Previously…
– Travis and Rosie nervously awaited the results of the DNA test that Molly and Brent insisted be performed upon Gabrielle.
– Christian realized that Bree and Marcus had begun dating.
– After being abducted by Zane, Tori managed to escape and save herself.

The scorching late-summer sun hangs high above the King’s Bay District Courthouse. Sarah Fisher Gray locks her Jeep SUV, which she has just parked in the lot in front of the courthouse, and begins walking with her husband and daughter toward the entrance. 

“You were pretty quiet on the way over here,” Sarah comments to Tori as they step over the hot asphalt of the parking lot. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Without hesitation, Tori nods, though her gaze remains fixed on the tips of her brown leather flats. 

“I don’t know if I’ll believe Zane is really going away for good unless I see it myself,” she says.

“That’s the important part,” Matt says. “He already pled guilty. He’s going to prison. You have nothing to worry about.”

“I hope you’re right,” Tori replies, a bit fearfully, as they reach the steps leading to the courthouse’s entry. Matt holds the door for Sarah and Tori, and they quickly move through the process of taking personal items out of their pockets in order to pass through the metal detector. 

Soon enough, they are waiting down the air-conditioned hallway, outside the assigned courtroom. Matt and Sarah take a seat on the built-in dark wood bench against the wall, but Tori remains on her feet, continually glancing down the corridor as if expecting Zane to come charging at her at any moment. When she does spot a familiar face, however, it is one that she was not expecting at all.

“Victoria, dear!” Helen Chase calls out. She wears a light, knee-length dress in a purple floral print and a black belt around its waist. Helen raises one hand in an eager wave, as her husband comes around the corner behind her.

“I didn’t know the Chases were coming,” Matt says under his breath.

“Neither did I,” Sarah says. “I even told my mom not to come.”

“It’s fine,” Tori tells her parents before the Chases reach them.

“You look so healthy and happy,” Helen exclaims before throwing her arms around Tori and pulling her into an embrace. “Don and I felt that we should come to support you — and see that monster locked up for good.”

“We hope you don’t mind that we’re here,” Don says from just behind Helen.

Sarah stands from the bench and wipes her hands on the front of her navy slacks, which she has paired with a sleeveless, tan-colored, silk blouse. 

“We all appreciate the support,” she says as she shakes Don’s hand and then allows Helen to ensnare her in a hug. Matt follows suit.

“I hope that fiend Zane will be good and scared to see me sitting in that courtroom,” Helen declares. “I had half a mind to bring my chili pot with me, just in case the judge showed him any leniency.”

“I don’t know if bashing Zane over the head in the middle of the courtroom would do much good,” Matt says, as a hint of a smirk plays at his lips.

The sound of footsteps once again draws all of their attention down the corridor, and this time, they see someone else unexpected approaching them.

“What are you doing here?” Tori asks with surprise.

“I had to come see Zane get his sentence,” Landon Esco says. He wears khaki pants and a polo shirt with green-and-white palm trees printed on it. “And I wanted to make sure I was here for you.”

“It’s so good to see you,” Tori tells him, and then she moves into his outstretched arms, overwhelmed with relief to have her friend here.

—–

“Are you actually looking for something to watch, or…?” Travis Fisher asks.

His wife, who is seated on the sofa in their small apartment, looks over at him. “What?”

“You’ve been flipping channels for, like, fifteen minutes,” he says. 

With a loud sigh, Rosie places the remote control back on the square, wooden coffee table. The television lingers on a rerun of an old Kate Hudson romantic comedy. 

“I’m edgy. Sorry,” Rosie says.

“I get it,” Travis replies. “The waiting is making me crazy, too.”

Rosie reaches for the nearby baby monitor, on which a grainy video display shows Gabrielle taking her mid-morning nap in her crib. 

“Can’t they just tell us the DNA results over the phone? Like, the minute they’re ready?” she wonders. “They might even have them already.”

“It’ll only be a few more hours,” he says in as reassuring a tone as he can manage, in spite of his own fears about what the test will reveal.

Rosie stares at the image of their sleeping daughter on the monitor.

“She’s seriously getting too big for the crib,” Rosie says. “Maybe we should’ve already transitioned her to a big-kid bed.”

“We will. Soon.”

She stares back at him, her eyes saying the words that she dares not speak: What if she isn’t even living with us soon?

Travis is trying to think of something comforting to say when he feels his cell phone ringing. He takes it from the pocket of his olive-colored shorts but doesn’t recognize the number on the screen.

“Maybe this is the hospital,” he says, and then he swipes his finger to answer the call: “Hello? This is Travis Fisher.”

“Mr. Fisher. Hi,” a somewhat exasperated female voice says on the other end. “Your family owns Bill’s on the Pier, right?”

“Uh, yeah. What’s this about?”

“A pipe burst just off the pier where the restaurant is located. I’ve been trying to get a hold of a… um… a Matt Gray, but I haven’t been able to reach him.”

“That’s my uncle. He runs the restaurant,” Travis explains. “But he has an important family thing today.”

“Someone from your restaurant needs to come down here to sign off on a few things,” the woman says. “It’s important.”

“Umm… yeah, I can run down there. But I have an appointment this afternoon, so it’ll have to be quick.”

Rosie furrows her brow in confusion as she listens to her husband’s side of the conversation.

“That sounds great,” the woman says. “I’ll be here trying to get word to the other business owners.”

“Great. Thank you,” Travis answers. “Oh, what was your name?”

The call drops before he finishes getting the question out, however.

“Shit. Some pipe down by the pier burst or something,” he tells Rosie as he goes to the side table and picks up his keys. “Uncle Matt’s at court with Tori today, so I need to go down there and — I don’t know, check on things, I guess.”

“Today? Isn’t there someone else who can do it?”

“I’ll be fast. I can at least take a look at what’s going on and get more info for Uncle Matt.” Travis moves to the front door. “I’ll be back in plenty of time for us to go to the hospital together, okay? Sorry to run out, but–“

“I get it. Work emergencies happen,” Rosie says. “I’ll have Gabrielle all ready to go.”

“Thanks.” Travis hurries back to the sofa to give her a kiss. “I’ll see you in a bit. I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

“And hey,” Travis adds as he pulls open the front door. “Everything is gonna be okay today. We’ve got to believe that.”

Rosie nods as he exits the apartment. Once the door is closed, any pretense of a hopeful smile fades from her face. She picks up the baby monitor again and looks at Gabrielle, who is turning over in the crib.

Kate Bush’s classic “Running Up That Hill” plays over the state-of-the-art sound system inside Thaw Coffee & Tea. Bree Halston sits at the bar by the window, still in her workout apparel from skating practice at the adjoining Edge of Winter Arena. An iced coffee rests on the bar in front of her, its ice cubes already melting in spite of the air conditioning that is running inside the café. She glances up each time that she hears the bell on the door jingle, and after several false alarms in which strangers are entering or leaving the shop, she sees Christian Taylor enter in an oversized tie-dye t-shirt.

“Hey,” he says, sounding a little tentative, as he pulls up a stool beside her at the bar. “What’s going on?”

“I just wanted to hang out.”

“Yeah, but you never ask me to meet you here right after you practice. I thought something might be, I dunno, wrong or something.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Bree says, and she reaches for her iced coffee. The moment that it takes her to draw a sip from it and swallow feels as if it stretches on with painful awkwardness. “We haven’t had any one-on-one time lately, that’s all.”

“I know. It’s nuts.” Christian pushes his dark brown hair, which has grown longer over the summer, out of his face. “And we move into the dorms so soon.”

“Yeah. That’s… kind of what I wanted to talk about.”

“The dorms?”

“How we went shopping for dorm stuff. With Marcus.”

“Oh.” Christian swivels nervously on the stool. “Look, it’s not my business–“

“I knew you would say that,” she interrupts with a grin. “And I appreciate it. I love you for being that guy. But it’s okay if you feel weird about finding out Marcus and I are hanging out.”

“So you are. Hanging out, I mean.”

Her shoulders rise up toward her ears as she says, “Yeah. But like, we’re kind of… hanging out. I’m sorry we — I — didn’t say something sooner.”

“Thanks. But it really isn’t my business.”

“You’re both of our best friend. So it was weird to blindside you with it in the middle of Target.”

Christian simply drops his head. Bree waits, frustrated by the lack of eye contact, but she understands that the situation is more uncomfortable for him than he wants to let on.

“So, like, I’m sure you noticed we were dancing together at Prom,” she finally says, “and then it just kind of… happened. We went to the movies that week you and Caleb went to San Diego to see your grandpa, and then we met for ice cream, and… I don’t know.”

Christian looks up. “So you like him? You’re, like, into Marcus.”

She hesitates a split-second before answering, “Yeah. I do like him.”

“Okay. Then, cool. Thank you for telling me.”

“I promise it won’t change our friendship,” Bree says. “You and me, we’re like… friends ’til the end, right?”

“Right.” For the first time since arriving, Christian smiles in a way that appears relieved. “College is gonna be so fun, too.”

“So fun! And if you ever need to get away from sharing a tiny room with Caleb…”

“See, that’s assuming your roommate isn’t a serial killer or whatever.”

“Okay. She might be. But you have to come rescue me if she is.”

He laughs. “No way. If Marcus wants to be your boyfriend–“

“He’s not my boyfriend!”

“Well, if he wants to be on that track, then he’s gotta mess with any serial killers who come after you,” Christian says with a chuckle. “Anything other than that, I’ve got your back.”

“Good.” She reaches over and grasps his hand. “That makes me happy. And I know you’re going to meet someone great.”

His cheeks flush. It takes a few seconds before he stammers, “I don’t know about that.”

“I do. You will. And if you ever want to talk, I’m here. Okay?”

“Okay. Yeah.”

“Christian! I mean it.” She scoots her stool a little closer to his. “There are going to be so many new people to meet at KBU. And there are apps…”

“I have a higher chance of meeting a serial killer on an app than you do from getting one roommate,” he counters.

“If that happens, I’ll make Marcus come help me save you. How’s that for a deal?”

“Okay. Fine,” he says. “Now that we have serial killers and stuff out of the way, can I get an iced coffee? I need some caffeine, too. I couldn’t sleep all night. My mom and dad are getting those DNA results on Gabrielle today.”

“Go get an iced coffee and then I need to show you this TikTok I saw while I was waiting for you,” Bree says.

Christian slides out his stool and hurries up to wait in the short line at the counter. Bree looks out the large front window and sips her own coffee, hoping that things with her, Marcus, and Christian really will work out all right.

—–

Tori’s foot taps nervously against the courtroom floor. She and her parents sit in the second row — leaving a completely empty row between them and the prosecutor’s table, but being right behind them felt to Tori somehow too close, too involved. Since she was rescued and Zane was arrested, she has felt these simultaneous but conflicting urges to confront him face-to-face and to avoid the entire situation forever. She is relieved that she didn’t strangle him to death in the hospital, as she wanted to right after her kidnapping, but a large part of her does still want to inflict even one-tenth of the torture upon him that he did to her. Yet, there is another part of her that simply wants never to hear the name “Zane Tanaka” again, in any capacity. She looks to her right, where her dad is seated, and sees both him and her mom smiling warmly at her. Next to Sarah, Landon is seated, followed by Helen and Don.

And then it happens, so unceremoniously that it almost seems fake: a door on the side of the small courtroom opens, and a bailiff leads in Zane Tanaka. He is clad in his orange prison attire, not unlike medical scrubs; Tori realizes that his actual clothes must be in the apartment that they shared, a place she has not dared to venture since her ordeal ended. She had her parents go and pick up her clothes and other essential items, but otherwise, that apartment has been as far out of her mind as she has been able to force it. It might as well exist as a monument to lives that happened hundreds of years ago. As far as she is concerned, everything else in that place can be lost to history.

She is jolted back to reality when she realizes that Zane is staring directly at her. His gaze dwells on her as he is led to the defense table and as he sits. It sends a chill through her body.

How was I ever so stupid? she thinks.

The judge, who is already seated, raps his gavel in an aggressive manner that sounds to Tori more like smashing it furiously against his desk. Somehow, it feels ominous.

“We’re right here,” Matt says, and he lifts his hand to squeeze her shoulder. As much as she knows that her dad loves her, it is rare for him to take the initiative as far as affection goes, and the simple gesture is so moving. 

The hearing gets underway with a series of formalities that come across as white noise to Tori. The entire time, she is attempting not to look at Zane, all while feeling as if he is either watching her or about to crane his neck to look at her. 

When she averts her eyes fully from that side of the courtroom, she winds up glancing down her own row. She sees Landon, looking subtly toward her, his lips pulled together in a sort of inspiring smirk. For some reason, it gives her the strength to lock into the proceeding again.

“Your Honor,” Audrey Tam, the district attorney, is saying, “Mr. Tanaka has already pled guilty to kidnapping Victoria Gray. Today, my aim is to convince you that the maximum sentence is the only safe option to prevent Mr. Tanaka from again endangering lives — especially because next time, his victims might not be so fortunate.”

The judge adjusts his wire-rimmed glasses. “Thank you, District Attorney Tam. Does the defense have anything to share at this time?”

Zane’s lawyer, a woman with highlights and a tweed suit that seems insane to Tori in light of today’s heat, rises from her seat.

“Your Honor,” she begins, “my client has taken responsibility for the charges laid against him by pleading guilty. With that in mind, we plan to present a compelling case for why he is far from dangerous — how this incident was blown wildly out of proportion, how Mr. Tanaka is not a threat. Because the victim of this ‘kidnapping'” — she pauses to emphasize air quotes — “was lucid, unrestrained, and walking around, sometimes in public, for hours without a threat to her life.”

Tori’s breath catches in her throat. 

“Is this lady serious?” Sarah mutters, in a voice just quiet enough not to attract outside attention. Tori sees her father place his other hand on Sarah’s knee.

Zane’s lawyer continues, “I have signed affidavits from several witnesses, including the minister who was going to marry Mr. Tanaka and his fiancée, and the property manager of the cabin where they stayed, that can attest to the fact that my client at no point endangered his fiancée’s life.”

Tori feels an uncontrollable shiver run through her body. She wants to leap out of her seat so badly and scream that this is bullshit. But she also knows that none of it will help.

“By the time I’m through,” Zane’s lawyer says, “it will be clear that Mr. Tanaka, although he made some poor choices, is neither a violent offender nor someone who is a threat to anyone in the future. My client is prepared to take responsibility for his actions, as he has shown by pleading guilty, but I am certain that we will make a compelling case as to why he deserves a lenient sentence.”

“No,” Tori says, barely under her breath. Her body begins to shake.

Sarah leans across Matt’s body, her jaw set tight. “No way. I am not letting his happen.”

—–

With the hot sun beating down, Travis stands on the pier with his phone pressed to his ear. 

“Hello?” he asks, even as the call is still ringing in his ear. 

But he is quickly interrupted by a sharp noise.

“The number you are calling has been disconnected,” the recorded, robotic voice says.

“Disconnected?” he says to himself as he ends the call. He looks up and down the pier, but there is no indication of any burst pipe, or any chaos, or anything else that might be an issue.

He lowers his phone to his side as he looks out at the water, its surface glistening beneath the summer sun.

“What the hell was that about?” he asks no one.

—–

In a suite at the King’s Bay Metropolitan Inn, a pair of black heels stalk back and forth over the low-pile carpet.

“Tell me,” the older woman’s voice coos. “Did you do what I asked?”

Her fingers curl around the cell phone in her hand. She awaits the response, tensing until the voice on the other end finally speaks. 

“Yes, a call about a burst pipe was that important,” Loretta Ragan says derisively. “Good work, Natalie — you’re off the hook. For now.”

END OF EPISODE 1143

What have Loretta and Natalie done with that call? 
Will Zane receive a lucky break from the judge?
Is Christian really okay with the new status quo?
Discuss all this and more in the comments below!

Next Episode