you were the type of guy who’d put his hands on a woman, but I had a feeling–“

“She tried to slap me!”

“Spencer, get off him,” Elly repeats.

“Once he tells us the truth about your bar results, then I will.”

Anatoli flails beneath him for a moment, and Elly can tell that Spencer won’t be able to hold him for too long; the other man is larger than him, and Spencer looks as though he is about to pop a vein in his neck from the effort. But he manages to keep Anatoli’s arms pinned down for the time being.

“Fine. You passed, okay? Will you get this ape off me now?” Anatoli spits.

“Really?” Spencer says.

“Are you serious?” Elly asks. “How do I know–?”

“I’ll show you. I need my phone.”

A moment passes. Elly motions for Spencer to dismount, and he begrudgingly does so. 

Anatoli scrambles to pull out his phone and pulls himself to a standing position as he scrolls through it for something. Elly and Spencer both stand, as well, as he does so.

“Here,” he says, thrusting the screen toward them. “That’s the e-mail thread between me and my buddy–“

“The one who proctored my exam,” Elly says as she scans it. “Oh my god. He didn’t have to do anything…”

“Yeah. ‘Cause you passed on your own.”

“Yet you let Elly think that she needed you to fix the results for her,” Spencer says with disdain.

“It’s called leverage, man. But there. Now you know. Can I excuse myself from this freakshow?”

“Almost.” Before he can respond, Elly grabs the phone and forwards the thread to herself. “Now you can go.”

Anatoli takes the phone back and casts a final look at the two of them.

“You’re fucking crazy,” he says, and then he exits the room. Elly rushes forward to secure the deadbolt behind him.

“Oh my god,” she says amidst a giant exhale. 

Spencer holds up his own phone as he stops the recording. He quickly rewinds and plays a random section of it back. Elly and Anatoli’s voices, distorted but audible, come through the tiny speaker.

“We did it,” he says. “Between the recording and the e-mail…”

“It’s over.” Elly feels overcome with emotion as a weight that she has carried for years lifts off her shoulders. “It’s really over.”

“You’re free.” Spencer grins at her.

All of a sudden, the emotion floods out of her. She feels weak as she drops to her knees, sobbing. 

“It’s okay,” Spencer says as he kneels back down. “It’s really over.”

“It’s over,” she says through tears of relief as she collapses against him and he wraps his strong arms around her.

END OF EPISODE 1122

Can Elly and Spencer turn the tables on Loretta now?
What will Sarah’s next move be? 
Where is Zane taking Tori, and how will he explain himself?
Discuss all this and more in the comments below!

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