Previously…
– Sarah received word that Lucy’s abusive boyfriend, Bryce, was being released from police custody.
– Landon came up with the idea to have Lucy move into his apartment so that Bryce wouldn’t know where to find her.
– Sabrina was shocked to find a cut-up figure skating dress and a threatening note in her makeshift photography studio.

Two uniformed officers stand just outside the shed in Jason Fisher‘s backyard, their radios crackling softly. Inside the shed, which has been functioning as Sabrina Gage‘s photography studio, Brent Taylor surveys the gutted skating dress hanging — barely, given how slashed-up the garment is — from a hanger. His brow furrows in thought as he once again reads the note left with the dress, which reads: Stay away from him, or you’re next!

Jason stands just behind him, arms crossed tightly. Sabrina, pale and quiet, lingers a few steps back.

“This is good,” Brent comments.

“Good?” Jason asks, incredulous. “What’s good about this? Some maniac is terrorizing Sabrina — and coming into our home–“

“I meant the note,” Brent cuts him off. “We can work with this.”

“We didn’t touch anything,” Sabrina says. “So our fingerprints shouldn’t be on the dress or the note.”

Brent nods. “That was smart of you guys. And we can have a forensic examiner analyze the handwriting. That could be a huge help in figuring out who’s behind this.”

“That’s great,” Jason says, as he notes Sabrina’s distress and begins using one hand to rub her back gently. “How does that work?”

“We’re going to need handwriting samples from both of you,” Brent tells them, “and from Sophie.”

“Why?” Jason asks, narrowing his eyes. “What are you getting at, Brent?”

—–

The summertime sun beams down on the backyard behind the Fisher family home. Tori Gray and Lucy Champlain sit in a pair of Adirondack chairs, each holding a lemonade with a straw as they relax — or attempt to relax — following the drama of last night, when Lucy’s estranged boyfriend, Bryce, showed up at the bar to confront her, then tailed them home and wound up being arrested.

“What do we do if he comes here?” Lucy asks. “If they let him out, he could come right back here…”

“We don’t let him in. He’s not going to break the windows,” Tori says, though she doesn’t sound entirely confident in that.

Both women jump at the sound of the sliding glass door being opened, but they soon see that it is Landon Esco, coming out onto the deck from the kitchen.

“Lucy got a call just now that Bryce is being released,” Tori tells him.

Landon nods hurriedly. “I know. I was downstairs working with your mom, and she has some contact who called to let her know.”

Lucy sets her plastic cup of lemonade down on the deck. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Maybe it’s easier if I just play nice and go back home with him…”

“No!” Tori and Landon exclaim, almost in perfect unison.

“Sarah says you need to file a restraining order right away,” Landon says. “She has the info for some lawyer she wants to refer you to.”

With widened eyes, Lucy asks, “Now I need a lawyer? This is all getting so complicated.”

“It’s all to keep you safe, if they can’t keep him in jail,” Tori says.

“And I have another idea,” Landon shares. “Bryce knows that you’ve been staying here… so it’s probably a good call to move you somewhere else.”

Lucy appears to be on the verge of tears. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“Yeah, you do,” he replies. “You can stay in my spare room. I rent it out on AirBnB sometimes to make some extra money, but it’s sitting there untouched right now.”

“I can’t ask you to do that,” Lucy says, her voice strained. “Bryce could still find me, or hurt you trying to get to me…” She drops her face into her hands, overwhelmed.

Landon drops his hands to his sides and exhales. He notes Tori’s inscrutable expression, as if she is working through the scenario in her mind. “What do you think?” he finally asks.

She sets her own lemonade on the arm of the Adirondack chair. “Okay, so: I have a couple thoughts.”

—–

In the shed behind Jason’s house, Brent holds up both his palms as a sort of ceasefire.

“I don’t mean anything by it,” he says to Jason and Sabrina. “But we need to rule out everyone who would normally have access to this shed. We might not have a suspect to compare the handwriting on the note to, but the examiner needs a place to start.”

“That makes sense,” Sabrina says, by way of defusing the tense situation. “What do we have to do? Write something special?”

Brent gives a quick shake of his head. “If you have examples of your handwriting around the house — something longer, like a letter or a page of notes — that would work. A piece of Sophie’s schoolwork would be great. That way the examiner is looking at writing that wasn’t done under duress or instruction.”

“We can get those for you,” Jason says. “Sorry for snapping. I’m just — on-edge.”

“I get it,” Brent replies. “This is frightening. Just to be safe, I’m going to do some digging into our two prior suspects.”

Sabrina’s fingers lightly stroke her chin. “How would Carrie or Robbie even know about Courtney?”

“It was all over the news,” Jason says. “A young mother murdered at her own wedding… If anyone did any research into my life, they’d find out about that…” He trails off, overwhelmed by emotion. Sabrina places an arm around him and rests her head against his shoulder.

“I know both their alibis checked out for the previous incidents, but let’s leave no stone unturned,” Brent explains. “I’ll get a tech in here to dust for prints and anything else we might find. Would you guys be able to get me those handwriting samples?”

Jason nods quickly. “Yeah. That’ll be easy.”

“Let’s go inside and find those while they do what they need to do out here,” Sabrina suggests.

The pair begins to exit the shed, but Jason turns back to his brother-in-law.

“Thanks for handling this,” he says. “The sooner we figure out who’s behind this, the sooner we can all feel safe again.”

“We’re going to solve this,” Brent promises them.

—–

Landon cringes at Tori’s reaction to his idea. His mind begins to race: Did I overstep? Did I say something to make her mad?

“It– it was just an idea,” he sputters.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Tori says, brightening. “It’s an apartment building, so it’s harder for someone to get in. And since your apartment isn’t on the ground floor, the front door would be the only way for someone to get in.”

“But what if Bryce follows me back there from work?” Lucy asks.

“There’s underground parking,” Tori explains. She catches Landon’s eye and realizes that he was going to say the same thing. “So even if he knows you’re inside the building…”

“…he won’t know what floor or apartment you’re in,” Landon finishes. “Plus, if you get the restraining order, even seeing him outside would be enough to call the police and let them know that he’s in violation of the order.”

“Okay.” Lucy picks up her lemonade, leaving a round blob of condensation on the deck. “Thank you, Landon. You guys are being so nice to me.”

“Because we want to help you,” Tori says.

Lucy takes a sip of her lemonade and then stands. “I guess I should go get that lawyer’s info from your mom. I can’t even believe I have to do this.”

“You’ll get through it,” Landon reassures her, and within moments, Lucy has slipped inside the house and closed the sliding glass door behind herself.

Only now does Landon fold his arms and look to Tori with a more solemn expression.

“Okay,” he says. “What did you stop yourself from saying in front of Lucy?”

—–

“This should work, if you don’t mind me handing it over to Brent,” Jason says as he emerges from his home office, holding a greeting card.

“What is that?” Sabrina asks curiously.

Jason flips open the card to show her the inside. “It’s the card you wrote for me on my birthday.”

Sabrina scans the handwriting inside the card, then winces.

“What?” he asks.

“Nothing. It’s just so gushy.”

“I like it. And I’m the person it was for, so, mission accomplished.” He gives her a peck on the lips. “I can give this to Brent as a sample of your handwriting. Now I need to find one of mine. And dig up some of Sophie’s homework or something.”

Suddenly Sabrina squeezes her eyes closed, as if a terrible light has assaulted her vision. She bends forward, nearly doubling over, and even as an outside observer, Jason can recognize that she is in tremendous pain.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, alarmed.

“My head.” She speaks through labored breaths, covering her still-closed eyes with her hands. “It’s one of those headaches…”

He watches her in fear. “Why don’t you sit down?” he suggests, steering her toward the living room. He guides her into an armchair, even as her face contorts in ways that make the abominable pain all too clear.

“I’m going to get you some aspirin and a glass of water,” Jason says before ducking out of the room.

Leaning forward, Sabrina presses two fingers to each of her temples, desperate to get the pain to reside. When she first came out of her vegetative state, she had them all the time, and she thought they would be a relic of her experience that stayed with her forever. Over time, though, as she gained more independence and recovered, the headaches mostly subsided. Only in recent months have they come roaring back, vicious as ever.

It must be the stress, she thinks, trying her best to breathe through the blinding pain. The arson at her apartment and the ensuing threats have caused so much tension and turmoil, it’s no wonder that her body is reacting this way.

She lets out a loud groan as another wave of pain goes ripping through her head and her body.

—–

On the Fishers’ deck, Landon stares Tori down.

“What do you mean?” she asks with a feigned innocence that he can see right through.

“You were gonna say something when I first suggested that Lucy stay in my spare room,” he responds, “but you stopped yourself. I saw it.”

She does not react at all for several seconds — then allows her shoulders to slump in defeat. “Damn. You really are turning into a P.I.”

Landon lowers himself into the chair that Lucy just vacated. “So what is it? What’s up?”

“It’s just… what if Bryce goes after you because Lucy’s in your apartment?”

“Like you told Lucy: he won’t be able to get to either of us.”

“But he knows who you are. Or he’d at least recognize you. If he caught you while you were running errands or something–“

“I’ll be careful. I promise.”

Landon stretches a hand over the gap between the two chairs. Slowly, Tori reaches out her own hand to meet his.

“Zane almost killed you when you were trying to help get me away from him,” she says, her voice shakier than it was a moment ago. “If something happened to you, Landon… I don’t know what I’d do.”

“Well, you’re not going to have to find out,” he says, in an overly chipper tone, “because I’m not going anywhere. And if I have to hire Mrs. Chase to follow me around with her Chili Pot of Death, then so be it.”

Tori laughs, grateful for the levity.

“You always know how to make me laugh, even when things are shitty,” she says.

He shrugs. “Everyone has their talents.”

Before Tori can reply, the glass door slides open again, as Lucy returns, lemonade in hand.

“Your mom gave me that number, so I’m going to call this Jaimie Thompson lady,” Lucy says. “And Landon — just tell me when you want to go to your place.”

“Will do,” he says, springing back to his feet. Tori looks up at him, her eyes sparkling with admiration, and he grins back at her.

“This is all gonna work out,” he promises her quietly.

END OF EPISODE 1263

Is Tori right to be worried about Landon?
Will a restraining order keep Bryce from Lucy?
Do Sabrina’s headaches mean something more?
Discuss all this and more in the comments below!

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