"Jubilant that her cousin had come to Ryan's aid and hired a private investigator, Gillian headed to The Valley Inn for a briefing on the detective's findings. As she was arriving, Gillian bumped into Braden. The princess pulled Ryan's "friend" to a nearby table and proceeded to tell him about the private investigator. Braden looked concerned by the news, presumably because he did not want anyone to learn that he was Ryan's brother. Braden tried to get Gillian to see that she didn't really need a private investigator because he was on the case. Braden looked over his shoulders before leaning close to Gillian and telling her that he'd had a "heart to heart" chat with Kit. Gillian hung in every word. Braden grinned slyly as he announced that he expected the rape charges to be dropped. Gillian wasn't sure how Braden had gotten Kit to back off, but she was thankful nonetheless. The two agreed that it was unlikely that Kit had been raped. Gillian offered that she believed that Kit had had sex, but was not convinced that Kit had been sexually assaulted. Braden urged Gillian to head to the prison and tell Ryan the good news. Gillian wasn't sure that going to visit Ryan was the best thing. What if Kit decided not to have the charges dropped? If Gillian got Ryan's hopes up, that would surely only cause more troubles for her and Ryan and their relationship. Braden again asserted that her was "ninety-nine point nine" positive that Kit was going to ask for the charges to be dropped. Finally, Gillian agreed to head down to the prison---but she had to hurry because visiting hours were almost over. Shortly after Gillian left, Hendricks, the private eye Dimitri had hired, showed up looking for Gillian. Braden walked over to the man with his hand extended. Braden told Hendricks that Mrs. Lavery had other engagements and was unable to wait for him. He then smoothly worked himself into the mix, saying that he has been working closely with Gillian to get Ryan out of jail. Hendricks appeared to have his doubts, but Braden was very convincing. Hendricks hadn't come up with much new information. He'd dug up some of the aliases Kit had used during her days as a con artist. The private eyes stated that he had hoped to prove that Jack had used his position to rig the DNA test results. After a thorough investigation, Hendricks determined that the results were on the up-and-up. Now the investigation would shift to trying to find the person who really had had sex with Kit. Braden told the man that "Mr. Marick" had decided that his help was no longer needed since the rape charges were going to be dropped. Braden then reached into his pocket and produced a sizeable wad of cash. He counted out several hundred dollars and handed it to Hendricks. The private eye agreed to end his investigation, but remarked that he hopes Braden is right about the charges being dropped.
Working late in his office at Wildwind, Edmund looked up from his laptop computer when Raquel entered the room. Raquel bowed her head shyly and apologized for disturbing Edmund. Edmund rose from his seat and assured the young woman that she was not disturbing him. Given the permission to talk, Raquel babbled on for several minutes professing her innocence in Max's disappearance. "I hate to drag you into this," Raquel began. "But I don't know who else to turn to." Raquel confessed her part in Max's disappearance in a circuitous and vague way. By the time she was done, Edmund had absolutely no idea what Raquel was talking about. Raquel was certain that Mateo and Hayley had told him the truth about Max's disappearance. Mateo suddenly appeared in the doorway and told Raquel that he hadn't told Edmund anything. Now, Edmund was more confused than before. He asked the pair to tell him what they were talking about. Since Raquel had gotten the ball rolling, Mateo felt it was her responsibility to 'fess up. "Max didn't really wander off," said Raquel softly. "He was with me the whole time." Somehow, Raquel managed to twist her scam into a request for sympathy. She frantically explained that her desperate measures had been brought on by a need to make sure that Max remained in her custody. Her big eyes filling with tears, Raquel looked sadly towards Edmund and remarked that she was sure that Maria would have done the same thing for her children. Edmund recalled that Maria had taken some drastic steps of her own. When Kelsey reneged on her promise to let Edmund and Maria raise Sam, Maria was ready to board a plane with Sam and flee the country. Mateo wasn't pleased by the way Raquel had worked Maria into the equation. "I understand," said Edmund, shocking Mateo into silence. "I can't condone your behavior---but you were desperate." Mateo didn't want to appear that he was insensitive to Raquel's needs, so he made a valiant offer to solve all of their problems. If Raquel agreed to a no-strings divorce, Mateo promised to give her shared custody of their son. The offer was flatly rejected. Raquel said that having Mateo and Max both in her life was a dream she'd had for years. Mateo quickly noted that it was unfair for Raquel to give Max false hopes that he and Raquel were going to be together forever. He followed that with a disclaimer that there was no possibility for that reunion to happen. Raquel said that she'd been raised to believe that a person only marries once---and that that marriage should last for life. Mateo mocked Raquel's traditional values, urging her to be more realistic. Frazzled, Raquel raced out of the room with tears in her eyes. Edmund scolded Matt for being "too hard" on Raquel. Mateo didn't feel he'd overreacted in the least. Raquel, he argued, was teaching Max to lie. He then announced that he should have Raquel brought up on kidnapping charges since she'd violated the court's custody mandate.
A teary Raquel sat beside her slumbering son. She gently stroked his hair, causing the boy to wake from his sleep. Max sat up and saw the tears streaming down his mother's face. "You're the only one who loves me," replied Raquel when asked why she was crying. Max disagreed. He noted that Mateo and Hayley love her, too. "No," Raquel sniffled. "She hates me." Max's face grew concerned. "Did Hayley make you cry?" he asked in a tiny voice. "Yes," Raquel said coldly. "She did."
Ryan's pleas for Hayley to leave fell on deaf ears. Hayley stubbornly refused to leave until Ryan explained why he gave Jack a bogus confession. She feared that Jack had somehow threatened Ryan and thereby forced him into a confession. Ryan assured Hayley that Jack had nothing to do with his confession. There was something about this confession that just didn't seem right; Ryan had professed his innocence for months, so why change his tune now? Hayley recalled Ryan's cryptic remarks about paying back debts. When asked if this "debt" was the reason for his confession, Ryan snapped that he had been rambling and that Hayley should pay no mind to what he'd said. Ryan proclaimed that he really had been telling the truth---he had raped Kit Fisher. Hayley had spent time in jail for Ryan. She believed in his innocence. Her face echoed her determination as she told Ryan that she would get to the bottom of his sudden one-eighty. Hayley turned and stormed out of the cellblock. Ryan flopped on his cot, his mind haunted by sounds from his ordeal. His solitude was broken when Gillian skipped into the cell area. Her face was lit with a smile, her tongue anxious to share the good news related to her by Braden. The good news, however, was nothing for Ryan to celebrate. He immediately ordered Gillian to halt her plans to hire a private investigator. Ryan never made known why he was opposed to the investigation. Gillian pleaded with her husband to see it her way. She insisted that she was only trying to make up for all the harm she'd done. "It's too late," Ryan said when pressured for answers. "I already confessed." Initially, the news appeared to have circumvented Gillian's ears; there was no sign that she understood what Ryan had told her. "I slept with Kit Fisher," Ryan added, perhaps wanting to make sure that Gillian got the gist of what he was saying. Gillian's face suddenly dropped. She was devastated that Ryan had lied about having gone to bed with Kit. After pulling herself together, she quickly informed Ryan that just because he slept with Kit didn't mean that he had raped her. "Kit has been telling the truth the whole time," Ryan snarled. "I raped her."
Trevor entered Jack's office hoping to make a deal on his client's behalf. Jack refused to cooperate, reminding his colleague and former protege that Ryan had already confessed to raping Kit. Not hearing the entire conversation, Kit walked into the office and informed her big brother that she wanted to drop the charges against Ryan. Trevor rejoiced and commented that finally Kit has come to her senses. Jack scurried over to Kit and gently took her head in his hands. He leaned close and informed her that Ryan had confessed to raping her. Tears welled in Kit's eyes. Like others, Kit wondered why Ryan had suddenly changed his story. "My question exactly," chirped Trevor. He looked to Jack and again asked for leniency during the sentencing stage. Instead of twenty-five years to life, Trevor wanted a reduced sentence of five to ten years. Jack flatly refused to bargain. Kit looked towards Jack and told him that she thinks they should accept the deal. If the case did go to trial, Kit knew that her family would be dragged through the mud. Trevor stepped in and commented that Ryan was "not a threat to society" and that sentencing him to life was like "using a sledgehammer on a cockroach." Jack again refused to cooperate. He explained that he could ask for a closed courtroom so that the details of the trial were not made public. Trevor vowed to fight that decision. In the process, he warned Jack that he would make sure that all of Kit's dirty little secrets were leaked to the media. Then, his next mission would be to draw public outrage so that Jack would not be re-elected come Election Day. Just as Jack appeared ready to concede, Hayley burst into the room and ordered her uncle not to make any deal. Hayley announced that Ryan's confession was "bogus." Jack shook his head and told Hayley that he was getting tired of the way she was sticking her nose in other people's business. Hayley implied that someone had gotten Ryan and forced him to make a confession. She asked Jack to check the sign-in logs to see who had been visiting Ryan during his time in jail. Jack refused to cooperate, saying that Ryan had confessed because his conscience had finally gotten the best of him. Now that some doubt had been raised, Trevor decided that the best course of action would be to get Ryan's confession nullified. He and Hayley left just as Myrtle was filing into the office. Her solemn demeanor foretold the grim news she was about to deliver. Myrtle told Jack about Erica's accident, explaining that she couldn't leave the message with his answering service for fear that the news would leak to the media. Kit urged her brother to head to the hospital. Myrtle and Jack headed out of the office. A few seconds later, Braden appeared in the doorway. He asked Kit if she'd asked for the charges to be dropped. Kit softly noted that she had been "too late" to get the charges dropped. Braden looked quizzically at the young woman and asked her for an explanation. "He admitted that he raped me," Kit responded."
- Soap Central