News Spreads Fast:

Carla PoV

"Nick have you seen my keys?" I walk out of the bedroom to see him leaning up against the kitchen counter, holding a set of keys in his hand.

"These ones?" He raises his eyebrows, dangling them before me.

"You're a star." I go over but he pulls them out of my reach.

"Not until I've had a kiss." He grins and I roll my eyes, smiling into him as I place a light kiss on his lips. He pulls me in, securing one arm around my waist, the warmth of his flesh against my chiffon top was calming to me. I could stay here all day, breathing into our passion.

But I wouldn't, because I had a factory to run.

"That satisfy you?" I snap back to reality, snatching the keys from his other hand quickly so he wouldn't change his mind.

"No." He whines slightly and I finish up my coffee before packing my bag.

"Oh well I'll just have to make it up to you later." I flash him another smile, flicking my hair flirtatiously over my shoulder as I do so. "Come on, you can walk me to work."

Michelle PoV

I step outside to pick the bottles of milk up that lie on the door step, the January air was chilly and it made my skin prickle beneath my thin robe. I'm about to go back inside before I notice Carla and Nick, walking hand in hand towards me.

"Off to work?" I call and Carla looks up at the sound of my voice.

"Obviously." She replies. "Which is evidently more than can be said for you."

"Uh, we're not open yet thanks." I fold my arms, after slipping the bottles of milk into my large pockets.

"Hmm, I'll have to pop in for a drink later then." She smiles, much to Nick's dissatisfaction.

"Excuse me." Nick prompts her. "Lining her pockets instead of mine? I thought you were making it up to me tonight?"

"Wow, enough said." I hold my hands up, grinning as I do so.

"Come on, we're gonna be late." He tells her. "Bye Chelle."

"See ya." I wave to them before going back inside. As soon as I step behind the bar, I see an unusual scene, which is actually fairly usual in our household. "Steve?" I yell, picking up his boxer shorts from the floor and holding them disgustedly with two fingers.

"Yes my lovely?" He enters the room, freshly shaven, which was an unusual instance.

"Why are your pants on the floor?" I ask him, practically chucking them in his face.

"How do you know they're mine?" He prompts me.

"Well they're hardly Liz's are they?" I put my hands on my hips and he stammers slightly, doing the awkward thing with his lip that he always does when he's proved wrong.

"I'll go put them in the washing basket." He says after a short pause, knowing from experience that he wasn't winning this one.

"Ah, that will be a first." I call after him as he plods off up the stairs.

Tracy PoV

"Well at least Amy is with her dad today." I say from the hallway. "No violin playing over and over again."

"She's got her exam coming up." Dad points out as I enter the living room, placing my hands firmly on my hips. "You could at least show a bit of support."

"I don't want her screeching down my ear every second of the day." I roll my eyes. "You got her into this."

"You should be glad she's got a hobby." He continues, not moving his eyes from the newspaper he was reading.

"Oh whatever." I huff, pulling my coat on. "I'm off to the shop, Todd'll be waiting."

"Uh, Tracy wait up." Ken stops me and I turn to look at him, he was engrossed in reading something close to the front of the gazette.

"What now?" I sigh. "Is there a new tea pot on sale at-"

"Rob's escaped." He says bluntly and I narrow my eyes, swamped by confusion for a matter of seconds.

"...What?" I stammer. "Rob? My Rob."

"Robert Darren Donovan was sentenced to twenty four years in jail after the murder of Tina McIntyre." He recites.

"Yeah cut to the chase." I spit. "We all know that part."

"Officials say that Robert was found missing from his cell on 14th January 2016." He continues. "His cell mate is refusing to give knowledge into his escape or his current whereabouts. Police have issued a demand that they are to be contacted immediately if the criminal is spotted."

"14th January?" I frown, panic rising in my voice. "That was two days ago."

"The stupid, stupid man." Dad mutters. "Does he think he'll get away with that? He'll be found in a matter of days."

"I wouldn't be so sure." I bite my lip. "This is Rob we're talking about."

Michelle PoV

"Oi, barmaid." I turn at the sound of Tracy's voice, glaring at her after handing a punter his drink. "Where's my daughter?"

"Pleasure to see you too." I shoot her a look. I loathed Tracy Barlow, there wasn't one thing about her that I liked. What Steve ever saw in her I didn't know. "She's in the back, why?"

"I need her back now." She virtually spits.

"Need her back?" I laugh slightly. "She's not a video game we've borrowed."

"I'm not joking Chelle." She says firmly and I narrow my eyes as she slaps the gazette down on the bar. "You haven't heard yet?"

"Heard what?" I persist and she points to the page, my eyes fixating on Rob's mugshot. "...Escaped?" The word formulates in my throat but is released in some sort of panicked squeak.

"I'd have thought it would be all round the street by now." She actually looks concerned for once and this worries me. "It's been on the news this morning."

"Well that was two days ago!" I exclaim, skim reading the article. "He could be anywhere by now."

"Oh what does she want?" Steve appears behind me, pointing rudely at Tracy before noticing our expressions. "What's going on?"

"It's Rob." I gulp.

"What, Robert Preston?" Steve guesses and I shake my head. "Robbie Williams?"

"Steve!" I yell, shoving the newspaper in his face.

"Robert Darren Donovan..." He frowns. "Who's... Wait, as in... As in babysitter murderer Rob?"

"Cue the prison escape." I point out and his eyes dart across the page.

"What? How? Why?" He splutters. "Well where is he?"

"Oh one second, I'll just load the sat nav." Tracy rolls her eyes. "Destination; ex murdering partner."

"You have reached your destination." Steve points at Tracy and I have to try hard to force back laughter.

"You think this is funny?" Tracy snaps.

"Hey, you started it!" He objects.

"Shut up the both of you!" I silence them. "You're acting like a pair of spoilt kids. This is serious; he could be anywhere and we don't know what he's planning... Does Carla know?"

"Ah, you know, I didn't have time for a cosy little chat with my arch enemy." Tracy sasses. "So I wouldn't know."

"Right, you two can tell Amy." I order. "I'm off to find Carla."

"Tell Amy?" Steve repeats. "Is that a good idea?"

"What? You're gonna keep it a secret from her?" I ask him, more viciously than anticipated. "There's a murderer out there who was pretty much her step dad, we've got to keep her safe."