Creeping through the living room, Hollie jumped as a scuffling sound behind her broke through the silence. She glared at Scout, who had tripped over the rug in the conservatory doorway. The blonde held up her hands in a silent apology, before glancing around in awe.

The room was tastefully decorated and incredibly modern. It was totally different to the house that Hollie lived in with her mother or the one she lived in with Tom. It was a far cry from the School House where the other two girls lived. Each of them glanced around with appreciation, taking in their surroundings.

Hollie snorted with amusement, picking up a photo frame from the coffee table and pointing at the photo of Mr and Mrs Lowsley on holiday; sun cream smeared across their deputy head's face as he grinned cheesily at the camera. Frowning, Zoe pulled her sleeve over her hand and snatched the frame from her friend's grasp.

"Prints, Hollie!" She snapped.

Rolling her eyes, the other girl turned away. "Relax… they'll never know we were here. We're not going to steal anything or trash the place, are we? I literally just need to find some evidence against Vix."

"Still, I think we should be really careful."

"Just chill out, OK?" Hollie urged her. "I'm gonna go and take a look upstairs. You two see if you can find anything down here."

"Like what?"

She shrugged. "I dunno… anything!"

Leaving the room, Hollie climbed the stairs quickly. At the top of the staircase was a large vestibule with a big window that looked out over the back garden. There was a window seat with a padded cushion and the teenager found herself itching to see whether it was comfortable. Shaking her head, she looked along the corridor quickly.

She pushed open the first door she came to, quickly dismissing it as important as she realised it was a bathroom. The next room was a guest room and, after a cursory glance around, she moved on. The master bedroom was next and the teenager paid it special attention, carefully going through the drawers and cupboards for anything useful. She examined the drawers of the dressing table especially closely, hoping that Mrs Lowsley might have stored keepsakes or letters or something there.

With a disappointed sigh, she realised that there was absolutely nothing of any importance squirreled away and stood up. With a last glance around the room, making sure there was nothing out of place, Hollie left the room and closed the door behind her. She was just closing the door of the final room on the first floor, another bathroom, when footsteps on the stairs alerted her to her friends' presences.

"We think we've got something." Scout told her with an excited grin.

"What?" Hollie demanded eagerly.

"Down in the study, there's a–"

They all froze as the unmistakable sound of the front door opening and someone walking into the house met their ears. The three girls stared at each other with impossibly wide eyes panicking that they were about to be caught. As the movement downstairs continued, Hollie anxiously nodded her head towards the guest room and the trio crept inside. Motioning that they should hide under the bed, she waited until her friends were hidden from sight before leaving the doorway.

Pausing in the middle of the room, she changed her mind and crept back out onto the landing. Cautiously, Hollie made her way over to the stairs, peering over the banisters and looking down to see who was in the house. An unfamiliar woman wearing an apron was pulling a vacuum cleaner out of a cupboard, humming to herself under her breath.

"Shit…"

Hurrying back to the guest room and pulling the door almost closed behind her, Hollie rolled under the bed beside her friends.

"Who is it?"

"A cleaner, I think." She replied in an almost inaudible whisper. As the vacuum cleaner jumped into life, she allowed herself to speak a little louder. "Will she realise you were in the study?"

Scout shook her head. "No, we made sure."

"So? What did you find?"

"There was a folder that had Vix's name on it. Inside was a bunch of legal looking letters about the houses she owns."

Hollie sighed. "Yeah, but we already knew about the houses."

"Yeah," Scout grinned, "but there was a note from 'G' about some 'possible tenants' she might consider moving in."

"What?" Her friend breathed, unable to believe their luck. "Surely that's evidence of some sort, right?" Then she frowned. "Wait, you haven't moved it, have you?"

Scout scoffed. "Mate, I've watched enough episodes of NCIS to know you don't tamper with evidence."

They all fell silent again as the hovering stopped and they heard footsteps on the staircase. Wincing, Hollie shuffled forward in an army crawl until she reached the foot of the bed. Inching forwards even more, she slowly opened the door until she could see outside.

"As happy as I am that we found something," Zoe muttered, not looking remotely happy at all, "what the hell do we do now?"

"We wait."

"Yeah? Until she finds us?"

"It'll be fine." Hollie promised. "If it looks like she's going to spot us, I'll… I'll… I'll rugby tackle her to the ground."

"Don't be stupid." Zoe rolled her eyes. "Just get back here and shut up so she doesn't hear you."

The next hour or so was incredibly nerve-wracking for the trio of teenage girls hidden underneath the guest bed. There was a particularly scary moment when the door of the guest bedroom opened and a pair of trainers appeared in front of them. All three held their breath as the cleaner moved around the room for a couple of minutes, before leaving and closing the door behind her.

Breathing a sigh of relief they relaxed a little, guessing that she wouldn't be back and they were safe. A little over half an hour later they heard the front door shutting again and all three were eager to escape from their confinement. Stretching, they made their way cautiously out of the room and down the stairs.

"Show me the file." Hollie commanded, pausing in the hallway.

"Don't you think we should get out of here?" Zoe asked nervously. "I mean, we've almost been caught once and…"

"Chill out, Zo." Hollie glanced at her phone. "Look, it's nearly two. There's no point going back to school now. The cleaner's gone and I doubt anyone else will come over. Let's just have a quick look and then we can leave, OK?"

Not looking at all happy about the situation, Zoe followed the other two into the study. She hung back by the door as Scout showed her friend what she had discovered. Pulling out her mobile, Hollie took a photo of the note to show her aunts, before they replaced the folder in the desk and left the room.

Making sure not to disturb anything as they left, the three teenagers escaped the way they'd come into the house and trooped round the side and through the gate. They headed down the driveway cautiously, making sure there was no one about, before heading along the road towards the bus stop.

"How the hell did you find this, Hollie?" Jo demanded, waving the teenager's mobile at her, the photograph of the note they'd discovered at the Lowsleys' house still visible on the screen. "What have you done?"

"Don't get mad, OK…" Hollie started, before she caught the look on her aunt's face and winced.

"Don't get mad? Are you serious?" The detective demanded. "If you're telling me not to get mad you obviously think there's a good chance I will. That in itself tells me that you've done something that I should get mad about."

"I just…"

"Have you done something illegal?" Sam asked, cutting in before her girlfriend completely lost her temper.

Hollie winced. "Technically, I suppose…"

Jo put her head in her hands. "Oh, for god's sake…"

"What have you done?"

"I went to Mrs Lowsley's house to see if I could find anything."

"Hollie!"

"Well, I know you can't because that would mean people knowing that Vix is a suspect and–"

"Hollie!" Her aunt repeated, shaking her head. "You stupid girl! If anyone finds out you broke into their house and–"

"I didn't break in. They left their back door open."

"That's beside the point. You were still in their house without their permission or knowledge." Sam told her carefully, sensing that Jo was about to explode. "We should… you broke the law…"

"But you wouldn't…" Hollie turned wide-eyes on her aunt. "I mean…"

"Hollie Joanne Boston, I'm arresting you on…" Jo stopped, clenching her fists and pulling a face of immense frustration. She shook her head and turned away. "I can't do it."

"Wait, what?" The teenager looked between the two detectives. "I was trying to help."

"We're not going to arrest you." Sam told her firmly, earning herself a questioning look from her partner. "Not this time. But in future… Hollie you've got to stop. Taking things into your own hands is just going to get you into trouble."

"Next time you will be in serious trouble." Jo warned her bluntly. "You've got to learn, Hollie. I can't protect you forever. If you'd been caught in that house there wouldn't be anything we could do."

"Is there anything to suggest you were there?" Sam asked hastily. "Did you damage anything or leave anything obviously out of place?"

"No."

Jo nodded quickly. She hated being torn between protecting her niece and not doing her job properly. If anyone else had come to her and admitted that they had broken the law she wouldn't have had such a tough time making a decision about what to do. She knew Sam was struggling just as much and it surprised her that the older woman had made the decision so seemingly easily.

"Right." The blonde jerked her head in an approximation of a firm nod. "Go home and forget about all this. No more playing detective, Hollie. I mean it."

"But I just..."

Sam sighed, really wishing that her girlfriend would help her out but knowing that Jo was too angry and worried to think rationally at the moment. "I know, darling. We know why you're trying to help. But you can't, OK? Any evidence we find is void unless a member of the police force finds it." It wasn't strictly true, but she wanted to dissuade the teenager from getting herself into any more scrapes.

"Leave it to us. We'll find the evidence we need, I promise."

Knowing that she had no choice but to agree with them, on the face of it anyway, Hollie sighed deeply and nodded. "I'm sorry."

Sam held out her arms and hugged Hollie tightly to her. She stroked a hand through the teenager's hair, remembering her own daughter at that age and wondering whether it was some kind of curse; wondering whether any teenage girl she came into contact with became troubled and in danger of putting themselves in irreversible situations. Abi had turned out alright in the end she reminded herself with a small smile. She was sure that Hollie would as well. Eventually.

Jo hugged the girl too, sighing as she felt Hollie's arms tighten impossibly around her. Bringing one hand up, without realising it, she cupped the back of her niece's head and held her to her even more tightly. She knew that, however contrite Hollie was being at the moment, there was nothing that would stop the teenager doing what she wanted.

"Now..." Jo pulled away and smiled weakly down at the girl, trying to keep her tone light. "Tom will be wondering where you've got to. No doubt there'll be some questions about where you've been..."

"I'll tell him the truth."

Sam arched an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"You're putting him in a difficult position, Hollie." The blonde detective reasoned. "You're telling him you broke the law... that you broke into the home of his friends and colleagues."

"I don't want to lie to him."

Jo sighed. "What about your mum? Are you going to tell her where you were?"

"I doubt she'll ask." Hollie muttered sulkily. "She's not bothered."

"You know that's not true." Sam jumped in quickly.

"Do I?"

"But you're willing to lie to her, if she does ask?" Jo continued.

Hollie considered her options for a moment. On the one hand, she really didn't want to lie to Nikki. There had already been too many lies and that was one of the reasons they had a problem now. On the other hand, telling her the truth would either lead to more arguments or let Vix know that they were on to her, neither of which sounded like a good thing to the teenager. It was a difficult decision to make, but one that was incredibly important.

"I have to." She murmured at last. "I can't tell her the truth. It's too risky. It could ruin everything."

Jo glanced across at Sam, before taking a breath. "I've got to go and speak to her later."

"Why?"

"Because Ashton's been released and she has a right to be informed. The DCI up here wanted us to go this morning, but we persuaded him that waiting until this evening would be best. He was actually quite irritated that she didn't already know."

"But I don't-"

"It's not up to you, Hollie. It's a legal matter. Nikki has a right to be informed about his release, for her own protection if nothing else. It doesn't matter whether you want her to know or not; it's a police matter."

"We're going to tell her you don't know yet." Sam said softly, causing the teenager to fix her with wide, confused eyes. "If we tell her you already know but didn't say anything to her, that's just going to drive a bigger wedge between you and that is the last thing we want. If Nikki realises you kept this from her, it's just going to push her closer to Vix."

Hollie nodded slowly, seeing the logic in what she was hearing. "So... then what?"

"It depends. She might want to tell you herself, or she might want to be there when we tell you. Either way, you're going to have to pretend you don't know."

"And this has all come from the DCI?"

Jo shook her head. "No, love. This has come from us knowing your mum and wanting to protect her."

Hollie clenched her hands into fists at her sides. "I hate this. I hate all the complications and lies and secrets and strategies. I want my mum and my dad and my brother all in the same house. I want Vix to fuck off out of our lives. I want my boyfriend to be alright and not stuck in hospital. I just want things to be normal."

"I know, sweetheart." Sam agreed, pulling her into another hug. "And we're working on normal, I promise you."

"So you'll play along?"

With a resigned sigh, the teenager nodded. She accepted a lift home, where Tom greeted her on the doorstep, bouncing a grizzling AJ and sending her a sharp, unimpressed look. Before she could even open her mouth, he launched into his questioning.

Thankfully, Jo stepped in and told him that Hollie had turned up to see them and they'd taken the opportunity to go over a few things with her. She managed to keep the explanation vague, not mentioning any timings, so that she wasn't technically lying about it. When Tom sighed and sent the teenager to get ready for dinner, Jo apologised for not letting him known earlier.

"I'm just worried about her." He admitted, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Hollie wouldn't overhear. "She misses Nikki, I can tell. But she won't talk to me about it."

Jo squeezed his arm supportively. "She'll be OK. The DCI has told us that we have to inform Nikki about Ashton's release tonight. Hollie wasn't happy when she heard, but it has to be done. Especially when we suggested it would be better if we pretend Hollie doesn't already know about it all. Maybe this will change things... make them easier... I don't know."

"Good luck with that." Tom chuckled, arching an eyebrow. "I don't envy you that job."