Previously…
– Helen became increasingly suspicious of Natalie’s connection to Spencer.
– Sarah and Molly’s probation period — for covering up the truth of Philip’s shooting — concluded.
– Sarah went to Zane’s apartment and began to announce to Tori that Zane had blackmailed her.

Tori Gray’s eyes flare as she looks from her mother to her boyfriend and back again. “What truth? What the hell is going on? Zane?”

The three of them stand in Zane Tanaka’s chilly, cluttered apartment, locked in a standoff.

“You’re out of your mind,” Zane says to Sarah.

Sarah shakes her head, causing her wavy blonde hair to wag around. “Actually, I’m thinking very rationally. That’s how I’ve worked out that this is my only option. I tried to play by your rules, Zane, as much as I didn’t want to — and you even broke that trust. But no more.”

“Mom, you’re freaking me out,” Tori says.

“I’m sorry.” Sarah’s heart thuds as she studies her daughter. She wants nothing more than to see Tori happy; she used to think that meant shielding her as wholly as possible from pain, but this experience with Zane has been a cruel reminder that sometimes life makes that impossible.

“Zane,” she says, “do you want to explain to Tori all about the $100,000 you blackmailed me into paying you? Or should I do it?”

She watches Tori for her reaction, hoping that it will sink in, that she will have to say as little as possible to get her point across. Tori’s expression is stony, her lips parted slightly, as she takes all of this in.

“Stop it,” Zane says.

“What is she talking about?” Tori asks, though it is more a demand than a question.

Zane sputters, as Sarah reaches into her purse and feels around for the folded piece of paper. She slides it out of the bag and fumbles to unfold it. Her hand is still shaking as she holds it out for Tori to see.

“Do you see that?” Sarah says. “It’s the check–”

“You could’ve Photoshopped that,” Zane interrupts.

“Look at it.” Sarah thrusts it toward Tori. “It’s a copy of the check for $100,000 that I wrote to Zane.”

Tori stares at the check incredulously. “But why?”

“Because she hates me!” Zane blurts out. “She’s never thought I was good enough for you. She tried to pay me to break up with you. When I went home last fall–”

“That was because you paid him to leave?” Tori asks Sarah with shock.

“Yes,” Zane cuts in. “I didn’t want to, but she showed up here with this huge check and told me it was all mine if I broke things off with you. But I couldn’t stay away. I’m sorry, Tori. I’m really sorry.” He levels an angry gaze at Sarah. “We can’t let her win.”

—–

The finger stretches toward the doorbell and gives it an eager push. Then, instead of folding back, it remains outstretched, poised and prepared, anticipating the action that must be taken today.

“Oh. What fresh hell is this?” Natalie Bishop says when she opens the door. “No pun intended.”

“Hi, Natalie. I just have a few things to drop off for Sophie,” Helen Chase says.

“Why didn’t you bring them by when she’s actually home? She won’t be back from school for a few hours.”

“Because I was driving by, and this way, she’ll be able to see it all when she gets home.” Without waiting for a response, Helen enters the house that Natalie shares with Jason and their children.

She hoists the reusable shopping bag in her hand up onto the ledge that divides the foyer from the living room and begins to remove items. “This sweatshirt is so cute…”

“I’m sure she’ll love it,” Natalie agrees. “I’ll make sure she gets it. Thank you, Helen.”

Helen pauses mid-movement, surprised by the quick dismissal, and then hands Natalie the bag.

“Is that delicious little Peter awake?” she asks.

“He’s in the family room, but…”

“I just want to say hello to him!” Helen declares before zipping off for the family room, with Natalie on her heels.

“Oh, hello, you cute little thing!” Helen says. Peter sits in the middle of the floor, with a blanket on one side of him and a cup of Cheerios on the other side, as Mickey Mouse Clubhouse plays on the TV.

Peter turns and studies Helen in that naked, unsubtle way that small children do.

“What are you watching?” she asks.

He points to the TV. “Mouse.”

“It’s Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,” Natalie says, folding her arms as she leans against the doorway. “His current obsession.”

“It’s a good one to have!” Helen kneels beside the toddler, regarding him with a newly critical eye. She searches for evidence of Natalie’s conspiracy of lies in his looks, but it is impossible to tell anything concrete. She knows what she has to do.

“You’ve grown up so much already,” Helen says, touching a hand to his head. As she runs her palm over his brown hair, she wonders how in the world she is going to pull this off.

“Yes, he has,” Natalie says. “But it’s almost his nap time. I need to start putting him down.”

“Oh, another minute won’t hurt–”

Natalie interrupts with a loud scoff. “Helen, what is this all about? What are you up to right now?”

—–

Zane turns his stare back to Tori, awaiting her response. Sarah knows that she should have seen this coming — that Zane would try and spin this in his favor. That’s why she came prepared.

“It was because he blackmailed me,” Sarah says.

“How?” Zane turns to her and shakes his head mockingly. “What would I even have to blackmail you over? Stop talking crazy. You tried to get rid of me, and it didn’t work.”

“Why would you take that money from her?” Tori asks, her voice cracking ever-so-slightly. Sarah hates that she feels a sense of satisfaction upon hearing the break.

“I don’t know,” Zane says pleadingly. “It’s a lot of money. More money than I’ve ever seen in my life. That’s why I went away, to think… and then I realized that I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stay away from you.”

“You are so full of crap,” Sarah says. “Tori, don’t buy this. Why would you think I’d ever try and pay someone to break up with you?”

Tori’s mouth flutters open and closed.

“Because you don’t think I’m good enough for her!” Zane repeats.

Sarah lets out an irritated groan and takes out her phone. “Did you really think I would be this stupid and ill-prepared?” she says as she unlocks the password-protected folder. Within seconds, she has turned the screen to face Tori. She doesn’t even have to watch it herself, because she has seen this footage so many times that she knows it by heart. The shifts in Tori’s facial expression tell Sarah exactly what is going on in the grainy video: Sarah kicking Philip to disarm him; the gun clattering across the ground; Paula picking up the weapon and, finally, firing it straight at Philip.

Tori lets out a gasp and covers her mouth.

“Is that…” she begins.

“It’s the missing security footage from the bank building,” Sarah says, fully aware of the red-hot rage in Zane’s face as she puts her phone away. “It turns out that one of the I.T. workers saw what happened and decided to delete the shooting from the official recording… but only after he saved it for his own use.”

Tori’s head snaps toward Zane. “What? Why didn’t you tell me–” The words are flying out faster than she can piece together her thoughts. “When did this happen? I don’t understand.”

“I– It’s not–” Panic strangles Zane’s words, and his eyes bulge nervously.

“Not long after Molly confessed to shooting Philip,” Sarah says coolly. “That’s when I received the first anonymous text. I wasn’t going to pay some crazy person $100,000. So your Aunt Molly and I came up with a plan…”

“But you only paid him last fall,” Tori says. “Why?”

“Molly and I turned the tables and beat our blackmailer at his own game,” Sarah explains. “That was at the chili cookoff…” She lifts her eyebrows, knowing Tori will fill in the rest.

“That was where we met,” the younger woman says incredulously. “Zane, did you know–” But before she finishes the question, she realizes the full truth. “Oh my god. You only wanted to hang out with me because I’m her daughter.”

“I have feelings for you,” Zane insists. “Real feelings. This…” He moves his hand between the two of them. “This is real.”

“Real? Are you insane?” Tori takes a step backward, holding up her palms as if she expects him to come after her.

“I wouldn’t have kept hanging out with you if it wasn’t real,” he says. “I admit that I wanted to get close to you at first because I thought it would make her pay, but…”

“He’s been torturing me about this for over a year,” Sarah says. “Once the trial ended, he had new leverage because they put me on probation, so if it came out that I’d helped conceal evidence… Anyway, I was so upset seeing how serious you guys were getting that I knew I had to pay him. I had to do whatever I could to save you from giving up your life to a lie.”

Tori’s mouth hangs open as she tries to find her next words. She barely even blinks, and her limbs are rigid. Sarah wants nothing more than to scoop her up in her arms and run out of this place.

“I panicked and paid him,” Sarah adds. “It seemed like my probation would never be over, and I didn’t know what would happen between you two by the time it was–”

“Think about it,” Zane says over Sarah. “All the time we’ve spent together. All the little moments. You can’t fake those. Even if I did start out with ulterior motives, I couldn’t have predicted what it would turn into.”

“Shut up!” Sarah snaps. She moves feverishly toward her daughter and wraps a protective arm around Tori’s shoulder. “Come on. We’re going home.”

“No!” Tori says, yanking away as she shoots one more shocked look at Zane before giving Sarah a deadly one. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

—–

Still kneeling, Helen rocks back toward her heels, instinctively separating herself from Peter.

“What do you mean?” she asks as innocently as she can manage.

“You’re being weird,” Natalie says. “Something’s going on.”

“Oh, please. I just brought by a few things for my granddaughter and wanted to see this little nugget. There’s something so refreshing about being around children.”

“Yeah, well, he needs to have his nap. I’ll give Sophie the things you brought by.”

Helen rises to her feet, trying to conceal the fact that her mind is in overdrive. She can’t leave this house without accomplishing what she came to do.

“Would you mind if I used the restroom before I go? I’ve been out all morning. I don’t want to have to stop at one of those gas stations,” Helen says with a shudder.

“Sure. Down the hall on the right.”

“Here, I’ll go bring these things up to Sophie’s room and use the one up there. That way I can set them on her bed and take my bag back.”

“Helen, you really don’t need to–”

“Oh, it’s no trouble!” Helen trills as she buzzes out of the living room, grabbing the reusable bag from the foyer before hurrying up the stairs.

She knows that she has to move quickly. In Sophie’s room, she places the items that she brought over on the bed. Then she darts into the small bathroom across the hall. She knows this is a long shot, but she can’t leave without trying.

Locking the door, she immediately assesses the scene. She recognizes several of the items on the countertop as belonging to Sophie, and she reluctantly has to give Natalie credit; having seen what a mess Sophie can make even during a one-night stay at her own house, Helen is a bit impressed that Natalie manages to keep this bathroom in such good order.

But her granddaughter’s belongings aren’t what interest Helen right now. There are two toothbrushes standing in a cup beside the sink, but one is green and the other orange — hardly the kind of useful color-coding that she needs right now. In the drawer, she finds two hairbrushes, but they are annoyingly devoid of much hair, and she isn’t certain which one is used on Peter, either.

Her frustration is about to boil over when she spots it. It sits in the corner, unassuming and unimportant. Except that it might be the key right now.

“Oh, Helen, you couldn’t,” she mutters to herself, although she already knows that she can and will do whatever is necessary to expose Natalie.

With a certain amount of trepidation, she approaches the Diaper Genie and opens it. The smell isn’t as horrific as she anticipated, but it isn’t exactly pleasant, and she cringes as she reaches her hand in and picks up one of the balled-up diapers. The stench confirms that this one is probably what she needs.

“If I didn’t despise you already, Natalie, I would for making me sink to this,” she says quietly as she stuffs the diaper into the reusable bag and folds the top over. She flushes the toilet for effect and then washes her hands out of practical necessity.

“All done?” Natalie asks from her post at the bottom of the stairs.

“Much better,” Helen says with a gracious smile. “I’ll be on my way. Sorry to intrude.”

“I’m sure Sophie will be grateful for the gifts,” Natalie says evenly.

“Yes, well, we could all use a surprise now and again!”

Helen bustles quickly toward the front door and lets herself out. “Thank you again!”

“Bye, Helen,” Natalie says before closing and locking the door.

Helen stuffs the bag of potential evidence in her trunk and then gets into her car.

“Phase one: complete,” she says before starting the engine. “I hope.”

—–

Sarah’s nerves prickle as Tori pulls back from her.

“We should get you out of here,” Sarah says. “Don’t give him another second of your time.”

“You paid him,” Tori says, tension simmering just beneath her words. “You could have told me, but you paid him.”

“He was blackmailing me! If I’d told you–”

“You told Aunt Molly.”

“She was part of the blackmail,” Sarah scrambles to explain. “And I couldn’t risk a probation violation. I would’ve lost my P.I. license–”

“So instead you just let me look like an idiot.” Emotion swells in Tori’s throat, causing her to sound choked. “You don’t get to treat me like a baby anymore. This is my life!”

“And I did what I had to do to protect you,” Sarah says firmly. She hopes that her tone will make it clear how strongly she believes that this was the only available course of action.

“You should’ve told me. We could’ve come up with some way out.” She sneers at Sarah and then cranes her neck back toward Zane. “And you. You let me make an idiot of myself every single day. God, I thought we were gonna move in together!”

“We still can,” Zane says.

Tori lets out a hateful laugh. “No way. I need to go.”

“I’ll go with you,” Sarah says.

“No!” Tori grabs her purse from the shabby coffee table and surges toward the door. “Just leave me alone.”

She whips open the door.

“We need to talk about this,” Sarah says, following her.

Tori spins around. “Leave me alone!”

She flies down the hallway. Sarah freezes at the open door, unsure what to do next. Logically, she knows that Tori needs some space, but her only instinct is to chase after her and make her listen.

“Happy now?” Zane says.

She turns around, shaking her head with fury. “This is all your fault.”

“She didn’t have to know,” he says. “She was happy. We were happy. But you had to go and ruin it.”

“She might hate me for now,” Sarah responds, “but she will never, ever forgive you or trust you again. And you’d better believe that’s consolation enough for me.”

She storms out of the apartment, slamming the door behind herself for good measure.

END OF EPISODE 913

Will Sarah be able to win Tori’s forgiveness?
Does Zane have any more tricks up his sleeve?
What in the world is Helen up to now?
Discuss this episode and more in the comments!

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