Previously…
– Trevor was curious after overhearing Finn talking to Loretta on the phone.
– Tori faked memory loss to bide her time while looking for a way to escape from Zane. 
– Sarah analyzed the photo that Zane sent her and was certain that Tori was sending her a sign to indicate she’d been kidnapped.

“You’re sure he said Mount Hood?”

Sarah Fisher Gray leans forward, her hands pressed on the tops of her thighs as she perches on the edge of the desk.  

“I’m sure. Yeah,” Jaq Pearson replies. They stand awkwardly, fidgeting with their fingers, as they relay their tale to Sarah and Diane Bishop. The three are gathered in Diane’s office inside the headquarters of the KBAY radio station, after Jaq interrupted the two women’s conversation after hearing them talking about Zane and Tori.

“Why Mount Hood? Is there any special significance?” Sarah inquires. Behind the desk, Diane sits in the large chair, nodding along.

“He said he liked the idea of a Winter Wonderland kind of thing, if they had to elope.” Jaq threads their hands together and scratches at the nail on their right index finger. “It probably won’t still be snowy out there, but…”

“No, this is really helpful.” Sarah stands to her full height and picks up her iPhone from Diane’s desk. “This gives us an area to target. Thank you for speaking up.”

Jaq’s lower lip trembles as they say, “I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

Diane scoffs and rolls her eyes. “That’s a new one for you.”

Sarah shoots her a warning look before turning back toward Jaq. “I need to make some calls. And Jaq — if you hear anything from Zane, please let us know. That could make all the difference.”

“Yeah. Of course,” Jaq says. “I don’t think he would hurt Tori, but…”

“I wouldn’t put anything past that bastard,” Diane says. 

Sarah is already dialing a number. She steps to one corner of the office and holds the phone to her face.

“Brent,” she says authoritatively, not bothering with pleasantries. “I need to put out an APB for Tori — now.”

—–

As Zane Tanaka steers her car through the rustic roads and the quaint downtown area, Tori Gray does her best not to seem overly interested. She manages to gauge from signage that they are, as she suspected, in Mount Hood, but with the primary ski season at its end, the area is not hopping with tourists. She observes the scenery through the passenger side window, doing everything she can to appear calm and unbothered — even though alarm bells have been screaming inside her head for hours.

“You look really nice,” she tells Zane, who is clad in a dark gray suit with a white dress shirt and patterned navy tie. It nearly sickens her to speak the words, but she knows that keeping him happy — and not suspicious of her — is of primary importance right now. 

“Thanks, babe.” He reaches over and takes her left hand, which she hopes will not feel as clammy to him as it does to her. “You look amazing.”

She sighs. “I don’t know about that.”

“You do! Come on. That dress was the perfect choice.”

She glances down at the simple, knee-length white dress that she bought off-the-rack last week. It is nice enough, and if she were actually eloping with someone she loved, it would be perfectly fitting, even if the design doesn’t exactly excite her; now, however, it seems like a uniform that she has donned as part of a life-or-death mission. 

Which, she reasons, this is.

Within minutes, they pull up to the small, non-denominational church. The building’s white siding has seen better days and could use some refreshing, but it has a quaint charm to it. As it is mid-week, there are only two cars parked outside.

But that means there are people here, Tori thinks, already bracing for what she knows she has to do.

Zane parks and then comes around to her side to help her out of the car; she can’t help but see it as him controlling even the smallest of her movements, something of which she has been hyper-aware since she emerged from the shower back at the cabin. He hasn’t given her a moment to be alone, to make a move out of his sight. He even insisted that he had already showered and thus didn’t need to do so before getting dressed for the wedding, and there was only so much protesting she could do. She kept wondering if the subtext of his playful excuses was really, There’s no way I’m going into that bathroom for ten minutes and giving you the chance to make a break for it.

Shuddering again, she allows him to help her to her feet. A light blue wrap covers her shoulders, and though it is no longer the dead of winter, the mountain air has a bite to it.

“Let’s get inside,” she says with an exaggerated shiver. In reality, she hopes that the sooner they move inside the church, the sooner she can put her plan into motion. 

They walk over the short path leading to the church’s open doors. Leaves crunch underfoot, and the walk feels alarmingly slow to Tori. She doesn’t think Zane has any idea that she actually remembers everything, but it feels as if he is dragging out every moment of this.

“This is really cute,” she says. As much as she hates having to spew these banal things, they almost feel reassuring — like each awful, ass-kissing thing she says is another piece of armor protecting her from this maniac she was stupid enough to fall for for so long.

“This is all we need,” Zane says, smiling broadly. “You, me, a minister, and forever.”

He leans in and kisses her on the cheek. The word forever echoes in her ears like a threat.

They cross the threshold of the church, and Tori has to suppress a sigh of relief at the sense of freedom. 

I’m so close, she thinks.

“That must be Reverend Heard,” Zane comments as they step into the vestibule. He points toward the inner sanctum of the church. “Let’s go say hi.”

“I really need to pee before we do this,” Tori says. “Do you mind…?”

She watches Zane recalibrate his whole plan silently, in a few seconds’ time.

“Go right ahead,” he says. “I’ll wait.”

Tori scurries toward the restroom just off the vestibule. She can feel Zane right behind her, and she resents every step that he takes.

“Be right out,” she says, throwing in a cutesy wave before closing the door. 

As soon as she shuts and locks it, she plants her back against the door. Her breaths come fast and hard, as if she hasn’t taken in any air in minutes; in a way, it is as if she’s been holding her breath ever since she awoke in that cabin. But then she looks around and sees that the sole window in the bathroom is up at the top of the wall — and, even if she could climb up there, it is so small that she doesn’t think she could possibly fit through it. She envisioned coming in here, finding a decent-sized window, and sliding out of it before Zane had any idea. 

“Dammit.” She feels tears begin to well in her eyes and breathes in sharply, pushing them back. There is no time for crying now. 

“Time for Plan B,” she tells herself.

On the terrace outside Objection Designs’ offices, Trevor Brooks screws the plastic top back onto his water bottle.

“I’m glad everything’s okay,” he tells Finn Campbell. “Relatively speaking, at least. You seemed really keyed-up when I came out here.”

Finn, who sits across from his coworker and landlord at one of the small tables provided for employees to take breaks and lunches, shifts uncomfortably in his chair. He was terrified that Trevor had overheard the tail end of his phone conversation with Loretta Ragan, but now that they have talked, it seems all Trevor picked up on was Finn’s general demeanor. 

“It’s a big help to be able to call my therapist and vent in situations like that,” he offers. “Especially when it’s work stress and I need something rational to talk me down.”

Trevor smirks and lowers his voice conspiratorially. “Listen… I don’t think anyone would fault you for being on-edge working for Gia. She can be a lot.”

“I just wish she’d give me a chance to do more than fill out expense reports.”

“You’ll get there. You’re ambitious and smart.”

“Aww, thanks.”

Finn smiles back at Trevor, and he swears that he can see a twinkle in Trevor’s eye, too.

“Should we get back inside?” Trevor asks, and he stands up without waiting for a response. “I know I have some work I should get to.”

“Same, I guess. Gia’s going to be out of her meeting soon.” Finn rises, and the two move back inside the offices. 

But they only make it a few years before they encounter Samantha Fisher, standing slack-jawed in the middle of a walkway, phone in hand.

“Sam,” Trevor says with concern. “Are you okay?”

The younger copywriter looks at the two men and then uses her index finger to push her glasses up her nose. 

“You haven’t seen?” she asks gravely, holding up her phone.

—–

As Sarah steps into the hallway and continues placing phone calls, Diane steps out from behind the desk.

“So,” she says, eyeing Jaq like a hawk. “What are you up to?”

Jaq stiffens. “What do you mean?”

“I know how you operate. You’ve got an angle here. What is it?”

“I don’t have an angle,” Jaq says. “I heard you and Tori’s mom talking. You sounded worried.”

“We are worried. And I know you’re pals with Zane.”

“Zane and I are friends, yeah. But…” Jaq pushes their black bangs out of their eyes. “I’m not lying, if that’s what you mean.”

“You’d better not be,” Diane says. “Tori is Samantha’s cousin–“

“I know.”

“–and we’re all worried sick about her.”

“I can tell! That’s why I told you what I know.”

“Okay.” Diane taps one long fingernail against the top of the desk. “I don’t like to be wrong, Jaq — but I’ll be thrilled to be proven wrong in this case.”

Jaq narrows their eyes. “What does that mean?”

“It means you’d better not be pulling one of your stunts,” Diane says. “You’ve caused enough trouble, Jaq.”

“My shift is starting.” Jaq turns on their heels, then hesitates. “I really hope Tori is okay.”

“Thanks,” Diane says roughly. 

Jaq walks out of the office, passing Sarah, who is glued to her phone. 

You’re gonna see that I’m telling the truth, they think as they head toward the main studio. You’ll see that you were wrong about me — and Samantha will, too. Their lips curl into a hopeful grin.

—–

When Tori emerges from the restroom, she finds Zane waiting right there. Although he is smiling pleasantly at her, she can see something in his eyes: a tension, a low-grade simmer, as if he is trying to make it appear that he isn’t doing anything at all. She recalls so many small instances from over the past few years: the way he keeps one eye on her phone or laptop screen while speaking to her; the calls to see where she is if she is running ten minutes late; the comments about her having changed her clothes if she happened to do so while Zane was out. 

“Ready to do this?” he asks.

“You bet,” she says, again using every bit of strength she has to come across as happy. Her closed hand clutches the strap of her purse, and the folded-up piece of toilet paper in her palm feels like a red-hot coal.

The middle-aged minister, a man in a light brown suit, steps into the vestibule. “You must be Victoria and… I hope I’m pronouncing this correctly… Zennosuke. I’m Reverend Heard.”

“You got it right! But Zane is fine,” Zane says as he moves forward to shake the minister’s hand, effectively blocking Tori from doing so. “This is my fiancée, Tori.”

“It’s nice to meet you both,” Reverend Heard says. “I’m honored to be a part of your wedding celebration. Do you live in the area?”

“We’re from King’s Bay,” Tori says, grateful for the opening to drop this crucial piece of information into the conversation. All she wants to do is hand him the piece of toilet paper, with the message she scrawled on it in lipstick, but she knows that she has to wait for the right moment. But facing another person, and seeing an open door perhaps ten feet away, is making her itchy to get this over with; playing it cool these past few hours seems to be draining her battery at double the normal rate.

“What a nice area,” the minister says. “What brings you out this way?”

“We wanted to have a small wedding in a place that we can keep visiting throughout the years,” Zane answers. 

The thought of going through with this wedding, let alone celebrating anniversaries with Zane, makes Tori want to retch.

“Well, I can go ask two of our staffers to act as witnesses to the ceremony,” Reverend Heard tells them. “I’ll just be a minute.”

“Thank you so much,” Tori says, and, seeing her chance, she juts her body out just enough and extends her hand. “It really is nice to meet you.”

She notices the minister’s slightly confused, or at least surprised, pause, but then he shakes her hand. She can see the look on his face when he feels the piece of toilet paper hitting his palm, and Tori widens her eyes, sending him a silent message not to acknowledge the exchange. She can only imagine how crazed she must seem. Nevertheless, she clenches, preparing for the worst.

But the man takes the tiny, folded note in his palm, closes his fingers around it, and steps back.

“Be right back,” he says genially.

Tori wants to shout at him to come back, not to leave her alone with Zane, but she knows that she needs to give the man time to go into a private space and look at what she slipped into his hand.

Please work, she thinks. Please, please work.

—–

Samantha holds up her phone to show Trevor and Finn the screen.

“Oh my god,” Trevor says. “That’s about Tori?”

“That what it says. It’s like an Amber Alert, but for an adult.”

Trevor checks his phone. “I didn’t get it–“

He is interrupted by a blaring sound coming from Finn’s phone.

“I just did,” Finn comments as he checks the alert. “It says she’s likely in the Mount Hood area.”

Trevor continues to stare at his quiet phone.

“Sometimes they come out in waves,” Samantha says. “I can’t believe–” She stops when her phone lights up again. “That’s my mom. I need to take this.”

She steps aside to answer the call, leaving Trevor and Finn in the corridor. When Trevor glances around, he can see others in the office taking note of the alert and discussing it, as well.

“Poor Tori,” he says, his stomach in knots at the thought of what she must be going through.

“They’ll find her,” Finn says, sounding like he is trying to convince himself as much as Trevor. “Now that this alert is out — someone’s going to find her.”

—–

“Can you believe that we’re gonna actually be married in, like, half-an-hour?” Zane asks, beaming.

Tori shakes her head. It sounds, simultaneously, like the quickest and most endless amount of time possible. Within 30 minutes, everything could change. 

“No,” she says. “I really can’t.”

She strolls toward the opposite wall, where there is a bulletin board full of flyers and announcements. None of it means anything to her, nor does it apply to her life, but it gives her somewhere to focus her attention, something to do besides looking at Zane while she prays that Reverend Heard understands her note.

A loud, sharp noise cuts through the air. Tori whips around to see Zane focused on his phone. She doesn’t recognize the sound of the alert, but it carries an urgency to it.

“What the hell?” Zane mutters as he reads whatever is on the screen.

Her first instinct is to scramble for her own phone, but it is in her purse, completely dead. She has no doubt that Zane did something to disable the battery while she was asleep or in the shower. 

“What is it?” she asks.

For several excruciating seconds, he does not respond at all. His focus remains squarely on the phone. 

Then he looks up. “We need to go.”

“What? Why?”

“Come on,” he says, grabbing her arm.

“Zane, we’re supposed to get married!”

“Not anymore. Come with me.” He tugs roughly on her arm, but she resists. 

“Where are we going?” she asks, desperate to stall. “What’s going on?”

“I said we’re going!” he barks.

“Zane! You’re acting crazy.”

She throws a desperate glance toward the other end of the vestibule, hoping against hope that Reverend Heard is about to return.

“We’re going,” he says, teeth gritted. 

“I don’t want to go.” She yanks her arm back. “We came here to–“

“I said, we’re going.” And that’s when she sees it: his hand slips inside his jacket and slides back out holding a paring knife that she recognizes from the cabin.

Her eyes flare with terror. “What are you doing?”

“We’re going,” he says. “I don’t want to hurt you, Tori. But don’t try me.”

He grabs her arm again, pulling her close, and brings the knife dangerously close to her body.

“Now are you coming with me or not?” he demands.

She wants to scream, but the tip of the knife pressed against her stomach warns her that that would be a fatal mistake.

END OF EPISODE 1127

Will the reverend be able to help Tori?
Are Zane’s plans about to fall to pieces?
Will Jaq get back into Samantha’s good graces?
Talk about it all in the comments below!

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