08-09-2017 (Wednesday) The Exchange

Kayla wonders if Tripp is going to turn Joey in for killing Ava now; she as Steve how they could have missed all the signs.  Steve says Tripp really made him think he was over it… that they were a family.  She as him if he thinks Tripp is going to tell; Joey comes out and says, if Tripp doesn’t, he is going to.  Kayla tries to talk him out of it, but Joey has his mind made up.  Steve says he is going to stand behind Joe; Joey says he doesn’t want to live with it anymore – in fact, he says he can’t.  He tells his mom his life is already ruined.  Joey says he has to go; he has a shift at the Pub… he tells his mom he will think about it before turning himself in, but says he isn’t going to change his mind.  He leaves; Kayla screams at Steve, asking why he didn’t try to stop him.  Steve tells Kayla he didn’t think he should.

Justin talks to Sonny; he says another suspect would be helpful.  Sonny tells his dad Paul may have found a lead; Justin insists he tell him what it is.  Sonny tells him that his uncle Victor may be behind Deimos’ murder; Justin gets angry and says that bastard is not going to get away with it.  Justin asks how his mom is doing; from his father’s response, he sense he is still very much in love with Adrian.  After a little pressing, Justin admits so – (like we didn’t know).  He says its been nice spending time with her again; Sonny asks if he is going to tell his mother.  Justin smiles.  (Adrian knows, but wants to be with Justin; I wonder if Bonnie is going to mess that up for her.)

Brady frets over whether or not he an actually trust Nicole; he gets so upset thinking about it, he pours himself a drink.  He replays Nicole telling Eric “this is our little secret” over in his head; meanwhile, Nicole is telling Eric thank you for helping her in the Square.  He says that’s what friends do; she says she is glad they are friends again.  He tells her he is there for her, whatever she needs; she looks slightly uncomfortable though.  Brady sips on his brandy; he sits the glass down when Paul comes in, but Paul notices it.  Brady denies that it is his; he says Victor must have left it there.  Nicole tells Eric she owes him so much and she feels bad for how horribly she treated him; he says they were both suffering.  He says they got to the other side and now they are focused on the future; Nicole says seeing Holly today made things so much harder.  He suggests making a recording of her singing a lullaby for Holly; Nicole says she needs to see her.  Eric says he may have an idea.  Brady tells Paul that he believes his grandfather; he says he is beginning to think that Sonny did it, himself.  Paul gets a little upset, but then realizes Brady is hurting; he asks again about the drink.  Brady gets defensive at first, but then admits he poured it, but says he didn’t drink it.  He tells him he suspects that Eric and Nicole are having an affair; Paul tells him he has to be jumping to conclusions.  He tells him about seeing Nicole walking out of Eric’s room (but doesn’t mention what she said).  Paul says he should talk to her about it before he reaches any further conclusion.  Brady pours out his glass, and tries to call Nicole at the Center; he is told she isn’t there.  He asks for Eric and finds out he isn’t there either; he leaves no message, and throws the glass against the wall.

Eric offers to take pictures of Nicole; he has her sit down on the bed and takes dozens of shots, as if she is modeling for him.  It gets annoying, actually, that he doesn’t stop, even as they keep talking.  She compliments him again, saying he still has the same kind soul inside he has always had.  He smiles.  She leaves, thanking him again for taking the pictures; Brady stands out in the hall. “Marlena” (Hattie) goes to see her friend Bonnie, in prison; she tells her today is the day she gets to start living her life.  She asks Hattie how she plans on getting rid of Adrian; Hattie tells her she’s already done it.  She tells her she is in the trunk of her car and they are going to pull the “old switcharoo.”  They laugh about Adrian sitting there, in prison, while she is out there living her life.  Bonnie asks how they are going to pull it off; Hattie tells her to report to the kitchen for duty like usual and then… she whispers in Bonnie’s ear and they both giggle.  One of the security guards comes in and asks Hattie if she has what she promised him; she says she does, but he better make sure the kitchen door is open.  He mentions getting in trouble with Hope for helping her last time and says he is nervous he might crack under pressure; she tells him not to worry one little bit, because “come bed time every dame is going to be accounted for.”  Bonnie, now as “Adrian” walks in the door with Hattie, laughing and hollering, “we did it!”  “I’m free!”  They hug.  The guard tells Adrian to wake up, slapping her upside the face; Adrian wakes up and asks where she is.  The guard says the same place you’ve been for the past ten years, Lockhart.  Statesville Prison.”  Adrian asks, “What?”

08-08-2017 (Tuesday) The Breakup

Rafe knocks on Eli’s door; he tells him they need to talk.  Eli is just fresh out of the shower, but Rafe won’t wait; he pushes his way in.  Hope talks to Jen on the phone; she says she is happy Abby is doing better and says she and Rafe are not giving up on finding Deimos’ killer.  Angelica tells Hattie she needs her help to get rid of Adrian, today.  Rafe tells Eli he needs to know the terms of deal the FBI made with his brother before someone else gets hurt; he says the car that hit Abigail was meant for Dario and his family members could be next, including Gabi and Arianna.  Eli says he can’t tell Rafe anything, claiming he doesn’t know enough to tell him; Rafe gets angry and says fine, he will find out some other way, and he leaves.  Hope comes by Eli’s next; he says he can’t tell her anything either, but she pulls the “family” card and says Rafe is going to Mexico to confront some drug lord.  Eli gives in, telling her that the hit-n-run had nothing to do with drugs; it was the result of a counterfeit operation Dario is running, and his contact is someone in Salem, not Mexico.  He says he can't tell her anymore than that.

Hattie tells Angelica she needs Marlena’s phone back, “to get rid of John Black” and tells Angelika to call her later.  There are dozens of missed calls and messages from John; Hattie dials.  John and Paul come in to file a missing person’s report on Marlena, but just before they do, John receives “Marlena’s” call.  He anxiously goes to meet her in the park by the Square; he finds her by the bench, and hugs her, flowers in hand.  She is stiff in response; he asks what’s wrong.  She tells him when he didn’t get home on time last night, she just went out; says she went for a drive, to clear her head.  She goes on and on about all the times he has left her alone; he asks if they can have this conversation at home.  She says no; she tells him she is never going home again.  In fact, she says, she wants a divorce; he reminds her that they aren’t currently married.  She says they’ve been married and divorced so many times, she can’t keep it straight; she says she just wants out.  He tells her he isn’t leaving the home they built together; she says, “fine… I’ll move out.”  He drops the flowers.  He asks her what else she isn’t telling him; she says she needs romance, then proceeds to complain about his absence again.  He says this doesn’t sound like her; he says this isn’t the Marlena he knows.  Hattie says, “yeah, well she’s done, and now it’s ME, and my needs come first.”  John picks up the flowers and walks away.

Nicole asks Brady if his uncle was as mean to him as he was to her; Brady asks what Victor said to her.  She reiterates his feeling that the judge was right not to award her custody of Holly, and says he believes it’s only a matter of time before she betrays him with another man; Brady says that’s ridiculous, remarking that she would never hurt him that way, then asking, “would you?”  Maggie comes home from visiting Holly; Nicole says she has to get to work at the Center.  Brady tells Nicole to say hi to Eric for her; Maggie catches on that there was something more than “hello” behind that request.  Brady admits to her that he is suspecting this ‘service’ is the perfect excuse for Eric and Nicole to be together all day, every day.  Maggie asks why he doesn’t talk to Eric and Nicole about his suspicions; he tells Maggie he overheard their conversation the other day and asks Maggie to tell him what happened between them the other day.

Nicole walks through the Square; she sees Holly.  Her foster mother leaves the table to put money in the meter and Holly starts crying; the foster sister gets nervous.  Nicole asks if she can help; she picks up Holly and says, “mommy is here.”  Not real smart. The foster mom comes back and asks what’s going on; the daughter tells her this lady offered to help stop Holly from crying.  Nicole lays Holly back down; she starts to cry again.  The lady suddenly recognizes Nicole, asking, “don’t I know you?”  Eric happens by the table and hugs Nicole, calling her by a different name; he quickly ushers her away and asks if she was trying to violate the court order.  Maggie tells Brady he is doing their relationship a big disservice here, telling him he shouldn’t be suspecting that something is going on between Eric and Nicole.  Brady says he knows something is going on, because Nicole snuck out of the house today to go and see Eric.

Adrian and Lucas are in bed; he tells her he needs to get going because he told Jennifer he’d meet her at the hospital.  Adrian says she is keeping an eye on the Spectator for Jen; she gets a call from Angelika, who tells her to meet her at the Brady Pub in half an hour.  Angelika puts a vial of powder into a cup of coffee, or a latte; when she gets there, Adrian is gullible enough to drink it.  Angelika says they could at least try to get along, now that she’s moved back to Salem; Adrian questions why she moved back.  She says, if it’s because of Justin, he will never go for her; Adrian says she is going to tell Justin what Angelika is up to.  Angelica mocks her as she stands up from the table and falls down; Adrian gets back up and leaves in a huff.  Angelika follows shortly after and finds Adrian, passed out, in the alley; she wonders where Hattie is now.  Lucas sees John throwing his flowers in the garbage; he asks what’s going on.  John says it’s amazing how things can turn on a dime; he says sometimes, someone you love can turn into a total stranger.  He tells Lucas to hang onto Adrian; love is a precious gift.  Hattie meets Angelika and they begin to pick up Adrian to move her somewhere.

08-07-2017 (Monday) On Again, Off Again

Brady asks Victor what is wrong with him; he says he can’t believe he would negotiate Deimos’ murder and then let Sonny take the fall for it.  He admits that he hired Xander to kill Deimos; but, he says, things don’t always go the way you plan them.  Paul tells Sonny that he didn’t do it; he tells him who did it, is the bad news.  Sonny can’t believe his uncle would have killed Deimos; Paul explains, he didn’t do it personally, but hired Xander to take care of it.  Sonny is stunned; he says he doesn’t truly believe his uncle Vic would let him take the fall for this.  Victor tells Brady, Xander came to see him, having lost his key card; he asked if Deimos was dead, and Xander said “not yet” claiming it was too risky.  He wanted to renegotiate the terms; he wanted more money and a legitimate job at Titan.  Victor told him he proved his incompetence and called the deal off; he says Xander tried to leave, but his men grabbed him and held him in the Salem in overnight.  Victor swears he would never let Sonny sit in jail if Xander had accomplished his mission; he says he suspects that Sonny is actually guilty.  Sonny thanks Paul for all he has done to save him; Paul tells him he would do anything for him, and for their future.  They say they love each other and kiss; Paul says this is going to be over soon.  Brady tells Victor, he doesn’t believe that Sonny did it; he says the real killer is out there somewhere.  Victor tells him they need to find someone to pin the murder on.

Joey answers a call from Jade; he tells her he has to ask her a question and needs an honest answer.  He asks if Tripp thinks his mother killed Ava; in the on-call room, Tripp holds a knife to Kayla’s throat.  Steve tells Tripp to let Kayla go, calling him “son” – trip tells him not to call him that; he says he isn’t letting Kayla go until she confesses to killing his mother.  Steve insists he killed Kayla; Tripp says he knows that’s not true.  He says he knows Steve is covering for someone; Kayla screams, “okay, I did it.”  She says if he needs a confession, she will give him one; she says she killed Ava.  He wants details; Steve says that’s enough.  Joey comes in the room; he says he just talked to Jade.  He tells Tripp he is making a mistake; he says it wasn’t his mom, he says, “it was me, Tripp, I killed Ava.”  Tripp pushes Kayla to the ground and grabs Joey by the shirt.  Steve calls out to Tripp, begging him to let Joey go; he tells him to be quiet, saying he needs to think.  Joey stands still, with the knife now at his throat.  Steve keeps talking; he tells Tripp he was so happy when he found him, and he is so sorry they couldn’t tell him the truth, insisting that they are his family and they love him.  He asks if he really wants to kill his own brother and destroy the only family he’s got; Tripp shoves Joey away.  Steve and Kayla hug Joey; Tripp sits down on the ground, crying.  Steve goes to him, and hugs him; Tripp hangs onto him, sobbing uncontrollably.  Steve says, “I gottcha.”

Chad smiles when he sees Abigail’s eyes opening; she asks what happened.  He tells her she was tired of him always saving her, and this time she saved him; he wonders why she is protecting him, admitting that he knows her marriage to Dario wasn’t real.  He apologizes again for all the terrible things he said to her; he confesses that he was scared he was going to lose her again.  He says he took it out on her, and he is sorry; he asks if she can forgive him.  Of course she says she does.  JJ tells Gabi if she is looking for Chad, he is with Abigail right now; she says she knows.  She says he probably won’t leave her side until he knows she is going to be better; JJ says he must feel responsible, and Gabi says it’s more than that.  The doctor comes out; he tells Jennifer that her daughter is awake.  JJ and Jen go in; Chad comes out.  Gabi tells Chad they need to talk; he agrees.

Gabi tells Chad that she knows Abigail must still love him very much; she says he probably still loves her too.  He admits he does; they begin discussing the demise of their “little family” and saying it’s time to face the truth.  Chad tells Gabi he never meant to hurt her; she says she knows, and tells him she really does love him.  Jennifer tells Abigail she is very proud of her for being so strong; she mentions praying and receiving her miracle.  Abby says it was Chad that brought her back; Gabi tells Chad he should go to Abigail, saying she needs him now.  We can tell it is what he wants to do, but still it is hard for him to walk away from Gabi.

JJ finds Gabi outside, and asks if she’s okay; she starts crying and tells him she had to let Chad go.  She grabs him and holds onto him as she starts to cry.  Chad comes back into Abigail’s room; Jen hugs him.  He tells Abigail that he remembers apologizing, but asks if he said “thank you” for saving his life, adding that it means a lot.  She says she would do it all again.  He takes her hand and tells her she is everything to him; he says he should have fought for her.  He is sorry he didn’t; he says there hasn’t been a moment since he fell in love with her that he hasn’t thought of her.  He tells her he never stopped loving her; she says the same.  They both start crying; Chad hugs Abby and kisses her forehead.

08-04-2017 (Friday) Family Loyalty

Nicole makes up a bullshit lie about just going for a walk, even providing details about people in the Square; Brady gets a call from Paul.  He says he needs Brady to meet him in the Square; he tells Nicole he has to go and will be back as soon as he can.  He gives her a quick ‘peck’ and leaves.  Paul tells Brady about Xander’s offer to turn in the guy who hired him; then he tells him that Xander claimed the person who hired him was Victor.  Victor tells someone on the phone, for the last time, that he doesn’t want Sonny spending another night in jail – they need to find someone to take the fall, saying he protects his own.

Nicole walks in and asks Victor whom he is protecting now.  He says, “Brady, from you.”  He tells her he doesn’t think she has changed, though he believes that she thinks she has.  He suspects she will betray him for another man.  She turns the tables, saying the voice he was just using is the one he uses when he knows Maggie is asleep; he says, in his own defense, he is on edge every second that Sonny is in jail.  She tells him that Paul called to see Brady and says he might be on to something that will help Sonny.  Paul shows Brady the flight records for the Titan jet; one from Greece before the murder and one back, the day after.  He tells him he needs to know who was on that jet.  Brady talks to the pilot, who tells him Victor authorized the flight; he says they were “moving some merchandise.”  Brady confirms that the merchandise was a convicted criminal named Xander Kariakis; the pilot says he was ordered to fly him here and back, that’s it.  Brady can’t believe Victor would let Sonny sit in jail for a crime that he engineered.  Brady walks in the house and tells Nicole that he needs to talk to Victor; she leaves the room.  He asks his grandfather how he could do this; Victor plays stupid.  Brady tells him he knows that he is responsible for killing Deimos.

Andre tells Gabi that he needs her help to protect Chad.  He tells her she needs to convince Chad not to go to the police; he explains about the photo and the assumption that it is gone now. She says it makes sense now, why Abigail did everything she did; she was trying to protect Chad.  Andre says he knows she loves Chad and again insists that she needs to protect him.  Jennifer tells Eric about Abigail’s condition; he tells her to come with him.  He takes her to the chapel and they pray together.  Chad tells Abigail that he had ideas about why she might have married Dario, but it never occurred to him that she was doing it just to help him; he says he should have known.  He goes over everything that has happened in the past few months; he says he was so stupid.  He thought she was trying to protect Dario; he says he wishes she had told him what was going on instead of taking it on herself.  He wonders if he really killed Deimos.  He apologizes for being so brutal to her and asks her not to let those be the last words he says to her.

The doctor comes in to examine her; Chad refuses to leave.  Gabi hears the doctor on the phone, leaving a message about Abby; she inquires.  He tells her he can’t go into detail since she isn’t family, but tells her, “her husband” is very devoted.  Gabi steps in the doorway to hear Chad telling Abigail that he has always wanted her from the day he met her, and he needs her, saying his life is no life without her; he tells Abby he loves her.  Gabi goes to the chapel to pray, asking for forgiveness because she fears, even if Abby dies, she is losing Chad to her.  Chad asks Abigail to come back to him; she opens her eyes.

Joey doesn’t believe his father; he says Tripp is grateful for what his mother has done for him.  Steve insists Tripp is trying to destroy Kayla’s career and is the one who set her up; Kayla wakes up to find Tripp standing in the lounge.  He puts the pillow down as she turns on the light; he tells her he knows what she did.  She asks what he means; he gets even angrier, saying she always does that, acting all innocent.  “St. Kayla” he calls her; she realizes, suddenly, he is the one who changed the dosages.  She says he was working every time it happened, and questions why he would do it.  Tripp tells Kayla that he figured out she’s the one who killed his mother; she looks truly confused.  Joey tries to wrap his head around all of that his father has told him, then he remembers Tripp telling him that his mother wasn’t the Saint everybody thinks she is.  Steve asks about the context of this conversation; Joey says they were talking about family loyalty.

Kayla tells Tripp, she did not kill his mother, insisting what they told him was true; he says he can’t believe a word coming out of her mouth.  She tells him she still wants to help him; she says if he just lets this go, she won’t tell anyone what she knows now.  She says they can still work this out, reminding him that Steve loves him.  He tells her to stop talking and says it’s time she paid for what she did to his mother; she tells Tripp she has witnesses who can account for her whereabouts when his mother died.  She says she has to go see her niece who is in critical condition, and tries to grab her bag; he grabs it out of her hands, and takes a scalpel out of it.  Joey remembers that just before Tripp started talking trash about his mother, he had gotten a text from Jade.  Steve says he needs to talk to Jade and asks Joey to call her; Joey leaves Jade a message.  Steve goes to the hospital, where he sees Jennifer; Jen tells him that Kayla went to lay down in the on-call room.  He goes to look for her there; when he walks in the door, Tripp grabs Kayla and holds the knife to her throat.