Bumping into someone you know in a fertility clinic can be a somewhat awkward experience. Ryan and Liza both smiled nervously, neither wanting to tell the truth about why they were there. Ryan broke his silence first and claimed that he had dropped by the clinic to try to sell them some ad space on WRCW. Liza pursed her lips and nodded her head slowly up and down. She told Ryan that she, too, had visited the clinic on WRCW-related business. Liza stated that she was doing some research on the donation process for an upcoming piece on The Cutting Edge. Marian drooled at the sight of Ryan and she nearly got carried away when she realized that there were other attractive men behind the closed doors doing... the donation process. Liza took her mother by the arm an escorted her out of the clinic. Ryan walked over to the nurse's desk and asked for a plastic cup so that he could make his first deposit. From out of nowhere, Gillian stormed into the clinic and demanded that the nurse hand over Ryan's cup. Gillian looked at the list that noted how much compensation a donor would receive and gasped. She told the nurse that her husband deserve at least three times the amount listed on the sheet. The nurse agreed that Ryan's good looks should warrant bigger pay, but the nurse explained that she was bound by clinic guidelines to pay all donors the same amount. Gillian felt foolish when she realized that the specimen container was empty. She lashed out at Ryan for the way he'd let her ramble on and on. Ryan knew that it was time for him to go into his little cubicle. With a wicked little smile on his face, he asked Gillian if she wanted to "assist" him. Gillian groaned in disgust and asked the nurse, "what do you do with a man like him?" The nurse's neck snapped back. "Ooh," she grinned, "I can think of ten or twenty," things to do to Ryan.
Jack showed up at Cortlandt Manor on a mission. Mission. Jack stated that he never wanted to hear the word again. Jack had hoped to have a few words with Palmer, but Palmer had vanished. Opal remarked that she had no idea how a man could disappear in his own house. Like clockwork, though, Palmer was bound to reappear in a matter of minutes for his dinner. Only Adrian knew that Palmer was lurking around the inside of his giant safe in the basement. Adrian probed the safe up and down looking for a way to get inside, but he had no luck. Inside, Palmer sat transfixed in a leather chair staring at an unknown object. "I'll never let them find you," he chanted eerily. "You're mine!" Back upstairs, Jack was ready to leave. He asked Opal to tell Palmer that he'd stopped by. Opal could sense Jack's frustration and knew that Mike was somehow the source of Jack's troubles. Jack claimed not to care about Mike or even Erica for that matter. Opal knew better. She told Jack that his indifference sacred her and she urged Jack not to let Mike ruin the love of a lifetime. From back inside the study, Palmer barked out that he was ready for his dinner. Opal rolled her eyes and nodded her head rapidly. She escorted Jack back into the study and told her husband that Jack wanted to talk to him. Palmer became nervous and accused Jack of working in conjunction with Mike. Jack chuckled and assured Palmer that he was definitely not working with Mike. He told the pair all about Mike---his so-called mission and the fact that Mike was supposedly retired from service. Palmer seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. He made several references to being "a veteran" and "a patriot" and thanked Jack for filling him in on the situation. The references almost seemed to fill a need for Palmer to prove his loyalty to the United States. With Mike out of the way, Palmer wanted to know why Jack had dropped by. Jack told Palmer that he had stopped by on behalf of Allison Doyle. Palmer turned his back and helped himself to a glass of brandy. Jack asked Palmer to back off of Allie and allow him to drop the charges against the former doctor. Palmer was surprisingly calm in his rebuttal. He told Jack that he was merely following along with the wishes of the hospital board. He swore that he harbored no ill will toward Allie. Jack reminded Palmer that Allie had saved Petey's life. Opal added that Petey never would have been in danger had Palmer not left his heart medicine lying around the house. The guilt trip didn't work, but Palmer remained cool and composed. He thanked Jack for visiting and told him that he'd speak to him later. Jack warned Palmer that the case could turn into a huge public relations fiasco for him. The public, Jack said, would be on Allie's side and Palmer would end up looking like a "big bully." After Jack left, Opal asked her husband if he was feeling okay. She wondered how he could go from an evil tyrant earlier in the day to a docile and even civil gentleman by night. Palmer apologized for his previous outburst and told Opal that he has a tendency to be grumpy when he's under a lot of stress. Opal was even more baffled by what followed: Palmer gave her a peck on the cheek and apologized again for being difficult!
At Wildwind, Mateo decorated the patio with festive lighting. He led Hayley outside and asked her to dance with him. Hayley told her husband that he didn't have to go to such lengths to spend time with her. Mateo explained that the lights and dancing were his way of thanking Hayley for being so understanding. It isn't every wife, he noted, that can give up her business and home. The placidity of the moment was broken when Ryan and Gillian returned home. Hayley and Mateo weren't even phased by the couple's loud voices. They told the pair to enjoy the warm early summer air and headed upstairs for their bedroom. Ryan and Gillian were both awed by how much Hayley and Mateo were in love. Ryan asked Gillian to dance with him, but Gillian stated that she was too tired to dance. Eugenia> strolled onto the patio and admired the beautiful decorations. She asked Ryan how he'd managed to make everything look so lovely. "Magic," Ryan replied. He wiggled his hands and made Eugenia's brooch appear. Gillian and her grandmother were both amazed. Ryan lied and told Eugenia that he'd found the brooch behind her dresser. Eugenia blushed slightly. She took the brooch and headed for the safe so that she'd be sure not to lose the item again. Gillian asked Ryan how he was able to afford re-buying the brooch. Ryan simply said that a friend had given him the money because he'd done him a favor. The friend, of course, was Dimitri. Gillian had worried that Ryan had made hundreds of donations at the clinic to earn the money. Ryan bid Gillian goodnight, but Gillian wasn't about to let the magic of the moment slip away so easily. She reminded Ryan that he'd asked her for a dance. Upstairs, Mateo confessed that he had ulterior motives for planning the romantic evening. He told Hayley that he'd found a buyer for Holidays.
Marian and Liza returned to WRCW and found Jake and Allie waiting in Liza's office. Jake and Allie looked on in bewilderment at Marian's outrageous outfit. Jake told Liza about his plan to air Allie's plight on the station in an effort to win public support. Liza agreed that it was a good idea an offered to air some type of editorial. Marian suggested that they use the editorial to make Palmer out to be the bad guy, but Liza was worried about being sued for slander. Marian left the office and allowed the trio to talk. Allie was leery of letting Jake contact her former patients for references and testimonials, but she ultimately realized that it might help her in the long run. Allie recalled that she'd received a letter from California. She'd been putting off opening the letter because she worried that it would be another bill or notice of legal action. When she opened the letter, she found something entirely different: a check for $50,000 from David Hayward. The check was approximately the amount that Allie needed to pay off her student loans. Allie refused to accept David's money because she felt that it would obligate her to him. The whole reason she'd told the truth about her transcripts was because she wanted David off of her back. Accepting the money would, in effect, put her back in the same situation. Jake reminded Allie that she really needed the money. Liza agreed and had an offer of her own. She told Jake and Allie that if they agreed to be the godparents to her child, she would give Allie the money needed to pay off her debt.
With the tables turned, Mike tried everything possible in order to convince Erica to let him go. Still unaware that Erica knew all about his lies, Mike told Erica that she needed to find a way to free him before the kidnappers returned. "Anything you can do, I can do better," Erica chirped. It was only then that Mike knew that Erica had learned about his staged kidnapping. Erica asked Mike if he was "truly sorry" for the amount of pain he'd caused her and Jack, Bianca, Palmer and Opal, and Coral. Mike had no idea who Coral was. When he learned that Coral was Erica's housekeeper, he lied through his teeth by saying that he was repentant for what he'd done. "Liar!" Erica yelled. She knew that Mike wasn't telling her the truth. She was surprised to see Mike laughing. Erica demanded to know why Mike was laughing at her. He replied that Erica couldn't possibly be mad at him because she had fallen in love with him---lies and all. Mike admitted that he'd spun quite a few tales since returning to town, but he argued that his lies were necessary to save Erica from danger. What danger? Jackson Montgomery. Mike claimed that Jack was bad for Erica. He got her to admit that she'd had more fun in the past few weeks from the kidnappings and other spy-related ventures than she'd had in recent memory. Again Mike asked to be released from the cage, but Erica told him that she wasn't going to fall for another of his games. She told Mike that she planned on keeping him locked in the cage for at least a few weeks. Mike wondered how Erica could take weeks out of her busy schedule to stand guard. Erica laughed and told Mike that she had no intention of guarding him. If that was the case, Mike knew that he'd be able to break through the wire fencing in a matter of hours. Erica whistled and summoned "Big Vic." Big Vic was a German shepherd that she'd arranged to stand guard. She told the dog that if Mike made one move out of the cage that she wanted him to kill Mike!
On the patio at Chandler Mansion, Tad and Stuart mulled over a bunch photos hoping to learn more about who might have sabotaged the generator at the cabin. Using a magnifying glass, Tad found something odd in the corner of one of the photographs. He handed it to Stuart who also used a magnifying glass to examine the foreign substance. Stuart leaned in to the photo and, of all things, licked it. He matter-of-factly told Tad that the object was some spilled grape jelly and carried on with his business. Stuart had an idea that he thought might aid their investigation---looking for logical conclusions. "If people have two heads," Stuart said with a modicum of philosophical thought. "And Adam is a people. Then Adam has two heads." Tad fought back a chuckle and urged Stuart, who he jokingly called "Sparky," to "run with it." Tad then realized that Stuart might be on to something. Tad announced that they needed to head to the police station to view the file on Scott's electrocution.
Mateo hovered in what used to be the main dining area at Holidays. He looked longingly at one of the chicken figure cake displays. This would be his last day as co-owner of the restaurant. Hayley instinctively knew that her husband was having second thoughts about selling Holidays and she called him on it. Hayley asked Mateo to recall the first time that they decided to buy Holidays, which was then Hal's country-western bar. They wanted the holiday-theme restaurant to help its customers feel like every day was New Year's Eve. The day that they signed the papers to buy the establishment was another holiday---Mateo's birthday. Matt tried to find a common theme by asking what today was. Perhaps it was another holiday. "Today is the day the dream dies," Hayley replied solemnly. Mateo didn't enjoy seeing his wife so disappointed. He assured her that there would be "other dreams" for them to pursue. As the buyer entered Holidays, Hayley gave her husband one final chance to bow out. Mateo recalled his visions of Hayley's death and announced that they had to sell Holidays. Hayley approached the man and dropped a hidden clue by asking the man if he's ever done business with her father, Adam Chandler. The man remarked that it was impossible to do business in Pine Valley without bumping into Adam sooner or later. Hayley offered to compile a list of their distributors, but the buyer said that it would not be necessary. He announced that Holidays would soon be no more because he was turning the restaurant into a cigar bar and comedy club. Hayley's face turned pale as she suddenly realized that the buyer was not working for her father. She swallowed hard and claimed that they needed a notary public to be present at the signing. With a promise to return in a few minutes, Hayley dashed out the front door.
Shirtless and wearing a pair of tight fitting jeans, Ryan walked onto the patio at Wildwind and asked Dimitri for advice on what to wear for his first day as a juror. Ryan wondered if Dimitri would tell Brooke about how and why he'd been seated on the jury. Dimitri replied that he would not tell Brooke anything because she has a certain ethical standard to live up to---and jury tampering wasn't exactly something that Brooke would condone. Ryan chuckled to himself, musing that it was ironic that Brooke was above shooting an unarmed man in the back but that jury tampering was a no-no in her book. Dimitri quickly brought up the fact that he'd paid Ryan a hefty sum of money to have him convince the other jurors that Brooke was innocent. The money also was intended to buy Ryan's silence. Trevor and Belinda's voices sounded out from somewhere inside the house. Dimitri ordered Ryan to hide so that their connection wouldn't be found out. Ryan hid behind the bushes and remained undetected---almost. Dimitri managed to convince Belinda and Trevor that they could look over their notes in more comfort in the study. Dimitri tried to get Brooke to accompany her attorneys, but she opted to remain outside. She instructed Dimitri to go on without her. Dimitri had to oblige Brooke because otherwise she might get suspicious. Brooke noticed a pair of black boots poking out from behind one of the bushes. She threatened to call the police if the intruder did not come out of hiding. Ryan bashfully emerged from hiding. Brooke asked him if "the bare-chested look" was coming back in style. In his rather crude charm, Ryan said that he wasn't sure if the look was back en vogue, but he was certain Brooke would look better topless than he did. Needless to say, Brooke was not amused. Ryan excused himself by saying that he needed to find his wife for advice on what to wear. Dimitri returned a short time later to check on Brooke. Brooke told Dimitri that she'd bumped into Ryan and called the young man "unusual." It was nearing departure time and Brooke become notably nervous. Her attitude up until this point had been somewhat cold and indifferent. Now, she appeared to be shaking slightly. She had flashbacks of the night of the shooting. Dimitri observed Brooke's behavior and knew that she was reliving the shooting. Brooke wondered if Jim would have the final laugh by sending her to jail. Even in death, Jim was still making life miserable for Brooke.
Adam phoned Derek to find out if his men had any leads on where Camille might be hiding out. When Adam learned that the police had turned up no new leads, Adam flipped his lid. He might have rattled off a barrage of insults had Hayley not burst into the room huffing and puffing. Hayley frantically asked her father if he'd sent one of his business associates to Holidays to sign acquisition papers. Adam dipped his head and told Hayley that he'd been so preoccupied with finding Camille that he'd completely forgotten about their deal. Adam assured Hayley that he'd get on the project immediately. Immediately wasn't soon enough. Hayley told her father that someone was at Holidays signing the papers even as they spoke. A wild card turned up to help Hayley save the say. Albert, the actor formerly known as Axel Green, had been clued into a butler position that had opened up at Chandler Mansion. Hayley knew that Albert had done a great job playing Axel and asked him if he might be able to play a high-powered business mogul. Adam had no idea who Axel Green was or who Albert was for that matter. In fact, he was otherwise clueless about Janet and Trevor's courtship. That aside, Adam trusted his daughter's feeling and agreed to let Albert pose as the buyer.
In an empty courtroom, Keith practiced his opening statement. His remarks, which included telling the jury members how the word justice had been derived, showed that he was very well educated. Normally that might be a plus, but not so in a criminal case. Jack had entered the courtroom and overheard Keith's remarks. The District Attorney worried that the opening statement might be a little too much for the jury to digest. He urged his assistant to take the statement down a notch so that the jury would "feel smart." Keith decided that he'd run home and wash up and work on revising his opening statements. No sooner had Keith left and Erica showed up. Erica walked down the aisle towards Jack like, if you'll pardon the expression, a woman on a mission. Erica told Jack that she'd "forgot something" important. "I forgot that you never once lied to me," Erica said in what would be the first part of a very long soliloquy. Erica also claimed that she'd forgotten that she doesn't know everything. She found it suiting that she was standing in a court of law to confess what she believed were her crimes against Jack. Erica felt like a fool for believing Mike's lies. "There's no excuse for what I did," Erica sighed. "I implore you to find it in your heart to forgive me." In any other situation, Jack might have been satisfied with hearing Erica admit that she was wrong. This time, however, hearing say that she was sorry failed to make an impression on him. Before Erica could continue her plea, Tad and Stuart showed up. Tad told Jack that the police were requiring him to get Jack's approval before they would release their file on the investigation into Scott's electrocution. Erica told Tad that his timing was bad and that Jack would have to get back to him later. Jack didn't share Erica's sense of urgency. He escorted Tad to the phones to handle the matter of getting the files released. Stuart lagged behind and told Erica that he was sorry for always interrupting her private moments with the men in her life. Of course he was referring to the way in which he and Scott had barged in on Erica and Mike's pseudo-romantic interlude at the cabin. Erica asked Stuart to forget all about what he'd seen. She even went as far as to suggest that what she Mike were doing was a matter of national security. "We were working undercover," Erica whispered. "Well you were still on top of the covers when I walked in," Stuart grinned. "But who knows... In a couple of minutes you could have been under the covers!" Tad cleared his throat from the doorway, signaling that he and Jack had returned. It was too late as Jack had already heard what Stuart had said. Tad grabbed Stuart and started to lead him out of the courtroom. "You're welcome at my cabin anytime," Stuart called out. "You and whoever!" Erica was dying on the inside. She scrambled to do damage control. Jack refused to believe that Stuart had made up a story about catching Erica and Mike having sex. Erica insisted that she and Mike did not have sex. She later confessed that she'd gotten close to going all the way with Mike, but only because she truly believed that she was going to be killed. "I don't care any more," Jack grumbled. Erica took Jack's utterance to be a sign that he was ready to work out their problems. Erica hugged her fiancé and was confused by Jack's failure to return the embrace. Jack clarified his previous statement in one swift blow. "I'm through with you," he stated calmly. Erica shook her head. She told Jack that he couldn't be serious about wanting to end their relationship. "Erica, my love, I mean it with all my heart." One by one the court began to fill with spectators and attorneys. Erica walked towards the back of the courtroom with tears in her eyes. She turned back to look at Jack. She tearfully turned back around and raced out of the courtroom. Jack sat down in a chair and stroked his brow. He drifted off several times just as court was convening. The jury filed into the room with Ryan being the last one to enter. Brooke's face froze. She looked at Ryan and then turned around to find Dimitri.
Lee met with Marian at McKay's and told her that he'd worried about her all night. Marian joked that she should wear an "I Survived Adam Chandler" T-shirt. Lee laughed to himself and told Marian that she doesn't realize how funny her joke actually was. Marian admired a shark's tooth necklace that Lee wore around his neck. Lee explained that he'd caught a tiger shark while fishing off of the Great Barrier Reef. Across the room, Stuart and Tad sat down at another table. Lee noticed them enter and became very nervous. He told Marian that he had a job interview, tossed down a wad of cash on the table, and carefully moved towards the door. "I'm used to eating alone," Marian said sadly as her companion walked away. Tad and Stuart looked over the items that had been collected at the crime scene. One of the objects was an odd looking shark's tooth... Tad caught Stuart staring in Marian's direction. He urged Stuart to talk to Marian, but Stuart claimed that Marian didn't want to talk to him. Tad rolled his eyes and told Stuart that Marian would probably tell him a different story. Stuart tried to say that working on tracking down Scott's attacker was more important, but Tad wasn't about to let business get in the way of pleasure. Besides, he wanted to drop by the courthouse to offer Brooke his support. Stuart slowly walked over to Marian's table. Marian asked Stuart it he wanted to "sit down or something." Stuart told Marian that Tad had wanted him to tell her something.
Back at Holidays, the buyer became antsy when Hayley didn't return within a few minutes. When she returned with Albert, the man accused Hayley and Mateo of trying to create a bidding war to raise the purchase price. Albert refused to engage in a makeshift auction. He announced that he would beat the other buyer's final bid by ten percent. That said and done, Albert signed the papers and became the new owner of Holidays.
Mike managed to finagle a way to get the cage door open, but when he stepped outside the guard dog started growling ferociously. He hurried back inside the cage and decided to take another approach---talking the dog to sleep! It actually worked. Big Vic became bored by Mike's tales of adventure and his love of Erica. When the dog dozed off, Mike slipped out of the cage and headed for the door. A loud buzz impeded his progress. A pair of headlights lit up the far side of the warehouse. Sitting in a forklift, Erica warned Mike that she would not let him escape so easily. "You cost me the love of my life," She growled. "And now you are gonna pay!"
Even from the very beginning, Marian and Stuart's relationship has been plagued by awkward moments. Their encounter at McKay's continued the pattern. Marian repeated her offer for Stuart to pull up a chair, but Stuart replied that he would only join Marian if she really wanted him to sit with her. The next uncomfortable moment came when Stuart announced that he and Scott would be staying with Adam for a while after Scott's release from the hospital. Marian worried that Adam would "sink his hooks" deeper into Stuart. Stuart, meanwhile, kicked himself for bringing up Adam's name. Marian offered Stuart a glass of water. As she handed it to him, their hands gently brushed. Stuart quickly pulled his hand away. Marian thought that Stuart was pulling away because he was disgusted to touch her. What Stuart was really thinking about was how soft Marian's skin was. The waitress wandered by and cast the pair a slightly evil stare. She wanted them to order something to eat or hit the road. Neither Marian nor Stuart wanted to leave, of course they didn't tell each other that. Marian asked the waitress to brew her a fresh pot of coffee and Stuart asked for a pitcher of water. Both figured that they would have more than enough time to talk while they downed the surplus of beverages. Stuart wanted to tell Marian that he loved her. He was too shy and probably too worried that he'd be rejected to actually go through with his confession. Marian watched the way that Stuart struggled to think of something to say. She took his uneasiness as a sign that he didn't want to be in her company. Stuart, of course, had no idea that he was giving Marian that impression---that was the last thing that he wanted to do! Janet wandered into the restaurant to pick up some sandwiches for Trevor. Stuart saw her enter and told Marian that he needed to ask Janet something. Stuart scampered over to Janet and informed her that he needed her advice. He asked if someone should "always, always tell the truth." Stuart gave Janet a very brief synopsis of his relationship with Marian. The brief recap was not enough to allow Janet to offer an objective and insightful answer to Stuart's question. In fact, Janet wasn't really sure what Stuart wanted from her. Janet had heard Stuart mention that Tad had told him to tell Marian how he felt. Knowing that Tad had never steered her wrong, Janet urged Stuart to take Tad's advice and tell Marian the truth. Stuart thanked her and returned to the table. Marian became antsy by having to wait around for Stuart. Stuart finally blurted out that he was ready to tell Marian how he felt about her. Marian spared Stuart from having to find the words. His actions and uneasiness had already made her see that Stuart hated being around her. She told him that she would "no longer subject him to [her] awful company." She stood up and walked away from the table.
Lee hovered in the doorway just as Mateo and Hayley were congratulating Albert on his new restaurant. Lee was disappointed to learn that his good pals were no longer running Holidays. He told the couple that he really needed a job. Mateo assured the man that had they still been in charge, they would have hired him on the spot. Knowing that she technically was still running the show at Holidays, Hayley commented that she might be able to talk Albert into hiring Lee. Albert agreed to look over Lee's resume and consider him for a position. Lee softly noted that he did not have access to a computer to type up a resume. Albert smiled and told Lee that he could stop by at any time to submit his resume for consideration. Lee was no longer the soft-spoken gentleman that he had been in previous encounters with Mateo and Hayley. He raised his voices and hollered that he needed the job---Now! He quickly composed himself and apologized for the outburst. Explaining that he'd been hitting the pavement day after day to find a job, Lee worried that his unemployment would compromise his ability to pay his medical bills. Hayley looked to Albert and asked him if he consider hiring Lee, who they still knew as John Lee, without a resume. Matt suggested that Lee could be the new bartender. Albert agreed and hired Lee on the spot. He was unsure how he'd use him, but he assured him that he'd have something to do. Hayley told Albert that he would be best served by hiring all of Holidays former employees to work for him. She then offered her own help for a few weeks. The offer sounded bells for Mateo had he had yet another flashback-slash-vision of his wife's death. Mateo refused to let his wife work at Holidays. He reminded her that they had sold Holidays and that that meant she was no longer running things. Hayley tried to give Albert some ideas on celebrating Independence Day, but Mateo yanked Hayley away before she could say anything more. Lee smiled evilly as he concocted a way to celebrate the holiday---complete with "fireworks."
In court, Brooke leaned over to Trevor and demanded that he stop the trial. Trevor thought that Brooke was suffering from a really bad case of the jitters, but Brooke warned him that if he didn't derail the trial they'd all be in "big trouble." In the back of the courtroom, Tad asked Dimitri if he knew anything about how Ryan had gotten on the jury. Dimitri told Tad to "leave it alone," but Tad knew that Brooke could end up in hot water if anyone learned about Ryan's connection to the case. Trevor asked to approach the bench and once there he told the judge that he wanted to make a motion to have the jury sequestered. On short notice, that was the best idea Trevor could come up with to buy Brooke some time. The judge ordered a ten-minute recess. Brooke immediately rose to her feet and stormed to the back of the courtroom. She ordered Dimitri to follow her to a nearby room. A court-appointed officer escorted Ryan to the men's room and warned him not to talk to anyone he might encounter in the restroom. The reason, of course, was that jurors are not allowed to discuss the case with anyone. Soon after the guard left, Tad entered the bathroom and confronted Ryan. Ryan insisted that he'd been chosen at random---just like anyone else---to sit on Brooke's trial. Tad didn't buy it. He knew that Dimitri was involved somehow. How, though, he wasn't sure. Ryan took another approach at silencing Tad. He commented that Tad should be happy to have someone on Brooke's side sitting on the jury. Tad warned Ryan that if his spot on the jury in any way negatively impacted Brooke, he'd be hunted down and "nailed." Dimitri answered Brooke's questions much like Ryan had answered Tad's. Dimitri claimed that Ryan had been summoned to service just like any other potential juror. Since Ryan lived with Dimitri and Edmund, two material witnesses in the trial, there was more than a conflict of interest for him. "Jury tampering is a serious crime," Brooke said forgetting about the serious crime with which she was charged. Dimitri hadn't forgotten and told Brooke that if she relaxed and let the trial run its course everything would turn out okay. Dimitri claimed that he didn't want Brooke to make a decision that could ruin the rest of her life. Nearly everyone in town was ready to convict Brooke and Ryan would "level the playing field," he insisted. Trevor entered the room and told Brooke that he had made his motion to have the jury sequestered. He knew that something wasn't quite right in spite of Dimitri's claim that everything was "copacetic." Brooke shushed Dimitri and faced her attorney. She told Trevor that she knew one of the jurors. Trevor laughed nervously and announced that they were all going to end up in jail. Everyone filed back into the courtroom and readied for the judge's ruling on sequestration. Tad blasted Dimitri for tampering with the jury. Brooke, however, noted a double standard on Tad's part. Tad was picking apart Dimitri for trying to help, but when Phoebe was caught lunching with the judge's wife, Tad gave her a kiss. Court was gaveled back into session and Brooke learned that the judge had denied Trevor's request to sequester the jury. Trevor announced that he had new evidence and cautiously proceeded to tell the judge that his client knew one of the jurors. Judge Foster was furious that no one had said anything sooner. Belinda informed the judge that Brooke had not been present during jury selection and had not known that Ryan was seated on the jury until she saw Ryan sitting in the jury box. The judge summoned Ryan before him and blasted him for not telling anyone that he knew Brooke. Ryan claimed that the subject had never come up during the questioning, but that was no excuse. Ryan was immediately dismissed as a juror. Judge Foster asked Ryan if he had discussed the case with anyone---with a special interest placed on his place of employment. Ryan swore that he had not talked to any members of the media about the case. The judge then asked Ryan if he had spoken to anyone not tied to the media. Dimitri rose and announced that he and Ryan had discussed the case. Keith leapt to his feet and asked Judge Foster to immediately issue a bench warrant for Dimitri's arrest!
Erica drove the forklift wildly around the warehouse. She finally got the knack of steering the awkward little vehicle and managed to chase down Mike. She pinned Mike against the wall and told him that she would make him pay for lying to her. Mike claimed that he'd been injured when Erica attacked him with the forklift, but Mike had turned into the little boy who cried wolf. In short, Erica no longer believed anything that Mike had to say. Erica called Mike "a con" who had lied to her from the very moment he returned to Pine Valley. Mike determined that Erica wasn't really upset about how he's lied to her but rather because Jack had refused to take her back. Erica turned and walked away leaving Mike to find a way to free himself from the forklift's grasp. Mike struggled to free himself and limped after Erica. Again he claimed to be seriously injured, but Erica still didn't believe him. Mike collapsed the ground and asked Erica to call the paramedics. Erica rolled her eyes and told Mike that the show was over and told him that he could get off the ground. Erica noticed a pool of liquid near Mike's hand. She leaned in for a closer look and realized that Mike was bleeding.
First an apology about yesterday's recap. The recap was uploaded at around 7pm Eastern yesterday and many of you wrote to say that you had, in fact read the summary. For some still unknown reason, several pages---including this one---were reverted back to their status from teh day before and it appeared as those the recap was never posted. I became aware of this problem today and quickly reuploaded the files. I apologize for this glitch.
Time seemed to come to an abrupt halt. No one in the courtroom reacted to Keith's demand for a bench warrant to be issued. Wondering, perhaps, if no one had heard him, Keith repeated his request to have Dimitri arrested for jury tampering. Trevor objected to the motion, arguing that it would prejudice the court against the defense. Belinda argued that Keith was implying that the defense was somehow in collusion with Dimitri and Ryan. Keith stated that he had never implied such a thing. Jack broke his silence and announced that he believes that Dimitri acted alone in the matter. The judge wondered why Dimitri would involve himself in the case. "Mr. Marick," Keith sighed, "is obviously in love with the defendant. It was now Brooke's turn to leap from her seat and speak out. Brooke said that she resented the implication that she and Dimitri were having an affair. Belinda ordered her client to sit down and remain quiet. Trevor noted that even if Brooke and Dimitri were involved---which they were not---there was still no proof that Dimitri had tampered with the jury in any way. The judge summoned Dimitri to the front of the room and asked him what aspects of the trial he and Ryan had discussed. Dimitri shrugged slightly and guessed that he had mentioned in passing that Ryan should act responsibly and impartially. Keith was outraged that Dimitri would tell such a boldface lie. Keith informed that court that Dimitri had toyed with the case in the past---once at the gallery when he stated that he'd been the one to shoot Jim and a second time when he tried to help Brooke flee town on his private jet. Tad jumped into the mess and quickly corrected Keith about the trip, stating that Jack had okayed the trip so that Brooke could be near her injured son. Ryan wondered what was going to happen to him. The judge stated that he had "half a mind to find [Ryan] guilty of attempted subversion of justice," a charge that would have carried a ten thousand dollar fine. The judge, for some reason, decided not to charge Ryan. Instead he warned him to be more thoughtful the next time he is called for jury duty. Judge Foster must have been in a really good mood because he did not issue a warrant for Dimitri's arrest either. He announced that he wanted Brooke to receive a fair trial---one that ran smoothly and had no snags that could lead to appeals. The judge announced that the trial would resume in the morning with a new alternate juror. Jack pulled Dimitri aside and blasted him for "playing God." He wondered how many lives Dimitri would have to ruin before he stopped interfering. Dimitri snapped that Jack had also done his fair share of destroying lives. Jack felt that he had done no such thing and told Dimitri that he should be thankful that Judge Foster didn't have him thrown in jail. "That's quite an observation from a man as two dimensional as the cardboard the cleaner puts in my shirts," Dimitri snapped. Dimitri argued that Jack was not in a place to lecture on how not to react to tense situations. When Mike returned to town, Jack coldly turned his back on the woman he loved. Now, Dimitri concluded, Erica was riding off into the sunset with Mike. "I'm the one who took the horse out of the barn and saddled him up," Jack remarked, perhaps noting that he was the one who had made Mike so accessible to Erica. Dimitri felt no pity for Jack's inability to forgive "I'm the one who took the horse out of the barn and saddled him up," Jack remarked, perhaps noting that he was the one who had made Mike so accessible to Erica. Dimitri felt no pity for Jack's inability to forgive Erica for trusting Mike. After all, Erica had stabbed Dimitri with a letter opener--and he'd forgiven her! Jack left to discuss matters with Keith and Dimitri headed over to Brooke to offer her a ride home. Tad intercepted the offer and informed Dimitri that Brooke did not need a chauffeur. As Tad and Dimitri bickered back and forth, Brooke shook her head and walked away. The two men scampered after her leaving Belinda and Trevor to wonder if the antics Brooke's friends will turn out to be the nails in her coffin.
Liza strolled around the park watching the children at play. Any casual observer could see the maternal instincts blossoming inside of Liza. She smiled happily as she watch two young boys play ball. Tim and Amanda raced through the park. Tim offered to get Amanda some Italian Ice. While he was gone, Amanda played with several of her beanbag critters. Liza leaned against a stone pillar and watched as Amanda played. She slowly started walking towards the young girl and asked her if she had names for her toys. Amanda recognized Liza as "the lady from the television station" and began conversing freely with her. The topic changed from Amanda's toys to her mother and father's wedding. Now that the topic of families was on the table, Liza began asking Amanda some questions about her relationship with Janet. In any other circumstance, it would be the child who would exercise their curiosity by asking an adult questions about why the sky is blue or where babies come from. The roles were now reversed, but the innocence was still there. Liza wondered if Amanda loved her Janet because she lets Amanda do whatever she wants. Amanda chuckled and mused that Liza mustn't know much about being a mother. Liza raised her eyebrows and admitted that she has had no experience raising children. Amanda told Liza that she could try to be the same kind of mother that her mother, meaning Marian, had been. Liza smiled softly and told Amanda that her mother had never been a role model. Amanda correctly assumed that Marian had been the type of mother that let Liza do whatever she wanted. Janet arrived a few minutes later and Tim returned with Amanda's Italian Ice. While the kids dashed off to play on the swings, Janet and Liza had a heart-to-heart conversation. Liza asked Janet if there's ever been a time when she had had her doubts about having a child. "Never," Janet replied strongly. Liza's questions and her comments led Janet to wonder if Liza was considering getting pregnant. This time Liza opted not to hide behind her claim that she was working on a story for WRCW. She told Janet that she wants a child of her own. That brought up a few awkward questions about Liza and Adam's relationship and if Liza had someone new in her life that she wanted to have a child with. Janet watched Liza carefully and told Liza that she believes that she is definitely ready to become a mother. That statement, as insignificant as it may have seemed, proved to be just what Liza needed to hear. Trevor made an appearance and the Dillon family decided to hit the waterpark. They invited Liza to join them, but Liza said that she had an appointment to keep. Liza dashed back to WRCW and phoned the fertility clinic. She'd taken a test that they'd given her and determined that she was ovulating. She begged the clinic to make an appointment for her so that she could make her first attempt at getting pregnant.
Mateo and Hayley returned to Wildwind. Matt told his wife that he was not angry at her for wanting to help Albert, but he reminded Hayley that they were no longer in charge of operating the restaurant. He sarcastically noted that the sale agreement did not state that they would remain on board as employees. Hayley noted that her offer to help Albert was out of kindness, not some contractual obligation. Mateo was annoyed by what he called Hayley's "stupid and pointless questions." Hayley was floored by her husband's bad attitude. She asked him, "who are you?" because Mateo was not acting like the man she'd married. Mateo rebutted that Hayley was not the woman he married because that woman would never doubt or question his judgment. Hayley was tiring of Mateo's ultimatums and orders. She had agreed to leave their apartment and now she'd agreed to sell the business in which she'd poured her heart and soul. Hayley begged Mateo to tell her what was burdening him. Matt inched closer to telling Hayley about his visions, but he backed off before spilling the beans. Mateo demanded that Hayley trust him and when his wife's lips started to form another question, Mateo snapped. He asked his wife why she no longer has faith in him. "Because she's tired of being treated like a freakin' doormat," Ryan voice replied from the doorway. Mateo certainly didn't want to seal with Ryan. He ordered Ryan to hit the road, but Ryan wasn't going to budge. Before the two men came to blows, Hayley jumped in the middle and begged them not to fight. Mateo agreed to back off and asked Hayley to go to their bedroom with him. Hayley turned her back and announced that she was staying put. Mateo walked away and Ryan was left to help Hayley cope with what had just gone down. Hayley insisted that Mateo wasn't always so unbearable. Ryan knew that the accident at the apartment had been the cause of Matt's problems. He put his hands on Hayley's shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. Suddenly, Ryan flew to the ground. Hayley turned around to see what had happened and came face to face with Gillian.
Mike was raced to Pine Valley Hospital. Once there he was given the once over by Jake. Erica fumbled around for an explanation for Mike's injury. She claimed that he was accidentally stabbed. When asked by what, Erica quietly told the truth: a forklift. Jake wanted to know how Mike could have been accidentally stabbed by a forklift, but he didn't have time to ask questions. Erica called Myrtle and asked her to come to the hospital to sit with her. Myrtle managed to ease Erica's concerns by assuring her that Mike was too strong to have his life taken so easily. After the initial examination was complete, Jake exited the cubicle and brought Erica up to date on Mike's condition. He told her that the forklift's prong had missed nearly all of Mike's vital organs---nearly all of them. Jake announced that Mike would be taken to surgery to repair some damage to his spleen as well as to prevent the wound from becoming infected. Erica was allowed to see Mike before he was wheeled off to surgery. Even in a wounded state Mike still managed to remain a conniver. He asked Erica to lean close to him so that he could whisper something in her ear. His reasoning was that he had so many things to say to her ---and he wanted to make sure that he didn't die on the operating table without having said those things. When Erica leaned over, Mike grabbed her by the back of the head and began kissing her! Erica reciprocated the kiss unaware that Jack had come into the room and caught them in the act. Jack said nothing and made no sound. His face, however, showed that his heart had been broken. Erica eventually pulled away and claimed that Mike's decision to kiss her must have been a result of being high on painkillers. Mike wondered what Erica's excuse was for kissing him back. He never got the chance to hear her explanation. Jake and several orderlies entered the room and wheeled Mike off to surgery.
Outside Brooke's house, Tad and Dimitri got into another argument over Dimitri's insistence that he be allowed to visit Brooke. Tad blasted Dimitri for trying to sabotage Brooke's life. Brooke thanked Tad for his concern, but assured him that she could handle Dimitri herself. She asked Tad to return home and then invited Dimitri into her house. Dimitri thanked Brooke for not listening to what Tad had said about him. Brooke explained that she actually had listened to her ex-husband's advice. She agreed that Dimitri was a bad influence on her. She thanked Dimitri for his friendship, but added, "you're killing me!" Brooke excused herself to answer the phone. It wasn't established who had called, but the subject of the call was a man whom Brooke knew well. "I'll kill him!" Brooke screamed as she began throwing things across the room.
Tad dropped by Liza's office at WRCW to tell her about the manner in which Dimitri had helped Ryan wiggle onto the jury in Brooke's case. Liza said that she wasn't interested in Brooke or Ryan's doings because she was ovulating. The frankness of Liza's remark caught Tad off guard. Liza explained she was going to go back to the fertility clinic for her first attempt at getting pregnant. Tad wanted to go, but Liza reminded him that he had to audition weathergirls for The Cutting Edge. Liza spoke endlessly about Donor 517. She recited his biographical information to the best of her ability. Tad wanted to be there for Liza since he, by default, was one of her closest friends. Liza told Tad to hang around the station because someone needed to run things while she was gone. Tad asked Liza to "pull the plug" on the station's broadcast and pretend to have technical difficulties. Liza chuckled, but assured him that feigning broadcast glitches wouldn't work. Outside in the hallway, Camille peered through the slats of the blinds at Tad and Liza. Rudy dashed into the office to tell Tad that the weathergirl candidates had arrived---and that there was definitely an air of cattiness surrounding them. Jake appeared a few minutes later with a gift for Liza---a statuette of fertility god he'd found in a nearby shop. Tad teased his brother for being superstitious and mused that he might has well have sacrificed a chicken. If Tad had to stick around the station, he felt comfort in knowing that his younger brother could accompany Liza to the fertility clinic. Jake remarked that accompanying Liza was the least he could do since, after all, he was going to be the baby's godfather. Tad's mouth dropped open and he scrambled to find out why he'd been passed over for the honor. Jake assured Tad that he'd explain things to him later.
Whomever had upset Brooke did a bang-up job. Brooke called the still unnamed man "evil and vindictive." The evil one's identity was revealed when he chose to make an appearance at Brooke's front door. Adam called out to Brooke from the outside. Brooke beelined for the door and let it swing open wildly. "You son of a bitch!" Brooke screamed as she slapped Adam across the face. Brooke blasted Adam as "the most selfish" and "unthinking" person she knows. It still was not determined what Adam had done to draw Brooke's wrath. And Adam, of course, claimed to have no idea what he could have done wrong. Finally, Brooke's name-calling drew to a close as she revealed the reason why she was so enraged. According to the phone call from Dixie that had rang through just before Adam arrived, Adam had told Jamie about Brooke's legal woes. Adam denied speaking to Jamie. He stopped mid-sentence, thought for a few seconds, and then wondered if a discussion he had had with his son, Adam Junior, had somehow found its way to Jamie ears. Brooke was amazed that Adam hadn't considered that Junior and Jamie would share any secrets or stories that they'd heard with each other. "You stole his innocence," Brooke snapped. Adam rationalized that he hadn't been the one to do damage to Jamie---Brooke had. The moment that Jim Thomasen walked through Brooke's front door, that was the time when Adam believed that Jamie's innocence had been stolen. "You should've thought [of what would happen to Jamie] before you shot your fiancé in the back!" Adam chirped. Adam told Brooke that he believes that Camille is out to hurt his family and that he worries that Junior will be next. In that Brooke and Adam shared a bond. Brooke, like Adam, would go to any length to protect her son. Brooke wondered what Jim would have done to her son had she not taken his life in the gallery. Would Jamie had turned up in some disgusting photographs displayed on the Internet? Perhaps Jim would have sweet-talked Junior into joining Jamie in the pictures. There were any number of possibilities. Adam conceded that if presented with the same situation, he probably would have killed Jim too. Now that Brooke's secret was out of the bag, Adam wanted Brooke to call Dixie on his behalf and urge her to return to Pine Valley so that he could keep an eye on Adam Junior. Brooke would also get a chance, Adam rationalized, to explain things to Jamie. Brooke refused to assist Adam. She told her ex-husband that he'd have to handle the matter himself. She couldn't get rid of a nagging feeling that Adam had planned on having Jamie find out about his mother's problems. After Adam left without the assistance he'd sought, Brooke began to cry. Dimitri tried his best to comfort her, but it did no good. "I took a human life," Brooke sobbed, for the first time realizing the magnitude of what she'd done. Dimitri argued that Jim was hardly "human," but the argument did little to soothe Brooke. "He was [human," Brooke continued. "What have I done?"
Back at Chandler Mansion, Adam phoned his attorney, Barry Shire, and asked for his immediate help. He ordered Barry to do whatever he had to in order to have Junior return to Pine Valley. "Dixie will never know what hit her," Adam cackled.
Looking up from the ground, Ryan demanded Gillian to explain why she'd sucker-punched him in the gut. Mateo returned to the patio and also wondered what was going on. Gillian directed her attention and nearly forgot about Hayley and Ryan. She told Matt that "infidelity" was taking place because Ryan had had his hands "all over Hayley." Hayley bit her lower lip to fight of laughing. Mateo saw his wife's expression and began laughing. Gillian didn't enjoy being laughed at. He head flapped back and forth as se tried to determine what was so funny. Mateo explained that there was no way that Ryan could have been groping Hayley, as Gillian claimed, because Hayley would not have tolerated it. Ryan assured his wife that she had nothing to be jealous of. Hayley and Mateo left the newlyweds to have some private time. Gillian apologized for overreacting and chalked up her edginess to her pending weathergirl audition. Gillian was to audition later in the day and she hoped to have Ryan by her side to coach her through the audition. Ryan got a phone call from the clinic and learned that there had been some troubles with a cooling device that had stored his sperm. He was needed at the clinic immediately to make another donation. Gillian was amazed that her husband chose donating sperm over coaching her. "Tank on your own," Ryan snapped. "No coaching will help you." Ryan stormed away. After Gillian left the patio, Mateo and Hayley returned. Matt told Hayley that he needed to tell her something. He never got close to telling his wife about his visions. Instead, he told Hayley that he was sorry for the way he'd been acting lately. "[Everything I've done is to protect you," he said. "I will not let anyone hurt you." In the shrubbery, Camille listened to the conversation. She wanted to speak to Hayley, but she knew that that was impossible as long as Mateo was around. Mateo needed to go back inside for a few minutes and that provided Camille with the window she'd been searching for. Camille slipped through the bushes and headed towards Hayley. Unlike her husband and father, Hayley didn't fear Camille. Camille acted quite peculiarly; her usual nervousness paled in comparison to the frantic manner in which she spoke, breathed, and moved. Camille apologized over and over for how Hayley's family members had been hurt. Something about the way in which she said it appeared, well, unusual. In the past she'd commented that she was sorry that people had gotten hurt and that she was in no way involved. Now, however, she changed her position. While she was still sorry, on several occasions she appeared to hint that she knew that the "accidents" were going to occur. Hayley believed Camille. Camille announced that she was leaving town and asked Hayley to say goodbye to Stuart and Tad for her. Camille bid Hayley farewell and said that she was leaving town. Before Camille could depart, Mateo returned. He ordered Hayley to get inside the house and to call the police. Mateo moved towards Camille, but Hayley stepped in front him. She yelled for Camille to run and Camille did just that. Hayley begged her husband not to phone the authorities, but Mateo felt compelled to do so. Matt acknowledged that Camille might not be the one who'd been causing all of the problems, but he felt that she was somehow connected to them.
Back at WCRW, at least half a dozen teenage girls waited on the set of The Cutting Edge for their weathergirl auditions. Kelsey experienced some car troubles and almost missed her audition. She was chosen first by her Uncle Tad to kick off the auditions. Kelsey hadn't expected to go first and perhaps her car troubles were a subliminal extension of her nervousness. As she walked towards the weather map, she tripped and nearly fell flat on her face. The other girls laughed at her, but Kelsey nonchalantly shrugged it off. Kelsey gave a decent audition for someone without any formal weather training. She used humor and Kelsey-isms to make the weather more fun---with comments about bad hair weather systems. When it was Gillian's turn, her mind was obviously elsewhere. While trying to describe a weather system, Gillian commented, "There's sperm headed for the Northeast." Tad, Rudy, and Kelsey broke into laughter. Gillian had no idea what she'd said. Tad put Gillian out of her misery by ending the audition. Gillian begged Tad for another chance, but it did her no good. "I need money," Gillian whined. "I can't type, make coffee, or sell sperm to get money the way Ryan does." Tad's mouth gaped. He asked Gillian to repeat what she'd said. Gillian clarified that Ryan was donating sperm at the local fertility clinic. Tad recalled the description that Liza had given of donor 517 and dashed out the door.
Down at the clinic, Liza learned that the donor sperm had been accidentally thawed and that there was no sample to use in the insemination process. Liza began to panic. She knew that the window for conception lasted forty-eight hours at most. She worried that she'd miss her opportunity and have to wait another month. The nurse informed Liza that the donor had been contacted and that's he be making an "emergency deposit" within an hour or two. Liza wondered if she could meet the mystery donor, but the nurse quickly by the kibosh on that as she cited the clinic's anonymity policies. Liza was forced to sit in a small cubicle while she waited for her donor to arrive. Liza began to pace nervously for several minutes. When Ryan arrived, his mind focused on his fight with Gillian rather than his task at hand. Even with the help of numerous "girly magazines" that Liza had instructed the nurse to give to Ryan, Ryan was unable to get his mind off of his problems. After what seemed like an eternity, Ryan burst out of the cubicle and announced that he'd finished.
At Stuart's cabin, Camille hurried to pack up her belongings. She heard a noise and quickly jumped back. Lee stood before her. Camille should have been surprised to see her "late" father standing before her, but she wasn't. "It's over, daddy," she said sternly.
