The day passed slowly, with Hollie checking that both the front and back doors were locked several times. She jumped a mile when she heard the sound of a key in the lock and the front door being opened. Her heart didn't even settle back into its normal rhythm when she heard her aunts calling her.

"I've got news for you." Jo announced as they passed into the kitchen, setting down their takeaway bags and the bottle of wine in Sam's hand.

"About Gavin?"

She pulled a contemplative face. "Sort of, but mainly about Vix."

"What?"

"Can we sort dinner first, please?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow and unscrewing the lid of the wine bottle. "There's plenty of time to talk shop later."

"Technically it's not talking shop because I'm not a copper." Hollie pointed out, retrieving cutlery from the drawer in the corner.

"She has a point Samantha." Jo grinned at her girlfriend; setting three plates out on the table and dodging round her niece as Hollie laid out the knives and forks.

"Yes, well, I am a detective and so it's talking shop as far as I'm concerned. Can we at least eat before you launch into theories and speculation?"

"You know it's more than theories and speculation, Sam."

The blonde sighed, taking her seat at the table and looking up at her girlfriend. "I know, Jo. I just don't know why you had to tell her the second we walked through the door. Now she knows there's something up and she'll worry about it."

"I am here, you know?" Hollie reminded them, sitting opposite Sam and frowning between the two women. "I can hear you."

"I'm sorry, darling." The blonde apologised. "I just thought we'd decided not to tell you until a bit further down the line when we know more."

"Sorry." Jo jerked her shoulders in the approximation of a shrug, apparently not very sorry at all. "I don't see why we should keep it a secret. Hollie's going to find out and I think the sooner the better."

"What's happened?"

"Nothing's happened." Sam assured her gently. "We just did some digging and found out some information."

"What did you find out? Is Vix dodgy?"

"She doesn't just go by the name Vix Spark." Jo informed her niece quickly after exchanging a look with her girlfriend. "She's also known as Tori Bain."

"So...?"

"Tori Bain is on the list of Gavin Ashton's known associates. She's his business partner. They've worked together for years."

The teenager gasped in disbelief. "You're fucking kidding me? Why is this…? What is she doing in Greenock?"

"My best guess is that Ashton's sent her to get close to you and your family." Jo replied worriedly. "He knows he can't get close to you himself, so he's sent Vix to do it for him."

"We have to tell Mum."

There was a pause and the detective seemed to be working out how to phrase her next sentence. "Nikki's not going to believe me if I tell her Vix is dodgy, is she? She knows I don't like her... She'll just think I'm trying to cause trouble."

"But if you've got evidence that she's this Tori Bain person...?"

"It won't help, darling." Sam said, shaking her head and leaning forwards. "At this point it's just speculation. She can deny she knows Ashton and there's absolutely nothing we can do to prove she does."

Hollie bit her lip nervously. "Can't you... arrest her... or something?"

Jo laughed mirthlessly. "For what? Dating your mother? She hasn't done anything illegal yet. Not that we know of, anyway."

Pushing her plate away, her appetite vanishing at the information she was hearing, Hollie thought hard. "I've got to go back. I need to keep an eye on Vix… try an get her away from Mum."

"Sweetheart, I agree that you've got to go back, but it's dangerous." Jo pointed out, running a hand through her hair. "If you go back you're a sitting target. Vix has constant access to you and therefore, by extension, so does Ashton."

"You were the one saying I needed to go home earlier." The teenager pointed out bluntly.

"We want to keep you safe. If we give you protection Vix is going to know." Sam added. "Ashton is going to know every move you make because of her."

"Then we have to tell Mum!" Hollie reasoned. "It's the only way."

"And she's just going to believe us? It does sound far-fetched, Hols. Her fiancée is in league with the guy who was send to prison on your evidence."

"If you show her some evidence she'll have to believe you."

"All we've got is a piece of paper that says that he knows someone with the same name as her. It's not enough to convince her; she'll just say it's a coincidence." Jo sighed. "I don't like it any more than you do. Nikki and I have never fallen out before, but she's blind where Vix is concerned."

"So we think smart…" Hollie said, looking between them. "We need to get other people onside."

"Like who?"

"Tom."

Jo sighed deeply, exchanging a look with her girlfriend. "Hollie, Tom is a great guy, but what's he going to be able to do?"

"Well if he knows he can at least keep an eye on things, can't he?" The teenager reasoned. "Him knowing the truth has got to be better than him being kept in the dark?"

Reluctantly, her aunts nodded and Sam suggested that they give him a call, saying that there was no time like the present. Knowing that she was in for another telling off when her stepfather answered, the teenager winced, but did as she was told anyway.

"Tom?" Hollie chewed her thumbnail nervously as she leant towards the landline, which had been set to speaker mode and propped up on the coffee table in front of the three females. "It's Hollie. I really need to talk to you."

"And I really need to talk to you, young lady." He retorted furiously. "Do you have any idea how worried we were? You just took off in the middle of the night. Anything could have happened to you? What were you thinking?"

"Tom, it's Jo. Sam's here too." The brunette cut in, seeing her niece wincing at his irate tone. "I agree she deserves a telling off, but right now we've got more pressing matters to talk to you about. Can you talk?"

"Yeah?"

"By that I mean are you on your own." Jo clarified.

"I am." He agreed, obviously confused.

"Good. Listen, how well do you know Vix?"

There was a pause. "I don't, really. I've only met her a couple of times."

"Well, what's your impression of her?"

"She's a bit standoffish. I don't really see what she and Nikki have in common, but if Nik's happy then–"

"Stop being so nice, Tom!"

Sam shot her girlfriend a look and leant closer to the receiver. "What Jo means, Tom, is that we don't think Vix is the person she's leading Nikki to believe she is."

"What d'you mean?"

"She's a liar!" Hollie exclaimed before she could stop herself. "She's just using Mum."

"Gavin Ashton's been released from Longmarsh early. I had confirmation the other day and told Hollie, stupidly, which is why she ran away. She didn't want to put any of you in danger if Ashton comes after her."

"When. When he comes after me." Hollie corrected her darkly.

"If." Jo argued firmly. "There's no guarantee he will come near Greenock. He's been warned that it's breaking the terms of his release to attempt to contact Hollie or any of her family in any way."

"That won't stop him!"

"Calm down, love." Jo urged her, laying a hand on her leg soothingly.

"I don't understand." Tom admitted on the other end of the line. "What has Ashton's release got to do with Vix? Why is Hollie saying she's a liar?"

"Sam and I did some digging today and we discovered that Vix, under another alias, is Ashton's business partner."

"Business partner?" Tom repeated. "You mean…"

"Perhaps business partner is a bit strong." Sam admitted, erring on the side of caution and sending the younger woman a look. "We have no actual proof that she is directly involved in his business."

"She owns several properties in the Canley area, which she rents out. All eight properties have been linked to Ashton through the prostitutes who work for him. Every single property is, or has been at various points, lived in by his girls." Jo reported bluntly. "I'd say that's proof she's involved."

"Not necessarily." Her girlfriend reasoned, knowing that Jo's personal involvement was making her see things in black and white. "She's smart; the flats are let through an agent. The agent deals with the properties and tenants. The owner has nothing, as far as we can tell, to do with who rents her flats. The periods that can be linked to Ashton are all interspersed between separate, legitimate tenants. There's nothing else to link them; no paper trail, nothing. She's never even been questioned in connection with Ashton's businesses."

"But it's… it's definitely Vix?"

"She goes by Tori Bain, but we're pretty sure it's her. There's no photo on her file, so we can't be certain. Dates of birth, descriptions, everything else fits."

"Then we need to tell Nikki." Tom said firmly. "We need to warn her."

"She knows that Jo doesn't like Vix… they had an argument while we were there for Hollie's birthday and Nikki accused her of all sorts. She's still not really speaking to her properly… things are very strained." Sam told him with a weary sigh. "She's not going to believe circumstantial evidence with nothing concrete to convince her."

"Then I'll speak to her."

"We need to be smart about this, Tom." Jo told him, visions of the man storming up to the house and blurting out everything they'd just said. "Sam and I have explained the situation to our Guv and he's arranging for us to have a temporary transfer up to Greenock, like we did when Hollie was abducted."

"This has to be by the book." Sam warned him, glancing at Hollie as well. "If we want this to stick we can't go all maverick on them."

"When are you coming up?"

"We've got to go and tie up loose ends on our current cases tomorrow, but then we're driving up to Scotland on Wednesday. Greenock CID have been told to expect us on Thursday morning."

"Have you told Nikki?"

"That we're coming up to Greenock, yes. About Vix? No. We're not going to, either." Sam stressed. "Tom, this is important."

"I won't say a word." He agreed with a deep sigh, which indicated just how much he disagreed with the decision.

Exchanging a look with her partner, Sam's face twisted into an even more serious expression. "Tom… this is about far more than Nikki's feelings. There's so much more at stake. This has become a joint operation between two different boroughs now. Jo and I are on loan because of our previous knowledge and involvement with the suspects, but Sun Hill and Greenock are also wanting a part of this case."

"Why?" Hollie asked, narrowing her eyes at the new information.

"Greenock are concerned that Ashton might be planning on moving his business onto their patch." Jo explained quickly. "With the possible link between Vix and Ashton and the fact that they've both got reason to be in the area, they're worrying that it might become a problem. Superintendent Meadows is concerned that they might plan on moving back down South or," she shrugged, "if they can find enough evidence to bang them up they'll be all over it."

"So what does this mean for Hollie?" Tom asked, his voice hard. "What does it mean for Nikki?"

"Hopefully it won't cause much of a negative impact on their everyday lives. The positive aspect is that it will be almost impossible for Ashton to get anywhere near them." Sam assured them both; her eyes fixed on the teenage girl. "There'll be constant surveillance on Vix. Unfortunately that means that, by extension, there'll be surveillance on Nikki, Hollie and AJ too."

"We haven't done anything wrong." Hollie pointed out.

Sam squeezed her knee. "I know, sweetheart. But Vix spends so much time with you and your mum that it would be impossible for you not to be under surveillance. I promise that nothing you or Nikki do will be kept on record, unless it's vital to the case. It's purely a measure to gather evidence against Vix."

"How long will all this take?" Tom demanded. "When will things get back to normal? When will Nikki be told?"

"I can't give you an answer about that, I'm afraid."

"It depends on what we can find out and whether or not there's a case to be built. It could be a while but, on the other hand, it could be a brief operation."

"We've been told to be thorough." Sam said. "When we spoke to Jack in Sun Hill he said that he's willing to allow his officers as long as needs be to work this case."

"This is big." Jo agreed. "Really big."