“Footprints”
Episode #500
Previously…
- Claire brushed off Brent’s attempts to discuss his new theory about the mystery surrounding Nick’s resurrection.
- Josh confronted Lauren about hiding her cancer scare from him and called her a hypocrite for having resorted to lies.
- Jason apologized for blaming Courtney for the Health Department foul-up.
- Sabrina paid off the health inspector, who wasn’t a health inspector at all, but a man she hired to play one.
- Sarah returned home to find Graham Colville outside her apartment.
EDGE OF WINTER ARENA
She is going to pay for this.
The thought sounds hopelessly pathetic to Josh Taylor, but he is too angry to care. Lauren Brooks has lied to him for months, all because she didn’t think she could trust him. He isn’t trustworthy? He wasn’t the one doing the lying. It would serve her right if her stupid brother did get sick, after she used him as her cover story.
Josh spots Lauren, talking to Courtney on the other side of the ice rink. He keeps finding her in the crowd without even intending to do so. He is simply so mad that he cannot think about anything else. He wishes he could brush this whole thing off… but he can’t. And if he can’t, neither can Lauren. He is going to make sure that she feels the impact of what she has done.
He finds Sabrina Gage talking with that Seth guy and doesn’t hesitate to interrupt their conversation.
“I need you for a sec,” Josh says.
“What? Why?” Sabrina asks.
“Just take my word for it, okay?”
Over Sabrina’s shoulder, Josh eyes Lauren. He is going to make sure she sees exactly what she has missed out on.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” Seth says.
“No. Don’t.” Sabrina pivots her head just enough to see what Josh is staring at: Lauren.
“You could at least be subtle,” she says, shaking her head at Josh. “I’m not really in the mood to be used right now.”
“It’s not me using you,” Josh says. “It’s you doing me a favor. And I will pay you back later. Many times over.”
Seth crinkles his face at the heavily suggestive remark.
“Really, I have more important things to take care of,” Sabrina insists. She steps around Josh. “Actually, there’s someone I need to find. I’ll catch up with you later, Seth.” She shoots Josh a pointed look and takes off, leaving him and Seth in awkward silence.
“Not your night?” Seth asks.
Josh shakes his head.
“You have no idea.”
Jason Fisher clutches his cell phone to his ear as he paces in the arena’s second-floor office. “Very excited. And very grateful. Thank you for handling this, and for calling me back as soon as you found out.”
He ends the call just as Sabrina steps into the office.
“There you are,” she says. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”
He holds up the phone and then slips it back into his pocket. “Had to take a call.”
“Health Department again?”
“No, nothing like that. But thank you again for taking care of that.”
“It’s my pleasure.” She approaches him, her steps slow but confident. “I want nothing more than to see this project succeed, Jason. You deserve it.”
She is so focused, so intense, that Jason doesn’t know how to respond. He supposes he should be flattered that someone who came onboard to help manage the office has become so invested in the arena’s success.
“Thanks,” he says, suddenly a bit uncomfortable. “I actually have to get downstairs--”
“Was it that phone call? Is something wrong?”
“Not at all.” He moves past her, to the door, but turns back to say, “Thanks again for all your help, Sabrina.”
As he exits, she offers one final statement:
“I haven’t been able to think about anything else.”
Graham Colville stands before Sarah Gray in the hallway of her apartment building. “Since that day at Stevens Pass, I--I simply haven’t been able to get you off my mind.”
“Thanks. I think,” Sarah says. A smile works its way over her lips, though she is not sure if it is appropriate, given that this man managed to track her down and came to her home in search of her.
“I’m in town on business,” he hastens to add. “I realize how strange this must seem. That’s why I reconsidered and came back for that.” He indicates the note in Sarah’s hand, the note she found on her door moments ago.
She holds the note between two fingers. “How did you find me? I don’t remember even telling you my last name.”
“I remembered you saying that your brother had rented the cabin that I helped you back to.”
“…and you checked the rental records for his name, and went from there.” Exactly what she would have done had this been a case.
“Since I was in King’s Bay anyway, it seemed ridiculous not to try and contact you,” Graham says. “It felt like there was a reason we met up at the Pass.”
“Because I’m a fool and got myself lost,” Sarah cracks.
Graham smiles. There is something warm about it, something that soothes her concerns about this situation.
“At any rate, I don’t want to disturb you,” he says. “Please, if you’re so inclined, get in touch with me.”
Once again, Sarah eyes the phone number on the note. “I have a husband and daughter.”
Graham seems unsurprised. “But they don’t live here.”
“No, they don’t,” she admits.
“Then, as I said: contact me if you’re so inclined. If not… it’s been a pleasure seeing you again.”
“You, too,” Sarah says. It just slips out.
Graham moves swiftly but elegantly back to the elevator and, after one final glance at her, disappears behind the elevator doors. Sarah hesitates before opening her apartment door; it seems unsafe to open up her home when a stranger has just located her based on the scantest of information. She lets herself in and hurries to close and lock the door. Something about Graham Colville tells her that he is not a dangerous man, but… her instincts as a former police officer are on high alert.
She pulls out her cell phone and dials Diane.
“Have I got news for you.”
“What is it?” Courtney asks as Jason settles in beside her and rests his hand on the small of her back.
“Everything okay?” Lauren Brooks asks.
Jason considers telling them but instead grabs a fork. He tings it against his glass. Heads turn, and a ripple of quiet spreads through the room.
“I’d like to make a toast,” he says. “To all of you, for joining us tonight to celebrate. To all the people who have helped make this facility possible. To the future of figure skating and hockey in King’s Bay. And, last but most certainly not least--”
He turns to Courtney. “--to my beautiful fiancée, who I plan to marry as soon as possible.”
Their guests clink glasses, cheer, and drink up.
Courtney’s expression is frozen in a transitional state; surprise and joy have begun to emerge but are too wary to show themselves fully yet. “Does that mean--”
“That was the attorney,” Jason says. “We’re clear to get married. Shannon’s will only applied to the time when I accepted the inheritance.”
With a squeal, Courtney throws her arms around Jason.
“I’m so glad that’s the end of that,” she says into his shoulder.
Jason steps back to look her in the eyes.
“This is only the beginning.”
In the aftermath of the toast, Brent Taylor slides up behind Claire Fisher and half-whispers the words to her.
Claire keeps herself from startling visibly, though her pulse quickens. “What are you talking about?”
“If we don’t do anything about Moriani. Whoever was helping him--they’re still out there, and they’re going to come after us again.”
She knows it is the truth, but part of her still wants to shut it all out.
“I thought you were onboard with me,” Brent says. “With figuring out who helped Nick, who kept Tim in that clinic for years.”
“I--” She was. She is. When he tried to bring it up earlier, she was so upset about Travis and… she was upset. “I am. I don’t want you to doubt that.”
“Then hear me out.” He pulls her aside, away from the other partygoers. “I have a theory about what’s been going on.”
Claire folds her arms and draws a deep breath. Even before he speaks, before he gives any indication of what he is going to say, she feels that this is something for which she needs to prepare herself.
“This ‘Mr. Clayton’ has been pulling strings for years,” Brent says. “He brought Tim to Dr. Domingo. He hired the guards to capture us at your wedding. And he helped Nick get out of that hospital, I’m sure of it.”
“But why? Who would go to all that trouble? It makes no sense.”
“It could.” Brent pauses, and his eyes move to the left and then to the right, checking that the coast is clear. “I think Mr. Clayton is your father.”
Every ounce of breath disappears from Claire’s body. She tries to draw more in, but it is no use.
“My father is dead,” she manages to say.
“And so was Nick. This makes sense. Why would someone want to keep Tim away from his family?”
It does make sense. She doesn’t even want to entertain the thought, but she knows that, on a logical level, it does add up. Except for one thing:
“Nick slipping out of that hospital,” she says, “I understand that. But I saw my father die. Tim did, too. It just--this isn’t possible.”
Brent’s lips form a tight line. Clearly he disagrees.
Claire doesn’t know why, but she feels compelled to protest, as if it might make the very possibility vanish forever.
“People don’t come back from the dead.”
She reminds herself of that sometimes, in her weaker moments, when she wants nothing more than to reveal herself. Now she whispers it to herself, over and over, as she tears through the apartment, knocking over the kitchen chairs, smashing a lamp against the wall, hurling pillows and clothes onto the floor.
She had to get out of there. Seeing them together--that sickening announcement--it was too much. She was an idiot not to account for this. A fucking idiot. She put in all this time and effort and money and now--
She needs relief. She finds the razor blade in the bathroom drawer and delicately picks it up. After only a moment’s hesitation, she drags it across her arm. The flesh tears, and as instantly as the first spot of blood pools on her arm, relief comes.
“People don’t come back from the dead,” she repeats, staring into the mirror and into Sabrina’s face. She wanted nothing more than to reveal herself in that office. But it wouldn’t have gone well. They’ve all made Jason believe too many terrible things. She has to keep her cool.
The plan isn’t ruined, she reasons as she breathes deeply, watching the stream of red trickle down her arm. He still has his arena, and he has her to thank for it. One day, he will.
Maybe one day, once they are together, he will look into her eyes and call her by her real name. Shannon.
She can hear it now, and it bolsters her confidence. She can do this. She cannot get discouraged, not after all the work she has done. And that bitch Courtney?
She is going to pay for this.
END OF EPISODE #500
Are you surprised by Sabrina’s true identity?
Will Jason and Courtney make it to the altar?
Could Brent be onto something with his theory?
Should Sarah trust Graham?
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