| COURTESY | ABC DAYTIME |
Natalie wins several matches in the pool tournament and makes it to the finals and is touched when Max arrives to coach her. John threatens Natalie and makes it clear that she has to deliberately lose the final match. Cristian places a bet on Natalie to win the tournament. Antonio and John have a cryptic meeting. Jessica and Antonio enjoy their time together in Las Vegas.
After being pressured by Flynn, Walker turns to Dorian, who agrees to lend him five hundred thousand dollars. Walker enlists Starr's help to keep Blair from going to Las Vegas with him. Kelly begins to soften towards Paul. While speaking with Dorian, Paul makes a reference about a bad experience he once had with alcohol.
Gabrielle explains to Bo why she feels the need to end their relationship. Marcie is once again visited by Al's spirit.
Viki arrives at Dorian's looking for Blair to confront her about the headline in The Sun that "playboy" Kevin Buchanan is Lt. Governor only because of Asa's money. After Dorian tells Viki that Blair has moved out, the two argue about the article as well as Kevin, Kelly, and the Governor. Kelly arrives and overhears the two arguing about her. Later, Dorian tells Kelly about the money she gave Walker and vows to prevent Blair and Walker's impending marriage.
Starr is faking illness so Blair can't go to Las Vegas with Walker. As Walker leaves to catch his plane, he runs into Kevin, who is furious about the Sun story. The suitcase with the cash for Flynn pops open and Kevin demands an explanation. Walker won't explain, and tells Kevin that he won't win in their fight because he's not free to fight dirty due to his political career.
Kevin asks Cris to spy on Walker in Las Vegas, and Cris tells him no. They argue, and Cris quits. Kevin calls someone else and asks him to go to Vegas and trail Walker. Kevin and Governor Brooks discuss the Sun story, and Kevin assures the governor that he has nothing to worry about. Viki arrives and she and the Governor exchange pleasantries.
Blair discovers that Starr is faking and demands to know why. Starr tells Blair she didn't want her to go to Las Vegas with Walker and while Blair is trying to find out why, Flynn calls and demands to speak to Walker. Blair tries to convince Flynn to tell her what is going on, and he refuses and hangs up. Blair tells Starr that she is going to Las Vegas to find out what Walker is doing. Starr leaves an urgent message for Walker that Blair is on her way. He gets the message as soon as he arrives in Las Vegas.
In Las Vegas, Natalie is set to face off against Katie Calhoun in the finals of the tournament. Jessica asks Antonio how he knows Johnny McBain, and he replies that he doesn't. Johnny assures Flynn that Natalie will throw the final match. Roxy calls to wish Natalie luck and tells her that she has bet on her to win. Cris also admits to Natalie that he placed all of their money on her to win. Natalie is about to tell Cris about being pressured to throw the match when McBain interrupts.
At the Palace, Roxy, Viki, Kevin, and Rex watch as Natalie falters in the finals. She gets another chance, however, and wins the tournament. A furious Flynn tells McBain to bring Natalie to his suite. In the elevator on the way, McBain talks into a microphone in his jacket, saying that it's time to make the move, but the two men in a van who are listening can't quite hear his message. Jessica, who has secretly followed McBain and Natalie to Flynn's suite, tries to talk her way in past security.
As Max flies home from Las Vegas, he is joined by Luna in the vacant seat next to him. He expected to see her, he agrees, as she tells him how proud she is of him for helping Natalie out like a dad. That was a great move he made but he's not her father and she's got her own family, she continues. His own twins were thrilled to see him after Al's burial and Frankie idolizes him. She herself is taking care of Al who in turn is taking care of Marcie, helping her through everything. Max needs to concentrate on himself and his own family, Luna advises him before disappearing. He takes out his wallet and looks fondly at Al's picture.
Viki and Kevin make small talk over dinner until he receives a call from his tail on Walker. Suddenly, he has a change of heart and tells the caller to forget it. He confides in Viki about how concerned he was over Blair falling for Walker, trying to convince both his mother and himself that it was all about Walker really. He's decided that he can't mess things up with Kelly, though Viki suggests that cracks in his marriage have been showing already. He decides to visit Blair to apologize, though Viki expresses doubt at this move. It's her life and she can do whatever she wants, he decides. Once Kevin leaves, Viki spots Gabrielle sitting at a table by herself. Disclosing that she feels empty and cannot return Bo's love any longer, Gabby admits that she is only able to share things with Max. Coincidentally, she looks at the same photograph of Al that Max has pulled from his pocket and drowns her sorrows while drinking.
Blair runs into Walker/Todd in the Las Vegas casino and immediately demands that he tell her why Starr was playing sick. Claiming to be unaware of the girl's prank, Walker/Todd calls and scolds her while Blair looks on. They decide to get a room, though Blair insists that Walker/Todd deliver the money that Flynn has asked for first. She wants to go with him but agrees it's probably for something illegal so she'll wait in the room instead. Walker/Todd proclaims that he will wait for her for however long it takes and that his brother will be out of his life for good.
Elsewhere in the casino, Cris and Antonio are unable to locate the girls but Cris figures that John McBain must be involved since he seemed to have disappeared also. Appearing to be hiding something, Cris demands answers from his brother. Antonio divulges that Nat was supposed to throw the game, that she knew about it and that McBain is actually working undercover. An angered Cris is furious at Antonio for not telling him sooner and is concerned that the girls are in danger. Though he agrees to wait while his brother finds out what's going on, he takes off on his own. Antonio knocks out a security guard and takes his gun.
Jess tries to get into Flynn's suite but is stopped and manhandled by Arthur while her sister is inside being pushed around by McBain. Flynn is furious that he's out half a million dollars, while John wonders why Nat didn't listen to his warning. She tells them she wanted to do the best for herself and her family but before she can go further, Flynn slaps her and shows her his gun. She tries to make a run for it as Arthur pushes Jess through the door. The wide-eyed girls think they're looking at Walker who identifies himself as he trains his gun on the both of them. John will kill them instead, he growls at them. The girls plead for their lives as McBain secretly tries to call for backup. As an impatient Flynn waits for him to shoot the girls, a confused Arthur (who excused himself from the room), encounters Walker outside. They give each other a difficult time until Walker is rescued by Cris, who manages to sneak up and hit Arthur over the head, knocking him out. Walker decides it's a good time to leave and heads back to his room. Cris listens at the door as McBain makes excuses and suggests he take Natalie and Jess elsewhere to be shot. As he speaks, he spies Antonio outside at the window as Flynn reminds him of the top hitman that he's supposed to be. Antonio bursts in, gun drawn. John has his gun trained on Flynn (who has been pushed to the floor) and tells him how all of his words and actions have been recorded, that he's taking him down, that he's under arrest, that he's FBI. Grabbing him and beating on him, Natalie berates John for endangering her and her loved ones. In the midst of this, Cris bolts through the door and causes a distraction which enables Flynn to jump up and grab Nat with a knife to her throat. He orders Cris over by Jess as Antonio and John point their guns at him. An awakened Arthur has his own gun drawn as he enters the room and gets Flynn's gun back. The two cops drop their own weapons as Flynn backs up through the door with his arm around Nat. Suddenly, he shoots.
Walker returns to Blair, telling her that his brother wasn't around. They make love.
Kevin goes to the penthouse where Addie informs him that Blair has gone to meet Todd, as Starr eavesdrops nearby. She bolts down the stairs, telling Kevin that her grandmother is confused. She effectively dodges his questions, relating that her mother is with Walker. She orders him out and runs upstairs after Addie, who she tricked into going up earlier. Kevin receives a call on the way out and heads back to the desk for paper and pencil. Bewildered, he sees Victor's ring, given to Todd, sitting on the desk and immediately calls Viki. She recalls it being stolen from her. A returning Starr demands it's return as again he bombards her with questions. He catches her in a lie when she remembers stealing it herself from Viki's safe; he advises her that it was in a desk. She again yells at him to leave as he begins to recall previous conversations and fact-finding missions. It suddenly dawns on him; can Walker be Todd?
Dorian informs Kelly that she plans to break up Walker and Blair. When Kelly tells her to back off, Dorian states that her worries are about Kevin's relationship with Blair and the fact that she isn't happy in her marriage. After analyzing Kelly's marriage, Dorian asks Kelly if it is worth it to stay married to Kevin.
Kevin tells Viki that he is backing off of Blair and Walker then questions her about what happened to Todd. When she shares the police report with him, Kevin insists that he is just curious. Realizing that Kevin hasn't gotten over Blair, Viki asks him what is wrong with his marriage. Later, Kevin asks Elyssa to go to all the clinics with pictures of Todd to find out if he had surgery to change his face to look like Walker Laurence.
As Flynn takes Natalie hostage, he fires a shot that nicks John. When Walker shows up, Antonio assumes he is Flynn and attacks him. Jessica vouches for Walker's identity but Antonio refuses to let him go until he tells them where Flynn took Natalie. When Walker returns to his room, he fills Blair in on what happened. When Jessica shows up, he swears he doesn't know where Natalie is and agrees to pay the ransom that Flynn is demanding. When Blair and Jessica return to Llanview, they both start trying to find the money for the ransom for Natalie and Blair quickly realizes that Dorian is the one who gave Walker the money to pay off Flynn the first time.
Al again appears to Marcie. When the comes too close to telling her the future, Luna reminds him that he can only push her in the right direction. Sitting with Marcie, he introduces her to a new radio show "The Spirit of the Night."
Max finds Gabrielle at Rodie's where he tells her that he is leaving Llanview indefinitely. After saying goodbye to Nora, he reminds Gabrielle and Bo how lucky they are to have each other.
Jessica and Antonio tell Joey about Natalie's kidnapping. Blair demands to know why Dorian loaned Walker $500,000 then tells her aunt that she is beginning to doubt Walker. When Dorian turns the ransom around into a battle with Viki, she warns Blair to stay away from Kevin. Later, Blair has a nightmare that Walker is Todd.
Cristian and John start setting up a trap for Flynn. Flynn orders Rack 'Em to kill John, Walker, and Cristian then tells Natalie of his plans and becomes angry when she compares him to Mitch. When Rack 'Em confronts John, Cristian, and Walker, shots are fired. When Flynn receives a call, he holds the phone to Natalie's ear so she can hear for herself that Cristian is dead.
