Deception Episode 1.08 Stay with Me

Chang, Gabe and Joanna converge at the FBI to sort through an arsenal of weapons from the Russian bakery. Will has identified the man who almost killed Joanna as hitman Andrei Ivanov - the same man who tasered Ben Preswick into the bus - but he has nothing on the second man in the bakery. Chang's wondering whether Robert is behind the triple homicide? Joanna has to admit she doesn't know. Across town, Edward flashes back to a joyous day with his dad when he was five. In the present, he's meeting with his lawyer, prepping for a tell-all press conference. It's the only way he can think of to protect his wife and children. Nevertheless, he understands that afterwards, it will be nuclear winter...

Edward walks through a phalanx of cameras as if he's going to the electric chair. Back at the estate, Robert's phones all start ringing at once. Sofia clicks on the TV, while Joanna et al watch Edward's press conference at the FBI. Lyritrol was rushed to market, and the deaths of 107 people in its testing were buried, their families paid off. As CEO of Bowers Pharmaceuticals, Robert is responsible. When a reporter asks if the cover-up is linked to Vivian's murder, Edward leaves the podium. Mia asks her father the same question. In a flash, Robert disowns Edward, as Will instructs Joanna to find a connection between Robert and Andrei.

After watching the press conference, Audrey tells Julian it's not that bad; Lyritrol is just one drug among many he'll develop. But he knows how bad it is and starts making calls. That's when Audrey's boss Frank calls to gleefully congratulate her on a mission accomplished. She needs to get the hell out of Julian's apartment so they can celebrate! Back at the estate, Sofia goes into crisis management mode. How did Edward find his evidence? Robert needs to find out who's on his side and who's not. Once at the office, Robert is back on his game, giving Joanna rapid-fire orders - which include her participation in the company-wide polygraph test already under way...

Will advises Joanna to regulate her heartbeat during the polygraph, but she's already popped some Xanax. Panic's afoot in the Bowers' boardroom, as their stock hemorrhages. Julian wants to confirm Edward's story, but Robert orders him to sweet talk the press, tell them Edward's cracking up. With Edward going live on MSNBC tomorrow, the board admonishes Robert to get his family in line. If he loses control, he won't be perceived as fit to run the company. Afterwards, Julian tells Joanna that either Robert covered up the test results, or Edward's lost it. Either way, Julian needs Joanna to know he would never release a faulty drug. If something's wrong with Lyritrol, it's not because he's a profiteer, but because he's a damn fool.

Haverstock takes Mia to lunch. Afterwards, they hang out in the park, enjoying each other's company. Mia knows he's after something, but she doesn't expect to hear that he's dying of leukemia and needs a bone marrow treatment to save his life. Mia's his best chance at a match, which would require a simple blood test to confirm. Mia's no dummy; since she's only 16, she'll have to get her parents to sign off. Robert visits Edward to ask "Why?" When Edward asks if Robert had Vivian killed, Robert calls him perpetually weak and pathetic. Edward dropped a bomb and now Robert has to clean up his mess... again! Edward is to stop talking to the press. When Edward refuses, Robert warns that what he's destroyed, he can never regain.

After taking her polygraph, Joanna heads back to work, where Robert hands her a $500,000 check to cash and deliver to Millworth Investment Securities. When Joanna balks, Robert explains he can't leave a paper trail; they need to stop the bleeding and his stock promoters only accept cash. Carrying a briefcase full of cash into the bank's parking garage, Joanna spies a dead security guard, just as Gregor, the guy from the Russian bakery, puts his gun to her ribs and orders her to drive. Joanna tries to talk her way out of his clutches, even admitting she's a cop, but Gregor's the silent type.

Edward meets Julian at a crowded restaurant to hand over his evidence file on the Lyritrol trials cover-up. Didn't Julian ever wonder if the FDA had a good reason for holding up Lyritrol? Julian didn't because he took care of that problem by bribing Shelly Cole for its approval. Ignoring Julian's sarcasm, Edward informs that he didn't mention that over 25% of the Lyritrol trial deaths were kids - because he didn't want to hurt Julian. On his way back to the office, Julian is attacked by a mob of rabid reporters. When an angry mom slaps him in the face and calls him a monster, it's an instant news meme.

After Andrei's apartment checks out clean, Gabe and Will proceed to the police impound lot to comb his car. After putting the key in the ignition, Will starts monkeying around, turning on wipers and radio. Gabe thinks he's crazy, but Will is crazy like a fox. Ultimately, the right series of switches opens a hidey hole, which yields a flash drive. Learning Teo Agresar has just been picked up, Will heads back to the precinct to interrogate him: why did Sofia give him a big bag of cash? Teo explains she was buying protection from the Latin Kings for Wyatt Scott, who's doing state time in Pennsylvania. And he has no idea what Wyatt means to Sofia.

When Haverstock barges into his office, Robert quips, "God, I wish I had a gun on my desk." Haverstock confesses: he has leukemia, and he's asked Mia to get a blood test to see if she's a match for his bone marrow. In exchange for his permission for the blood test, Robert demands the golf club that killed Kimberly Yeager. Haverstock hesitates. The golf club is the only thing preventing Robert from telling the world Haverstock fathered a child with an underage girl. But since Haverstock's facing death, he agrees - but not before snidely asking if Robert intends to send Eddie to prison for ratting Lyritrol out to the press... Dismissing Haverstock, Edward promises to send Rayburn to pick up the golf club.

Will calls Joanna to tell her about the jump drive found in Alexei's car - maybe Robert paid the Russians to kill Vivian? - but his call goes straight to voicemail. Little does he know, Gregor is forcing Joanna to drive to an abandoned warehouse. Getting more desperate, Joanna offers him the briefcase full of Robert's cash, but he remains silent. She angles the car up a steep dirt pile and flips it. Both of them are knocked out with bloody wounds to the head. Luckily Joanna comes to first, but only just. After trying and failing to strangle her, Gregor runs into the warehouse after her, firing his gun.

Audrey's squirming with guilt in Frank's office, watching news coverage of Julian getting slapped over and over again. She flashes back a few months, to the night she accidentally on purpose ran into Ben Preswick at a Cornell alumni mixer. Clearly they go way back. Audrey scoffs at Ben for dating Vivian - he's doomed to a life of being her plus one. On the other hand, Audrey may have an idea that will put Ben in a whole new tax bracket on par with Vivian's... Back in the present, Frank admits lady feelings aren't in his wheelhouse, but he's sensing Audrey's guilt over Vivian's death. Vivian was a junkie, and Audrey should get over it; furthermore, she better not lose control.

Robert and Sofia meet with his lawyer Tom Vanderfield. The documents Edward released say Robert paid off the families of the Lyritrol victims using an offshore account from ZonoCorp, of which Robert denies all knowledge. Sofia points out they have a billion dollars in corporate insurance, but since the allegation is that Robert acted illegally, he'll be held personally liable and stands to lose everything. Claiming Edward really screwed them, Tom's not sure how they're getting out of this one. Audrey drops by Julian's loft to find him researching like a mad man, trying to figure out the truth about the Lyritrol trials. Claiming she cares more for him than Xyrix, Audrey encourages Julian to put the whole mess behind him or risk insanity. Thanking Audrey for her advice, Julian takes off saying, "That's not going to work for me."

In the warehouse, an unarmed and woozy Joanna plays cat and mouse with Gregor. Finally, Joanna's able to charge him from behind, but he quickly gets the upper hand and throws her to the ground. Scrabbling on the ground, Joanna finds a large shard of broken glass and stabs Gregor in the throat. When he finds Joanna at the hospital, Will is furious - what kind of man gives a woman half a million dollars cash and sends her to do a shady errand? That's when Joanna realizes she doesn't know what happened to the money! Will offers to replace the money, but it will probably take some time. Fired up, Will blames Robert for the whole thing and stalks out to have "a talk" with him, leaving Joanna in tears.

An upset Kyle meets with Haverstock, asking to get out of their deal - he's done! But Haverstock insists the deal is his to keep: if Kyle doesn't help him persuade Mia to take the bone marrow test, he'll go to jail for transporting a minor across state lines. Kyle will survive, but Mia will probably start cutting or something, blaming herself for sending him to jail. Meanwhile, Sofia approaches the subject of Haverstock head on. In her experience, Haverstock is a lying, dangerous snake, and he's not worth Mia's bone marrow. But she's more concerned that Mia's lying about the situation, which is a destructive habit. She reminds Mia that she and Robert love her more than anything. Mia talks over her conundrum with Kyle, who advises her to take it one step at a time.

Will barges into Robert's study, to accuse Robert of murder. Robert orders him to get the hell out. Not only will Robert destroy Will in court, but he's done his research - isn't Will's mother's name Sylvia? That's when Sofia rushes in, quickly recognizing Will from their encounter on the street in Harlem, but not letting on. Of course, Mia eavesdrops on the whole encounter. Back in Manhattan, Edward and Julian stroll through Central Park. Julian thanks Edward for keeping the kids' deaths out of the press, and Edward apologizes for blowing up Julian's career. They've both been sad and angry since their mother died. But for what it's worth, even if Robert did cover up the Lyritrol trials, Julian doesn't see the monster Edward sees in their father.

Joanna calls Robert with the bad news she lost the money in a car accident. Claiming it's only money, Robert kindly asks her to return to the estate. After hanging up, he coldly tells Rayburn that Joanna failed her polygraph and lost $500,000 all in one day. Rayburn is to watch her closely. That's when Rayburn hands over the package he picked up from Haverstock: the golf club that killed Kimberly Yaeger. Joanna's in bad emotional and physical shape when Julian shows up at the hospital to pick her up in a good cheer, despite his own problems. Now that she's flipped her car, she's an honorary Bowers!

Sofia is preparing for bed when a somber Robert asks about Wyatt - who is he? Sofia flashes back 17 years. Visiting her lover Wyatt in jail, she explains that Robert asked for her hand in marriage. She's willing to go through with it in order to stockpile funds for a fresh start with Wyatt when he gets out of jail. Back in the present, Sofia insists she and Robert are on the same team. She claims Wyatt was one of Vivian's blackmailing drug dealers. She was trying to handle the situation on her own so she wouldn't have to bother Robert. For the moment, it seems as if Robert believes her... or does he?

Will returns to the hospital, disturbed to learn Julian already picked up Joanna. Having just arrived back at the estate, Julian tells Joanna of his intention to uncover the truth about the Lyritrol tests. Joanna admires his intention to go all the way to Thailand. Julian invites Joanna to come back to his house, but she turns him down, then flashes back to their teenaged years when she and Julian were first falling in love. She's filled with fear that her mother will find out about them, but Julian thinks they should act like normal people and just tell everyone. All Joanna will say is "Maybe." Back in the present, Julian declines her invitation to come inside, saying he has to meet someone; they both know he means Audrey...