Victor Enacts a Plan to Bring Down Jordan — and Adam Plays White Knight for Sally
Claire tells Nadia that Victoria is her mother, and explains to Victoria that she and the girl met on her visit to the children’s ward. A nurse comes to take Nadia back to her room. Victoria remarks on Claire being good with children. Claire has no idea how that happened, but seeing the kids makes her feel stronger. They need help and maybe she can give it. Victoria says, “I’m so proud of you.”
Claire explains that the kids get her out of her head. She wants to make them smile, which is the best therapy possible. She admits her daily sessions in therapy are draining because they rehash all the terrible things. She understands why she has to do it. Victoria assures her the whole family is pulling for her. Claire sighs that she didn’t know what support looked like until she met her and Cole. She asks if there is any news about Jordan. Victoria wants her to put her aunt out of her mind and let law enforcement do their jobs.
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Adam joins Nick in the Newman office and asks, “Where’s Dad?” Nick was just wondering that. They speculate as to why they’ve been summoned. Suddenly, they both get a text from Victor saying he’s unavoidably detained and will be there when he can.
At the ranch, Victor thanks someone on the phone for keeping on top of this and asks them to keep him informed. Nikki appears and accuses him of ending the call when she came into the room. She thinks he was talking about her, but he tells her she’s wrong, “I was talking about Jordan.” He tells her that his security team has been in touch with the prison. The fire was arson and 6 inmates are unaccounted for. Nikki says, “She is one of them.” Victor assures his wife t hat Jordan will be recaptured. Nikki thinks they need to lure her into a trap. Victor won’t let Nikki be used as bait. Nikki doesn’t want to be locked up in the house. Victor says she can and will. It’s not only because of Jordan, but it will keep her from drinking. “It’s for your own good, Sweetheart.” He embraces her and promises this nightmare will come to an end.
At Crimson Lights, Chloe asks Sally why she wanted to meet. Does she have good news for her about new business? Sally admits that unless they drum up new business, they’re in serious trouble, “We could lose it all.” They brainstorm about reaching out to other markets, but get nowhere. They’re frustrated that they’ve done good work, but it hasn’t translated to new jobs. Chloe thinks it’s time to ask their investor for another infusion of cash. Sally gawps, “Absolutely not!’
In Victor’s office, Adam has something to run by Nick. Before he can tell him, Victor arrives. Nick asks if everything is alright. Victor scrubs his face and updates them on Jordan, who survived and escaped. Nick and Adam ruminate about how dangerous she is if she set the fire and committed mass-murder. Victor explains Nikki’s staying at the ranch. Nick says they both know she doesn’t like feeling trapped. Nick thinks they need a solid plan to eliminate Jordan as a threat. Adam asks if there’s any way to set a trap for her. Victor won’t allow Nikki to use herself as bait. Nick warns that his mom will flip out being stuck in the house. Adam muses that Jordan hates Victor as much as anyone. Victor will use that to his advantage. Adam says if there’s anything he can do, to count him in. Nick thinks his father plans to use himself as bait and tells him he can count on him too. Victor declares it a battle he has to fight on his own.
After Victor’s gone, Adam and Nick debate about Victor’s plan to get Jordan. Adam says if they’re on board they can help keep him safe. Nick hopes he doesn’t take too many unnecessary risks. Adam says all they can do is wait for Victor to finalize his plan and hope he lets them in on it. Nick recalls that Adam was about to tell him something before their dad walked in, “What was it?” Adam says, “There’s something that I need to discuss with you before I run it by Dad. It’s about Sally.” Nick says if he’s planning to tell him that he’s going to marry her, there’s no need. “It doesn’t concern me.”
At the ranch, Nikki thanks Lauren for stepping in to help her run Newman Media. Lauren’s happy to be part of her support team and loves a new challenge. Lauren asks Nikki to bring her up to speed on what Audra was working on. Nikki’s a little hazy on the details. Lauren can see she’s having a rough morning and asks if she wants to call Jack. “I know that you’re struggling. How can I help?”
Nikki tells Lauren she doesn’t want to fall apart in front of her. She admits it’s not the urge to drink that has her frazzled, it’s the news that Jordan is on the loose. Lauren hopes she’ll disappear forever, but Nikki says she’s already been calling her. Lauren warns Nikki not to give her power. She went through this many times with Sheila, “They draw their strength from your fear. They want to control your actions and emotions by being a constant threat. That is how they break you down.” Nikki says she’s right. She won’t give Jordan the satisfaction. She looks for the last call from her on her phone and calls it. When it connects, Nikki says, “Hello, Jordan. I know you’re there. I just called to let you know that you can’t beat my family. So, you can keep playing your little games, play that song, which doesn’t embarrass me in the least, by the way. I think of it as a fight song. An anthem, shall we say. Something we can play to celebrate your final downfall. Yeah, because it’s coming. You have no allies. Claire has seen the truth about her sick, demented aunt.” She’s not surprised Jordan has nothing to say to her. In addition to being insane, she’s a weak coward. She hopes she breaks through ranch security and gives her a chance to cross the line.
After Nikki disconnects, Lauren tells her friend how impressed she was — she doesn’t envy anyone who would want to cross her or her family.
In Claire’s room, Victoria’s delighted that Claire read the mythology book she gave her. They joke about the parallels with the Newman family. Claire tells Victoria that she loves her visits and looks forward to them. Victoria returns the sentiment. She thinks they’re going through a similar process. Just then, Victor appears. “Am I interrupting?” Claire invites him in. Victoria’s surprised to see him there. Victor asks for a minute alone with Claire to ask her some questions about Jordan. Victoria resists the idea. Claire says it’s OK. She guesses Jordan has escaped. Victor’s hoping she can give them some clues about her aunt’s behavior so they can catch her again.
Claire has no idea what Jordan might do or where she might go. Victor says the prison fire was arson. Claire guarantees she set it, thinking she’d be presumed dead. Victor says the DNA evidence proved otherwise. Victoria doesn’t want Claire thinking about Jordan, but her daughter assures her she’s fine with the conversation and isn’t afraid of Jordan. She reveals that she got a call from Jordan the other day — she told the nurse she was Victoria. She told her she couldn’t manipulate her and that she wished she was dead. “I hung up on her and then when I spoke to my therapist about it, I shut it out of my mind.” Victoria assures her they understand. Claire tells Victor if anything else comes to mind she’ll let him know. She wants to help and worries about Nikki. Victor tells Claire she’s part of the family now and should call him Victor. Claire wishes she could help. Victor says there is something she can do. He has a feeling that Jordan will call her again. If she does, he’d like Claire to tell her that he wants to make amends for all the hurt that he caused her sister, Eve. Victoria shakes her head.
In the Newman office, Adam tells Nick that Sally has too much pride to tell him, but things aren’t going well with the business he funded. Nick asks, “In what sense?” Adam says there was a flurry of projects in the beginning but now it’s slow. “She’s going to need a lot of cash to keep things afloat.” He’s convinced Sally will never ask Nick, so his idea is bigger than that. At one point, Victor offered to create a design division at Newman for Sally to run, and then pulled the rug out from under her. They agree it was rotten. Adam wants to ask him to revisit the idea and follow through this time, then Sally and Chloe can fold in under the Newman umbrella.
At Crimson Lights, Sally tells Chloe she absolutely won’t go to Nick for more money. Chloe makes a remark about her going back to Adam and then says she won’t go there. Sally informs her that things are actually going well with him. Chloe tells Sally there’s another idea they haven’t considered, “Taking on a new partner.” Sally worries they would lose control. Chloe thinks it’s better than losing the whole company. Sally says it’s not exactly her vision. She wants to try harder instead. “I’m not going back to Nick and I refuse to admit defeat.”
