Emmerdale’s Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle) is in the clutches of drug lord Ray Walters (Joe Absolom) and Ray is planning on sinking his claws deeper.
It’s been a tough start for Dylan and April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan) as Dylan struggled to be truthful with his friend over embarrassment of what he had been through.
When April found out about Dylan working for Ray, it nearly ended their relationship, and then Dylan dropped a bigger bombshell – Ray wanted April to do the drop.
Dylan means so much to April that she agreed to do it as a one off as Dylan tried to convince her that Ray is a good guy looking out for him.
But that good guy is manipulating everything Dylan thinks and does. He sows a seed in Dylan’s mind that Paddy Kirk’s (Dominic Brunt) help isn’t as innocent as it seems and assures Dylan that he is the only one looking out for him.
The next day, April sees Dylan getting in a stranger’s car and loses her mind with worry. Marlon notices the change in his daughter and can’t understand why watching Dylan head off to work is such a problem. Too stressed to keep her mouth shut, April tells Marlon about Dylan’s sex work past and thinks he’s doing it again. Marlon is horrified.
April is left with the guilt that she shouldn’t have told her dad, who is now preparing to tell Paddy.
April spots Dylan hanging outside a stranger’s car and confronts him but breathes a sigh of relief to learn it was just a drugs drop, no sex work. But the damage is done – now Marlon and Paddy want words.
Dylan is gutted and humiliated that she told them his deepest, darkest secrets. April is beside herself and in a desperate bid to save their relationship, tells Dylan she loves him. He’s taken a back and overwhelmed, unable to process how someone who loves him could betray him.
Paddy takes an opportunity to take Dylan to one side and tell him his past doesn’t matter, he doesn’t judge him one bit. It spurs Dylan on to go straight and tell Ray he is out, at least for a while.
But something tells us Ray isn’t going to be prepared to just let him go. What will Ray do to keep him in his clutches?
But as frightening as Ray might be, he’s not Dylan’s only problem. As Dylan moves through the village, Kyle recognises him.