One Life to Live Update for Friday, 29-Jul-2005

John and the cops enter the empty warehouse where Hayes is ready to hang Marcie and Rex. But he discovers he cannot cut the rope nor remove the sandbags attached to the noose around their necks. The sandbags weigh 300lb, the other cop tells him. So John shoots at the rope. It breaks. And he frees them. The other cop carries Marcie out of the warehouse. John asks Rex where Barber went. Rex does not seem to know. Hayes zapped both hostages with a stun gun so they are very out of it. The medical team comes and takes them both to the hospital.

At the hospital, Michael asks Bo what he thinks Nick meant when he said: “She is dead.” He asks if Bo thinks he was talking about Marcie. Bo says he does not know and instructs the security guard not to let anybody enter the hospital rooms where the two patients are going to be. From the crime scene, John informs Bo that he’s gotten them both free. They will be ok but are presently in no condition to talk. But he still cannot find Natalie. The other cop asks John if he wants the others to search further for Natalie. But John assumes there’s no way she could be there or else Hayes would not have had the time to “play” with Marcie and Rex if Natalie was also there. John looks all over for Hayes. Right then, a box opens and Hayes appears from inside it. It looks like he’s letting himself out of a coffin.

When Marcie gets wheeled into the hospital, in the stretcher, Michael tells the medical staff that he must be able to take care of her. They tell him he’s too emotionally involved but agree to let him be there for her. He tells Bo that he’s afraid if Marcie is alive and well, that must mean Natalie is dead. But Bo tells him they have not given up hope in trying to find Natalie. When they wheel Rex in, Bo asks him about Natalie. Rex coughs and cannot talk well and tells Bo he’s very worried about his sister and needs the cops to find her. In Marcie’s hospital room, she notices Michael. Remembering that she previously thought that Hayes had him murdered, she asks if she is dreaming. Michael assures her that he is very much alive and she’s going to be ok. She asks about Rex and informs Michael that Rex tried to save her life. He assures her that Rex will be ok. Bo comes in and tells Marcie he needs to ask her some questions. He asks her what she remembers about Hayes Barber or Ivan Potter, from high school and now. Why does she think he did what he did? She tells him it’s revenge for what all of his high school mates did to him. He kidnapped her and Rex to “initiate” them into his killing club. He wanted to kill her and Rex and Michael and Natalie and did not plan to spare anybody.

Michael goes to see Rex in his hospital room and thanks him for saving Marcie. Rex tells Michael he didn’t do anything special. Michael says he knows the old Rex would never have stuck his neck out. Rex tells Michael he mustn’t pin any meddles on him. Natalie is still gone. Bo asks Marcie if she saw anything in the warehouse that could indicate that Natalie was there or could have been there. She says she did not see Natalie but noticed Hayes staring to the front of the warehouse at crates and what looked like scenery.

Bo goes to see Rex, who is still worried about Natalie and tells Bo that he always picked up bad vibes on that creep, Hayes. Bo tells Rex that everybody did but unfortunately there was insufficient evidence to catch him up until now. But he compliments Rex for being clever enough to have left his watch and the scarf with chloroform for the cops to find. Rex admits that he’s starting to think and behave like a cop. Michael tells Marcie that he blames himself for her meeting Hayes. But she tells him he mustn’t blame himself and she says thank God it’s over. He tells her it’s not over until they find Natalie. Michael reveals to Marcie that he is still in love with her. Bo asks Rex about Hayes using Nick’s relationship with Julie in order to reel him in. Rex remarks that Nick was not the sharpest tool in the shed. Bo tells Rex that when you use someone’s feelings for another person, it’s a very powerful weapon.

Todd is waiting for “Jessica” whom has agreed to meet Rich at the restaurant but has no clue that Todd will be there. He knows “Tess” will show up to collect the money and hopefully he will be able to catch her and bring her home.

Back at Nash’s home, after calling Rich about meeting him to collect more money, Tess tells Nash she has an appointment somewhere but does not tell him what she’s doing.

When Tess goes to meet Rich, she is alarmed to notice that Nash has followed her there. He tells her he just thought she might be in trouble. She asks him to go home so she can take care of her business and tells him she’s not in any trouble. She tells him he need not follow her nor worry about her and she does not need a chaperone. She tells him she does not go following him everywhere. He reminds her that she just shows up at his apartment whenever she wants. He tells her she reminds him of a high-risk commodity. She tells him if that’s the way he sees it and doesn’t want to continue seeing her, he is free to cut his losses. She tells him if he’s looking for a safe bet, she’s not the one for him. He then agrees to leave and see her back at his place. But before he’s gone, he notices that she is very panicked about something. She is able to see Todd Manning in a crowd and knows she must get out ASAP. While it looks like Rich has waited too long for Jessica to show up, he leaves. Observing Rich leaving, Nash assumes that it’s that guy whom she doesn’t want to see. She tells him no, it’s the other guy (Todd) sitting at the table with him who cannot know that she is there. And he doesn’t look to be ready to leave any time soon.

Tess tells Nash that she knows he’s concerned about her not returning to his place. And if that guy (she points at Todd) catches her there, she will never be able to see him again. Hearing that, he lets her go out the door and approaches Todd and punches him. He causes a scene and people ask him what his problem is. He informs them that he saw this guy attempt to steal “this lady’s” (a total stranger sitting nearby) wallet. Although he is making that up as not to reveal to Todd that Tess/Jessica is nearby, the strange lady totally buys that Nash has protected her from being robbed by Todd. The bouncers seems to believe Nash’s story since it looks to him as though Todd has ran out on his check. And he calls the cops and has Todd sent to jail. But when Nash returns to Tess, he asks her who that guy was and why she’s running from him.

At Antonio’s, Layla rehearses from a play. Right then, Antonio enters and reveals to her that he was watching her without her knowing. She asks him about the latest involving Rex. He tells her that both Rex and Marcie have been found and will be ok. He tells her he needs to go and get some rest. He speaks as though he is with her in the play, sarcastically. She tries to sell to him that she has been evaluated as a great actress. She tells him that she assumes he does not believe she is very good. He tells her it’s not his area of expertise. She asks him if he does not want her to “give up her day job”. He replies that he does not. He needs her to work at Capricorn. She observes a picture of Antonio and Jessica. He gives her something to wear and tells her she mustn’t get too comfortable staying there because as soon as the killer is caught, she’s going back to her sister’s. He asks her about the bra that she “accidentally” left and which Adriana found and asked him about a few days ago. Layla reveals to Antonio that she is in love with him. She sounds like she is very serious and emotional. She manipulates him into feeling bad to not return her feelings and gets him to explain that he’s in love with somebody else and wants to have a family with Jessica and that Layla will find somebody else, (etc.). But then she calls his bluff that she was only practicing her “drama”.

Blair goes to find Asa Buchanan and asks him why he is stalling in finding Margaret Cocharan. She tells him she is not safe. She actually saw Margaret in a cab, today. He reminds her that she’s believed that she has seen Margaret before when she hasn’t been there. He asks her if she and Margaret chewed the fat and exchanged recipes. She tells him he better not patronize her and that even if Margaret hasn’t actually been there, she has haunted her. Her daughter cannot live a normal life in school. And she’s not going to wait any longer for Asa to get results in finding Margaret. He tells her these things take time. She tells him he either gives her a progress report in finding Margaret, or she will have the sweet satisfaction of letting his son lock him up. She gets on the phone and tells him he either gives her what she wants or she will call Bo. He then demands she gets off the phone and tells her he will show her some files he has. She looks through them. He informs her that he had his men track Margaret up a mountain in Mexico. Blair demands to know why they haven’t caught her. He tells her that it’s the rainy season. When it rains, nobody goes up the mountain but when the rain stops, they will find her. Blair observes a picture of Margaret and remarks that it’s just too real to even look at a photograph of that woman. After she’s done looking at Asa’s “Margaret files”, Blair goes out the door telling him she wants this to be over and that he’d better do his damn job. When she’s gone, Asa gets on the phone and demands that somebody gets their damn butt over there right now.

Right when Asa puts away his Margaret file and looks to be waiting for somebody, he has a “guest”. It’s the sicko Margaret herself. She’s the person he’s demanded gets her butt to his home. She’s wearing overalls and looking like she’s pregnant.

At the empty warehouse, Hayes talks to his manikins, assuming he is alone. But he is surprised to see John. He then turns and holds a knife at John. John holds him at gunpoint, demands he drops it and knocks him to the floor, demanding that he tells him where Natalie is. John and the cops manhandle Hayes, strap him to a chair and demand to know where Natalie is. But Hayes makes it a game and laughs about how John must play until the game is over. He tells him every mystery needs a clue so he will give him one. He tells John he was getting warmer but now he’s getting cold. John looks around the empty warehouse to see if he can find a clue about Natalie. As John searches around the warehouse and hears Hayes telling him when he’s getting warming or colder, he gets frustrated and asks the cops to search again. Bo calls him and asks him to check at the front where there are the crates and scenery that Marcie noticed. He looks in that direction although Hayes tells him he’s getting colder. John then tears paper off of the brick wall and sees pictures of many people, including himself, Natalie, Evangeline, Rex, Jen and Marcie. He goes and uncovers what could be a person but discovers it’s a skeleton with a Natalie wig. Hayes laughs and tells John he fooled him again. John notices blood on the cloth he pulled off of the skeleton and asks the other cop to have it analyzed in the lab. Hayes asks if he really killed Natalie or if he just fantasized about it. And laughs at John knowing that he’d like to unravel that mystery. John pushes Hayes in the chair and backs him up against the wall. He tells him that after changing his name and physical appearance he’s still the same loser he always was. He asks the cops to lock Hayes up. But Hayes asks John how badly he wants to find out where Natalie is. He asks him if he’s willing to make a deal with the devil in order to find her.