Denise was already at the house when Katy arrived. She glanced over at the blonde, clearly angry and unimpressed that she had interrupted her conversation with Jack. He, for his part, didn't seem to realise that he was about to be ambushed with questions about his potential relationship with Ronnie. Looking between the two women, obviously sensing the tension between them, he raised a hand to rub the back of his neck nervously.

"Denise… I didn't mean to…" Katy swallowed thickly. "Look, when you came to the bar you were right… I was expecting someone else. I wasn't… I didn't mean to give you the idea that I thought…"

"What's going on?" Jack demanded, looking between them thoroughly confused.

"I asked Katy if you and Ronnie were having an affair." Denise told him bluntly.

Jack rounded on his daughter furiously. "And you said we were?"

"No!" She shook her head, turning back to the older woman. "I didn't."

"No, she didn't," Denise acknowledged reluctantly, "but she weren't exactly convincing. You didn't deny it, did you?"

"I said I didn't know! I don't know, but I'm sure I would. Mum can't hide things from me."

Scoffing, Denise shook her head. "You as good as told me they were at it! You couldn't wait to get me out of there so you could warn them."

"No!" Katy shook her head quickly, glancing in Jack's direction and seeing the confusion and concern in his eyes. "That's not why I was… look, I was worried you might…"

"Oh, just spit it out!"

"I've been sleeping with Isaac, OK?" Katy blurted, already anticipating their reactions. "We'd just… well, he'd just left and I thought maybe he'd come back while you were there. We didn't… I didn't… want anyone to know."

"So… you made me think that my boyfriend was cheating on me so you didn't lose face?" Denise snapped, clearly thinking that Katy was selfish enough for that to be a viable option.

"No." The blonde folded her arms defensively, doing her best to fight against her rising temper. "It wasn't about losing face… it was about losing my kids. I can't give Tyler any more ammunition to use against me. He already thinks I'm sleeping with half the Square. If he finds out that I am sleeping with Isaac…"

"Look," Jack took a step between them, holding up his hands, "this has just been a misunderstanding, yeah?"

"Really?"

"Yes, D." He said firmly, turning and catching hold of one of her hands. "There's nothing you need to worry about, OK?"

Evidently she wanted to believe that she could trust her boyfriend, because she nodded and leant in to kiss him. Katy took a step forward, reaching out to grasp the older woman by the arm.

"Just… please don't say anything about me and Isaac to anyone." The blonde requested, almost desperately. "Please, Denise."

"Fine."

Shooting Katy a suspicious look over her shoulder, she headed for the front door. Neither of them spoke until they heard it slam shut.

"Dad–"

Jack held up a hand and moved to peer out into the hall. Clearly deciding it was safe, he walked over to the window and looked out over the Square for a moment, before shaking his head and turning an accusatory eye on her.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"I wasn't, alright?" She admitted irritably. "I didn't mean to drop you in it, but you really do need to sort this out. Denise is clearly suspicious and you're getting less and less subtle. Dad, I'm surprised that no one else figured it out at the boat party!"

"Don't be stupid."

"I'm not! If nothing else, how long do you think Mum will let you mess her around like this?"

"Has she said something?" Jack asked, looking worried. "Katy, if she's–"

"No, she hasn't." His daughter replied with a scowl. "She wouldn't do that. But this is hardly fair, is it?"

"Fair?" He laughed mirthlessly. "Was it fair when we thought she was dead for two years?"

"So this is payback, is it?"

"Of course it ain't. But this ain't fair on anyone, Katy." Before she could speak, he continued. "What are you thinking, eh? Isaac? You don't know anything about him?"

"I'm not planning on marrying him, Dad."

"And you're right, if Tyler gets wind–"

Katy shrugged. "It'll be just as bad if the truth about you and Mum comes crashing out, won't it? If Tyler can say this is what the kids are growing up with; their grandparents sneaking around, lying to everyone…"

"Katy…"

"Look, it's your life." She shrugged, turning and heading for the door. "But sort your shit before you have a go at me about mine, yeah?"

Jack didn't attempt to stop her as she left the house. Pausing on the top step to take a deep breath, Katy checked her phone and saw that she had a message from Peter. Smiling, she typed a quick reply to confirm that she was still up for meeting later, before making her way back to the R&R.

"Katherine Mitchell?"

Katy's eyes slipped shut at the sound of her name being called from behind her. Pausing with the key in the lock, her entire body tensed as she realised that she had been addressed so formally. Turning slowly, she looked the uniformed officers up and down, before nodding and unlocking the door.

"What can I do for you?" She asked, leading them into the building.

"You were at the Queen Victoria boat party on the Thames on Friday?"

"I was."

"Is it convenient to ask you a few questions?"

"I won't be much help; I don't remember much." Katy told them, leaning against the bar. "It was a party, after all."

"Anything you can remember would be helpful." The officer assured her, flipping open his notebook and looking expectant.

"Well… there was a bang, the whole boat lurched to one side and the captain told us there was a problem in the wheelhouse." She said with a shrug, rounding the bar and leaning against it. "He didn't say much else, apart from that we needed to get off the boat as quickly as possible."

"And you did so immediately?"

She paused. "I went to look for my friend. Whitney Dean… you're probably aware that your lot have got her wrongly banged up for defending herself against her abusive scumbag stalker. He tried to kill her and yet she's the one in trouble because she defended herself?"

The officer didn't comment on her accusation. "And then?"

"I couldn't find her and a load of water suddenly surged up from nowhere. I managed to get back up to the main deck and my parents dragged me onto a life raft."

"And you can't remember anything that might be relevant from before the captain announced that there was a problem?"

"Unless you're interested in Mo Harris' inability to limbo, then no. Like I said, there was a bang and the boat lurched. I didn't see or hear anything else."

"Thank you. If you remember anything else that might be relevant, please let us know." The officer said, nodding at her as he pushed his notepad back into his pocket.

Katy watched as they left, wondering whether they actually had any idea of what had caused the incident and, more importantly, whether they'd ever really get to the bottom of it. Then that started her thinking about Whitney and her situation. She wished that her friend had just waited until they'd got back to the Square before doing anything stupid; at least then she might have been able to save her from some of the grief she was going through at the moment.

"You alright, Katy?"

"Oh my god!" The blonde whirled around and scowled at her friend as Tina entered the bar behind her. "Can I not have two minutes to myself today?"

"Sorry, I…"

Sighing, Katy shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. It's not your fault, T. It's just been one of those days."

"Anything I can help with?"

"No… how're you? Mick and Linda holding up OK?"

"Shaken… guilty." She admitted with a shrug. "But weirdly it seems to have fixed their marriage."

"At least something good's come out of it all, then." Katy said with a sigh. "Drink?"

"Bit early, init?"

"It's half two."

"Go on, then." The brunette agreed with a grin. She leant against the bar watching as Katy moved around by the optics, saying nothing as the younger woman poured them triple measures. "Anything on your mind that you wanna talk about?"

"No."

"Come on, K. A problem shared is a problem halved."

"Eurgh." Katy pulled a face at her. "You sound like Gran."

"Is this about Tyler? Has he been making more threats about custody?"

"No."

"Katy."

"Fine!" The blonde moved around to drop onto one of the bar stools, frowning at her friend irritably. "It's partly about Tyler, but it's also about Whitney and my parents."

"Your parents?" Tina tilted her head slightly, intrigued. "What've they done?"

"Look… if I tell you, you have to promise to keep your gob shut, T, alright?"

"Of course."

"They're having an affair." Katy admitted. "Denise was suspicious and asked me about it and I kinda… I didn't deny it. Then she went to Dad, but I think we managed to convince her that I was just distracted and that there's nothing going on." She ran a hand through her hair. "It's gonna be such a mess when it all comes out. Denise is gonna be devastated and the kids are gonna be confused."

"You ain't your parents' keeper." Tina pointed out gently. "If they want to mess around behind people's backs that's their business."

"It's their business until the rest of us get dragged into it, too. If Tyler's serious about getting custody he won't think twice about using their behaviour against me. I wouldn't think twice, anyway, if I was him."

"You really think he's going to go through with this?"

"Yeah, I do." Katy nodded. Then she smiled grimly. "But he ain't gonna win."