Kelly found this situation more frightening than the previous one. Perhaps it was the fact she was not blindfolded and fully aware of what was going on. Or perhaps it was the fact Kristy was in the same predicament. Kelly seldom worried about her sister, despite Kristy's occupation. She had a partner and got on well with her colleagues on the force. Kristy was very confident and self-assured. Even now, she struggled against the ropes.
"Relax," said the woman watching over them, her voice both accented and distorted by the mask. "Fighting it will only tire you out."
At least Kelly could see where they were going. There was no circuitous route this time. Loud jet engine noises told her that they were approaching Midway Airport. That was confirmed when the van stopped at an intersection and Kelly could see a plane come in low and seeming to barely clear the fence at the airport's southeast corner. Once the light was green, the van travelled a little further and pulled up to what appeared to be an auto repair shop. Or at least a place that could be used as one. There didn't seem to be much business going on. Only after the van was inside were the twins removed. They were carried out and made to stand up. Their feet weren't even united.
The woman and the two men spoke for a bit in a foreign language. It was wasn't Spanish, which Kelly could understand, but sounded similar. Perhaps it was Italian. Whatever it was, the two men went back into the van and drove off.
"Well, if looks as if we are going to be spending some time together," the woman said. "Perhaps we could get to know each other better."
"My motta mekka meek," Kristy grunted.
"What was that?"
"MY MOTTA MEKKA MEEK!"
The woman decided there was only one way to figure out what Kirsty was trying to say. She removed Kristy's gag and asked her what she meant. Kristy took a couple deep breaths and said "I gotta take a leak." The woman didn't understand. "Pee," Kristy continued "Piss. Urinate."
Now the woman understood. She undid the ropes around Kirsty's wrists and ankles. "I suppose there are facilities here... ooooof."
She was cut off after being gut punched by Kristy. Winded, the woman bent over. Kristy put her hands together and brought them down on the back the stranger's head. The woman hit the concrete floor. Kristy quickly retrieved one of the pieces of rope and straddled her erstwhile captor. The woman's wrists and ankles were bound and Kristy pulled of the mask.
With that out of the way, Kristy released her sister. "Nice going," she said.
"Kelly, go outside and get an address," Kristy said.
"Sure. What are you going to do?"
"That wasn't some trick. If I don't piss real soon, my bladder's likely to explode!"
Kelly went outside and picked up the street name from the nearest corner and the address from the front of the building. As she did, she heard a jet coming in for a landing. She looked up and saw what appeared to be an executive jet. Not a surprise, really. The smaller jets could land just as easily at Midway as they could O'Hare and had the added benefit of being closer to the Loop.
When she returned inside, Kelly found Kristie on her cell phone. "Yes, I'll stay on until a squad car arrives," Kristy said.
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The jet Kelly had seen, a Gulfstream IV, taxied to a stop. The very instant the sound of the engines died, a woman got up and stretched. At six feet tall, she needed to after the long flight. Her blonde hair was done up in the style of a classical goddess. The cabin attendant helped her into the jacket of a tan lightweight suit. The suit was from a top designer in Milan and tailored so the skirt ended at the exact midpoint of the tibia. Gabrille di Caesarini, the daughter of a Swiss banker went by not just the surname but the title bestowed on her by her late husband: Contessa.
"Thank you, Claudia," The Contessa said. "You make these flights a pleasure."
"The pleasure is all mine, Contessa," Claudia said. She wore a light blue blouse and dark blue skirt that went to her knees. The two walked forward where they met the with the pilot and co-pilot. They wore the same blouse/skirt combination as Claudia, the exceptions being the pilot had shoulder boards with four stripes and the co-pilot's shoulders bore three stripes.
As the women disembarked from the plane, the Contessa said to the flight crew, "I hope you enjoy your stay in Chicago. I have business to attend to."
She was met by a man in a expensive blue suit. "Mister McNulty," the Contessa said with a crisp nod of the head.
"Good to have you back," Ted McNulty said.
"What about this property of O'Malley's?"
"It's not mentioned in his will,"
"Good. Perhaps he does intend to sell it soon."
"There's a slight. problem with O'Malley's new lawyer."
"What is it?"
"She has an identical twin sister, who just happens to be member of the Chicago Police Department."
"How is this a problem?"
"The two were together when your team seized the Lawyer. Since they couldn't tell which was which, they took both."
"A very reasonable situation. Where are the now?"
It took only five minutes to get from Midway to the garage, but the presence of squad cars told McNulty and the Contessa there was no reason to go into the building. "So it looks like were dealing with two very resourceful young ladies," the Contessa said. "Such women I would prefer to have as allies rather than enemies. I need to know more about them."
Kelly and Kristy gave their statements and were returned from where they were picked up. "This is starting to get out of hand," Kristy said as they got into their car.
"It sure is," Kelly said.
"I'm going to catch hell from Captain Bowman about this. He doesn't want you anywhere near this case and I agree with him."
"I certainly don't want to go through what I've been through the last couple days."
"I'm less worried about you than I am about Mon and Dad getting caught in the crossfire, so to speak."
"Well, I still need to bank the retainer. Start looking for a place for an office. Maybe even a trip to Field's for a proper wardrobe."
Ordinarily, Kelly would have thought her sister was being overly concerned, but the events of the last couple days made her a bit more cautious. Truth of the matter, was she liked the Loop. She believed it was what gave Chicago its character.
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To her surprise, Kristy wasn't raked over the coals when she was called into Captain Bowman's office the next day. "You can't be faulted if these people where trailing your sister," he said. "The fact the two of you are identical twins no doubt confused the two. Also, you were able to trick one of your captors into letting you loose for a little bit. That shows intelligence, nerve, and good improvisational skills."
Bowman hesitated for a bit and Kristy expected a "but" to be coming down.
"But," Bowman said. "You're really pushing things. Conducting police business on your own time is not how we do things in this department. Anything you do is to be cleared with me in advance. And don't do anything on duty without telling letting Gomez know."
Bowman dismissed Kristy. As she returned to her desk, Gomez said "Well, at least you have your skin on."
"You really thought he'd skin me alive, Vic?" Kristy said.
"Just focus on the case," Gomez said. "Hell, Bowman brown-nosed his way to captain."
For the next hour, the two caught up on their paperwork. Kristy's desk telephone rang and she answered. "Officer Flannigan?" the voice said. "I have something on the O'Malley case."
"Go on," she said.
The caller then described something about a property on the corner of 52nd street and Damen Avenue. "Okay, I'll look into it," she said.
Kirsty hung up and noticed gomez on the phone. He hung up and asked what her call was about. It turned out it was for something only two blocks away from where her caller had mentioned. "Let's tell the captain and get moving," Gomez suggested.
When Kristy arrived, she saw nothing in the building that would suggest any activity, criminal our otherwise. The door wasn't locked or barred in any way. She walked in but it took only a few steps before realizing it was a ruse. She opened her purse and took out her cell phone. Before she could punch a number, she was struck on the head from behind and everything went dark.
Kristy came to and found herself standing up. She wanted to rub her head, but her hands were cuffed behind her and to a pole. Her tongue came in contact with something round and tasted awful. A downward glance showed she was bound to the post and the knee and ankle levels.
This is all I need, she thought.