Breathing a sigh of relief, Katy watched as Tina headed away, before turning and making her way back home. She let herself in, going into the living room without bothering to knock. To her surprise, she didn't manage to interrupt anything between her parents that would probably add to the number of sessions she needed in therapy. Instead, she found Ronnie, completely alone, sitting on the sofa with a glass of wine watching a film.

"Where's Dad?"

"He's had to go out. That DI Arthurs called and said they needed to go and look into something urgently. Aren't you going over to the R&R?"

"I need to speak to him about Tina."

"What's going on, Katy? Why are you–?"

The front door opened with a crash, causing both women to instantly turn scowls on Roxy who appeared in the doorway and jabbed her index finger in her niece's direction. Ronnie's eyes narrowed at the expression on her sister's face and she turned sharply to stare at her daughter instead, suspecting that she'd been up to something.

"Did I just see you snogging Tina Carter in the middle of the Square?"

"You were doing what?" Ronnie demanded, her eyes wide.

Katy shrugged, forcing herself to remain nonchalant as the two women gaped at her. "So what? Is that a problem?"

"Well no… but it is a bit of a surprise." Her mother admitted. "I mean… how long has it been going on?"

"About ten minutes." Katy replied, a little self-consciously. She covered her discomfort by staring them out defiantly.

"I had no idea that you were…?"

"Nor did I." She shrugged, dropping onto the sofa and hugging a cushion to her chest defensively. "I genuinely had no idea. I love Tina, obviously, but I didn't realise I–"

"You love Tina?" Roxy almost squealed.

Her sister and niece shushed her hurriedly, Ronnie closing the living room door quickly to stop the noise waking the sleeping children up. Katy shrugged awkwardly, frowning as Roxy dropped onto the sofa beside her, tugging the cushion out of her hands and throwing it across the room. The older Mitchell squeezed her niece's thigh excitedly, encouraging her to speak.

"I didn't mean I love her…" Katy rolled her eyes. "I mean… I love her. She's just my favourite person and I just… I never realised that might be something more than her being my best friend until tonight."

"You love her." Roxy said decisively, nodding at her. "Ron, tell her."

The older Mitchell sister pushed her daughter gently towards the middle of the sofa and settled herself beside her so that the young woman was sandwiched between her mother and her aunt. Katy looked at her defiantly, as though expecting Ronnie to make some comment or find fault with the latest development in her life. Instead, the older woman just shrugged and smiled.

"Of course she does. It was obvious."

"What?" Her words surprised her daughter so much that she laughed. "No it wasn't!"

"It was, actually." Ronnie told her calmly. "Now that I've realised what I was seeing, it was incredibly obvious. I don't know how anyone missed it. The way you two were with each other, how you could swear that sometimes you were the only two people in the room. If I hadn't been so wrapped up in… I should have spotted it before."

"Was it going on while you were with Isaac?" Roxy asked, arching an eyebrow at her niece.

"What, no? Of course it wasn't… I told you, I had no idea until tonight."

Ronnie chuckled. "It was going on, Katy just didn't know about it."

"No, it wasn't!"

"You and Tina have been like an old married couple for months." The eldest of the trio announced firmly. "Maybe now you'll just get to actually enjoy it."

"Are you… are you OK with this?" Katy asked warily, looking at her mother. She glanced at Roxy, chewing her lip nervously. "I mean… I know it's… well, it's not exactly… what you'd expect? And there's a bit of an age gap…"

Ronnie sighed, wrapping her in a tight hug and pressing a kiss to the side of her head. "We don't care that Tina's a woman. You're almost thirty, Tina's forty-six; it's not a big deal. You can make your own decisions. As long as you're happy, that's all that matters to us."

"I am." Katy assured her, unable to hide her smile. "I'm happy."

"Shirl!" Katy spotted the older blonde walking slowly away from Mick and Jack outside her house. She pushed past the two men, barely sparing them an apologetic smile, before she hurried over, a concerned frown on her face. "Have you seen Tina?"

"It's a bit late to try and convince her to stay." Shirley snapped. "She's already gone."

Katy faltered, her phone slipping from her hand and dropping to the ground with a clatter. "Wait… no. No, she can't have?"

"Well she has. I told you to speak to her straight away. You are so selfish and now–"

"Shirley, shut up!" The Mitchell ordered her. "For once in your life, just shut up!"

"Oi!"

"No, listen to me for one second. I spoke to Tina last night. I told her… I told her I wanted her to stay here with me. We… kissed. We're… a thing. I think." She frowned, looking a little confused. "I mean, I thought we were. But then she went looking for you and never came back. I haven't seen her since."

"You…" Shirley frowned. "You told her and she still went?"

"She wouldn't have gone, Shirl. She promised she wouldn't."

"She's facing prison."

"No, she's not." Katy shook her head vehemently. "Dad told me that the witness was talking shit. The CPS won't pay any attention to what he said. That DI Arthurs told Tina the same thing… Tina said that he'd told Gray to tell her, too. But he didn't, did he? Instead Gray told Tina that she was screwed."

"Maybe that was before he–"

"Bullshit."

"Katy, I dunno what you've got against Gray… Tina was the same. He's a good guy. He's done his best for Tina. If it wasn't for him–"

"I was gonna ring Ritchie and get her on the case." Katy interrupted. "Tina thought it was a good idea. Maybe I'll ring her anyway. I don't trust Gray and I don't know where Tina is, but I know she hasn't run away because of this."

"Jack and the rest of the old bill seem to think she has. They searched the house… the bag she packed ready to run was gone."

"She hasn't run away." Katy repeated. "I know she hasn't. Shirley, please… you have to believe me. Something's not right. Did she even find you last night?"

"No. I was at the Vic with Mick and then Gray said she'd left. Then the cops turned up and searched the house…"

"So where was Tina? Who did she speak to after she left me apart, presumably, from Gray?"

"I dunno!"

"Why isn't she answering her phone?"

"I dunno!" Shirley repeated, more agitated as the younger woman continued to push her. "I dunno where she is."

"Something's wrong, Shirley… something's really wrong."

Stooping, the older woman picked up Katy's phone and pressed it into her hands. "She'll get in contact when she can."

Watching as she strode off across the Square, Katy exhaled sharply and glanced down at the device in her hands. She ran her finger across the long crack that was visible across the screen, hoping that it was just a scratch on the protective cover, before pushing it impatiently into her back pocket.

Glancing up, she watched Jack walking away from his colleague and hurried after him. Putting her hand on his arm and attracting his attention, she pulled him aside and stared at him for a couple of moments. As though Jack knew exactly what his daughter wanted to know, he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck tiredly.

"I haven't heard anything, alright?" He told her, holding up a hand before she started bombarding him with questions. "We searched the house and realised she must have run. There were clothes missing… her room was a mess."

"Dad, that proves absolutely nothing." Katy pointed out. "Tina's room was always a mess. You'd never be able to tell if anything was missing."

"Look, I know you want to believe that she's innocent, but if she was she wouldn't run, would she?"

"She hasn't run. She promised me she wouldn't and I believe her."

"Yeah, but she thought that witness–"

"No, she didn't." Katy shook her head vehemently. "Arthurs told her that he wasn't credible. I told her that she was going to be fine. I said I'd get onto Ritchie… Tina had hope, Dad. She wouldn't have run."

"I don't know what else to say to you." Jack admitted, shrugging. "I don't know anything else."

"Will you let me know if you do?"

He sighed. "Katy…"

"Please, Dad."

Exhaling sharply he nodded at her, before catching sight of the DI headed towards them. "Fine… if I hear anything I'll let you know. I've gotta go…"

"Jack?" DI Arthurs looked between them curiously, his eyes lingering on Katy's baby bump for a moment, before turning his attention to his colleague, a question clear in his eyes. "We need to go."

"Sure… this is my daughter, Katy."

Recognition dawned on the older man's face. "Katy Mitchell? Tina Carter's friend?"

"Yeah." She fixed him with a challenging look. "What about it?"

"You wouldn't happen to know where Miss Carter is, would you?"

"I doubt she'd be over here grilling me if she did." Jack replied for her, letting out a long sigh. "Look, Katy, just go home and let me know if you hear anything from her, right?"

"Right…" She muttered, shooting both men a look that clearly said she had absolutely no faith in their ability to do anything worthwhile. "I'll leave it to you, then."

As she strode away, Jack watched her warily, hoping beyond hope that she would do just that.

A/N: Thank you so much for your comments on the last few chapters - I enjoy reading them and hearing your thoughts on what's going on!