Free Girl Missing by Tess Gerritsen

area.
    Adam was right behind her as she went into the treatment room.
    “You’ll have to wait outside, sir,” said the nurse.
    “He’s with me,” said Kat.
    The nurse looked at Adam’s battered face, then at Kat’s black eye. “I think I can tell,” she said, and shook out a paper drape. “Lie down and put this over your blouse. So it doesn’t get blood on it.”
    “It’s already got blood on it,” said Kat as she settled back on the treatment table. The nurse began to clean the knife slash; the sting of Betadine was almost worse than the blade itself.
    “What makes you think Maeve had anything to do with this?” said Adam.
    “Something our friend with the knife whispered in my ear.”
    “Hold still,” snapped the nurse.
    “He said, ‘Stay away, lady cop. Because she doesn’t want to be found.’ Now, that tells me a couple of things. First, he’s stupid. He can’t tell a cop from a civilian. Second, he’s warning us that she doesn’t want to be found. Who do you suppose she is?”
    “Maeve,” he said, looking stunned.
    The ER doctor came in, a shaggy version of Dr. Michael Dietz, with the same look of battle fatigue. Kat wondered how many hours he’d been working, how many bodies he’d laid handson. He glanced at her neck wound. His name tag said DR. VOLCKER .
    “How’d you get it?” he asked.
    “Switchblade.”
    “Someone try to kill you?”
    “No, it was an accident.”
    “Okay.” The doctor sighed. “I’ll skip the dumb questions.” He turned to the nurse. “Suture set. She’ll need about three stitches. And hand me the Xylocaine.”
    Kat winced as the needle with local anesthetic pierced her skin. Then there was the moment’s wait for the drug to take effect.
    “I can’t believe she’d do it,” said Adam. “I mean, we’ve had our differences. But for Maeve to have her friends assault us …”
    “She wasn’t attacking you, specifically. She probably didn’t know who the hell was asking about her. We might’ve avoided the whole scene if we’d just told Anthony right off that you were her father.”
    “You’re saying Anthony warned her?”
    “He left the apartment while we were still there, remember? Before you said anything about her being your daughter. Probably went straight to Maeve.”
    “And she had her friends jump us.”
    “Well,” said the doctor, tying off the first stitch. “You two lead exciting lives.”
    They ignored him. “Maeve must be scared of something,” said Kat. “Why send the troops to attack at the first sign of strangers?” She glanced at Adam and saw his troubled look. “What’s she afraid of? What did you forget to tell me?”
    He shook his head. “She’s in trouble.”
    “What kind of trouble?”
    He sank into a nearby chair and wearily ran his hands across his battered face.
    “Does it have to do with Jane Doe?” asked Kat. “With Xenia Vargas and Nicos?”
    “Maybe.” His answer came out muffled, as though he wanted to bury the words in his throat.
    “Or does it have to do with Cygnus? Some miracle drug you’ve got in development?”
    He looked up in anger. “Why blame it on Cygnus? None of your tests are back! You don’t know what the hell those junkies were shooting up.”
    “Do you know?”
    He started to speak, then saw that both thedoctor and nurse were watching them in fascination.
    “Are you going to sew her up or what?” Adam snapped.
    “I was hoping I could hear the end of the story,” said the doctor. He tied off the last stitch and snipped the thread. “All done. Come back for suture removal in five days.”
    “I can pull them myself, thanks,” said Kat. She sat up. The room seemed to sway around her like a boat. She waited a moment for everything to stop moving.
    “Last tetanus shot?” the doctor asked.
    “Two years ago. I’m current.”
    “Keep the wound dry for twenty-four hours. Clean it twice a day with peroxide. And call if it gets red or warm.” He gave her the ER sheet to sign,