"Tina? Can I have a word?"
Clearly confused about the way she'd been summoned to the office, the brunette nodded and headed out from behind the bar. She nudged Amber with her hip as she went, causing the other barmaid to poke her tongue out before turning her attention to the waiting punters. Katy leant in the doorway of her office waiting for her to join her, before shutting the door firmly behind them.
"I need you to cover for me."
"Cover for you? Why?" Seeing the expression on her friend's face, she grinned. "You meeting Graham?"
"Yeah." Katy nodded quickly. "But Mum's getting suspicious again so if anyone asks I need you to tell them that I'm in the office doing paperwork or talking to Ritchie or something and I can't be disturbed."
"I can do that. What if there's an emergency?"
"Like what?"
"Fire alarm or something?"
"Say I've literally just popped out."
"Right, OK." Tina nodded, putting her hand on the handle and grinning. "I want all the details, OK?"
"I promise."
"And, uhh… your offer?" She looked a little embarrassed, rubbing the back of her neck. "Can I say yes?"
"Moving in? Course you can." Katy grinned at her. "That's brilliant."
"Right… see you later, then."
As the office door closed behind the excitable brunette with a click, Katy collapsed into her chair and leant back with a long sigh. Glancing at the time, she realised she didn't have long before she was supposed to meet Phil outside the Vic. Katy grabbed the only pair of gloves she'd been able to find – an old pair of Glenda's that had somehow avoided the cull when they'd moved back to Walford – and left the office quickly. She glanced around, before descending the stairs with her head down and slipping outside.
Thankfully she didn't run into anyone as she made her way to meet Phil. He was already in the alleyway beside the Vic, looking around nervously and nodding sharply as she moved to stand beside him. Rolling her eyes and nodding as he asked whether she had an alibi in place, Katy repeated what she'd told Tina.
"Are you serious? You got Tina Carter involved?" He demanded gruffly.
"No, of course not." Katy huffed. "She don't know anything."
"Well she better not." Phil warned her, before nodding his head in the direction of a car and van that were driving slowly around the Square towards them. "That's them."
"No Ben?"
"No."
Wondering whether that was a good thing or not, Katy followed him towards the car Danny Hardcastle was driving and slid into the backseat. She glanced in Phil's direction for a moment, slightly unsettled by the fact that he was refusing to meet her eyes, before fixing her gaze out of the window once more.
"Phil!" Katy hissed, her eyes wide as she tried to shuffle closer to her step-uncle. The hulking man behind her grasped her arm tightly, shoving her sideways away from him. "Get off me!" She snapped at the man, before lowering her voice again. "Phil, what the hell are we gonna do?"
The job had not gone anywhere near how Phil or Katy had expected it to. The warehouse office had not been empty as they had expected and now there was a man lying on the concrete floor with several bullet holes in him. Harcastle had taken the whole thing in his stride, as though he had almost expected the building to be occupied when they arrived.
"Keep ya head." Phil hissed back, his eyes on the man pacing around the space in front of them. "Don't do nothing unless–"
"What the…? Ben!" Katy took a step forward, flinching as she felt a hand closing around her arm. "Get your hand off me. Don't you fucking touch me."
Hardcastle's muscle looked at her for a moment, before letting his hand drop to his side and turning his attention to the young man who'd just been ushered into the room.
"Oh… look who it is. My mate, the cripple." Hardcastle grinned, taking the gun from his associate. "Oh look… you brought a peashooter along, too. Nice. Scary…"
"Danny! Leave him out of it." Phil almost pleaded.
"I'd love to." Hardcastle told him, turning back to face them. "But he invited himself and it's too late now, isn't it?"
"He won't say anything."
"D'you really think I'm gonna take that risk? It's not the old bill I'm worried about, it's this lot." He pointed the gun at the man on the ground. "That's why you're here, Phil… to take the fall."
Katy clenched her fists, furious with herself for getting involved. She should have known that something like this would happen. Phil had been planning on screwing Hardcastle over, but of course he'd got there first.
"He can't hear a word I'm saying." Hardcastle turned back to Ben, angrily. "Can you? Freak!" When Ben said nothing, he grabbed him by the front of his jacket and shoved him down onto the seat. Both Katy and Phil took a step forward, but the men on either side of them stopped them from doing much else. "This your good ear? Is it? Can you hear me?" When Ben shouted at him to stop, he fired the gun. "How about now?"
From the scream that her cousin let out, Katy guessed that the sound must have been far worse where he was sitting. She took another, furious, step forward. This time she was prevented from moving by a hand wrapping tightly around her upper arm and jerking her backwards in line with Phil.
"Get your fucking hands off me!" She snapped, struggling against the man.
"We're gonna leave you now." Hardcastle told the Mitchells, leaning close to Phil who had a horrified expression on his face as Ben continued to cry out. "The bizzies'll be here soon. Say goodbye to your son."
Hardcastle dragged Ben off the seat as the two goons grabbed hold of Phil and Katy. The guns they were holding had made it very clear that they were not about to tolerate any sort of argument as they watched the young man pleading with their boss.
Seeing the look pass between her cousin and his father, Katy glanced at Phil, trying to decipher the expression on his face. He glanced back towards Ben, before meeting the blonde's eyes again. Then he nodded and she understood what he was trying to tell her. She smirked.
Everything happened in a blur. As Hardcastle dragged Ben to his feet, the younger man lashed out, catching his assailant in the face. He went down, flopping onto the sofa with a cry. At the same moment, Phil turned and elbowed the man flanking him in the nose, while Katy stamped on the instep of the man closest to her. As he doubled over, involuntarily, she rammed her fist into his face, kicking him in the stomach for good measure and sending him careening backwards and over the back of the sofa.
Seeing that Phil had waded in to help Ben, Kate bent down and snatched the gun from the man he had incapacitated, shoving it into the waistband of her jeans and heading for the door. Her relatives didn't need telling twice and in seconds the three of them were sprinting along the dimly lit corridors in search of a way out.
Following as Phil darted to the right, Katy was dimly aware that Ben wasn't behind them. Gasping out the older man's name, she motioned behind her. Getting the hint, Phil doubled back and yanked his son sideways to join them. They made it to a more brightly lit, open area without being caught, Katy leaning against the wall and gasping for breath as they took a moment.
"The money…" Phil motioned towards a van parked a little further ahead. "I need that money."
Exhaling sharply, Katy shrugged and followed him as he headed for the van; they'd come this far, they might as well finish the job. Grabbing Ben by the wrist, she pulling him along in her wake, deeply concerned by the way he didn't seem to be fully with them or taking in what was going on.
Standing back as Phil knocked the man loading the money unconscious, Katy nudged her cousin with her shoulder and motioned for him to help them. She reached into the holdall, pulling out a bundle of fifty pound notes, grinning as she realised what they were so close to pulling off.
"There they are!"
Hardcastle's shout pulled them all back to the moment and they leapt into action. Katy rounded the bonnet and climbed into the cab, while Ben slammed the side panel before following. Phil kicked the engine into life and they sped away with a screech of tires before Ben had even managed to close his door. They could hear the men shooting after them, hear the bullets hitting the back of the van, but they were managing to put some space between them.
"Come on, quick, we've gotta move!" Phil ordered them as he screeched to a halt beside the car Ben had directed them towards.
In an instant they were out and swapping vehicles, Katy throwing herself into the back seat as the two men jumped into the front. They could hear the wail of sirens getting closer and, as Ben drive them off the industrial estate, the blue lights were reflected in the high metal fences all around them. Katy craned her neck, ready to announce the exact moment that the police cars came into sight.
"There! Two of them."
"Take a left here." Phil ordered, pointing in the direction he wanted his son to go. "Now, hit the lights."
Doing as he was told, Ben turned off the headlights, taking another left and managing to shake off their pursuers. Katy turned in her seat to watch as the two police cars sped in the opposite direction, leaving them in the clear. She didn't let out the breath she was holding until they were completely out of sight and the blue flashing lights had faded to nothing.
In the front, Phil started laughing, unzipping the bag and taking out several bundles of notes. He tossed one carelessly over his shoulder to Katy, still chuckling. She caught it, flicking through it with a triumphant laugh, still not quite able to believe they'd pulled it back. Katy shuddered at the thought of what could have happened.
"You alright?" Phil asked, glancing sideways at his son. "Ben, you OK?"
"Yeah… yeah." He replied, thoroughly unconvincingly. "No, I'm fine."
"You sure?"
"I'm fine."
"Katy?"
"Of course. Dunno how I'm gonna explain my knuckles…" She mused, examining the damage she'd done back in the office.
Phil laughed. "Who cares when we're in the money?"
"Good point." The blonde agreed, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the backs of the front seats. "So what do we do now? D'you reckon they got Hardcastle? He's not gonna keep our names out of this, is he?"
"We keep our mouths shut and deal with anything else as it comes." Phil told her bluntly. "Hardcastle will want to keep his head down for a while… but that don't mean we don't need to be careful."
Nodding slowly, Katy flopped back against the seat, chewing her lip and staring at the money in her hands thoughtfully.