Kristy managed to stun her attacker. While he was groggy, she noticed a piece of rope sticking out of his pocket. She pulled it out and used it to tie his wrists. Once that was accomplished, she went out to the hallway, where the commotion had alerted a few people on the floor who had gathered outside the office.
Kristy pointed to the nearest one. “You call the police,” she said and bolted for the stairs.
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Kelly decided to make it as difficult as possible for her captors. As she was lifted from the cart, she began to wiggle and grunt. Once she was lifted clear, Kelly felt the hands release her and she hit the ground hard. “Cooperate with us and you don’t get dropped,” an accented male voice told her.
Kristy emerged from a door leading to the alley. “Don’t touch her!” she said.
The man and woman were about to lift Kelly into a delivery truck. Kristy charged the pair and kicked the man in the groin. The woman tried to charge Kristy and was flipped to the hard surface of the alley. The nefarious duo then hastily climbed back into their truck and sped off.
Kristy went to the aid of her sister. She knelt by Kelly and removed the gag and blindfold. Kelly didn’t speak while being untied or while being lifted her feet. Words simply weren’t enough. She put out her arms and hugged Kristy tightly.
“Much as I’m grateful for your affection, I think we should be getting back to your office,” Kristy said. “The third person in that group is still there, and we’d better get there before the police do.”
They hastened to Kelly’s office and made it there before the one uniformed officer could respond. He accepted their version of events, but insisted they untie the suspect. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t leave before the plainclothes officers show up,” he said.
As luck would have it, the plain clothes officers were the twins’ cousin Sean Kowalski and his partner, Jane Chen. Sean decided the best course would be for him to speak with the suspect while Jane got Kelly and Kristy’s side of things. When all the talk was finished, Sean came up to his cousins. “You two are becoming danger magnets,” he remarked. “That could come to the detriment of anybody around you.”
“Do you mean we find a place to hide out?” Kelly asked.
“Or one can be provided for you.”
“How does that happen?”
“I think he’s talking about a department safe house,” Kristy said.
“Exactly,” Sean said.
“So we’ll be stuck there until this thing blows over,” Kelly said.
“We could have somebody keep an eye on this place, increase patrols in the area, but you’re right, you won’t be able to come as you please. Like I said, you two could be making it difficult for your folks. I’m not asking you to do this for your sakes but for their sake.”
Jane looked on from the side. She and Kristy had been friends since they met at the Police Academy. “Think of it as a way to catch whoever is doing this to you,” Jane said.
“All right,” Kelly said.
“You two should get what stuff together you can.” Sean said. “I’ll make what arrangements I can on my end.”
The twins drove home. Their father was working in the bar, of course, but Coleen was home. “We don’t like it either, Mom,” Kelly said. “But we’d like it even less if something happened to you or Dad because of us.”
While they packed, the twins discussed the circumstances that led them to what they were doing at the moment. “What is the connection between the Contessa and what has been happening to us?” Kelly asked. “Does the Department have a file on her?”
“I wouldn’t be in a position to know one way or another,” Kristy said. But I don’t think it is likely.”
“Seemingly, the only connection is the lawyer. Why would her attorney be the same one who represents the guy who took Mister O’Malley’s will.”
“You’re not buying coincidence. Neither am I. But why is the does the Contessa have a connection –no matter how tenuous- with somebody who at most a low-level guy with the Outfit and least a hanger-on?”
Kelly had no ready reply. After all, Kristy was the investigator. After some thought, she said. “About all I can say is that it would make sense to her. What we need is for it to make sense to us.”
“Okay,” Kristy said. “What is the Contessa known for?”
“Besides Muslim bashing?” Kelly said. “There’s her yacht, but that’s famous because the crew is made up entirely of women.”
“That’s it!”
“Kristy, you’ve lost me.”
“She’s known for a female crew on her yacht and her entourage is the same. Maybe she has these men on here payroll, but doesn’t make much of it.”
“I’ll admit that would explain while she’s sending some of these men against us, but it doesn’t explain McNulty or any of the people she’s recruiting.”
“Maybe all she wants is to do is build a temple to Juno. Religious property is tax exempt, but there are people who would scoff at the notion that the Contessa’s cult is an actual religion.”
That ended this particular conversation. The twins settled into the safe house. It was fine for the first night, but by the end of the first morning they were on edge. Daytime TV was junk and they couldn’t even go into the back yard for tanning. The safe house had no books or magazines, which neither one had thought to bring. A check of the house revealed nothing, not so much as chess set or deck of cards.
While they were preparing lunch, Jane Chen showed up for protective duty. She brought a copy of both the Tribune and the Sun-Times. “I wasn’t sure which one you two read,” she explained.
Kelly and Kristy didn’t care. They were grateful to have the diversion. So much so that they stayed in the kitchen reading the papers –rather than skimming through them looking for whatever articles caught their eyes- after lunch. While they were reading, the twins heard a commotion from the front room. They saw Jane lying face down on the carpet. Her wrists were secured by her own handcuffs and one of the intruders was tying a knot on the ends of a cloth being employed as a gag. Another one, who was fairly tall, pointed a gun at the two. “Kneel on the floor, with your hands behind you backs,” he ordered.
Kelly and Kristy obeyed as his accomplice bound Jane’s ankles. When that chore was finished, he took over covering the twins while the taller one bound their wrists. When that was done, they hood worked in tandem. First they crammed ball-up pieces of cloth into the Flannigans’s mouths, which were then held in place with larger pieces of cloth. The two were blindfolded and and the taller one (he was the only one who spoke) said. “The Contessa wants to see you.”