Monday, March 16, 2009, Episode #5522

Taylor has a talk with her son.

At the Big Bear cabin, Taylor holds the sweater that Pam made for Thomas and recalls Stephanie telling her that the police found crochet fibers like Pam's at the crime scenes. Thomas enters and bids his mom good morning. Seeing the look on his mom's face, Thomas asks if she's OK. Taylor tells him that she's just been thinking about all that's happened lately. Thomas asks where Steffy is. Taylor tells him that Steffy went for a walk with Ridge. Thomas goes to get his coat and join them, but Taylor asks if she can talk with him alone. Thomas is fine with that, but he wants to grab a bite to eat first. As Thomas grabs some food from the table, Taylor recalls the yarn fibers from his sweater coming off on her hands last night. Thomas thinks it's good that they're spending time together as a family, but Taylor reminds him that they're here because his grandmother thinks Rick's assailant is still at large. Thomas doesn't think Aunt Pam could be guilty, despite what she did in the past. He wonders how they can get Pam out of jail. Taylor assures him that Stephanie will leave no stone unturned in her quest to find the true culprit.

Marcus talks with Stephanie about Pam.

Stephanie calls Marcus to Eric's office to talk about Pam. She insists that her sister is innocent. Marcus bets that she thinks his mother framed Pam, and that he helped her to get back at Rick for stealing Steffy away. Stephanie thinks he has good reason to hate Rick and promises to get him the best lawyer in town if he'll just confess to his crimes.

Donna brings gifts to Pam in jail.

At the jail, Pam gets a visit from Donna. "There's justice in this world after all," Donna boasts upon seeing Pam in her jailhouse attire. Pam asks Donna if she came down just to gloat. Donna reveals that she brought some gifts. First she presents Pam with a stuffed dog that looks like Tiny as a puppy. Pam is touched by the present until Donna flicks her finger and knocks the dog's head off. Laughing at the sight of the headless toy, Donna takes out her next gift, a pair of crocheted handcuffs. Donna laughs hysterically as she puts on the handcuffs, but Pam isn't amused.

Pam accuses Donna of setting her up.

Tossing the stuffed dog in her hand, Donna recalls how everyone told her to feel sorry for "poor little Pammy" because of the growth in her brain. She balked when they sent Pam to a mental facility, and now Pam's out and Rick was nearly killed. Pam insists that she didn't do it. Donna points out that the evidence says otherwise, and she admits that she feels safe for the first time in a year knowing that Pam's in jail. That comment makes Pam wonder if Donna framed her to get revenge, and she bets that it was actually Donna who did all those things to Rick. Donna scoffs at that notion, but Pam accuses Donna and Marcus of setting her up. Donna bets that Stephanie would love to pin this on her, but she's not the one the police arrested, and she thinks that their arrest is going to stick!

Stephanie promises to get Pam out of jail.

As Donna leaves the interrogation room where she met with Pam, she runs into Stephanie. Donna brags that it's good to see Stephanie's nutty sister locked up where she belongs. She warns Stephanie not to try and pin this on her; there's no evidence against her or Marcus, so any attempts to cast suspicion on them would be a waste of time. Stephanie quips that it wouldn't be a waste of time if it put Donna behind bars and then goes in to see her sister. Upon entering the room, Stephanie comforts Pam with a hug. Pam tells Stephanie about Donna's mental torture and shows Stephanie the stuffed dog. "She and that sneaky son of hers should be behind bars, not me!" Pam weeps. Stephanie assures Pam that she's working on getting her out of here and promises to get her out as soon as she can.

Steffy calls Rick.

While walking around outside the cabin, Steffy calls Rick. Rick is glad to hear her voice. Steffy tells him that she misses him and assures him that she's OK. She explains that her family is just worried for her safety, since they fear that the person who came after Rick is still out there. Rick thinks Stephanie is grasping at straws in an attempt to get her sister out of jail, but Steffy still thinks he should be careful. Rick quips that he's invincible, having survived a fire and a car bombing, but Steffy counters that no one is that invincible. Steffy offers to tell him where she is, but Rick doesn't want to know, since he'd come after her if he knew and wants to avoid another confrontation with her family. He can deal with her spending a few days with her parents as long as he knows she won't let them brainwash her. Steffy promises not to let that happen and tells him that she loves him before ending the call.

Brooke gets a call from Ridge.

Nearby, Ridge calls Brooke, who's glad to hear from him and asks where he is. Ridge refuses to tell her, since he doesn't want Rick finding out where Steffy is. Brooke tells him that it was wrong to burst into Rick's house last night. Ridge concedes that he didn't like how things went down, but he had to get Steffy away from Rick before he lost another daughter. He tells Brooke that she should be worried about Rick, too; despite how he feels about Rick, he doesn't want to see anything happen to him, either.

Rick talks with his mom about last night.

Soon after, Rick drops by to see Brooke. He tells her that he's still smarting from Thomas' sucker punch last night. Mother and son agree that the whole situation last night was uncalled for. Brooke thinks Stephanie got to Ridge and convinced him to take action. Rick doesn't get why Stephanie thinks his assailant is still at large when all the evidence points to Pam. Brooke assures him that Ridge just wants to protect Steffy, but Rick begs her not to fall for that garbage. He thinks he's safe with Pam in jail, but Ridge still wants to play overprotective father to keep Steffy away from him. Still, he's willing to cut Ridge some slack since Steffy thinks her family is just looking out for her. He just hopes Ridge and Taylor aren't using the opportunity to change Steffy's mind about him. Brooke begs him to reconsider his relationship with Steffy, since it will cause him nothing but trouble. Rick tells her that he and Steffy are going to be together, so she better get used to it. He just wishes that everyone would give him and Steffy a chance. Brooke reminds him that Ridge and Taylor agreed to give them a chance, but Rick thinks he was being naive to believe them given what happened last night, and he's especially concerned about Stephanie. Brooke empathizes given her own experiences with Stephanie over the years, but she's more concerned about Rick than about herself right now, since he could be in danger if Stephanie is right and Pam wasn't the person who tried to kill him.

Ridge tells Steffy that he just wants to keep her safe.

Back at Big Bear, Ridge catches up with Steffy, who is sitting on a tree stump thinking. Ridge tries to explain that he brought her here for her own good, but Steffy doesn't see it that way and asks what the deal was with Thomas punching Rick. Ridge reminds her that there's a very unstable person out there who has it in for Rick, and he won't risk her being hurt by that maniac. At least here, she's safe with her parents and her brother.

Thomas makes a confession to his mom.

In the cabin, Thomas is bothered by his aunt being in jail, since he can't think of a reason Pam would go after Rick. Taylor suggests that Pam might blame Rick for Phoebe's death. Thomas can see why Pam would blame Rick, since it was Rick's fault, and he admits that the thought of Steffy even touching Rick makes him sick. He asks his mom what she wanted to talk about. Taylor explains that being here reminds her of the things that happened to their family, not all of which have been good. She thinks it's been especially hard on him, because he had a lot of hopes for their family when she came back. But then Ridge divorced her and she made some poor choices about men with Nick and with Rick, even though Thomas didn't approve. Thomas is just glad that she broke up with that jerk Rick. He wonders how Rick feels about fooling around with the girl whose sister he killed. Taylor acknowledges how loyal he's always been to the family, especially to his sisters. Thomas guesses that this is about Rick and asks his mother if she thinks he tried to kill Rick. He insists he's not a murderer. Taylor tells him that she knows that and goes to get some coffee. While she's pouring, Thomas declares, "I only wanted to scare him," causing Taylor to drop her coffee cup. Thomas admits to his mom that he's the one who set fire to Rick's house and blew up his car.