Alexis and Sam arrived back at the penthouse to find it quiet. It was 2 pm and Danny had already started his nap. After announcing that her son had the right idea, Sam crawled upstairs to join him. Opting for some alone time, Alexis dismissed the babysitter and sat alone in the empty first floor. She was loath to disturb the still and quiet, but she only had another hour or so before Molly got home. And she was sure she and Sam would have more quality time with the PCPD later in the afternoon.
She pulled out her laptop and reviewed the only document that had been sitting in a folder marked "Smith Custody Trial." She tweaked the date and printed it out, immediately shoving a copy in her bag. Alexis then grabbed her phone and noticed two voicemails and five texts from Julian. He was going to have to wait. She scrolled through her contacts until she found the number she needed and called.
"Diane? Hi, it's Alexis."
The expected call came at 4 pm. The police had a warrant and were at Sam's office to retrieve her gun. Alexis left Molly enough money to order in and kissed her daughter on the forehead.
-"Mom, why do they have a warrant?"
-"They want to look at Sam's gun, baby. It's fine. We'll be back later and Sam can tell you about the day. But we have to run now, OK?"
Molly was skeptical. She considered protesting, but thought about the conversation she'd had with her mother the night before. She had to trust her mother knew what was best. "OK. Call me if you need anything?"
Sam came down the stairs. "Sorry. Danny's still sleeping, but I wanted to kiss him goodbye. Molls, the babysitter said he was a little fussy when she brought him to the park and he felt a little warm. If he wakes up and still feels warm, take his temperature. Anything over 99, give him some of this." She put the bottle on the table, and rushed to kiss her sister on the cheek. "Thanks for this. I owe you brunch at Kelly's this weekend."
-"Let's go," Alexis urged. "If we don't hurry, they may blow the safe." Sam made a face at her. "It's the PCPD, you can never be too careful," Alexis smirked.
They arrived at Sam's office to find the detectives and two policemen waiting outside the door. Alexis apologized for leaving them waiting.
Sam took out her key and led them into her office. She walked over to safe bolted to the floor and stood immobile until Alexis reviewed the warrant and gave her assent. According to the warrant, they only had access to the office. She was surprised at the specificity; when she was DA she would have applied for something as broad as possible, including Sam's place of residence. She was lost in thought when she heard Dante clear his throat.
-"Sorry," Alexis murmured. "It's kosher. Go ahead, Sam."
Sam bent over and entered the combination. As she pulled open the door, her face was puzzled. She reached into the safe and then crouched lower to get a better look. She turned to face all the eyes in the room trained on her, but Sam focused on one pair in particular, her face white as a sheet.
-"Mom. It's gone."
The room was dead silent and no one moved. Sam slowly stood up holding a cigar box. She opened it and counted. "The bullets. They're all here. But the gun…" she trailed off.
Det. Nagy was the first to step forward. "So you're saying the gun is missing? That doesn't seem particularly believable, Ms. Morgan."
-"Detective, I'd like a word with my client." Alexis pulled Sam's arm and opened the door to the hallway, physically dragging her out of the room before someone had a chance to protest. She positioned Sam's back to the door while Alexis kept one eye on the police in the office.
-"OK," Alexis whispered. "Take a deep breath. Take two. Then talk to me."
Sam shook off the shock as best she could. "I got back to the office, Mom. I took the bullets out of the gun like I always do and put them in the box. Then I put the unloaded gun in the safe with the bullets and I locked the safe."
-"Did anyone see you do it?"
-"No. Patrick saw me take the gun but he was so weirded out I waited until he left before I put it back. I didn't want to remind him I had it on me."
Alexis silently cursed Patrick. "OK. Who else had a combination to the safe?"
-"I don't know. Spinelli does. Jason did. That's it. We're the only three that have ever had it."
-"OK. We're going to go in and report this stolen." Alexis grabbed her daughter by the shoulders and looked straight at Sam. She dug deep for the calm that appeared to radiate from her face. "Listen to me. This is all going to be OK. They're going to search the office for the gun. They will also get a search warrant for the penthouse."
Sam let out a sob. Alexis put her hands up to her daughter's face. "Sam. Sam. I need you to look at me, OK. I need you to be strong right now. Take a breath." Sam closed her eyes and then opened them, staring straight at her mother. "That's my baby girl. OK. Now here's the hard part. If they don't find the gun in the office, they are probably going to arrest you. Say nothing. NOTHING. Unless I am in the room with you."
-"Mom, Danny's at the penthouse. If they do a search warrant—"
-"—I've got it. I'm going to have Molly pack a bag for them and go to Nikolas's. He won't be home, he'll be safe with his aunt and his cousin, OK."
Sam nodded her head, drawing strength as she shifted from working on pure emotion to thinking it through rationally. She wiped her eyes.
-"OK, take another 10 seconds. Let's breathe. And then let's go back in that room. And Sam I want you to remember something. You are the strongest person I know. We are Cassadines, we are Davis women and we always come out the other side. OK?"
-"OK"
Alexis led Sam back into the office. "Det. Falconieri, we'd like to report a gun stolen."
Sam walked Dante through everything she'd done the day before as the police started searching her office. The room had transitioned to a crime scene; unconstrained by the warrant, the police began dusting for prints and searching through every file drawer looking for the gun. Her story finished, Sam sat in a chair watching as the police dismantled her place of work. Alexis took the opportunity to make three quick calls in succession.
The first was to Diane who agreed to go to the penthouse and wait for the search warrant in case Alexis didn't make it back in time. Nikolas was her second call, and he quickly consented to personally take his limo to pick up his cousins. Her third call was the one she was least excited about.
-"Molly, it's Mom."
-"Mom! Is everything OK? You've both been gone way longer than you should have."
-"We've had a couple of things come up unexpectedly. I don't have a lot of time, so I'm going to need you to do as I ask, OK?"
-"OK."
-"I need you to pack a bag for you and Danny. You're going to spend the night at Nikolas's—"
-"—but"
-"Molly. This has nothing to do with what we talked about last night, and I can't explain it right now. Nikolas is coming in his limo to get you. Take only what you need for school and two nights, max. Is Danny up?"
-"Yes"
-"Is he sick?"
-"Nope."
-"Look at that, we caught a break." Alexis murmured under her breath. "Molly, once you have the bags packed I want you to sit in the penthouse. The only person you are to let in is Diane, do you understand?"
-"Yes."
-"I want you to do whatever she says. If she tells you to let the police search your bags you do it. If she tells you to walk out and ignore everyone you see, you do it. Are we clear?"
-"Yes." Her voice got quiet, "Mom, I'm scared."
-"I know this sounds scary. It's happening so fast and you're not getting a lot of answers so you're frightened. But don't be. It's precautionary. I need you to shake off any fear you're feeling right now OK? Danny will pick up on it."
-"OK. Mom, is Sam all right?"
Alexis's eyes drifted to her oldest. She looked so small sitting on that chair, but her eyes were blazing. Sam was angry, and Alexis could see the wheels turning.
-"Sam's OK. Listen, I have to go baby. I will call you later. I love you."
-"I love you both, Mom."
Alexis hung up and approached Dante to discuss the impending search warrant on the penthouse when she stopped in her tracks. For the first time she had a moment to breathe and something felt not right. And not only "not right," but insidious. She turned and took a step into the hallway, out of earshot of everyone in the room. She picked up her phone and dialed Julian.
-"Alexis. I've been waiting for you to call be back. What's happening?"
-"I don't have enough time to explain. I only have a few minutes. Suffice it to say, the day is not going well."
-"Did something happen with the police? Is she a suspect?"
-"Look, Julian. There's a lot to discuss and I'm not lying when I say I don't have the time. But I need you to do something for me. And it's important."
Julian's voice became no-nonsense. "Tell me. It's done."
-"I need you to go to Sam's building. I need you to watch the penthouse but not be seen. I need you to make sure Molly and Danny get into Nikolas's limo and that the only people who go into that apartment are Diane Miller or the police."
-"Alexis, I'll do this, but I need you to tell me…"
-"I know and I will. But I really don't have the time. Please just do this. I'll talk to you tonight when I get home."
-"OK. It's done."
-"And Julian, one more thing. I don't want any of your goons or men or whatever they are doing this. This is you and you only. And if you could avoid Molly, that would be helpful."
An hour later Diane called to say that the police had arrived with the warrant. Molly and Danny had left as soon as they showed their bags to a plainclothesman Dante had sent ahead of the search team. Julian had texted her to let her know that Molly made it into Nikolas's limo; Molly's text confirming their arrival at Wyndamere came 45 minutes later.
Alexis was now free to focus on her biggest worry: would they arrest Sam. It was now about 5:30. If they hauled her in, she wouldn't be arraigned until the morning so she'd definitely have to stay overnight. Alexis was hopeful that they would potentially wait until the morning, when they had the results of their searches. But as they were wrapping up the search of the office, Dante approached Sam and placed her under arrest for Silas and Nina's murder. "Not a word," Alexis instructed as they led her daughter out in cuffs.
As the office emptied, Alexis looked at the mess in front of her: the powder for the fingerprints, files on the floor, cabinets moved. She pulled the door shut and locked it, marveling at the futility of locking up the barn after the horse already bolted. Alexis would need to add a locksmith to her list of to-dos.
By the time Alexis got to the station, Sam was already in an interrogation room. She walked in and was hit by a wave of sadness that the sight of her daughter cuffed to a table was not foreign to her.
She put on her confident face as she asked, "How are you holding up?"
-"I'm pretty scared and worried. But fortunately, I'm too pissed right now to focus on either of those emotions."
-"I know.
-"Someone took my gun, Mom. I'm being framed."
Alexis nodded. "We'll figure it out. But for now, we've got to concentrate on getting you out of here."
-"First, Danny. Where is he?"
-"I spoke to Diane. Molly and Danny are fine and at Wyndamere."
-"What about his fever?"
-"False alarm. Molly says he's hale and hearty. The home front is fine."
-"Did they find the gun during the search?"
-"It's still happening. Diane will text me if they turn something up, but so far nothing."
-"OK. So what do we do now?"
-"Right now, stick to the facts. Don't start with the 'someone is framing me' stuff. Without evidence, it makes you sound guilty. Plus, we're going to use that as our defense if we need to mount one. No need to tip the hand now."
-"Got it." Sam looked at her wrists. "There's no chance I'm getting out of here tonight, is there?"
-"No. We've probably got a few hours of questioning left before they arraign you. I will push for it as quickly as possible, but it's not going to be before tomorrow.
It was 9:30 before they were done with Sam. They'd questioned her on everything, from her previous marriages to her rap sheet to her marriage to Jason to the last meal she ate with Silas. As they led her down to the holding cells below, Alexis asked for a final word with her client. Her arms enveloped Sam as she whispered, "I'm going to get you out, baby girl. Just stay strong." Alexis watched her daughter disappear, then she spun on her heels and quickly exited the station. She waited until she was in her car before she allowed the tears to fall.
Alexis gave herself 10 minutes of self-pity before she dried her eyes and pulled out of the parking lot. It was dark and it was late. But she felt like her day was just beginning.