Free Collector's Item by Denise Golinowski

hands “for the trip, and that wild-hearted child,” as she liked to call KT. KT ate two pastries while he sipped his coffee.
    Over the years since her brothers moved out, she and her father had developed this little game of “patience.” Learning to remain silent was a crucial skill in life, diplomacy, and politics. The first one to break the silence “lost.”
    Now, the silence stretched out between them. A voice paged a Dr. Morton to Pediatrics. A pair of interns marched by the open door of the dayroom, trailing undecipherable medical terms in their wake. A nurse hustled past in the other direction, her arms full of charts. KT could see a sliver of Clemmons’ navy suited form just past the door jamb.
    KT swallowed the last bite, refreshed her cup and sat back, her hands wrapped around the heavy mug. Everything must have come from the family jet. She savored the taste and feel of home.
    “Our plane leaves at five,” her father said.
    Point to me, she thought, and then. “Our plane?” She turned and raised one eyebrow at him. “I have to pack my things. The apartment has to be let.”
    “Being packed as we speak. The landlord has been paid a generous fee for letting you break your lease.”
    KT’s temper started to inch upward. “And you were going to tell me this when?”
    “Now.”
    Her fingers tightened around the mug and she forced them to ease. “I appreciate your consideration, but what if I’m not ready to return to the compound?”
    He set his mug back on the table with a solid clunk. “That’s not the issue.” His voice began to take on that “Marant edge” that so successfully cowed many a business opponent into submission. “You could be the one lying in that hospital bed, instead of Peyton. I agreed to let you try to force a crack in this case and you’ve done it. I won’t reiterate my disapproval of your methods, but you and Peyton did get results. The Alliance is working with the human authorities to obtain a search warrant for Torne’s ranch and other properties. We’ll find Patricia.”
    KT tightened her grip on her temper at her father’s high-handedness and focused on the situation at hand. “I don’t think they’ll find Aunt Patricia at Torne’s ranch.”
    Anton frowned. “Why not?”
    “I saw her at the hangar. She was in the car with Torne.”
    Her father spun to face her, his surprised anger filling the room. “Why didn’t you tell someone about this before?” Clemmons turned to look into the room and Anton waved him back into position.
    KT lifted her chin. “Because at first, I wasn’t sure. Then,” she had to look away, “I didn’t want to believe it.”
    Anton took a breath and let it out. “Are you sure? It was dark and you had to be pretty far away from the car.”
    She started to ask how he knew and then stopped. He would have demanded, and received, a full briefing on the flight to New York. “There was a light at that end of the lot, and she turned to look back.” KT met her father’s skeptical glance with a steady stare. “I know what I saw, and it was Patricia. She must have been trapped in the car.”
    Her father turned to stare toward the window. “You’re assuming she was a hostage. Could she have been there of her own free will?”
    “I’ve been going over and over it in my head.” KT also stared at their reflections in the window, night having fallen outside. “I don’t have enough information to make a firm decision either way. And, as you said, it was dark and I was upset.”
    She ducked her head for a moment and pushed away the emotions to assess the facts. Her father waited. She raised her head when her thoughts were clearer.
    “I only got a glimpse, just her face. But, if she was a hostage, why was she out there? Why wouldn’t he have her locked up on his ranch or wherever? Why bring her to a public place where she might try to escape? Why didn’t she try to escape?” KT heard the plaintive tone in her voice and paused to take