"Glenda… I think you need to keep an eye on Katy."

Narrowing her eyes, Glenda fixed Shirley with a scowl as she attempted to work out what game the other woman was playing. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Katy… I think she's going to do something stupid."

"My granddaughter doesn't do stupid things."

Shirley rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous, Glenda, you know as well as I do that she does."

There was a pause as the older woman considered her for a moment. She knew that Shirley was right; that Katy was the first person to do something stupid without thinking because she thought it was the best option at the time. Glenda huffed, irritated that it had taken Shirley to point out that Katy might be in danger of getting herself into trouble again.

"Well? What do you know?" She demanded at last.

"I don't know specifically," Shirley admitted with a shrug, "we were talking at Billy's party and I just got the impression that she's about to make a rash decision about something. She said she'd have to deal with something her own."

Glenda ran a hand through her hair. "We both know the kind of trouble Katy gets into when she thinks she's on her own. Did she not give any kind of hint about what she was talking about?"

"Nah… but I think she's finally admitted that her mum and Roxy ain't gonna magically walk through the door and tell her it's all been some bloody misunderstanding."

"That's something, I suppose."

"Have you got any idea what she might have been talking about?"

Glenda shook her head. "No… no idea."

"Maybe we should speak to Jack?"

The older woman looked mortally offended that her son-in-law might have more of an idea about what Katy was planning than she did. Swallowing the last of her wine, Glenda placed her glass down with a thud and narrowed her eyes at Shirley, before sliding off the stool.

"I'm going to speak to my granddaughter and find out what's going on."

"You really think she's going to tell you?"

"Of course she will." Glenda replied with a certainty that she didn't feel. When Shirley arched an eyebrow she huffed loudly. "She will."

Making her way towards the R&R, the blonde smiled at the barmen stocking up, winking flirtatiously as they caught her eyes, before heading towards Katy's office. She frowned as her granddaughter jumped, immediately behind the door when it opened, clearly intending to go out.

"Alright, my darling?"

"I'm just off to the bank." Katy told her with a weak smile. "Been putting it off for a couple of days."

"Shirl thinks there's something wrong."

Arching an eyebrow at Glenda's direct attempt to get information out of her, the younger blonde laughed softly. "She does, does she? Since when have you been listening to what Shirley thinks?"

"Since you and her have been having little chats."

"Don't be jealous, Gran."

"I'm not jealous of Shirley Carter." Glenda looked disgusted. "But if there is something, you can talk to me, darling."

"What does she think is wrong?"

"She didn't know."

Katy laughed. "Right…"

"She said you've admitted that Veronica and Roxanne aren't coming back." When her granddaughter exhaled sharply, Glenda reached out to her. "I know we've been through this before, but–"

"Can't we just drop it. I've got to get to the bank."

Pushing past her, Katy left the office and headed down the stairs. She shot a weak smile at the bar staff before disappearing out into the street and striding towards the High Street.

She hadn't made it very far before bumping into Tina and Shirley. She smiled, wishing the younger Carter sister a happy birthday, before laughing as she was pulled into a tight hug. As soon as Tina let her go, she turned a knowing look on the older woman beside her.

"You need to keep your mouth shut, Carter."

"You need to stop being a brat, Mitchell."

Sending her a wry smile, ignoring the questioning look Tina was shifting between them, Katy promised that she'd be in the Vic later to celebrate with them. She knew that Tina would be quizzing her sister as soon as she was out of earshot and grinned to herself as she made her way towards the bank.

"You run this place?"

Katy, jumped at the sudden voice and twisted quickly to look at the man who'd just appeared in the room, leaning against the bar and looking around him appreciatively. "I own this place. Katy Mitchell. And you are?"

"Sean Slater."

"So you're Sean?" She asked interestedly.

She'd heard about the recent drama surrounding the man; everything that had happened between Sean and Jean, not to mention his impromptu milkshake date with Amy. Far from being angry with him for scaring everyone by taking her sister without anyone else knowing, Katy was intrigued by the move. She wanted to know why he had bothered to do it.

"Yeah…" His eyes narrowed. "How did you…?"

"You were married to my Aunty Roxy, weren't ya? I'm Ronnie and Jack's daughter." Katy explained. Seeing his expression harden, she sighed and raised a pint glass in silent offering. When he nodded, Katy moved to the pump. "She once told me messing up with you was her biggest regret… and Rox didn't really regret much. You heard she… she died?"

"Yeah."

Katy nodded slowly and then smiled. "So, what can I do for you?"

"Can I get a drink?"

She sighed, looking at him carefully for a moment. "We're not strictly open, but seeing as you're technically family…" Katy tilted her head. "If there's any trouble–"

"There won't be." He held his hands up.

Katy nodded at him slowly, more intrigued by the minute. "There better not."

Turning her back, Katy fixed him a double measure of whiskey, holding up a hand as he fumbled for some money to pay her. She smiled, watching him carefully and trying to bite her tongue. He watched her back, a smirk twisting up the corners of his lips at her struggle.

"Why'd you take Amy?" She asked at last, unable to help herself.

"I would never have hurt her."

"I know that. She said you were a bit weird, but nice."

Sean laughed at that, shaking his head. "I wanted to see her; to make sure she was OK. I didn't know Rox was… I wanted to see if Amy was like her."

"She is, ain't she?" Katy grinned.

"Yeah, she really is. She's a good kid, though. I can tell."

"She has her moments." The blonde leant against the bar chuckling fondly as they talked about her sister. "She's a right little diva and the gob on her… seriously, she's Rox 2.0."

"I miss them, you know? They were my family."

Katy nodded slowly, seeing the truth in Sean's eyes. He quickly averted his gaze, not wanting to see the pity there. In reality, Katy didn't pity him in the slightest, but she understood the ache that he was feeling in his chest.

"I know."

Clearing his throat, Sean stood up suddenly. "Look, I'm going away. Look after Amy, yeah? Make sure she's OK."

"Of course… she's my sister."

"Mitchell sisters always stick together, right?"

"Yeah, we do." Katy agreed, returning his smile.

She watched as he hesitated for a moment and then nodded, shooting her a fleeting smile before striding out of the bar without a backwards glance. Pausing for a moment with her hand on the glass he'd only half finished, Katy thought for a moment. Then she dropped her gaze to the liquid and lifted it to her lips, cherishing the burn as it trickled down her throat.

After thinking about her decision for much longer than she normally would, Katy decided to act. She'd been ringing round attempting to find out where Dean might have gone after leaving Walford on Glenda's birthday. She'd finally managed to track him down and got a number to call.

Toying with the scrap of paper with the mobile number scribbled on, Katy nodded decisively, before dialling. As soon as the ringing started, she began to regret the idea, her mouth going dry as she actually thought about what she was about to offer.

"Dean? It's Katy Mitchell."

"What d'you want?"

"We used to be mates, didn't we?" She asked, keeping her voice level. "Look, I'm sorry that Nathan told you that Ruby was your niece, but she really isn't. Us arguing about it ain't gonna change that."

"Why should I believe you, eh?" He demanded, his tone aggressive and unyielding. "You also told me that you ain't seen Nathan in seven years and don't know where he is."

"It's the truth, Dean. I have no idea where Nathan is."

"I don't believe you."

"There's nothing I can do about that, is there?" Katy sighed, rubbing her eyes. She was already regretting the conversation. "But I am telling you the truth."

"There is something you can do about it."

"What?"

"You want me to just go away and leave you to live your perfect life with your perfect family."

Katy laughed, unable to help herself. "I'm telling you now, my life and family are far from perfect."

"But you don't want me in it, do you?"

"Dean, we've been friends since we were kids. It's not that I don't want you in my life. I just want you to understand that Ruby is not Nathan's daughter."

That was his cue to laugh. "If you want me to stop pushing the point, to stop digging around for information, it's gonna cost you."

Resting her forehead on her palm, Katy sighed. "How much?"

"Ten grand."

"Ten grand?" She snorted. "Ten grand to convince you that a girl who is absolutely nothing to do with you isn't your niece? No chance."

"OK… if you won't pay up then I won't let it go."

"You do realise that it's my daughter that's going to be most affected by this." Katy snapped. "My seven-year-old daughter who's currently over the moon because her dad is getting married. She's got nothing to do with any of this, but if you keep–"

"Like I said; ten grand and you'll never hear from me again."

Katy clenched her jaw, thinking about it. "Paying you off is like admitting I've got something to hide, which I don't."

"I don't care about that. I just want the money."

"And now we get to the bottom of it." She leant back in her chair, narrowing her eyes. "You never thought Ruby was Nathan's in the first place, did you?"

"Oh, I did and I still do. I also don't believe that you don't know where my brother is." He replied coldly. "But I'm willing to forget about that, for the right price."

"I can't get you ten grand any time soon." Katy told him, clenching her jaw. "I might be able to get five."

"I want ten."

"You'll get five."

There was a long pause as Dean considered his options. Then he made an irritable sound. "Fine. Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow or the deal's off the table."

"I give you five grand and you disappear, right?" She confirmed. "Five grand and we never see or hear from you again. You drop this ridiculousness about Nathan being Ruby's father."

"Five grand and I'll willingly never come near you again."

"When and where?"

"Tomorrow at five. I'll come to you."

Katy snorted. "No chance. There's a caf on Victoria Road; I'll meet you there."

"If you insist."

"Dean, I'm warning you, if you go back on this–"

"Trust me, I've got no interest in dragging this out any longer than I have to. I wanna get back to Australia."

"It won't be a minute too soon."

He chuckled. "I'm gonna miss you too."

"Tomorrow at five. I'll have your money and then you can piss off."

She hung up on his laughing, putting her head in her hands for a moment, before combing them through her hair and letting out a long exhalation of breath. Standing up, she made her way over to the safe to see how much was in there, cursing the fact that she'd gone to the bank earlier.

"You two can shut up an' all." She muttered, frowning at the picture of her mum and Roxy on the wall.

Pausing for a moment, she bit her lip thinking hard about how to get the rest of the money she needed. The twinkling eyes and broad smiles of the two blondes staring down at her gave her an idea and she locked the safe quickly. Grabbing her things, she headed out of the office, calling out a vague goodbye to anyone who might be listening.

"Katy? Your accountant called again." Whitney called, catching her as she hurried down the stairs.

"What? Why?"

"He wouldn't say." She shrugged. "Said he needed to talk to you urgently."

"If he calls back, get him to email me."

"Is that a good idea?"

"This place is completely legit, Whit." Katy assured her. "R&R is totally above board. There's absolutely nothing dodgy going on, so he can definitely email me with whatever he wants to tell me."

"Now I'm worried." Her friend deadpanned.

Katy laughed and carried on out of the bar. She headed straight home, confident that there would be nobody there and went straight into her bedroom. Throwing open the wardrobe doors, she started rummaging through the piles of shoes and bags in the bottom until she found what she was looking for.

Dragging out a black holdall she smirked slightly to herself as she considered the unoriginality of her hiding place. Opening it up, she reached out and picked out one of the bundles of notes, considering for a moment. Katy had promised herself that she wouldn't touch the money – that it was for the kids and she would only use it if they really needed it. But, she reasoned, this was for Ruby, to keep her safe.

Grabbing five bundles, she shoved them into her bag and replaced everything in the wardrobe before returning to the bar. She locked it away in the safe, glancing at the photo hanging beside it and sighing deeply. She couldn't help the feeling that Ronnie and Roxy were judging her for her choices.

"Hey? You coming to the Vic for Tina's birthday party?" Whitney called, poking her head around the door. "Mick's back."

"Really? That's awesome."

"Did the accountant email?"

"I dunno." Katy shrugged, closing the office door with a firm click. "I'll check tomorrow. I'm taking tonight off."