Previously...
- Molly was arraigned on second-degree murder charges for shooting Philip to death and released on bail.
- Natalie called her ex-husband, Conrad Halston, to come to King’s Bay to act as Molly’s legal counsel. The Fishers were grateful for her help.
- Following Molly’s arraignment, Sarah received anonymous text messages demanding $100,000 by the start of Molly’s trial — or the tape showing that Paula shot Philip would be released.

“Being arrested for those murders I didn’t commit was scary enough. I can’t imagine how poor Molly must be feeling, going in front of a judge and knowing that she pulled that trigger — no matter how justified it was!"

“I know,” Diane Bishop says, nodding her head. She and her cohost, Luke Berman, sit on one side of the table in KBAY's small sound booth, hanging mics in front of them. “Our guest this morning, for anyone just tuning in, is Helen Chase — who was arrested not once, but twice, last year on suspicion of being the Footprint Killer. Helen’s name was cleared—"

“Rightfully so!” Helen cuts in. “Rightfully so,” Diane continues, “but it sounds like it was a harrowing ordeal for Helen and her family." “It was.” Helen adjusts the large headphones, which have been slipping off her head, for what must be the hundredth time since the segment began. “I was terrified that I’d never be able to see my sweet little granddaughter again, all because the King’s Bay Police Department decided to run with a bunch of circumstantial evidence. They could have ruined my life!"

Luke offers her a sympathetic look. “Lucky for you, everything worked out."

“Thank goodness! But my heart goes out to Molly and her family. Her mother is a close friend of mine, and she’s been through so much in the past year. I’m not sure she can take much more!"

“I can’t imagine a jury in the world that’s gonna send Molly Taylor to prison for shooting a serial killer dead,” Luke says.

“If you ask me, Philip Ragan got off easy,” Diane says. “And Molly has an excellent attorney. Let’s just hope he can get the jury to see it that way, too."

The elevator doors part, depositing Jason Fisher outside the lobby of Vision Publishing. He enters and approaches the front desk, where a chipper young woman with severe black bangs sits wearing a headset.

“Hi,” she says. “How can I help you?"

“I’m here to see my—"

“Jason! What are you doing here?” calls a voice from across the lobby. 

Jason looks to see his older brother coming toward him in a navy suit. 

“Don’t worry, Becky, I’ve got him,” Tim says before embracing his brother. “What are you doing here? You should’ve told me you were coming by."

“Actually,” Jason says with a grin, “I’m not here to see you."

“What? I’m wounded."

“I need to see Spencer."

“Oh. All right.” Tim addresses the receptionist: “Becky, would you call Spencer Ragan and have him come up here?"

Becky obliges and places the call.

“Have you talked to Molly today?” Jason asks.

“I texted her before. I don’t think she slept much last night. But she’s relieved to be home with the kids."

“I can’t believe we have to wait for this thing to go to trial. It’s insane. Conrad has some big plan to file all these motions and get the whole thing thrown out, though."

“Good. Brent thinks the D.A. is pushing this because it could be one of those cases that makes her career if it goes her way—"

“That’s such crap,” Jason says, shaking his head in annoyance.

“I know."

“You wanted to see me?” Spencer asks as he rounds a corner into the lobby, only to stop short when he catches sight of Jason. “Oh. Hey."

“Actually, your uncle does,” Tim says. “I’ll leave you guys alone.” He pats Jason on the shoulder. “Call me later or stop by my office before you go, okay?"

“Sounds good."

Spencer and Jason both watch Tim exit back into the depths of the office. 

“So, uh, what’s up?” Spencer asks, folding his arms across his striped dress shirt.

“There’s something I need to ask you,” Jason says. “Something I’ve been putting off asking for way too long."

-----

Sarah Fisher Gray paces the carpet in the guest bedroom of her parents’ home that has become her and her husband’s space over the last few months. She has her cell phone pressed to her ear, as if gripping it harder will somehow coerce the information coming out of it into being more favorable. 

“So that’s it?” She hears irritation creeping into her voice even though she knows it’s probably unfounded.

“Not much else I can do,” the voice on the other end tells her. “Looks like a prepaid phone. No surprise there. The carrier has zero personal information on who’s using it. Like I said, I can show you the towers it pinged, but based on the pattern, it looks like whoever sent those texts was driving around in circles on purpose."

“And it hasn’t pinged since?"

“Nope. Probably dumped it."

Sarah sighs. “Dammit. Thanks. Send me the e-mail with the pings, anyway. Maybe I’ll be able to tell something from the area, even if I can’t trace the fucking thing—" Before she can clip the sentence, there’s a light knock on the door, and then it opens. Matt pokes his head in but, seeing that she is on the phone, pauses. Sarah waves him in. “Thanks again,” she says. “I’ll be waiting for that e-mail." She ends the call. Matt picks up his wallet from the nightstand.

“Sorry, didn’t wanna go to work without this,” he says. “Everything okay?"

“Yeah. Just working on a case."

He narrows his eyes at her. “You sure? You’ve been pretty on-edge lately. And I don’t think I’ve ever heard you yelling at a client like that."

She flinches, hating that he caught her in that moment. “It wasn’t a client. It’s a… source. A tech guy I use. And he wasn’t able to get me half the information I need."

“Okay.” But he continues watching her as he stuffs his wallet into his back pocket. “Look, I know you’ve been stressed over this Molly stuff. We all are. But if there’s something else going on, I want you to know you can tell me."

Sarah looks at him, at his trusting, inviting green eyes. She hates keeping things from him, especially after all they have been through and all the time they spent apart because of things they weren’t saying. As much as she hates to admit it, what she often wants most is simply to have Matt be her rock.

“Come on,” he says. “Tell me what’s bothering you."

-----

In the parking garage of Winston Tower in downtown King’s Bay, Molly Taylor fishes in her purse for her card key. She balances her purse on her forearm and takes a deep breath. She has not been to the office since her arrest and arraignment, and although she knows that the circumstances of Philip’s shooting — at least, the ones that have been put forth in the public eye — are perfectly justified, she still dreads walking through the familiar halls of the office and feeling all those eyeballs upon her, thinking thoughts that will later be whispered in the break room or in quiet corners. The idea is almost enough to make her retreat home, to spend more time with her boys and try to block out the realities of her legal troubles.

With her nerves as steeled as they can be, she swipes the card. The light on the reader, however, turns not green, but red. She tries again, and again the light flashes red. Repeated attempts yield the same result. 

“Excuse me, Eduardo,” she says to the valet attendant who is only twenty or so feet away. “My card isn’t working."

“One minute, Mrs. Taylor,” Eduardo says, before issuing a call over his walkie-talkie. 

Molly swipes the card once more, but the light remains red. 

“Someone’s coming down,” Eduardo tells her.

“Thank you."

She waits nervously, trying not to tap her stiletto against the concrete floor of the garage. When the elevator dings and its doors open, she is surprised to see not a building security guard, but Garrett Welsh, the CEO of Objection. 

“Garrett. Hi,” she says. “I was just having trouble with my card key—"

“I know.” He tilts his head to the left, inviting Molly to join him in a slightly more private area, so she follows.

“What’s going on?” she asks.

“The board held a vote this morning,” Garrett says, his face somber and motionless. 

Molly inhales sharply. “What?"

“We’ve voted to place you on leave until your… troubles are resolved. I don’t know if you’ve had an opportunity to look at our stock, but it’s plummeted since your arrest. I’m sure you can understand why being associated with a murder trial isn’t good for the company—"

“I’m the CCO! I’m in the middle of overseeing the fall line."

“Overseeing, yes. We have a more-than-capable team of designers. This isn’t couture, Molly. Objection will be all right."

“Camille named me CCO!"

“Camille would want her company to continue thriving,” Garrett says, a hint of iciness slicing through. “I’m sorry, Molly. This isn’t personal. We’re all rooting for you."

“It doesn’t feel like it!"

“It’s my job to look out for the best interests of the company. Here’s hoping everything resolves cleanly and you can be back at work with your head held high in no time."

Molly grits her teeth. Everything she can think of to say to this man is, at best, inadvisable.

“Spend time with your family. Work on your defense. Recover from your ordeal,” he says. “Take care."

With that, he swipes his own card — and might as well be sticking his tongue out at her, the way the light turns green and admits him into the elevator right away. The doors close, and the elevator sweeps him away, leaving Molly standing there in the parking garage with Garrett’s words reverberating all around her. 

-----

“That was so much fun,” Helen says once the show has concluded. She stands in the main room of the studio with Diane and Luke. “Thanks for having me on."

“It’s a big case,” Luke says. “We’ve gotta hit as many angles as we can.” He shakes Helen’s head. “I’ve gotta go take a leak, but thanks for coming in."

Helen gasps with surprise. “Oh. I suppose you should go do that."

Luke exits the studio, leaving the two women alone.

“You’ll have to forgive him for being a Neanderthal,” Diane says. “Imagine dealing with that every single day."

Helen chuckles. “Well, this was fun, regardless. And I hadn’t really had the chance to speak about my… experience until now."

“Believe me, I’ve been on the bad side of the KBPD, too. I get what it feels like to be targeted like that.” Diane drums her red fingernails on her styrofoam coffee cup. “At least you’ve been able to go back to your normal life.”

“Thank goodness. There really isn’t much more I want than to spend time with my granddaughter."

Diane bites her lower lip as she mulls her next words. “And how do you feel about her having a new sibling?"

“I—“ Helen stammers over her response. “Sophie is very excited."

“But how do you feel?” Diane’s mouth curls into a grin. “Natalie and I aren’t exactly the closest of sisters. Frankly, I don’t trust her as far as I could throw her skinny ass."

Helen exhales with relief. “Then I suppose I’m not being out of line in saying that the whole situation makes me nervous."

“You should be."

“What do I need to know?"

Diane glances around and sees the producer and two engineers standing only a few feet away. “Do you have time to grab a decent cup of coffee?"

-----

An alarm blares inside Spencer’s head as he scans Jason for some sign of what this is about. Could he really have found out about Spencer’s fling with Natalie? It isn’t like Spencer knew that’s who Natalie was. And she told him that she and her boyfriend were on a break. He didn’t do anything wrong—

“It’s about Sabrina,” Jason says. Spencer nearly does a cartoon-style double-take. “Sabrina? That bumpkin who worked for my brother?" “Yes. I mean— yes. I need her contact info. Do you know where it might be?" “Why?" “Long story. But I owe her something."

Spencer racks his brain for a moment. “I think I know where to find it."

“Good. Thank you. Would you mind texting it to me? You have my number, right?"

“Uh, yeah. I do."

“Awesome. Thanks, Spencer.” Jason claps a hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “Have you found a place yet?"

Spencer shrugs. “I have some options. I’m waiting for the lawyers to work out all the money stuff from Philip’s estate, though."

“Good luck. I’m going to go catch up with Tim before I go — but thanks again. I really appreciate your help."

“You’re welcome,” Spencer says, and he watches his uncle disappear around the corner. Only once he is alone does Spencer allow himself to let out a massive sigh of relief. There’s no reason Jason or anyone else needs to find out that he slept with Natalie, or that he was worried that baby might be his. He’s finally starting to feel like a part of this family — the only family he has now — and he’ll be damned if some golddigger’s games ruin that for him.

-----

Sarah can feel herself flying toward the edge of a cliff — but, at the last instant, an invisible hand reaches out and pulls her back.

“It’s nothing,” she says, forcing a smile at Matt. “I’m doing some work for a family friend. It’s just a sensitive case. That’s all. And yeah, I’m stressed about Molly’s situation."

“Come here.” Matt wraps his arms around her. “We’re all gonna get through this, okay? She’s got a great lawyer, and everyone knows she shot Philip to save you and your mom. It’s gonna work out."

Sarah rests her head against his broad chest. “I hope you’re right. The funny thing is, there were plenty of times that the idea of Molly being thrown in prison would’ve made me happy."

“Stop it,” Matt says, even though he lets out a little laugh. “She isn’t going to prison, okay?"

Sarah listens to his heart beating. “I’m so lucky to have you."

“Nah. I’m the lucky one."

As always, she finds the proximity of his body, his warmth, calming — or as calming as anything could be right now. They could have lost their daughter to Philip’s insanity. Sarah lost her father and her brother. There is no way in the world that she’s letting her mother be punished for shooting the man dead. And if that means figuring out who’s blackmailing her and Molly and bringing that person down, then that’s exactly what she is going to do.

-----

“I hope I don’t sound like a heartless harpy,” Helen says as she and Diane seat themselves at a small table by the window of Cassie’s Coffee House. “I understand that Jason is going to move on with his life, and I want him to be happy. But Sophie is all I have left of my Courtney, and whoever is in Jason’s life affects her, too."

“You don’t have to explain it to me.” Diane hangs her purse on the back of her chair and scoots in toward the table. “Jason’s a good guy. Tim, Sarah, and Alex all mean a lot to me, and they all love him. And he’s been through a hell of a lot."

“That’s why I worry he isn’t thinking straight. This is his first relationship since Courtney, and — he’s having a baby with her?"

Diane rolls her eyes. “Yup. And this is not the first time Natalie’s done this."

Helen leans in, the steam from her latté rising right up into her face. “What do you mean?"

“She and her first husband got married because she got pregnant, too. He was successful, Natalie planned to live off him, and eventually the tension got to be too much."

“Her daughter seems like a nice little girl."

“She is. Almost against all odds. But you know what they say about kids growing up in reaction to their parents. Bree is responsible and thoughtful and— well, a lot of things Natalie isn’t."

Helen takes a tentative sip of her hot drink as she mulls this over.

“Why are you telling me all this?” she asks. “Natalie is your sister."

“Like I said, Jason is family in a way, and I don’t want to see him be eaten alive by Natalie before he comes to his senses. She’s been coasting on her charm and good luck for a long time."

“Do you think she got pregnant on purpose?"

“It wouldn’t surprise me."

Helen sits up straight, her eyes alight with fury. “If only Jason could be convinced before it’s too late…"

“It’s never too late,” Diane says as she wraps her palms around her cup. “And if you want to save him and Sophie, the time is now."

END OF EPISODE 824

Will Diane and Helen join forces?
What should Sarah do about the blackmail threat?
Is Molly officially in over her head?
What does Jason want with Sabrina?
Talk about it all in the Footprints Forum!

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