Julian showed up providing the women in his life with burgers from Kelly's. The trio organized themselves around the table and started outlining the facts. Alexis quickly identified potential problem areas in Sam's case: the alibi, the gun and Crichton Clark. While Julian was familiar with the first two, the third was a complete unknown to him.

-"What about Crichton Clark?" Julian asked.

-"I went there a couple of times on a case," his daughter responded.

-"What was the case?"

Sam paused for a minute. "The first time I went, the case was Nina. Silas and I tried to see her. But then we found out she was moved. And then that she was dead."

-"So what was the second time?"

Sam hedged. "Julian, this case is still open. I really shouldn't share any details."

Her father raised an eyebrow. "Sam…"

-"Suffice it to say that I was working on a case for Patrick."

-"OK. So what led you to Crichton Clark?"

-"Julian," Alexis interceded. "I think that's really all we can say now."

He gave her a wry smile. "But *you* know."

-"Yes."

He paused looking for the best approach that didn't involve losing his temper, finally responding in the most even tone he could manage. "How is this going to work? I want to help you."

-"Dad, I know you want to help me. Look, can we just focus on the gun and alibi for now? I mean we don't even know if Crichton Clark is going to be a thing."

-"So why don't we go there and find out? Wouldn't it be better to know definitively if we need to worry about it?"

Alexis stepped in again. "No."

-"Why not?" Julian challenged her.

-"Because if the police haven't gotten to it yet, they may not consider it important. But if reputed crime boss Julian Jerome—father of the chief suspect—ends up harassing some people at Crichton Clinic…well, it may end up on their radar."

Julian bristled—less at the logic of Alexis's argument and more at feeling excluded. "Alexis, I think I know how to handle the cops."

Alexis gave Julian her brightest smile. "Because you have well-paid lawyers who tell you what to do. And you listen to them."

He sighed. "OK, so what can I focus on?"

Sam piped in, "Well, I was going to interview people at Silas's apartment building. Maybe you can help me with that."

Alexis sharply asked, "What?"

-"Mom, we need to know what his neighbors saw."

-"Yes. We do. But we don't need the chief suspect running around questioning the neighbors with her mobster father." She turned to Julian. "No offense."

-"Why would I be offended?" Julian turned to address Sam. "So 'Chief Suspect' it seems like your mother is going to limit what you and 'mobster father' are allowed to do. We could spend all afternoon making suggestions and letting her shoot us down or we could just let her tell us what she already has in mind."

Sam smiled slightly. "You're right, Dad. So…Mom. What can we do?"

-"Tell us, Alexis. You're in the driver's seat."

-"If she's in the driver's seat, I'm going to the chair," Sam mumbled.

-"I'm not really comfortable being the 'driver' here, Julian." Alexis countered, "What about that person in football? Is it the quarterback?" Julian nodded to let her know she was right. "Great. The quarterback. That's a safer analogy. That's how you should think of me."

-"OK, Dan Marino," Sam snarked as her father gave her a smirk of approval. "What are our assignments?"

Alexis was a bit flustered by the easy alliance forming between Sam and Julian, leaving her the odd woman out. She quickly shook it off. "I need you two to validate Sam's alibi. We still have some avenues there, right Julian?"

Julian nodded. "Yes."

-"OK. I need you two confirming where she was instead of working on where she wasn't. If you find someone that confirms that alibi, it would help ideally if I could question them. But if not…Sam you should leave it to your father."

Sam let out a groan. "Mom, I'm a PI. This is my job."

-"I know. I just want to avoid any scenario that could potentially call a legitimate alibi into question. If we find an alibi that places you at the lake house and it sticks? Then this is all over."

Julian jumped in. "Yup. We got it." He gave Sam a look. "What else can we do, Alexis?"

She knew she should be happy with this level of cooperation, but Alexis was suspicious. Julian's shift from resistant to eager was a little too sudden. "The only other thing is the gun. I know we can't trace it, but let's see if we can figure out who may have had the combination to the safe or if someone could have cracked it. Sam, can you follow up there?"

-"Sure," Sam nodded.

-"OK. Then I'll take the building. I'm going to see if I can finagle some information indirectly first. Julian, do you mind if I talk to Kiki?"

-"Nope. Go for it."

-"Great. So we'll start with these." Alexis paused and looked from her daughter to Julian. "And let's be clear. We're not in a position of power right now. We want to clear Sam as quickly as possible. That means getting evidence and having that evidence stand up in court. If you are in a situation and you feel even a one-percent chance it's a bad idea to proceed yourself, call me."

Sam was indignant at what she saw was her mother's condescending tone. "Mom, I'm not a moron."

Julian leapt to Alexis's defense. "I don't think that's what your mother is saying, Sam." He looked directly at his daughter. "She's just doing what's best. Why don't we go to the lake house and get started?"

Sam picked up on his quiet signal. It seemed like Julian had a plan of his own. And as much as she didn't like to get between her parents, she needed more latitude than her mother was giving her. Sometimes a father with a flexible view of ethical standards had its benefits.

-"OK. So Molly will be home soon. Why don't we—"

-"Wait, Mom. Before we break, we still haven't covered the biggest part."

Alexis looked at her. "What's that?"

-"Finding out who did this? I mean if we find the real killer, I'm cleared. That is true, right? The legal system hasn't changed in the time since I've been arrested."

Alexis avoided looking at Julian. "That's step two. I want to run through possible ways to eliminate you from contention first. If we uncover the real killer without clearing you, you can still be a suspect. There will always be a reasonable doubt, especially if we're the ones who find the evidence."

-"So we're not supposed to do anything?" Sam argued.

-"No, we do this methodically. We start with clearing you. Once that's done we have a lot more leeway to investigate."

Julian concurred. "I think we do this your Mom's way, Sam. Personally, I want you free first, and whoever is framing you to pay second. Besides, if you're cleared, that gives me more options for dealing—"

-"Enough, Julian." Alexis cut him off. She glared at him. "We do this legally, or you can go home now."

He sat up and glared right back. He started to say something but took a deep breath instead, relaxing back into the seat. Julian turned to his daughter, "Why don't we go?"

-"Sure." Sam was equally eager to get started and to escape the tension. "Mom, are you OK with Danny?"

-"Yes. And Molly will be home soon, too. He's covered."

-"Great. Let me run and change quickly."

When he was sure his daughter was upstairs, Julian turned to Alexis. "Let's get one thing clear. I will do whatever it takes to keep my daughter out of jail, Alexis. And right now that means following your lead. But punishing the people who hurt my family? You don't get a say in how I do that. Are we clear?"

-"Are you telling me you're going to commit a felony, Julian?"

-"Of course not. I have no plans to commit any crimes, Alexis."

-"Good." She stood up and gave him a cold smile, hoping his pledge not to lie to her was still intact. "Then I'll speak to you later."

She grabbed coffee on the corner, not quite ready to go back to the penthouse. Molly had another 45 minutes or so before her mother would worry she was late, and she needed time to prepare herself for the return home.

Except it wasn't really "home." It was in the sense that everyone she truly loved was in one place. But it was temporary. She felt like a refugee waiting for permanent placement in a new unfamiliar place where she was expected to start over. Molly recognized that she was in a far better position than 99.9% of the world that could truly claim that title. But the analogy held: she lost her home to a war in which her family had not participated—not her mother, not her, not her sister and certainly not her father. They were collateral damage in the life of a man who showed up one day and appeared to be their savior. But salvation came at a heavy price, and it was unfair that they had to bear the cost.

Molly spent a good portion of the past two days considering if she could deal with Julian. She still didn't believe his lies about her father yet Molly would do anything to save Sam from jail—even if it meant using Uncle Sonny or Julian. But she would much prefer help from Uncle Sonny.

Julian. Ugh. He had a connection with her mother and it had a permanence to it that grated her. He was a murderer and he framed her father, but he loved her mother and she reciprocated. Even Molly could see that.

Her real fear at returning home was that she'd find out why everyone hated her father. Her mother could be irrational at times, but she was usually fair. And the decision to choose Julian over her father—in spite of all that Julian was—left Molly with questions about Ric. No one liked Ric—well, no one but Liz. There were secrets about her Dad. Even though she valued truth, she was happy they were buried. Molly wasn't ready to reconcile the loss of her father with who he really was. At least not yet: it was still too raw.

Last night she stayed up late with Nikolas and talked through her troubles with her cousin. He was also strangely silent on the topic of her father, but he offered her a compromise that would provide her mother and sister with everything they needed. Nikolas would let her stay at Wyndamere, thus removing herself as an obstacle to Julian freely providing help. Nikolas would also provide her with his driver 24/7 so she could be there to take care of Danny.

In the end, Molly felt it was a plan that met everyone's needs. She just hoped her mother would, too.