Naomi sits down at her desk after hanging up her paint stained apron. Sipping a cup of coffee she looks over an urgent telegram she had just received. It was not only in German, it was in code. She got back up and grabbed a book of children's stories from her bookshelf and flipped through the gilt pages looking for the story of Hansel and Gretel.

Wearing an emerald green dress on way out for some business downtown, Kates pokes her head inside Naomi's to say hello. Her younger sister is a veritable tornado, searching through books with a manic energy.

"Hey Naomi- what's going on? Is everything alright?"

"Oh Kates!" Naomi looks nervous, a light sheen of sweat on her pale face.

"I am looking for something. Something to help me understand." She rapidly flips through another faerie tale book muttering to herself.

Hansel and Gretel, crumbs, the witch in the oven, Humpty Dumpty, poisoned apples- Ach! I don't get it! Before she can reach for another book the glass on the french doors leading out to her balcony explodes .

Kates had already been walking towards Naomi, and was only a few feet away when the window shattered into a thousand jagged pieces. The older woman dove at her stepsister, shielding Naomi with her back as a hail of bullets and shattered glass flew the short distance from the window. Kates dragged Nami down as she held the girl's head down with her left hand and dug her pistol out from her purse with her right. They were behind Naomi's desk, which at least provided some cover. But if they stayed, eventually one of the dozen bullets flying at them would get lucky.

"Stay down!"

Pointing at the ground, Kates saw Naomi nod and shield her face with her arm. Risking a quick glance, Kates caught sight of two flashing gun muzzles before a bullet chipped off part of the desk in front of her and she ducked. Two of them. Both with automatics. One on either side of the window.

Moving like a panther, a mix of innate skill and infinite practice, Kates flung herself to the left as she raised her gun in the air. She fired off a few shots and, thanking God, heard a pained grunt from the man on the right. She landed and skidded on the floor, but the man on the left on got a few shots off before she'd passed out of sight from that side of the window. Ignoring the pain stretching through her back and left arm, Kates locked her pistol on the window and proceeded slowly towards it. Leaning against the wall right next to the shattered frame, she glanced at Naomi, who was peeking around the desk, and made eye contact. Desperate to resolve the standoff, Kates mouthed a message to her and motioned with her hand pointing to the man and then into the room.

"Yell something..."

After repeating it and the motion a couple times, a light flashed in Naomi's eyes.

"You killed her!" screamed the younger woman . "Oh my God!"

After a few moments of silence, Kates heard footsteps approaching the window. As the barrel of gun first appeared, Kates grabbed hold of it with her left hand and held it down, trying to rip it from the owner's hand. But he was strong. As a meaty fist rose and impacted her jaw, Kates quickly raised her gun and fired two shots into his chest. As he slumped to the floor Kates returned to Naomi.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Seeing Naomi shake her head, she relaxed.

"Who were those guys? What the hell is going on? I wish I could have taken that last one- Mom would have had fun questioning him..."

As Kates turned towards the window, she reflected on the fact that her stepsister would forever cease believing that she was an innocent small business owner. But those thoughts were quickly driven from her mind by the pain- the older woman looked over her left shoulder to find several large shards of glass embedded in her arm and shoulder, dripping blood down her back and forming a small puddle on the floor.

Naomi picked up the phone on her desk and asked the operator to send the family doctor up to her studio but even as she did this she doubted they'd have time to be seen.

"Kates, please come to the sink." Naomi dug in the large cupboard by the double sided enamel sink and pulled out several fluffy white towels, some strips of canvas and a few washcloths.

"I don't think the glass hit your brachial artery but you will bleed quite a bit when I pull these shards out." At her sister's surprised look she looked sheepish and shrugged.

"I've been taking anatomy this summer. "

With the washcloth moistened she nodded to Kates and quickly slid the glass out, dropping the pieces on the counter. After washing the wounds, Naomi folded two wash cloths together and pressed them to the cuts, then wrapped them with the canvas strips. She had just finished the bandage when the two women heard more gunshots from downstairs.

"We have to get out of here!" Kates gave the girl a strange look and Naomi realized she had said that in German.

"We need to leave!"

Naomi dragged Kates towards the large Oak doors that lead out into the hall and heard shouting in German. With a small prayer she ran over to the trap door Marietta had installed back when this room was just a nursery.

"Eile bitte!" She waved at Kates and wrenched the door open.

Shaking off the pain, Kates followed Naomi through the trapdoor. Reloading her pistol as she moved slowly, the popping off bullets in the lobby echoed through the passage. Hopefully the bodyguards could take care of themselves- protecting Naomi was her first priority. With no idea where she was headed Kates followed close behind Naomi, tensing her muscles in case she needed to move quickly.

"This tunnel leads to several places, I think the safest will be the clothing store, if those are the men I think they are, they will not want to be caught by anyone. We can take a car from out front if we need to! "

Naomi runs down the hallway until she comes to a small door.

"This will take us into the back room."

Naomi carefully pushes open the door that leads into one of the back rooms of the clothing store and peeks around the edge of the door.  After determining there is no one else in the storeroom she opens the door all the way and motions for Kates to follow her. 

"I will go look into the front of the store and see if we can get out the front, you go look and see if the shipping doors are open and not guarded."

Naomi wove in and out of the racks of clothing, her mouth getting bone dry as she considered the situation.  Kates was injured and would need more medical care than a few washcloths were giving her.  Also, the men she had seen and heard were German and that automatically meant they were after Naomi.  And what made it worse was Naomi didn't know if they had found Johan or had gotten lucky.  She had her doubts as to them just lucking out on her location and her fear deepened that they had come for her in broad daylight at the Castle.

Naomi came to one of the sets of mirrored sliding doors and inched one of them open.  Going through the front was not going to happen.  She could see several beefy looking men in dark coats milling around the displays of high fashion while nervous looking customers whispered behind their hands.  Sliding the door shut she stepped back and bumped into something, no, someone.  She whirled around and screamed right before the butt of a gun came down on her forehead.

The clothing store was full of people. Some customers, sure, but also a small crowd of men in dark trenchcoats. In her experience, that was usually a sign that things were about to go bad. Kates quickly grabbed a brown jacket and slipped it on, hoping it would cover any blood. She slipped her gun and her hands in the coat pockets and walked with her head down over towards the shipping doors. She was across the room and almost there when a flurry of motion in the corner of her eye caused her to turn her head.

Naomi was draped over the shoulders of the largest man, apparently unconscious. He was walking outside through the front doors when the man standing next to him was shot in the throat.

Kates walked slowly, almost machinelike, towards the men, not allowing herself to think of anything but the task at hand. There were four of them left now, including the big one carrying Naomi outside. One of the men stumbled over a clothes hanger and received two quick shots in the chest. Another tried to take cover behind a manikin- Kates shot him in the knee and again in the back when he fell to the ground. As a truck engine started up outside, the last one tried to make a run for it and was cut down.

Kates burst into a sprint but, as she pushed open the front doors, dove back inside when she was met with a hail of hastily fired bullets. The last man was in one of the supply trucks outside- as Kates glanced around the corner the shock of red hair slumped against the passenger window revealed Naomi's presence as well.

Wincing at her shoulder, Kates tried to squeeze a shot off at the truck's tires as it drove away, but the cars in between made it impossible. Swearing, trying to bury her fear for her sister, Kates pulled the nearest man from his car and slid behind the wheel.

She gunned the engine, and was pleasantly surprised to find she'd wound up with a powerful car. As she lay on the horn and watched the traffic whip by, she couldn't help but wonder why the hell this was all happening now. And who these guys were. Russian? German? Eastern European? They sure weren't cursing in English.

After a couple minutes, the truck and car had past the city limits of Detroit and hit a less occupied stretch of highway. A long, sloping hill led down towards the drop over Lake Saint Clair. Kates gunned the engine and easily began to pass the truck on the left as she pulled even with the driver's side window. Realizing that he had no chance of escaping, Kates saw the man pull a gun from inside his jacket pocket and level it at his unconscious passenger.

She reacted without thinking, sending two shots smashing through the driver's side window. The man immediately fell forward. Dropping her gun on the seat, Kates hit the brakes and waited for the truck to start slowing down. But it didn't. As the truck rolled down the hill, Kates saw the lake growing closer and closer. And they were running out of highway.

Too scared to curse, Kates gunned the engine, doing the only thing she could think of. She pulled in front of the truck and began to decelerate. As the truck smashed into the rear of the car Kates couldn't help but cry out in pain. Her shoulder and back were throbbing, but she fought the urge to black out and continued to apply the brake. The tires and engine began smoking as Kates gradually leaned on the brake more as the drop down to the lake growing closer and closer. The car shot off the highway and onto the grass as the impacts of the truck slamming against the car, and the car against the bleeding gashes on her back. She finally slammed on the brakes in one final effort, and nearly cried as the vehicles came to a stop a dozen feet from the edge.

Kicking open the car door, she staggered towards the truck and dragged her sister out. She doubted that they were in danger- even if there were more of these men in the city they'd hardly know to follow them here. Fighting to overwhelming urge to shut her eyes, Kates carried Naomi behind some trees that provided cover from the road and the truck. Placing her sister down on the grass, Kates managed to fall on her chest before the darkness enveloped her.

Naomi thought she could hear her father's voice calling to her, soothing her.  She fought through the darkness to get to him, but the harder she tried, the quieter his voice became until there was nothing but a strange hissing.  Opening her eyes was difficult as they were sticky and glued shut with something.  Once she had pried both of them open, losing a great many eyelashes in the process, she sat up.

Kates lay next to her on the grass and the hissing sound seemed to be coming from the truck directly in front of her.  Kates looked terrible and Naomi knew she needed to get her medical attention.  She struggled to her feet and lurched at the truck.  She grabbed a few things from the cab and found a small foot path to the lakes edge where she filled an empty beer bottle with the clear liquid and soaked several rags.  After cleaning blood and dirt off of her own face and drinking several handfuls of water, she headed back up the small hill.

Coming back up to where Kates lay, she tended to the wounds on her sister's back and dressed them the best she could then held the bottle to the older woman's lips, trying to get her to drink.   After a few unsuccessful attempts she finally managed to get half the water into Kates, some of it down her blouse and the rest she saved.

It took her nearly twenty minutes to drag Kates to the least damaged vehicle, which in this case was the car, and get her situated in the passenger seat.   After a couple of unnerving false starts Naomi got the car running and going in the proper direction, which was harder than she had hoped it would be.  She drove slowly which added to her panic.  Trying to remember the layout of the city as best she could, she eventually got to a small hotel and parked in the alley.  It was the last she she wanted to do but she knew she had to leave Kates in the car.  

"Gott, bitte" was all she whispered as she got out.

The room she was looking for was on the third floor and despite the pain she was in she dashed up the stairs and looked for room 308.  The door was ajar and as she got near she could smell the choking scents of gunpowder, blood and decay.  She was too late.  Pushing open the door she could see debris everywhere.  Papers, broken glass and splintered furniture told a familiar tale, one Naomi knew by heart.   The body was in the middle of the room, the back of his head missing.  Naomi swallowed hard and knelt close to him, trying to force back sobs and the urge to vomit.

As she tilted his head and saw the face of the man she loved more than anyone, she knew the people who killed him were now coming for her.   Two bullet holes marred his features but not enough for him to be unrecognizable.  

"Johan."

She was too late. 

As much as she wanted to cradle him, there was no good that would come of it and her sister was in bad condition.  Naomi methodically searched the apartment and loaded a knapsack with some food, the contents of the medicine cabinet and Johan's gun.  She then scraweled a note to her mother in care of an Officer Meehan. 

"We are underground, safe for now."  

With a sigh and a backwards glance at the dead man, Naomi pried the Mezuzah off the doorframe and ran back down to the car.

The night had come faster than Naomi had hoped and Detroit was shrouded in darkness.  The young woman had no way of knowing if her mother had gotten the note she had written and as tempted as she was to call the Castle, she knew that her enemies had probably already begun to survail Marietta.  It was safer to keep her mother uninformed.

  With a sharp intake of breath she moved along the edge of a dry flowerbed and pressed her back against the splintered door frame of the cheap motel room that was housing a cheap whore and Naomi's target.  It had been over an hour since the two of them had walked in and shut the door and Naomi's patience was wearing thin.   As she slowed her breathing and listened at the door, she finally heard a man's voice approaching.  She reached into her coat pocket and wrapped her hand around Johan's gun, wishing she didn't know how to use it.

As the door opened, Naomi moved to grab the man from behind and put the gun to his head.

"You are coming with me Herr doktor." 

Naomi used the doctor's tie to blindfold him and lead him to the car.  She only hoped her sister was doing better than she had when Naomi had left.

Kates awoke but, for a moment, wasn't aware she'd opened her eyes. The darkness of whatever room she was in was total. As her eyes began to make out faint shapes, she uncurled from her position on what seemed to be a bar. Old liquor shelves and tables surrounded her, a thin layer of dust the covered certain parts of the place. An old bar?

As the haze of waking cleared and Kates felt the bandages on her back, the memories rushed with a roar into her brain. Naomi. The shooting. The truck. What the hell happened? Where was her sister?

Kates dropped lightly to the floor. Her dress was tattered- streaks of blood ran down the back and pieces of fabric hung haphazardly from her. Her gun was gone. She needed to find Naomi and get in touch with Marietta. Her mother must be frantic...

A small cabinet caught her attention and Kates quickly rifled through it. No guns, but clothes that were in one piece. A smaller pair of black pants that Kates quickly slid into, and an old men's shirt that was far too tight. Not exactly attractive, but at least she wouldn't draw as much attention now. Moving swiftly, Kates jogged in her bare feet back to the bar, hoping an adventurous owner kept a shotgun underneath. No such luck.

As Kates made her way towards what looked like the exit, several men strode through the door. Most of them were over six feet tall, but it was the short one standing in the their center that had her attention. His hair was slicked back, as well as his thin mustache. He could have been an accountant, if not for the menacing hate in his eyes and his serpentine manner. He crossed his arms and said "Take her".

Kates fell into a combat stance and move to the first one. Even her old mentor PedroRourke the Elder wouldn't have much of a chance wounded against six fresh men, but she sure as shit wasn't going quietly. Her palm broke the nose of the first man that reached for her and a powerful kick brought the second man for his knees. But the other four quickly grabbed her and, beating her into submission, dragged her before the boss.

He stared at her, slowly blinking as he held his face directly in front of hers and hissed

"What a surprise we have here. Kates, is it? You Rossis are turning up everywhere, and your pathetic little group of gangsters is making my task most difficult. I am Baron Reinstacht, and I am not a patient man."

He reached out and grabbed her jaw, angling her bruised face up to look at him.

"Where is the girl? Where are the diamonds?"

The silence burned between them, as the green eyes of the woman glared into the cold blue eyes of the man. She did not break her gaze as he slid his hand down around her neck. Nor when he removed an ornate switchblade from his pocket and brandished it in front of her. Lashing out suddenly, he grabbed at her shirt and ripped in down. Standing over her, he held the blade over the woman's chest with his right hand as his henchmen held Kates immobile.

"This is now just a few inches from your heart. WHERE IS THE GIRL?!"

After a few moments, he delivered a vicious backhand to the side of her head and she slumped as the world went black. Removing a handkerchief and wiping a think layer of sweat from his forehead, Reinstacht gestured to the other men.

"Take her back to our base of operations. Do whatever you want to her, but make sure you don't kill her. The elderly Rossi woman may need to be dealt with, and her extreme Italian passions could cause issues if you kill her child..."

Her heart was broken and she felt exhausted. After an 'around the country trip' with both Rourke and Edward Rossi, two of the men in her life, Marietta couldn't seem to clear her head from all the action that had occurred. So she had extended her vacation. Flying back to Detroit with her Right and Left Hand, she simply grabbed her luggage, said her goodbyes, and had headed off to the airport once more.

A week had passed since she had spent time alone in an undisclosed location. Yet now she was home; ready to work and to get her business organized once more. As she entered the headquarters- known as the RIOT! Castle to it's inhabitants- that afternoon, she sensed something was off.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, though. Walking down the pink walled hallway that led to her own personal office, her black high heels clicking on the dark, wooden floors, Marietta noticed a distinct lack of activity. Usually by now she would have passed someone in the halls. Or would have heard loud talking or- well, other noises coming from inside Rourke's office next door. Pausing outside the white door that led to her office she narrowed her green eyes and stood still, silently, her ears straining for some sort of noise or indication that something was off. Glancing briefly left and right proved that nothing or nobody was around. Merely afternoon sunlight, streaming through one of the small windows scattered on the walls, lined with their delicate white and pink curtains.

With a shrug Marietta entered her office and flicked on the overhead lights. Not that they were needed; the office was such a bright and cheerful place it made the older woman's heart soar at the sight of it. How could she have left for so long was beyond her.

On her desk a small floral bouquet filled with reds and pinks waited for her. A grin spread across the Godmother's face as she closed the door behind her, closing the distance between her and the mahogany desk she had inherited from a great, great Grandfather passed. There was a note attached to the small vase, and Marietta quickly snapped it up, opening it.

"Mom," it read, in a delicate writing. "We've missed you. We should try to organize a dinner for this weekend, you, Harry, Naomi and I. It would be great to see you! Love, Kathryne."

"Ah," Mari exhaled, smiling even broader than before. Perhaps the only thing she had missed besides work, while on her vacation, had been her children. Glancing towards the stack of paper work covering her desk the woman merely shrugged. She could always tend to that later. The woman had to see her kids first. Perhaps starting with Naomi, due to proximity. Turning around she walked over towards her office door once more, grabbing an apple from the top of her fruit bowl sitting on the mail table next to the frame as she went.
**

The door was slightly ajar on Naomi's art studio. Long ago when she had first adopted the girl she could not stand to be away from the fire-haired child for more than a few moments, she had renovated one of the offices into Naomi's playroom. As the girl had grown so had the room, becoming her sanctuary away from Marietta's apartment home. Yet Mari had taken a firm stance that the girl was not allowed to know about the various 'business' activities that happened within the building. Little did the woman know that all of that had already started to change.

"Naomi?" Marietta called, pushing the door open and walking into the room, her blonde hair brushing her shoulders as she did so.

Taking a bite of her apple her heart froze and her stomach flipped as she surveyed the amount of damage around the room.

"Something isn't right," she said flatly, her voice ringing in the empty and destroyed studio. Broken windows, furniture overturned and... were those... bullet holes? Dropping her apple with a dull 'thud' as it hit the floor, the Godmother felt a sense of fear grip her body. Images of Naomi, the bright eyed, intelligent flame haired girl laying in a heap somewhere in this room began to flash before her eyes. With a sense of panic she circled the room, pushing furniture aside and whipping her head around to survey the corners. There, near the window... a pool of... blood?

No. No it couldn't possibly be as bad as it looked. Something else, think of ANYTHING else! her mind goaded.

"Naomi had a party," she told herself with a heavy dose of denial. "She had a mother... effing party. Oh when I get my hands on her..."

I'll thank God she's alive.

With that last thought Marietta turned and dashed out of the studio, running down the hallways and taking the first turn with a skid. She was immediately caught by the shoulders and pulled against the wall roughly. Making to scream a hand clamped down on her mouth with lightning speed before she could let out a peep. Her eyes widened in alarm as she began to jerk her body out of her assailants grip, violently, trying to reach for her gun holster.

"Mari, settle the hell down," came the hushed response. Her shoulders slumped forward as she stopped fighting, recognizing the voice. Turning her head slightly, a difficult feat due to the mouth still on her hand, she spied Willie Rourke, his face pale and strained. Not at all his usual laid back and relaxed self.

He let go of her mouth and arms, gesturing for her to stay quiet by placing a finger to his lips. In the distance shrieks and gunfire could be heard, causing the woman's heart to thud heavily in her chest.

"What the fuck is going on?" she hissed angrily, envisioning bullets tearing through her pink decor and finding herself upset at this fact. "I went to Naomi's studio and..."

"Kates came by to drop a few things off, and shortly after a large gang of men showed up. They tried to break into the studio, but from the body Grass and I removed a few minutes ago, doesn't look like they were successful. They showed up in the shop, too. Kates took a few down before she ran off after some of them. We think they might have Naomi. The only problem is, we're all sort of stuck inside and the men in the shop... they've got a few hostages," Willie said, exhaling deeply.

Marietta shook her head back and forth violently.

"W-well we need to get them out," she began spluttering, "We need to find Kates. We need to help Naomi. These are my kids, Willie-"

"We know, Mari," came another male voice from behind her. Turning on her heel she saw Rourke, followed closely by Edward, Grassboy and Monoxide, approaching them with grim looks on their faces. Rourke tossed Willie a gun and nodded towards her.

"We've got it handled here," he continued. "Our plan is already under way. Just sent Nellerie in as a distraction. I don't think anyone has seen a racehorse in a clothing shop before. You need to find Naomi and Kates because I have a feeling they need more help than we do at the moment."

"B-but," she stalled. She didn't want to mention it to the men who were working to protect her life and her headquarters, but she was a tiny bit afraid. It was different when an associate was in danger. But when it was her own children?

"You still have that thigh holster?" Grass asked. She nodded numbly, taking a few steps towards the group of men. Marietta began to gesture wordlessly, trying to convey how she was feeling. Helpless. Alone. Afraid.

"GO, Mari," Edward urged. "You will be fine. You always are."

Locking eyes with all of her associates she nodded, turning around and walking back down the hallway. Ducking through a quick door to her left, she revealed a small staircase. Taking a deep breath she began to run down it, pausing only when she heard gunfire on the other side of the wall. She was right next to the shop, and she prayed that everyone was okay as she continued her descent.

Jumping the last few steps she ran through the dark towards the door she knew that would be waiting for her. Sure enough her hand hit the door knob and after twisting it a few times it opened, dumping her out into a back alley behind the HQ and Rossi and Co. Clothing Distributors. Outside the shouts and rainstorm of bullets was louder, much more clear. Her entire life was inside this building, but shaking it off she began to run across the tufts of grass and hard packed dirt towards the street. There, waiting for her, was her ever trusty Dodge Six. Jumping inside she reached under the seat for the keys, pushing them into the ignition and starting up the car.

Kates. Naomi. That was her life. And she needed to find them before it was too late.
**

Hours had passed. Marietta had done laps around Detroit in her car. Pedro hadn't seen Naomi nor Kates. Neither had Ghost and Rhuarc. And now she sat in her car in an empty, poorly lit parking lot. Her head was slumped over the steering wheel in frustration as she chewed her lower lip.

Where the hell could they be?

It was starting to get late, and this only made things worse in her mind. Naomi and Kates could be out there hurt. Maimed. Being tortured. And what was she doing? Sitting here whimpering like a child. Sitting up she shook her head. No. She wasn't going to give up until she found them. Starting the car she began to retrace the route she had done twice already that day.

Headed towards Pedro's headquarters once more, Marietta quickly became distracted by a crowd of police cars outside one of the local motels. Spying Lieutenant James O'Flannery, one of the men on her payroll, she pulled her car over and parked it. Climbing out she slowly walked over towards the scene and folded her arms across her chest. The Lt. nodded his head towards her discreetly as the pair moved over towards the side of the building, using the shadows for cover.

"You letting your guys run rampant again, Miss Rossi?" O'Flannery said, looking down his long nose at the woman. She shook her head, narrowing her eyes dangerously at the man. He should know better than to speak to her like that.

"Wouldn't dream of it, and you know that O'Flannery. My guys got into too much shit years back with that whole gruesome string of murders. We're smarter than that," she said. Gesturing towards the motel with her head. "So what the heck happened?"

The man laughed. "Man's got his head blown clear off. All we got on him is a first name. 'Johan'. Not a very local name, now is it?"

Fact was, it wasn't. And Marietta knew a whole lot of people in town. She only knew one Johan. Her heart sank and she swallowed hard as she thought of Naomi's riding instructor, upstairs. Dead. And where was Naomi?

"T-that's all the information you had? No idea who it was? What they were after?"

In her heart, she sort of suspected she already knew the answer.

"Not a clue, m'am. This was left for you on the scene, though. One of my Officers, Meehan, brought it to me. S'why we thought you were connected.

She grabbed the scrap of paper, immediately recognizing Naomi's tidy print. The woman read it twice before shaking her head at the Officer.

"We are underground, safe for now... what's that supposed to mean?"

The man shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?" he asked, turning back towards the scene and walking away from her.

More confused than she initially was, she felt some small hint of relief. She had a clue. Naomi- and possibly Kates- had been with Johan. Johan had died and Naomi... had enough time to write a note saying she was safe? Did Naomi KILL Johan?

Questions circled her head as she jumped back into her car. Placing the note on the seat beside her Marietta began to say the sentence out loud to herself several times.

"We are underground... safe for now. Safe for now. Safe..."

After ten minutes of mindless speaking to herself, it hit her- washed over her. Telling Naomi silly stories when she had been just a girl... the memory came back to her instantly.

~~
"And then what mama?!" the girl had asked excitedly, digging deeper into the bright comforter upon Marietta's bed. The older woman smiled and shook her head.

"Well, would you know it, your mama and her friend accidentally got stuck in the vault at the bank. But thankfully, we found a secret tunnel leading out, underneath one of the safes. I could still be trapped in the vault if it weren't for her!" Marietta said.

Naomi shrieked and giggled before Marietta wrapped up the young girl and tucked her in for bed.
~~

"Aha, SAFE!" Marietta cried, turning her car on and flipping it into reverse. Driving like a bat out of hell, she headed directly towards Rossi Savings and Loan; the bank she had commandeered into her possession several years back. Of course! She had shown Naomi it once before. Just once. But it must have made such an impression on the girl...

"Please be alright," the older woman prayed as she parked her car in front of the darkened bank, long closed to the public for the day. Walking straight up to the front door she pulled out her key ring, inserting the old, brass one into the door handle and clicking it open. Pushing the door open, she stepped inside the quiet, dark bank. Closing the door behind her, she allowed her green eyes to adjust to the dark before traveling to the back.

As she neared the vault door she felt a new sense of panic. What if they were inside? What if they weren't? Not taking chances on asking questions much longer, Marietta walked over to the lock and dialed in the code- her birthday.

The door moved slowly and Marietta pushed her way inside, her heart sinking to see that they weren't just in the vault waiting. Sighing, she pulled the heavy door closed behind her, before rushing to the opposite wall. Finding the marble tile she was looking for she worked at it with her fingernails before prying it loose. Reaching her hand into the small space she grasped the hidden brass lever and pulled it.

With a tremble and a shudder, the back wall of the vault began to move backwards, opening a small gap in the floor. Not giving a second thought to her clothing or appearance (like whether or not her pink blouse and black skirt would get ruined), or if she would twist her ankle when she landed, the woman dove into the hole, waiting for impact.

At last it came, and she rolled a few inches before coughing. Still as dusty and dirty as ever down here. But it was worth it if her girls were on the other side of this wall. Getting up on her hands and knees, she painfully crawled over rocks and rubble to get to the only solid wall in the path. Groping around in the darkness she found the small button and pushed it twice, vigorously. A small shuffling sound echoed before her, and she cautiously crawled out of the hole.

Marietta was in the back of the secret speakeasy, looking through a forest of chair and table legs. She couldn't see or hear anything. Grabbing her thigh she pulled out her trusty Walther PPK and began to shuffle on her hands and knees through the room, as quietly as possible. After doing a lap, she determined she was alone and stood up.

Nobody was there. At all. Feeling disheartened Marietta looked down at the floor and shook her head. Her head tilted to the side as she saw something pooled on the floor. What was that... blood? Bending down on one knee for a closer look, she was startled when she heard the sounds of doors opening and footfall behind her.

Turning dangerously she pointed her gun at the dark, her eyes narrowed and all trace of good humor gone from her face. Whomever the fuck was here was about to tango with Hell for what they did to her daughters.

She felt surprised but didn't flinch when she saw Naomi pushing a blindfolded man forward, carrying a gun of her own- trained right at the back of the man's head.

"Naomi," Marietta breathed, keeping her gun pointed at the pair of them. "What the fuck is going on?" She had never spoken so harshly to her daughter before, but this... this was wild beyond what she had expected for a welcome home party.

The doctor Naomi had kidnapped had only muttered a few imprecations before falling silent. The threat to tie his hands quieted him faster than anything and Naomi knew it was because as a surgeon, his hands were his most treasured possession. She tried to keep calm but after losing her way several times she began feel tears of frustration sting her eyelids. Kates was in serious trouble and alone and Naomi felt responsible for every injury her older sister suffered.

By luck alone the young girl found her way back to the hidden speakeasy she had left several hours before. After jerking to a stop and getting the doctor out of the passenger seat, she came to the concealed panel that lead to the hideout's front entrance. Her blood chilled. The panel was broken, the door ajar. She clutched the gun her had a little tighter and told the doctor to walk ahead of her.

With a fractured prayer and a deep breath, Naomi held the gun the way Johan had trained her and took the stairs down into the darkness, one by one.  Her breathing stilled as she quietly whispered orders in German to the doctor, making sure he didn't fall as they came to the last step.

Her eyes had adjusted well in the dark but she was not prepared for the sight that greeted her.  Marietta had her gun trained at the door, a look of fury etched deep into her face.  Before she could address her mother, Marietta spoke.

"Naomi, What the fuck is going on?"

Naomi faltered.  Kates wasn't there, which was not a part of her plan.  She opened her mouth to speak and instead, felt her legs buckle.  She hit the ground, dirt getting ground into her already bloody knees.  

"Mama."  She hiccuped, the word coming out in several stages.  Tears streamed down her face and she didn't move to wipe them away.  "It's all my fault!  Kates is hurt, bad men are after us, Johan is dead and- and- and- I borrowed a pair of your loafers."  None of that had come out the way Naomi had hoped and here, in front of the woman who had adopted her, she felt smaller and more alone than she had less than an hour before.

"I-I need help mama. I need lots of help."

Nice story...Long too.

whatever,This is a great story. continue on, I want more !

In less than a day her entire world had changed. Her youngest biological child was missing and possibly hurt. Her youngest adopted child had, well, she had gone and done the thing that she had been fighting for years to prevent from happening.

Naomi now knew about 'the business'.

Marietta ignored the comment about loafers, as well as the comment about Johan, which she already knew. What mattered more than anything was the here and now, and she had to do her best to protect her family. Her real family.

Her gun hadn't flinched an inch. The older woman felt guilty that the barrel of her gun was still pointed at her daughter, but she couldn't move now. Shrugging her head towards the man she spoke once more, finally.

"Who's your friend?"

Not waiting for an answer she stood from her stooped position on the floor, walking towards the man. She narrowed her green eyes in scrutiny, studying his face. He was confused. Scared even. Good. That would make this so much easier. Using her hand to gently guide Naomi to the side she grabbed the back of the man's shirt roughly and held her own gun to his back.

"So," she said, her voice deathly calm and even for all the turmoil she felt inside. "Explain things to me slowly, Mimi. What happened, who is this man, and where do we begin to find your sister?"

Naomi swiped at the remaining tears on her face and tried to calm her breathing so she could speak without stuttering.  There were many things she wanted to say but knew that a lot of them could wait until later.  With one more deep breath she dove in to her explanation.

"Kates came to my studio earlier and got hurt when men with guns tried to break in and kill me.  She and I tried to leave the castle but were chased and we got separated.  I was hit over the head and taken.  Kates followed the men who took me and killed them while they were still driving and got injured while slowing down the car.  I woke up after the crash and dressed her wounds as best as I could and then.... and then..."

She paused, her hands shaking violently, the gun slipping ever so slightly from her grasp.  She wanted to be strong like her mother, like Kates, but the feeling that washed over here now were almost as painful as her injuries.

"I went to get help from my friend, but he had been killed."  She was surprised at how dull her voice sounded.  "I left you a note and went to go hide out in the old speakeasy I remembered from your stories.  While we were there Kates got a fever and started to moan.  So I left here there. T-thinking she would be safe.  I went to go find a doctor."  She gestured at the pale man standing to her right. 

"I just got back, Kates is not here and now, now I do not know what to do!"  Her eyes combed dust covered room, looking for a clue.  Maybe the men who had taken her sister had left a ransome note.  They weren't really after Kates anyhow, they wanted the diamonds. 

"I'm sorry momma.  I'm so very, very sorry."

long story

"Naomi, stop whimper for God's sake," Marietta barked, her shoulders tightening like the coils in a spring being pressed together. She felt tense. Worked up. And there was a nasty feeling in the pit of her stomach every time she thought of Kates.

"Stop crying and stand up. We have a few things to take care of." The woman wasn't quite sure why she was being so harsh with her daughter, but suspected it has something to do with her less than pleasant homecoming. And the fact that this wasn't time for her to play 'mama'. Always the nurturing type, when it came to death the woman could be cold, calculating and severely strict with her hitmen. She supposed that's what she was treating Mimi like at the moment. A hitman. The girl did have a gun in her hands anyway. Breathing a heavy sigh Marietta re focused her efforts and spun the man- the 'doctor'- around to face her, and she pressed the gun to the middle of his forehead.

The doctor's eyes had been widening further and further as Naomi had been speaking about the men dying and being killed, but that was nothing compared to the look of sheer terror he gave to Marietta at that moment in time. She knew there would be nothing to gain from killing this stranger, but the woman couldn't seem to think coherently. If at all. Curling her upper lip in distaste she pulled her old Walther PPK from the man's forehead before pulling it back and bringing it across his face hard. A loud 'CRACK!' filled the dust covered speakeasy, followed quickly by a 'THUMP!' as the doctor hit the floor. A sharp scream echoed shortly thereafter, quickly stifled.

Marietta chanced a glance at Naomi, watching the girl pressing her dirty hands to her mouth as she rocked back and forth on her knees. Bending low to the man, she placed her hand in front of his nose. Hot air issued from his nostrils and the woman turned her head towards her daughter. Good, she hadn't killed him accidentally.

"He's fine. He's breathing, he's alive. We have enough problems going on. The last thing we need is to play 'struggle and escape' or 'find the Doctor'. He'll remain like this until we recover Kathryne. Then he can assist us."

Squaring her shoulders, the Godmother grabbed one of the man's arms and slung it around her neck, pulling his body over her shoulders. Her knees were weak from fright for her daughters, and their safety in all of this, but she managed to stand unsteadily, shifting from leg to leg to support the man's weight. If the Doctor had been any bigger of a man, she would have fallen back towards the ground, collapsing like a bridge in a natural disaster. God damn she had chosen a bad day to wear heels.

"I assume we have a car?" Marietta grunted, trying for a softer tone with Naomi as she breathed deeply in effort. Turning towards the stairs that led to the outside streets, she called over her shoulder an afterthought. "And I hope to God you know who these men are or where they might be. If not, we need to stop back at the Castle for reinforcements."

Marietta paused, biting her bottom lip and narrowing her green eyes at her daughter as she turned around, the Doctor's head bobbing against her shoulder.

"...Naomi... how much do you... understand about my job?"

"Not enough." is all she whispered as she ran up the stairs.  She jerked a rumpled, stained piece of paper off of the door frame and came back down a few steps to help her mother drag the unconscious doctor up the incline and out the door.  The battered car she had been driving around town was still haphazardly parked where she had left it less than an hour before and although she wondered how her mother had gotten here, the furious, stone cold look on Marietta's face made Naomi think twice about asking her.

The two women struggled to get the doctor into the back seat and Naomi handed the keys to the car over before her mother even asked.  She swallowed the apology that had been sitting on the back of her tongue, knowing her mother was only in the mood for one thing and that was finding Kates.

Kates.  Her sister's name made her shudder with apprehension and shame.  It was all Naomi's fault that Kates was missing or possibly dead.  As the car jack rabbited out of the alley, Naomi unfolded the note and read aloud, first in German, then translated to English.

"Die Frau ist mit uns. .. Atmen noch. Es sei denn unsere Nachfragen sind geliefert, werden das Mädchen töten. Bringen Sie uns die Diamanten und 1 Million in bar. Wir sind am Havenview Hotel im Wäschereienzimmer, Keller. Mitternacht.  Nein später."

"The woman is safe for now. Unless our demands are met, she will die. Bring us the diamonds and 1 million dollars. We are at the  Havenview Hotel in the laundry room, basement level.  You have until midnight."

There was an extended silence as the Marietta corrected the car's path and stomped on the gas.  When she spoke, her voice was harder than the diamonds everyone was looking for.

"At least we know she's alive."

It was a small consolation as she said it out loud, and she clung to the very spirit the words symbolized. Kates was alive. She knew where the hotel was. All was well. As she turned the wheel and guided the beat up car around a corner, Marietta mentally cursed herself for leaving her car behind. Oh well. There were plenty other important matters at hand.

Glancing sideways at her daughter she was reminded of a time not too long ago, when they had been driving quickly towards freedom from the grasps of a pair of insane, murderous men behind the wheel of a vehicle in pursuit of theirs. She had never known why those men were after her and Naomi, but as she repeated the words from the note in her head she haltered at the word 'diamonds'. What diamonds? And suddenly it hit her like a sack of kittens being swung at a brick wall. German. Diamonds. Targeting the Rossis. Naomi's phantom voice from earlier, stating the words: "men with guns tried to break in and kill me" filtered through her mind.

"Oh," she gasped, her blond head turning to examine the young girl as they took another turn onto Addams Street. Her chest swelled as she struggled to breathe; she knew now why those men had been after them for months. Marietta had a new found clarity about the youngest Rossi child.

"Naomi," she said quietly, glancing in the rear view mirror to make sure the Doctor was still out cold. "We both have some things to tell one another. Why don't you start. You tell me all you know about... these... 'diamonds'... which I think you know a lot about... and then I'll... tell you about my job."

Turning her eyes towards her daughter she quickly snapped them back towards the road, watching the street before her.

"And no, as you may have gathered from today's events, I'm not just a clothing store owner."

"I didn't ever really think about it I guess."  Naomi swallowed a mouthful of dust and thought about what she wanted to say to her mother. 

"The day you found me, over ten years ago, was the day Nazis killed my parents.  My father was a jeweler and we had lived in Germany until certain political parties started spreading rumors and trying to take rights away from German citizens.  He moved to American with me and my mother and began a watch repair business.  He used money and gold he was sent from overseas to purchase papers.  Birth certificates, baptism documents, passports and anything that could help Jews get new identities and leave Europe.   Right before he was killed, just a few weeks in fact, he was sent a shipment of diamonds, smuggled into America in a box of presents for my sixth birthday.  I remember, my mother wasn't home.  He laid the diamonds out on a panel of back velvet and rippled the fabric so the diamonds glittered like stars.  It was the most beautiful thing I had ever, ever seen. "  Naomi took a shuddering breath, trying to force back the tears.

"Papa said he had to hide the diamonds, so bad people wouldn't take them before he could put them somewhere safe.  He took the gems and the box they came in saying that everything else was for my birthday.  I remember everything I got."  She ignored an annoyed click coming from Marietta and continued. "There was a tea set from Vienna on a sterling silver tray.   And a doll with real human hair that looked just like me.  There was a set of nesting dolls painted to look like faerie tale characters and best of all..."  She choked back a sob, leaning her head against the seat.  "Best of all there was a teddy bear, made with real mohair!"  Marietta nodded then spoke out loud, making sure Naomi could hear her. 

"I remember the day I found you.  You were clutching the bear, wedged so tightly into an air vent I wondered how you had kept breathing.   You didn't stop dragging Franz around until... until just a few years ago."

Naomi nodded.  "The day you found me I ripped Franz's arm.  Papa fixed him for me and -" Naomi's eyes flew open. "Mein Gott.  I know where the diamonds are."