Ruby Fox-Miligan (Beth Cordingly) is a woman on a mission in

Emmerdale and her mission, like her husband’s before her,

is to destroy Kim Tate (Claire King). And she’s playing a very dangerous game trying to take on Killer Kim.

Ruby has a secret weapon in the form of Rose Jackson (Christine Tremarco).

Rose owes Ruby money after Ruby bailed her out of a debt,

so she’s currently being forced to do Ruby’s bidding.

Handily, Rose is Will Taylor (Dean Andrews)’s ex and Dawn Fletcher (Olivia Bromley)’s mum, so was perfectly placed to infiltrate Home Farm.

Since arriving in the Dales and reconnecting with the daughter she walked out on when she was only five years old, Rose has actually started bonding with Dawn and her children. With baby Evan currently having treatment for leukaemia the family is under huge pressure and Dawn has been incredibly stressed, and Rose has often stepped in to support her. In a recent episode Dawn admitted she’d been up all night with Evan and said that for most of the time Rose had kept her company.

So when Rose and Ruby met up to discuss their plan on Tuesday (July 9)’s episode, Rose was quite relieved to hear that Ruby was going away on holiday for a few weeks to take stock and reassess things, Rose thought she was dropping the plan. ‘Family comes first, doesn’t it?’ she said, adding that stopping their plan was ‘for the best.’

Ruby corrected her, saying she had no intention of stopping and in fact wanted to know the plan was coming together. Rose told her that she and Dawn were getting closer, but Ruby wasn’t impressed and reminded her that she owes her for paying off her debts. ‘That means you get this done.’

While Rose is the one currently tasked with carrying out the plan, there’s no doubt that when things start to unravel, which they almost certainly will, Kim will discover that it was Ruby behind the plan all along.

In an earlier exchange the two women made no secret of their dislike for each other. Kim was driving through the village and, spotting Ruby, pulled over. ‘Bus stop or train station?’ she asked. ‘I was fervently hoping that you’re off to join your son at whatever rock he’s crawled back under.’

Nicky (Lewis Cope) recently left Emmerdale with his boyfriend Suni (Brahmdeo Shannon Ramana), exasperated by his parents’ behaviour in trying to cover up Ruby deliberately running over Ethan Anderson.

And Kim hasn’t forgiven Nicky for his part in Caleb’s plan to destroy her, when he pretended to be in love with Gabby Thomas (Rosie Bentham) and got all the way to their wedding day before confessing that he couldn’t do it because he didn’t love her and he’s gay. The whole ‘romance’ was a trick to get Gabby’s share of the Tate wealth in Nicky and Caleb’s hands.

Ruby’s tongue is equally as sharp as Kim’s and her reply to Kim’s comment was brutal: ‘I was off to get some flowers for your grave, you mouldy corpse!’

She told Kim that she thinks she’s better than Ruby because she’s got a big house.

‘No, I think I’m better than you for lots of reasons, Ruby.’ And on Ruby’s suggestion of getting out of the car to talk about things in more detail Kim said she was under strict instructions to remain germ-free because of Evan.

‘And you strike me as quite the carrier.’ Ouch.

This is all building up to be an almighty confrontation between two opponents who seem quite equally matched for ruthlessness and motivation – but any long-term Emmerdale viewer would probably back Kim to come out on top, as she almost always does.

MORE : Emmerdale’s Kim sacrifices herself in hospital drama and pays a heavy price

MORE : Emmerdale face from the past returns to destroy Caleb and Ruby’s lives

MORE : Three more Emmerdale exits ‘confirmed’ as major characters make big decisions