Tina had demanded a thorough de-brief on the evening before as soon as she'd joined Katy in R&R the next morning. The blonde had sighed and filled her in, assuring her that it had been twice as boring as she'd expected. They'd talked about things she had no knowledge and no interest in and Katy had the distinct impression that they'd only engaged her in conversation to amuse themselves. Not that she cared at all.
"Hey, T… I was thinking…" She started, watching as her friend leant against the opposite side of the bar flicking through a magazine. "When your lot move out of the Vic, you got anywhere sorted yet?"
The brunette's face twitched involuntarily, giving her answer away before she spoke. "Not yet."
"I've got a proposition for you, then." Katy told her, motioning towards the optics. When Tina nodded, looking incredibly curious at what was heading her way, she turned to pour them both a generous measure of vodka. "How would you feel about moving in with me and the girls when we move?"
"What?"
"Don't worry, I ain't had a personality transplant. I ain't being selfless and entirely generous." The blonde laughed softly, leaning her elbows on the bar. "There is no way I'm gonna be able to live on my own with them kids and do my job. They love you, you're amazing with them… what d'you say?"
"You want me to be your nanny?"
Katy laughed. "No, T… I want you to just be there in case I can't be."
"But your dad will be next door and your mum and gran over the Square…"
"If you don't want to move in you can just say no." Her friend told her with a shrug. "I won't be offended."
Tina furrowed her eyebrows. "I didn't say that."
"Look, you don't have to decide immediately… Ritchie reckons it'll be a couple of weeks before we get the keys to number 28. Even then you don't have to move in straight away." Katy told her. "It's completely up to you, babe. I just thought it might work out for both of us, that's all."
"Yeah, no… I appreciate the offer, K. Honestly. It's just… we're not gonna all be together, you know?"
"I know. It's gonna be the same for me. Just… the offer's there, OK? For as long – or short – as you want."
"Can I let you–?"
"Sorry, T… I've gotta get this." Katy apologised, seeing Phil's name flashing on the display of her phone.
"I need you to come to the house in ten minutes."
"Phil, I can't just drop everything and–"
"I knew you'd have excuses, that's why I phoned rather than texting." He told her bluntly. "I need to go over that plan with you and Ben and I need to do it now."
"Fine… but you've only got ten minutes." She replied, equally bluntly. "I've got shit to do."
Huffing, Phil agreed and ended the call. Katy told Tina that she was popping out for a few minutes, grinning as the brunette pulled a face, before making her way hastily out of the bar. Letting herself in through the back door, Katy followed the voices and found Phil and Ben pouring over a building plan laid out on the dining room table.
"What's she doing here?" Ben demanded, glancing up and glaring at his cousin.
"Katy's in on the job."
"What? Why?"
"Because Hardcastle likes her and she was a deal sweetener."
"Excuse me?" Katy scowled at Phil, putting her hands on her hips.
"Nothing like that." He dismissed her anger with a wave of his hand. "Now, like I was telling Ben, we're hitting a warehouse over in Stratford. One of Danny's men has got the access codes." He motioned towards the balaclavas beside the plans. "We need these because the geezers we're robbing are serious people and if they find out we're involved, they'll find us and they'll kill us."
"Phil, I don't need this." Katy told him, holding up her hands and shaking her head. "I've got three kids and a business to think about, not to mention a possible custody case."
"They don't come cheap." Phil pointed out. "You're also planning on buying Number 28… you need the money."
"What I don't need are some low life thugs on my case. I don't understand what you're expecting me to do, anyway. Why do you even need me?"
"I don't understand that either." Ben agreed, folding his arms.
"Distraction. You keep Danny's attention away from us."
"You're planning on screwing him over?" Katy furrowed her eyebrows.
"If we do this right, we can come away with a much bigger share and let Danny take the fall – if it comes to that."
The blonde considered him for a moment, before shooting her cousin a quick glance. "What's the plan?"
Phil smirked and bent over the paper on the table once more. "Now… we'll need to get the money from the loading dock here. That's where it's gonna be, according to Danny's man on the inside. We'll have to cut the power to get out, but that will trigger the alarm. We'll have twenty minutes to get in, get the cash and get out. Then the whole place will be swarming with old bill." He glanced at his son meaningfully. "No heroics."
"Just repeat the last bit for me." Ben requested as soon as his father stopped talking. "Just… you're just talking a bit too fast. I've gotta lip read."
"This is… Ben, this is a mistake."
"No. No!"
"How're you gonna cope, eh? You've got no focus. You ain't right up here."
"I am!" Ben argued almost desperately. "I can do this. I'm the muscle here. Now Dad, with all due respect, you're an older man. I'm much younger, I'm much fitter. OK? If there's any trouble, if anything goes wrong, alright, I'll sort it."
To punctuate his words, Ben pulled something out of his jacket pocket and placed it on the table between them. The trio looked down at the object in unison, two sets of eyebrows shooting up in surprise as they realised that he had brought a gun with him.
"What? You're gonna shoot someone?" Phil asked, almost mockingly.
"Whatever it takes." Ben told him. "Dad, I'm still the same man, alright? I just… I just can't hear. That's it. Let's go through the plans again. Dad!"
Phil folded up the paper and walked away from the table. "You ain't coming, not like this. You ain't well."
"I'm OK."
"Really, you're OK?" Phil shook his head. "You've got a daughter. If anything goes wrong you really wanna leave your daughter without a father? Ben, you just ain't up to it!"
"You can't do this on your own."
"I can."
"Just the two of you, yeah?"
"It'll be fine."
"You can't trust him."
"I can handle Danny, alright?"
"I should be there, alright? I should make sure-"
"No! No way! Now go home and rest up." Phil ordered his son irritably. "And get rid of that thing… now. Now!"
As Ben stormed away, Katy hesitated for a moment, before turning to look at the older man warily. "That probably wasn't a good idea. This is Ben… he ain't gonna take that too well."
"You just worry about yourself, alright? I'll worry about Ben. Be outside the Vic at half eight and get a watertight alibi in place. Don't be late."