Leo Gets Creative When He and Dimitri Run Out Of Options — and Ava Finds There’s No Reasoning With Her New Boss, Gil

In Tripp and Wendy’s apartment, Ava turns down a personal chef job over the phone. She found another opportunity she couldn’t refuse. After she hangs up, Harris calls from the Pub, returning her message. She just wanted to wish him luck on his first day at the Salem PD. Detecting stress in her voice, he promises she’ll find a job soon. As he hangs up, Kate appears, asking about his job.

At the apartment, Ava opens the door to a menacing “friend” of Clyde Weston’s. He warns that if she stays in line, they’re good. If she doesn’t, Clyde has plenty of people on his payroll who’d have no problem putting Tripp in the ground.

Tripp wakes up in bed with a stiff neck. Wendy massages him. She’d love to stay in bed to take care of him, but she has to look for a job. He’d like to at least repay her. She notes her neck is fine, but there are other spots that need attention. They fall back to the bed kissing.

Leo jolts awake in a motel bed from a nightmare about Rafe and Jada coming to arrest them. Later, wearing robes, Dimitri assures Leo they’re safe. Leo knows they can’t stay there, though. Leo wants to go west since winter is coming, and the cold is murder on his skin. Dimitri counters they leave the country for someplace where extradition isn’t a possibility. He suggests his mother can help them, but Leo points out they want to avoid attention — and Megan only attracts it. Dimitri states they have no one else to turn to, but since she’s a fugitive, they’ll have to track her down, which means pooling their funds and staying ahead of the cops.

In Rafe’s office, Kayla signs her statement about Dimitri handcuffing her to the bed and escaping with Leo. She asks if they have any leads on catching those two bozos. Rafe sighs. Not yet. Kayla’s embarrassed she let Leo get the best of her. Rafe assures her their mugshots are out there. Someone’s bound to call them in. She asks about leads on the guy who attacked Tripp. Rafe relays there’s no progress there either.

At the Pub, Kate expresses surprise that Rafe hired Harris, considering his involvement with Ava. Harris defends her, but Kate says Ava nearly destroyed Rafe, not to mention what she did to Steve. Harris isn’t interested in gossip. Besides, they’re just friends. Kate is rooting for him and doesn’t want to see Ava derail the progress he’s made. Harris believes Ava has left her past the past.

As Ava tries to get out of working for Clyde, his goon reaches for a knife to convince her otherwise. Tripp comes to the living room. The goon retracts his hand from the knife, introducing himself as Gil Carter. Tripp asks what Ava needs convincing for. Gil says he’s the new owner of The Bistro and wants Ava to be his manager. Tripp thinks it sounds perfect. After a few veiled remarks from Gil, Ava accepts the position. Tripp hugs his mother, who glares at Gil.

At the police station, Rafe introduces an overwhelmed Jada to her new partner, Harris. Despite his history, Jada believes Harris is qualified. Plus, she likes the idea of a Navy Seal having her back. When Rafe assigns them to find Leo and Dimitri, Jada suggests they go to Leo’s Salem Inn room to look around with fresh eyes.

At the motel, Dimitri and Leo discover they only have $14 between them. After bickering over their lack of funds, Leo has a realization. He has an envelope full of petty cash from The Spectator (which he actually uses to pay off sources and get the occasional gelato) stashed in his Salem Inn room. There’s enough to get them out of town, but they need to figure out how to get there without anyone spotting them. Leo gets another idea.

Kayla bumps into Kate at the Pub while picking up carryout. As Kayla fills her in about Leo and Dimitri, she recalls that Leo and Kate go way back. Kate recounts taking over Vivian’s plot to have Leo falsely accuse Sonny of sexual harassment, but she doesn’t even want to think about it. Kayla wonders if she misses the scheming and intrigue. No, Kate says. Well, yes. A little bit. But she’s happy being married to the ex-police commissioner, which is probably better than living on the other side of the law, right?

At the apartment, Gil tells a proud Tripp that he has exciting stuff planned for the restaurant. He’ll be counting on his mother to keep the operation humming along. After Gil and Ava leave to get started, Wendy comes out. She’s happy to learn about Ava’s new job. She might even have a lead on a job herself.

When Tripp gets to the hospital, he tells Kayla about Ava’s job at The Bistro. The owner seems super nice. Kayla expresses concern, but Tripp knows Ava is dedicated to getting her life on track, and a legit job is the first step. Kayla warns him to stay cautious and call her or Steve if something seems off. Tripp promises, then fixates on why the drug user attacked him the other day.

In his office, Rafe grows frustrated as his laptop freezes up. Wendy shows up, having heard the SPD needs a new IT person. She takes a look and quickly fixes the problem. In doing so, she rattles off the many ways his computer is a sitting duck to hackers. He hires her on the spot.

At the motel, Leo cuts holes in a bed sheet as a ghost costume for Dimitri. It’s the Horton Town Scare, so everyone will be in costume. A delighted Leo makes ghost puns to a disdainful Dimitri. Leo puts on his own bed sheet, eliciting a chuckle from his boyfriend.

Ava stops before the Salem Inn on the way to The Bistro. She tells Gil that her cousin Angelo could probably recommend someone more qualified and motivated to run Clyde’s drug operation. Gil declares it’s not up for discussion. She begs him to find another solution. He states there is no other option if she wants to keep her son safe. Approaching with Jada, Harris asks if something is wrong.