"Where the hell is he?" "Nick." "What the hell is going on here?" "It's under control, Nick." "Nola, put the knife down." " lt's a letter opener." " Jeremy." "Not until he tells me where my brother is." " Your brother?" " Yeah, Simon's holding him hostage." " Nola, listen to me." "Just step back." " You step back, Nick." "Jeremy, stay out of this." "You were never here." "Look, Nola, I am gonna have to call the police." " No." "No police." "No hospitals." " All right." "So, we'll just stand here until he bleeds to death and you're arrested for murder." "Tell me where he is." "All right, look." "We all want something here." "She wants her brother and you wanna live." "So tell her where her brother is." " l will cut your throat." " Now." "Go to hell." "All right." "Fine." "We'll just stand here and watch you die." "Tell me where he is." "Lausanne." "Lausanne, Switzerland." "The address is taped to the top of the safe. lt's open." "Untie me." "I said we all want something here, and that includes me." " l'm listening." " Here's the deal." "I'll get you medical attention." "I'll save your life, if you stay out of Karen's." "Karen's?" " She's carrying my baby." " Yeah, I know." "And I'm asking you to stay away from both of them, you understand?" "I am not the bad guy here." "If you just untie me..." "Just say you understand, and I will listen to your story later." "The address. I got it." " l understand. I'll stay away." " All right." "I'll stay..." "You did the right thing, bringing him here." "We have so many questions to be answered." "Like how it just so happens your biggest rival, the man who used your daughter to force his way into the company, is in league with Nola Lyons, the woman who prosecuted your wife for murder?" "And who now serves as my son's chief of staff." "Exactly." " Good evening, gentlemen." " Good evening." "If you two would be so kind as to excuse me, I need to change the dressing on Mr. Elder's wound." " Certainly." " Yes, of course." "Let's go have a chat with our little troublemaker, shall we?" "You can't keep me here against my will." "nick:" "No, we can't." "But I can call the air marshals and let them know you're fleeing to Switzerland just hours after an attempted murder and have you sent away for 1 0 to 20." "What have you and Mr. Elder been up to, Ms. Lyons?" " Ask him, Inspector." " Nola." "I didn't have a choice." "I stopped having a choice the day Simon took my brother." "So this was all Simon's idea, your becoming Patrick's chief of staff?" "Yes." "And your prosecution of my wife?" "My entire involvement with this lunatic family was Simon Elder's idea." "I told you, you need to talk to him." "Ms. Lyons, if you've misled us, if you've misrepresented yourself in any way, you'll pay a very steep price." "I told you everything that I know." "Let me go see my brother." "Please." " How'd the inquisition go?" " As expected." "Thankfully, they let me go before rolling out the rack." "Where are you motoring off to?" "Well, I've gotta go pick up my brother now, and then..." "Maximum." "Maria packed me, I'm all set." "We can take the jet." "Jeremy, you're not coming with me." "I have to do this on my own." "Okay, but when you come back, you and me are going on a Simon- free, murder- free, amnesia- free vacation." "I'm not coming back." "I'm taking Justin home to Shanghai, and I'm staying there." "You can't just leave." "I can and I am." "I'm sorry." "Goodbye." " Any change?" " Vitals are weak, but steady." "Apparently, the letter opener almost pierced his lung." "Doctor said he could come to at any time." "Everywhere we turn there are wolves at the doors." " We have yet another pressing matter." " Yeah, what's that?" "I got a call from Richard Gorda over at Random House." "He said that Smith and Shepard have signed a contract commissioning an unauthorized book on the Darling family." "It's likely just gossip, Tripp." "Shouldn't be a problem." "I'm afraid this is probably not just gossip." "Richard described it as a tell- all book." "And the author, in this instance, may well be the first person actually equipped to do just that." "Who's the author?" "Your soon- to- be ex- wife, Lisa." "This is the third in the series." "The first two went to Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed," " so this is yours if you want it." " Great." "Lisa?" "I'll be with you in just a moment, okay?" "Nick, I was wondering how long it would take you to show up." " What are you doing, Lisa?" " l'm working." "What are you doing?" "Let's not play any games." "I know about the book." "So, what'd you tell the editors to get them to sign on?" " Must have been juicy." " Just the truth." "How sad is that?" "If this is about money..." "Why?" "You planning on bribing me out of writing the book?" "is there anything you think the Darlings' money won't buy?" "If you want to get back at me... I'm not trying to get back at anybody, I am taking care of myself." "The standard of living for most women after a divorce goes down considerably, and I won't let that happen to me." "I won't let it happen to Kiki." "Do you realize what you're becoming?" "I'm just curious." "You know what, unless you want to buy a painting, I think you should go." "Oh, my." "You are something else." "Mmm." "That was one hell of a lunch meeting." "I told you I could make you happy." "Over and over again." "You've made me more than happy." "You've reminded me that happiness is something that I can still feel." " Thank you." " Well, hold onto that feeling." " Where do you think you're going?" " l'm sorry." "I have a parent- teacher conference at my kids' school." "Okay." "Can I see you later?" "Patrick, this is just sex, remember?" "I mean, I have to go home." "I'm not talking about sex." "I want us to have a date." " A date?" " Yes, we can hang out and talk." "And after we're done, if you want to go home, you go home." "I just wanna spend time with you." "Well, there's an exhibit at the Logan Gallery l want to see." "I love the Logan." "Let's do it." "Okay." "Then it's a date." "How'd it go with my wife?" "You two have a good time?" " When?" " Last night." "I know she had a good time." "She was still gushing when I saw her at breakfast this morning." "Yeah, she had some fun." "What's the matter, Senator?" "You think just because my shoes match my belt that I can't appreciate my own wife as a woman?" "Come on." "You can say it." "Say, "Congressman, your wife is a fine piece of..."" "is it all right if we don't talk about this right here?" "However you want to play it." "Look, I gotta go." "Sorry to cut this short. I'm running late." "No worries." "But, you know, we never did talk all the details of your biofuel project." "What do you say we have dinner tonight?" "Sorry, can't." "Booked." "Some other time." " Some other time soon, Senator." " Definitely." " Brian?" " l'm in the kitchen, Mom." " And the kitchen would be..." " lt's here, Mom." "Oh, my." "This is the kitchen?" "Really?" " Oh, well, it's..." " A dump." "Yeah, I was going to say it's sort of charmingly intime." "It's breakfast cereal." "The little brat, Kiki, scatters it all around like land mines." "Yeah, and don't ask me what that is." "I think it's what failed hope smells like, with a dash of lowered expectations." "I'd open the window, but then we'd let the sounds of the third world in." "So, how's Andrea?" "Well, she's not quite ready to welcome you back." "How am I gonna stick this out?" "I mean, one week is fine, but after that it just becomes a five- star sty." "Well, we could spruce it up a bit." "I have some ideas." "I have something to give you." " What are you doing?" " Nola Lyons." "Don't say those next four words." "Will you marry me?" "I love you." "Come on, let's do it." "All of it." "The white picket fence, the mixed- breed spawn." "I don't know how to barbecue, but I could learn." "Jeremy, I have spent the last five years trying to reunite my family." "I can be a part of your family, too." "Bring me along to the reunion. I'll pay." "No." "I love you. I do." "But I have to leave." "This life isn't real." "But I'm real." "We're real." "Okay, granted, we started out a little fake, but we turned the corner somewhere along the way." "We got real." "Just let me go." "Please." "He looks so peaceful, doesn't he?" "Maybe he's dead." "A girl can dream, can't she?" "Hey, way to go." "Karen." "You said you would keep Simon away from me and the baby, and now he lives here." "Come on, Karen." "I agreed to bring him here, saved his life, essentially, to get a promise from him to leave you and the baby alone." "And you believed him?" "This is one time that Simon Elder is gonna live up to his word, I promise." "Look, Karen, eventually the guy's gonna want to have contact with his child, but as of right now, he is out of the picture, I promise." "Okay." " Good, because this baby..." " Yeah?" " ..." "I kind of love it." " Everything's gonna be okay." " Mr. George?" "Mr. Elder's awake." " Thank you." "Everything is gonna be okay." "Promise." " Where am I?" " You're at the Imperial." "Nicely played." "How long have I been out?" "Long enough for me to do a little research." "Jeremy told me how you were gonna fake your own death." "Said you were planning a getaway." "Why?" " Why what, precisely?" " Why the need to disappear?" "Why Nola?" "Why her brother?" "Why the Darlings?" "You can start wherever you like." "Look, you don't want to tell me, I'm sure the police will listen." "Nick, I did. I told you." "I'm not the bad guy here." "Yeah, you keep saying that, Simon, but you're not telling me who is." "All right. I'll tell you." " Simon." " Now, what is this new invention?" "It is a fuel." "Just the seed of an idea at this point." " A prototype." " Right." "I'm still seeking economical means of production." "But in the meantime, here it is." "Look, it is completely organic." "Watch." "Non- toxic." "And it works in any traditional internal combustion engine with a little minor alteration." " That is amazing." " Yeah." "There she is, my little girl." "Hey, Justin." "What do you have there?" "Wow." "Nola, this is Simon, one of my old students from Moscow." "Nola is an attorney in New York, just like you, Simon." " She's going straight to the top." " Well, we'll see about that." "It's a shame your mother did not live to see this day." "Well, I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Elder." "You're my father's star pupil." "Oh, well, whatever he says, don't believe him." "This man is not to be trusted." "Excuse me." " What's happening?" " l don't know." " Nick, get the doctor." "Please." " Simon?" "What's going on?" "He was fine, he was talking, and then all of a sudden..." "Get a syringe and an oxygen bag." " Doctor, what's going on?" " His lungs collapsed." "How serious is that?" "Look, I need you to leave and let me do my job or this man is gonna die." "Look at you." "Creep- wad." "She should've killed you when she had the chance." "I wish she had." "You could kill him right now if you want." " What?" " He almost crashed three hours ago." "The doctor had to come in and stabilize him." "If he flat- lined now, no one would think twice." "This is the morphine drip." "All you do is this." " What the hell are you doing?" " Give him five minutes, and he'll sink like the Titanic." "Just stop it." "Stop that right now." " Put that back!" " You said you hated him." "All right." "All right." "Are you happy?" "I can't believe you just did that." "Look, it's okay." "It's not morphine, it's saline." "It's harmless. I was joking." "I'm sorry." "You seemed sad." "You looked like you could use a little entertainment." " Well, thanks." " You're welcome." "And if you want some more entertainment later, my shift ends at 1 0:00." "I like his more mature works, when you get the feeling he wasn't trying to impress anybody anymore." "He was just doing it for himself." " You really know your stuff, Pat." " l know what I like." "Nice thing about growing up with money is you get to spend your life around a lot of beautiful things." " Thanks for coming out like this." " l'm glad I did." "It's not good." "Someone from the publishers of Lisa's upcoming expose has leaked a bit of her quote- unquote "insider content."" " Which includes what exactly?" " Details of Patrick's marriage." "His affair." "Letitia's trial." "Her payment of money to your mother." "Karen and Simon." "I know." "It's very disappointing, but I'd like you to get hold of the family's public- relations person," "Rebecca Colfax..." " No, Tripp, I'll handle it." " No, Nick." "This is not press releases and newspaper interviews." "We're gonna need people on television." "Even so, I think it's best if I handle it." "I want that book neutralized, but I don't want Lisa attacked, so I'll do it." "Okay." "Nick George." "I'll be right there." "He's awake." "You okay now?" "Nick George cares." "The only reason I care is because you have a story to finish." "Nola's father had just shown you his prototype for the biofuel" " you claim to have invented." " Right." "So, how did you wind up taking the credit and the money for that?" "Well, Shien's luck took a bad turn." " You must be very proud." " l am." "But even more so, Simon, I think, with your prominence in the world marketplace and my invention..." "What are you saying?" "If you are ready to sign, I am ready to share this with you." "Fifty- fifty." "That sounds like a risk worth taking." "Tsung Shien Chun?" "What's going on here?" "Simon, I don't know what this is about, but you have to help me." "No, I'm sure this is a misunderstanding." "We'll figure it out." "Go to my son, please?" "See if he's okay?" "Please?" "I will." "Don't worry." "I'll take care of everything." "nick:" "So, you set him up and conveniently forgot to mention him ever again." "Look, Nick, if I had to do it all over again, I would have left those vials on the table and never looked back." "That is where all my trouble began." "What does that mean?" "So, you could give him his last dose of antibiotics in 40 minutes." "Okay." "Excuse us." "We need to give Mr. Elder his bath." " We'll finish this later." " You know where to find me." "Alcohol's a depressant, Chief." "Step away from the bottle." "is that your professional opinion?" "Nope. lt's personal, empirical and anecdotal." "Gathered from my many years of hard living." " You need a change of scenery." " l wouldn't know where to go." "I used to." "Back when I was Jeremy Darling." "But then my mother got arrested for murder and everything went to hell." "I fell in love, hit my head, faked amnesia, and here I am." "Drinking your way back to amnesia." "I'll call you when I get there." "What?" "When you're ready to leave this pity party of yours, I have an idea." " Viva Las Vegas!" " Viva Las Vegas!" "To great ideas!" "What you reading?" "A book about, you know, giving birth, with pictures." " Hey." " Hey." "I wanna do it." "Okay." "Get in." "No, Karen." "You and me, together." " And the baby?" " And the baby." "All of us." "Together." " Are you sure about this?" " Yes." "It's just when I think about all the surprises we've gotten from all the people we thought we knew..." " Like your ex." " And yours." " We can pick them, can't we?" " Yeah, we sure can." "But we know everything about each other." "The good, the bad, the ugly." "And I'm not just okay with who you are, I love who you are." "It's just..." "From the first day that I saw you in your little orange one- piece bathing suit and your bucket of frogs and your shovel..." "Man." "I just knew you were the girl for me." "I loved that one- piece bathing suit." " Yeah." " Yeah." "Yeah." "So, you and me." "What do you think?" "I think it's about time." " Brian?" " l'm in the bathroom!" "Or what has historically been the bathroom." " What is it now?" " lt's gonna be a sauna." "Sauna?" "Yeah, the kitchen's gonna become the bathroom, and Kiki's room's gonna become the kitchen." " Are you insane?" " No, no." "Kiki's gonna sleep in this little loft that we're gonna build above the wine locker." " Who said you could do this?" " No, look..." "Listen." "Hey, look, if the landlord's got a problem with it, we just buy the building." "No, I'm the one with the problem, Brian." "Me." " Yeah, obviously." " Hey." "You're my guest." "So why don't you just be a gracious host and make way?" "I mean, come on, we're both miserable here." "I'm just trying to do something about it." "Put it all back." "Now." "A moment of your time, Senator?" " What can I do for you, Congressman?" " This has got to stop." "Right now." "Your little affair with my wife." "Do you understand me, Senator?" "I'm still trying to get over the fact that you followed us to the gallery." "How did you know?" "Called your office." "Told them it was urgent." " Am I missing something here?" " We had a deal." "The deal was simple." "You're supposed to have sex with my wife and only sex." "But from what I saw, the two of you seemed to have feelings for one another." "Both of you." "And I'll not stand for that." "Well, you may very well have to, because I like her, and you, my friend, are gay." "I mean, it's not like you can call this a marriage." "No." "Stop it." "Stop it right now." "Don't go there." "Instead, why don't you take a look at that?" "Go on." "Dana and me at the hotel." "It's a little insurance policy, Senator." "You see, whenever my wife gets together with someone to have her needs met, I take a couple of pictures, make sure things don't get out of hand, because men have a tendency, a nasty, nasty tendency, to fall for her." "What do you want, Charles?" "I want you to stay away from my wife." "I offered you friendship, Patrick." "I offered you..." "How can I put this?" "Unprecedented access." "But you, you got hungry." "And you forgot your manners." "It's over, Senator." "Right." "Please welcome Mr. Nick George, personal legal counsel to the Darling family." " Nice to have you with us, Mr. George." " Thanks for having me." "First, tell us, do the leaks coming out about the Darling tell- all contain any truth?" "I mean, are the Darlings as out of control as we've heard?" "No, no, of course not." "It may be hard to believe, but they're really a family like any other, using the resources they have to try to enjoy life, make the world a better place." "So, the author's claims that there is trouble..." "Before we grace the author's claims with any attention, let's consider that the author's motivation included a six- figure cash advance to peddle this trash." "All right, now the author, you mean your ex- wife?" "Yes, that's correct, Bob." "But I'm not really interested in pursuing that particular thread of the story." "You might not be, but the people of New York are very interested in the way that your family drama has turned into tabloid fodder, which is why we have a surprise guest today." "Wait, wait, wait a minute." "Someone who is ready to share some more juicy details about this first family." "So, let's bring her in." "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome" "Mr. George's ex- wife and the author of the book in question," "Mrs. Lisa George." " Hi." " Hello." " Hi." " Thank you." "Now, before we went to break, there was a point you wanted to clear up, Mr. George?" "Yes, I just wanted to remind your audience that, despite Lisa's accusations, the Darlings, as a family, have done an enormous amount of good for this country." "They're not perfect." "They're human." "Just like you and me." "Not exactly like you and me." "I mean, most people don't find ourselves so entitled as to run for public office while blatantly cheating on our wives." "Or throwing parties that close down the Brooklyn Bridge." "Well, that was a charity event, for your information, the proceeds of which exceeded over $2 million." "Charity event?" "It was a birthday party." "And I'm sure that the commuters trying to get home to their families that night were very impressed." "Yeah, you know, isn't this a little hypocritical?" "Seeing as how you have a business relationship with one of the Darlings?" "Jeremy Darling is an investor in her art gallery." "I bought him out when I got my advance, but while we're on the subject of credibility, don't you think it's a little difficult to trust a man defending the Darlings, when he's, in fact, in love with one of them?" "I forgot to mention that Nick is currently in a relationship with Karen Darling." "Really?" "What a tangled web." "I know." "Don't worry, I won't give out the sordid details now, but it will all be in the book." "All right, hold it right there." "With that bombshell, we're gonna take a break." "We'll be back in 90 seconds." "Nice work." "Two- minute segment and you managed to humiliate yourself and your daughter in front of the entire city." "You must be so proud." " You have a lot of great ideas." " Thank you." "I'm really glad we came. I mean..." " You know what I mean." " Yeah." "I actually forgot about her for a minute." "What?" "Well, since you love my ideas so much..." "Yeah?" "...I have another one." "It's kind of crazy, but you might like it." "Come in." "Hey, look who it is." "I watched the throw- down with the wife." "Now, I gotta say, I'm not one for daytime television, but that was hot." "Yeah, well, I'm not here to talk about me." "Right." "Right." "So, you stole the biofuel from Nola's father and then what?" "He was arrested?" "Arrested for what?" "Your father's being charged with sedition." "Some editorial he wrote in which he denounced the Chinese government, or appeared to do so." "I never heard a thing about that." "Yeah, well, I don't have all the details right now, and they're unimportant at this point." "Where's my brother?" " l have him." " What do you mean, you have him?" " l took him to a safe place." " Where?" "Listen, you're gonna have to trust me." "From now on, I'll be the gateway for all contact between you and your brother." "And in exchange for his safety, I'll get your help, your cooperation." "You're holding him hostage?" "Since you've become assistant DA, you're in a unique position to help me in ways I can't help myself." "Now, by the way, if you tell anyone about this, you'll never see him again." "That means no police, no private investigators, nothing." "Do you understand that?" "But if you cooperate, I'll get your father released from prison, and in time, you'll see your brother." "So, that's how you forced Nola to prosecute Letitia Darling for a crime she didn't commit?" " Essentially." " Why?" "Come." "Hi." "Nick, can we talk for a minute, please?" "Please, go ahead." " We're not done here." " l'm well aware." "Lisa, what are you doing here?" "is Kiki all right?" "Kiki's fine. lt's about us." "Well, I don't want to talk about us." "There's no us anymore to talk about." "Nick, please, just listen to me." "I couldn't believe what that turned into today at the studio." "Well, Lisa, you made that happen." "You made the book deal." "You agreed to appear on the show." "That's..." "Now, don't get dainty this late in the game." "You know me." "That's not who I was when we met." "It's not who I want to be." "Well, then stop being it." "Start taking some responsibility for what happened between us." " l am." " Lisa." "I'm going to." "Nick." "We can do this." " We can start over." "We can do this." " Lise." "Don't you think it's worth a try, for Kiki, if nothing else?" "Lisa." " lt's too late." " Don't say that." " lt is, Lisa. I'm sorry." " Just think about it." "Think about what we had before the Darlings." "We had such a good thing." "I know." "Just go back there for one minute." "Go back." "Lise." "Lise." " Karen." " No, no, no, you're..." " Karen, wait a minute." " You're obviously in the middle of something very complicated right now." "And so... lt's not complicated." "Karen, you don't understand." "I don't need to understand, Nick." "That's the fun part." "I just don't need to understand." "Karen!" "Karen." "Karen?" "Can somebody get a doctor?" " Hey." " Hey." "How you feeling?" "A little empty, but aside from that, I'm right as rain." " l'm sorry." " lt's not your fault." "I should have looked where l was going, you know, in general." "Well, just so you know, the doctor said you can try again soon to get pregnant, if you want to." "If I want to." "Okay, well, I guess I'll have to see how I feel about that." " l'd be willing to try." " With Lisa?" "No, with you when you're ready." " How does Lisa feel about that?" " Doesn't matter." "Look, Karen, she's always going to be Kiki's mom, she's always gonna be in my life," "but I wanna be with you." " For keeps?" " For keeps." "Wow." "Our long national nightmare is over." "Why did you call?" "I thought you already spoke with Charles." "Do you love him, Dana?" "Just tell me, Dana, do you love him?" "He's my husband." "We have an arrangement." "It's been working." "But when I asked you to come here, behind his back, you said yes." "So, what's the truth?" "Patrick." "Look, I need to know if you think that there's a chance that you and I could ever have something real." "More than just sex?" "More than just sex." "Yes." " That's all I need to know." " Patrick, what are you going to do?" "Charles can be dangerous." "Don't underestimate him." "Don't underestimate me." "You deserve to be with a man who wants you, all of you." "This little arrangement the two of you had might have worked for a while, but I'm going to make sure that he understands one thing, that there's gonna be a new arrangement." "Jeremy!" " Nola." "What are you doing here?" " Hi." "I found my brother in Lausanne and then my father took him back to Shanghai with him." " And I just..." " Yeah?" "I love you and I don't want to be without you." "I can't." "Okay." "This is..." "This is interesting." "Listen, I want to marry you." "I am ready to become Mrs. Jeremy Darling." "There's just one small, very small problem." "Yeah?" "I kind of already got married." "He's a great catch, isn't he?" "Are you serious?" " Hey, welcome home." " Hey." "Well, I see everything is back to normal." "Before you get your boxers in a twist, just give it a second." " That's a rug." "People walk on it." " Really?" " What's all that?" " lt's gold leaf." "It's nice." " Did you have a rough day?" " You have no idea." "Well, then." "What the hell is that thing?" "It's an Italian wine- dispensing system for drunks." "Fancy." " A little change is good, huh?" " lt's not entirely bad." "Thanks." " Don't thank me." "Thank Letitia." " Letitia?" "Yeah, this was all her idea." "Letitia." "Wake up." "What's going on?" "There's still one question you haven't answered." "What?" "Of all the things that you forced Nola to do, why did you have her prosecute Letitia?" "If you wanted to take down the Darlings," "Tripp would have been a much more effective target." "Yeah, that's exactly what I thought." "Nick, I keep telling you, I'm not the bad guy." "You've confessed to kidnapping, extortion, conspiracy to murder, how are you not the bad guy?" "Your father, digging up dirt on me for Tripp, found out I stole the biofuel, among other things." "He never stopped holding that over my head." "He was the one who wanted me to punish Letitia." "But why?" "By the time Letitia had been arrested, he was..." "Dead?" "Afraid not." "What are you saying?" " That my father is alive?" " Alive and well, and still one hell of a bastard."