Thursday, November 16, 2006, Episode #4938

Taylor gets some advice from her friendly guard.

At the county jail, Taylor's guard compliments the doc on her hot male visitors, especially the dark haired one. Taylor says that was her ex-husband Ridge; the guard asks why Taylor divorced a man like that. That's a long story, Taylor sighs, changing the subject to the guard's son. [In a past episode, the guard told Taylor how she had called in to Taylor on a radio show for advice on coping with the news that her son was gay.] The guard thanks Taylor for the advice she gave; it made her see that she still loved her son, no matter who her son is in love with. She guesses it must be cool to help people like Taylor does. It used to be, Taylor sighs. The guard tells Taylor to think positively. Taylor says that she's trying. The guard then says that she spoke to Judge Owens' bailiff, who's a friend, and heard how the prosecutor worked some young guy over on the stand today. That would be Shane, Taylor replies; she laments that her future is in Shane's hands, especially since Shane is showing an interest in her daughter. She's frustrated that her daughter is being nice to the guy, just to make sure he testifies. The guard responds that Taylor gave her some good advice once, so now she's going to give Taylor some back. She advises Taylor not to think about what's going on outside while she's behind bars, as it will only drive her nuts.

Alexandria wonders when Taylor will be back.

At Thorne's beach house, Alexandria tells Thorne and Stephanie that she's been chosen to play the Indian Princess in her school's Thanksgiving play. She recalls how Mommy helped with her pilgrim costume last year and wonders if Taylor can help her this year. Thorne tells Ally that he doesn't know when Taylor will be back from London. Stephanie offers to help Ally, who thanks her grandma but still wants to know when Taylor's coming back. As soon as she can, Thorne assures her. Ally misses Taylor and asks if they can call her, but Thorne says it's late in London and sends Ally off to bed. Alone with his mother, Thorne regrets having to lie to his daughter. He wonders what he'll tell Ally if Taylor is convicted. After going to tuck Ally in, Thorne returns. He tells his mother that he keeps thinking about guilt and innocent. Stephanie reminds Thorne that he already accepted that Darla's death was an accident. Thorne agrees that he did; he doesn't want to see Taylor in jail, but he fears that he might not be able to let go of what happened to Darla somewhere down the line.

Stephanie tells Thorne not to be afraid of his feelings.

Stephanie asks Thorne if he's walking away from Taylor. Thorne replies that he's just looking to the future, to see what he and Taylor are up against. Stephanie advises that it's too late to change course now, since Ally has accepted Taylor as a mother figure. Thorne bets that someone at school will eventually tell Ally that Taylor killed Darla, so he doesn't know what to do. Stephanie admits that this is a hard decision to make. But he didn't know that Taylor was involved in Darla's death when he and Ally started to lean on Taylor. All he knew was that Taylor was there for him, because she was a good person. "Who had a few glasses of wine and got in a car," Thorne points out. Stephanie tells him not to go there, since it's pointless to wonder what he would have done had he known the truth when Darla died. She just wants him to consider that he's already been lucky twice in his life, but it might not happen a third time. Thorne admits that his mother is right. Stephanie tells him to take the time to think this through. Before she leaves, she wants him to know that she'll support him, no matter what he decides. But she doesn't want him to be afraid. She thinks he, Thorne and Ally can face the truth when the time comes. Thorne tells his mother that he loves her and thanks her.

Thorne looks for guidance.

In her cell, Taylor rereads the note that Alexandria sent the other day with the drawing Thorne brought. "I miss you bunches, and Daddy does too," Taylor reads. Taylor says to herself, "I miss you, too, Ally." She then lies down and remembers a time at Thorne's when she, Thorne and Ally danced around in a circle singing "London Bridge." Back at the beach house, Thorne recalls that same moment. He walks over to the table and picks up a photo of Darla. He prays for his late wife to guide him as he decides if he could ever truly forgive Taylor.

Hector tells Phoebe that he was protecting her from Shane.

By the pool at Taylor's house, Hector blindly swings his baseball bat at Shane in an attempt to protect Phoebe. Blood splatters all over Hector as he hits Shane, who falls to the ground. Phoebe rushes to Shane's side; when he doesn't respond, she tells Hector to call an ambulance. Hector asks about Harry, who comes to and gets up off the ground. Harry asks Phoebe if she's OK, but she is more worried about Shane. She asks where the ambulance is. It's on the way, Hector reports, and so are the police. Phoebe asks why he called the cops. Hector and Harry tell her that Shane was about to take advantage of her. Hector suspects Shane wanted to rape Phoebe, who tells them both that they misinterpreted the situation. She knows they were trying to help, but she's sure Shane would never hurt her. Not anymore, Hector says, since Shane is going to prison. Only if they can find Shane, Harry points out. Hector asks what he means; Harry points to where Shane lied on the ground just moments ago and notes that Shane is gone! Harry goes to find Shane, guessing that the injured gardener couldn't get very far. Waiting with Hector, Phoebe fears that Shane will run off now, which means he won't be in court to testify and help her mother!

Just as Harry comes back and reports that Shane isn't in the house, Lt. Baker arrives with his men. He asks what's going on here. Hector and Harry tell him that Shane attacked Phoebe, but Phoebe insists that Shane wasn't trying to hurt her. She thinks Hector and Harry just overreacted. Harry points out that Shane still attacked him. So they have an assault. Harry says yes, but Phoebe says no. She tells Lt. Baker that Shane got a little carried away with her, so Hector and Harry went a bit overboard trying to protect her. Harry insists they were protecting her, since Shane had only one thing on his mind. When Baker asks where Shane is now, Phoebe explains that he was injured and ran off. Baker asks how McGrath was hurt; Hector admits he had no choice but to hit Shane with a baseball bat. Harry doesn't think Shane will get far. Baker tells one of his men to get to the station and check the hospitals for Shane. He then asks where Shane might go. Phoebe suggests that Shane might go to his apartment and offers to take Baker there. Baker asks Phoebe if she is pressing charges. Phoebe says no and doesn't even want to dwell on it, since her mother's future depends on their finding Shane!

Lt. Baker, Harry and Phoebe get a lead on Shane - or do they?

Phoebe leads Harry and the police to the apartment. Lt. Baker calls out for Shane. When Shane doesn't respond, Baker tells his men to break down the door. He tells Harry and Phoebe to wait outside while he and his men go in, but there is no sign of Shane. Phoebe fears that he ran off. As Lt. Baker tries to see if the Department of Motor Vehicles has a record of Shane registering a vehicle, he gets a call patched through from the station. The caller says he's the owner of a nearby deli, and he has a guy there named Shane McGrath who's really hurt. Thinking he has their man, Baker tells the store owner that they'll be right there. He then says that they'll need someone to identify Shane. Harry asks Phoebe if she'll be OK here; when she says she will be as long as they find Shane, Harry volunteers to go with Lt. Baker to do the ID. Lt. Baker assures Phoebe that he also wants Shane to testify, so he has no plans to go too hard on Shane. Phoebe thanks him. As the cop and Harry leave, a shadowy figure holding a cell phone watches from the fire escape: it's Shane! He made the call to the police to drive them away.