Previously…
– Two members of Diego Barrera’s drug ring mistook Christian for Caleb and tried to kidnap him. When Molly and Brent intervened, Christian was able to escape.
– Molly and Brent found themselves tied up in the trunk of a car and were horrified to realize that the vehicle was going to be set on fire with them inside it.
– Furious after learning what Matt had done to convince her to give up her child for adoption, Tori fled and demanded that Marcus take her to see Zane — but they got into a car accident along the way.

 

The acrid smell of gasoline is now undeniable, as Molly and Brent Taylor lie in the dark trunk of a car, their hands and feet tied up. A sob escapes Molly’s throat as the heat of fire makes its presence known from somewhere outside the vehicle.

“My life has been so much better because of you,” she tells her ex-husband, whom she can barely see despite him being mere inches away from her. “You showed me what true love is. Brent, I… I will always love you.”

Brent’s voice cracks when he replies. “I love you, too. I always have. I always will. I’m sorry we couldn’t…”

“It’s okay. It’s okay. Because we’re together now.” She scoots her body nearer to his, making contact in whatever clumsy way she can. “I love you.”

“I love you.”

The world seems so small now, just this tight, dark space and the fire that they can hear and feel beginning to rip its reckless course outside. As they both cry with fear, their faces move toward one another, and finally, their lips meet, pressing together in a moment of pure connection — the only two people in the world right now who could understand what they are going through.

They continue to lie there, helpless, as their bodies press in one another. Outside, the flames grow brighter and stronger.

“I can’t believe we’re going to die like this,” Molly says through a gasp.

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s true. We can’t get out of…” She trails off, her head swiveling about in the dark as if hoping to see some secret escape hatch.

“We’re together,” he says. He wishes that there were something more he could add, but right now, it is the only solace he can provide her. “We’re together.”

Again she kisses his cheek and is surprised to feel the dampness of tears there.

“We’re together,” she repeats as they huddle in terror.

Glittering chandeliers softly light the main dining room of Windmills. At a table near the center of the room, Claire Fisher sits with a glass of red wine that she has hardly touched in the twenty minutes since it arrived; her iPhone rests atop the white tablecloth, but it remains frustratingly lifeless. She attempts to focus on the menu, but without her dinner companion even here, considering options for their meal seems pointless.

“Claire,” a male voice says, startling her.

“Oh. Conrad. Hi.” She relaxes as she looks up and sees the attorney standing over her in a crisp blue dress shirt and navy blazer. “How are you?”

“I’m all right. Just stopped in for a drink while I wait for a takeout order.”

“Bringing dinner to Molly?” Claire asks.

He shakes his head. “Just myself tonight.”

She notices his hesitation and leans forward, happy to have a momentary distraction.

“Is everything okay?” she asks.

Conrad chews his lower lip for a few seconds. “I hope I’m not speaking out of turn, but things have been a little… rocky lately.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I’m afraid Molly and I don’t see eye-to-eye on this custody battle between Natalie and Jason,” he explains. “I’m hopeful that things will get better once some of the tensions cool, though.”

“That’s good. I think everyone is really on-edge about it.”

“How about you? Waiting for someone?”

Claire reaches for her wine glass and hooks two fingers around its stem. “I’m supposed to be meeting Brent. But I haven’t heard from him, and… I’m getting a little worried, frankly.”

“How late is he?”

She presses her phone’s screen to illuminate it, which only serves to show that mere minutes have passed since she last checked the time.

“Almost half-an-hour,” she says. “This isn’t like him.”

“Maybe something came up with work,” Conrad says. “A situation where he isn’t able to use his phone.”

“I hope that’s all it is,” Claire says uneasily as she picks up the glass.

—–

Sarah Fisher Gray swiftly steps off the elevator into the grungy hallway of the apartment building. her husband tails her by a step, having silently deferred to Sarah to lead the charge. She stomps over the dingy carpeting and knocks hard on Zane Tanaka’s door.

It takes mere seconds for him to whip open the door. But the sense of anticipation, of excitement, in his face quickly melts away when he sees who his visitors are.

“Where is she?” Zane demands.

“Tori?” Sarah asks, her eyebrows lifting incredulously. “She isn’t here?”

“No. What’d you do to her?”

Sarah glances back at Matt with both concern and confusion.

“Maybe she went home,” Matt says.

“She really isn’t in there?” Sarah asks.

Zane shakes his head as he folds his arms across his chest. “She told me what you did. She said she was on her way here.”

Matt’s voice spikes with worry. “Then where is she?”

“You tell me.” Zane steps into the hallway, standing menacingly before both of them. “What kind of game are you playing?”

“All we want to do is find our daughter,” Sarah says. “A lot happened tonight–”

“I know. Tori texted me. She told me everything.” He stares over Sarah’s shoulder, at Matt, with gritted teeth. “So what are the two of you up to now?”

“We’re not up to anything,” Matt says. “We thought she’d come here–”

“You really don’t know where she is?” Zane asks, his demeanor suddenly shifting.

“No.” Sarah pulls out her cell phone and immediately begins dialing. She holds the phone to her ear.

“What was the last thing you heard from her?” Matt asks Zane nervously.

“That she was on her way here!” the younger man snaps.

“Tori, it’s Mom,” Sarah says into the phone. “Dad and I are at Zane’s — we’re all worried about you. Could you please just let us know that you’re okay?”

“Voicemail,” she tells them as she hangs up.

Zane grabs his iPhone and keys from the table sitting just inside his open door.

“She obviously doesn’t want to see you two,” he spits. “I’m gonna go find her.”

He pulls the door closed with a slam and takes off down the hallway.

“Should we follow him?” Matt asks.

“I don’t know,” Sarah admits, her voice suddenly distant. “I don’t know what we’re supposed to do.”

—–

“I saw Rosie outside,” Caleb Taylor announces as he hurries into the kitchen of his mother’s house. He finds his twin brother and his grandmother at the table, sitting with two freshly made mugs of hot chocolate.

“Did she tell you what happened?” Christian asks, his voice breaking slightly.

Caleb nods as Paula stands to move toward her grandson.

“The police are looking for your parents now,” Paula tells him in a tender tone. “Rosie thinks she has a lead.”

“She said that,” Caleb replies. His words come out flat, auditory evidence of the daze that he has been tossed into since learning of what happened tonight.

“This shouldn’t be happening.” Christian starts to cry again as he stares at his brother. “Why did you have to get us all into trouble?”

“Me?” Caleb says. “I didn’t do anything–”

“They thought I was you! They wanted to kidnap you,” Christian says. “All because of those stupid drugs–”

“Christian,” Paula interrupts. “Yelling at your brother isn’t going to help anything.”

“I don’t care! He had to go and get in trouble, and then I almost got kidnapped, and now Mom and Dad…”

“Mom and Dad are gonna be fine!” Caleb declares, stomping his foot. “God. Rosie said she could help them.”

“Let’s just try and relax,” Paula says, placing her arms on Caleb’s shoulders.

“I can’t,” Christian says, dropping his head onto the table. “Not until I know Mom and Dad are safe.”

—–

The heat from the fire feels so close and yet so far away.

“What’s happening?” Molly asks in a half-whisper.

Brent sighs. “I don’t know. I don’t think it’s hit the car yet.”

“I just want this to be over.” She swallows hard, choking down a fresh wave of tears. “I don’t want to die, but…”

“I know.” He uses what limited range of motion he has to stroke his foot along her leg. “I know, Mol.”

Suddenly a fresh boom of heat surrounds them.

“Oh my god,” Molly shrieks.

Brent breathes hard, knowing that the fire has reached the vehicle now. He can only imagine how horrific it must look from the outside.

“I’m here with you,” he says, knowing that it is all he can offer. “I love you. I love you, Molly.”

“I love you, too,” she says as she cries.

They lie there, caught in disbelief and panic that has nowhere to go.

And then something unbelievable happens.

The noise pierces the night, cutting through the crinkling and whooshing of flames all around them.

“The police,” Molly says. “They’re coming.”

Brent can hardly believe that the sirens are real, but they are growing louder, closer.

“Help us!” he screams. “We’re in the trunk! Help us!”

—–

Claire is not sure what to feel as she drives home from Windmills. Her gut instinct is to be annoyed that Brent left her sitting at the restaurant for so long without any response or notice of where he is; however, she understands how unlike him that is, and although it is possible that work prevented him from contacting her, it is difficult not to leap to more troubling possibilities — like that something has happened to him.

Using the touchscreen on her dashboard, she tries one more time to call him. The phone rings several times before it goes to voicemail, just as it has been doing for well over an hour. Frustrated, she hangs up before the voicemail recording even has a chance to kick in.

“What do I have in the fridge?” she mutters to herself, over the sound of Pink playing on the car’s stereo. She felt silly sitting at the table, dressed-up and alone, to order a meal, but now she wishes that she’d gotten something to go before leaving the restaurant.

Her hunger, however, is forgotten as she pulls up to a stop sign and sees a gruesome scene at the edge of the intersection: a pickup truck rammed into a mangled sedan, as two sets of headlights cast an intense and eerie glow over the dark road.

She sees a man with a light brown buzzcut and an oversized Mariners sweatshirt pacing nervously by the crash, cell phone to his ear. Her heart racing, Claire pulls her car safely to the side and hurries over toward him.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“I think I’m fine. I’m fine,” he says, his words coming out in a frantic jumble. “I’m on with 911. But they…”

His finger points limply toward the other car.

“I’m a nurse,” Claire says, oblivious to the cold as she rushes around to the side of the smashed Ford Fusion.

“Oh my god.” She gasps as she peers into the vehicle and sees the pregnant woman’s body, unconscious and bleeding, in the passenger seat — and then recognizes her as Tori Gray.

END OF EPISODE 974

Will Claire be able to help Tori and Marcus?
Can the authorities do anything to save Brent and Molly?
Is Christian right to blame Caleb?
Discuss all this and more in the comments below!

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