"It's not the teachers in classrooms, Josh. I love the idea of putting these college graduates in rural or inner city schools. It's the fact that the admissions process to the program for incoming freshmen doesn't take financial status into account at all." James Lifford, the freshman senator from Tennessee, had been digging his heels in for the last hour on the teacher corps.

"Senator, please try to understand," Josh ignored the frustrated rumble that was building in his chest and bent forward over the table. "Currently, this is just a pilot program. If Congress sees fit to make this a permanent installment—which, by the way, would change a lot of lives—we'd overhaul the whole thing. We'd tighten the requirements for admission into the program, including, if others feel the same as you do, taking a look at the financial need of the applicants for the teacher corps."

"But Jim, right now, the program's too new," Skinner said, trying to give this guy whatever assurance he needed to swing his vote, and the votes of the other three freshman Republican senators in the room. Josh slapped his hand over his vibrating phone for the third time in the meeting and pulled it off his belt as Skinner continued. "These kids are guinea pigs at this point, for God's sake. I know you don't want us to hang out a sign that says 'Free college degree for all education majors,' and that's not what we're gonna do. Once this thing gets off the ground, it's going to have incredibly tight admissions requirements, but at this point, we just need to get some data on the program."

Josh checked the text message and stood up reluctantly. All eyes in the room shifted his way. "I'm sorry, that's the third time the White House has paged me," he said apologetically, waggling the phone at them. "I'd better check in, if that's..." he glanced at Matt.

"We're good," Skinner said. "Take your time. It'll give these guys a chance to tell me what they really think once the enemy's out of the room."

"Ahkay," Josh smiled politely at the joke and ducked out into the hall.

He paced in the hallway as he dialed and waited. "Toby, I'm trying to do a little wooing up here. What's goin' on?"

"Packard made bail," Toby said without preamble.

Josh stopped mid-stride, frozen in place.

"Josh?"

"He got bail?" Josh finally forced out, sounding strangled.

"He made bail, Josh," Toby repeated, pacing in his own office. "He got it, and he made it. Somebody posted $900,000 bond and he's out, until the trial anyway."

Josh stood still in the middle of the hallway, the words not really penetrating his brain. "What?"

"He's out," Toby repeated. "He's free until the trial. He may check back into the hospital for another few days. We don't know yet. We're still getting the details. Sam's on his way to you now to tell you what we've learned so far."

"Toby..." Josh closed his eyes, trying to get his brain around what he was hearing. "How the hell did he make nine—"

"Sam's gonna tell you what we know," Toby said. "The thing is, we wanted to pull you out of the meeting for a few minutes because we didn't know if you'd wanna call Donna. I know she's home sick but she'll probably be checking the news, and the local channels covered his exit from the courthouse live."

Josh closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Dammit," he whispered. He heard rapid footsteps coming down the hall and looked up. "Sam's here."

"Talk to him," Toby said. "But Josh...I'd call her. Soon."

"Yeah," Josh said, before snapping the phone shut.

"Judge set bail for Packard and Sullivan at $900,000 each," Sam said as he closed the distance between them, all business. "Sullivan went back to jail, as expected, but Packard posted bail and was released."

"What bail bondsman would—"

"It came from a private source," Sam said, jutting his chin out angrily. "Bail was posted by Pamela Kendrick Bell."

Josh shook his head a little. "Who's—"

"Daughter of Graham Kendrick," Sam supplied.

Josh's jaw dropped. "Kendrick Communications."

Sam nodded, doing little to hide his disgust.

"Why would she—"

"We're still digging, but what we know so far is that Packard spent most of his childhood and teens in and out of foster homes. He was a ward of the state from 8 to 18. He was never adopted, but he came close, once. He lived for nearly a year as foster child in the Bell home," Sam said. "He was 15, and already well on his way to being a menace to society. She couldn't handle him, couldn't keep him in line, but the social worker's reports show that she was very broken up about not being able to get through to him. She felt like he was never given a fair chance to be a normal kid."

"Sam, I'm the wrong person to expect sympathy from where Bernard Packard is concerned," Josh put his hands on his hips.

"You and me both," Sam said. "Anyway, there's no evidence that they stayed in close contact, but I just got a look at his prison records. It seems he reached out to her after his arrest. Records show his one phone call, once he was well enough to make one, was to her, and she visited twice in the hospital."

"And he somehow convinced her to bankroll his bail," Josh guessed.

"Probably his defense team, too," Sam said. "Josh, I saw the footage from the courthouse. He left with Ed Harrington."

Harrington was one of the most well-known defense attorneys in the district. He'd made a name and a small fortune for himself defending the accused of everything from securities fraud to murder.

Josh spun and slammed the open palm of his hand into the wall.

"He was just put on retainer yesterday," Sam said. "That's why we didn't know."

"Well, that's a step up from a public defender," Josh said quietly.

"A few steps," Sam said, then looked down at the floor. "I told Donna—"

Josh exhaled heavily and slumped against the wall. "Donna."

"I told her there was no way that this was gonna hap—"

"We both did," Josh looked him in the eye. "I told her, too. Over and over. Everybody did."

Sam ran a hand through his hair. "I really didn't think—"

"I know," Josh said. "I didn't either. This...I just never saw this coming."

"I think that's how Harrington intended it, Josh," Sam said.

"Yeah." There was a long pause. "I gotta...I've gotta get outta this thing," he gestured to the door. "Then I've gotta call her."

"Are you close?" Sam nodded toward the door.

Josh drew a hand across his eyes. "I think we were getting there. Hang on for a sec." He opened the door and stepped back inside.

The men in the room were just standing up from the table, gathering their notes.

Josh glanced at Matt and then back at the senators.

"We're sold," Lifford said.

Josh sucked in a breath. "Thank you, Senator."

"On Phase 2, Josh. Phase 2 only," Lifford said. "When you want to expand the program beyond that, we're gonna have to talk again about the admissions requirements. But for Wednesday, you've got four more 'yea' votes."

"You're not gonna regret it," Josh said, shaking the hand of each man in turn. "And neither will your constituents."

"We want to see numbers, Josh," Lifford said.

"You'll have them," Josh assured.

"I'm late for another meeting," Skinner said, shaking his hand. "I'll catch up with you later."

"Thanks, Matt, for whatever you—"

"They wanted to support it, Josh," Skinner said. "They just needed to have it put to them the right way. Gotta go."

Josh stared down at the table as Skinner left, his mind far from the subject of the meeting.

Sam appeared in the doorway of the empty room. "What happened?"

Josh turned. "We got four more," he muttered without a trace of happiness in his voice. "Let's go."

*********************

"CJ's bound to get a question or two on it at her afternoon briefing," Sam said as they came down the Capitol steps.

"It doesn't matter," Josh said as he punched a few buttons on his phone and held it to his ear. "I'm calling her now, and this shouldn't change our communications strategy on the whole thing."

Sam nodded. "As far as the White House is concerned, a staffer was involved, and while we're grateful she's safe, it's in the hands of the appropriate authorities. Toby was gonna grab CJ for a minute when I left."

"If you're there, pick up, I need to talk to you for second," Josh said into the phone, then waited momentarily. He glanced down at this watch. "Okay, I guess you're still at the doctor. Call me when you get this." Another pause. "I'm still up on the Hill. Call my cell." He pressed 'end' and dialed another number.

"She went to the doctor?" Sam asked.

"Said as long as she was out she may as well get something that would make her feel better," Josh answered as he put the phone to his ear again. "She should be back before too long, though." Donna's voicemail picked up on her cell as well. "Hey...I left a message for you at home, I...call my cell when you get this, OK?" He snapped the phone shut and looked at it in his hand for a second.

"She was probably in with the doctor," Sam said. "She'll call."

"Yeah," Josh said, sounding unconvinced. "I just hope she calls me before she looks at a television."

*******************

"I don't think this means we should comment, Toby," CJ shook her head as she leaned against his desk.

"I don't either," Toby said. "This thing is off the radar as far as we're concerned. Dispense with the questions the way you've been doing for the last week and move on." He cleared his throat and straightened his posture a little, turning to her. "Did you hear that Bernard Packard was released after his arraignment this morning?"

"I did," CJ said, sliding immediately into press secretary mode. "I'm sorry, did you have a question, Steve?"

"I was being Arthur, but that's good. Volunteer nothing," Toby said. "He posted $900,000 bail and has Ed Harrington heading up his defense team. Does the White House have a comment on this most recent turn of events?"

CJ stared at him blankly. "Why would the White House have a comment?"

Toby suppressed a smile. "Packard allegedly took eight people hostage in a bank heist last Friday, including a White House staffer who—"

"Arthur, you're about a week behind in your news," CJ said. "A White House staffer was among the hostages, yes, but we've commented on that already. She sustained minor injuries in the incident, was back at work last Monday, and doesn't wish to speak to the press at this time. The President is grateful to everyone who worked to secure the safety of the citizens involved in the crime, but I'm afraid that's where it ends with us. We're not actually the party responsible for bringing charges or prosecuting on this case."

"Not 'I'm afraid.' That indicates there might be some regret that that's as far as we can go. 'That's where it ends with us.'" Toby said. CJ nodded. "Does the President have any comment on Packard's release?"

"The President's generally not sitting around watching the local news in the middle of the day, Arthur, and I haven't been in with him since this morning. He's got more than a few things on his plate, I don't know if you've noticed," CJ said. "I'm honestly not sure he even knows at this point."

Toby nodded. "I had switched to Steve, but OK."

"The President does know," Leo appeared in Toby's doorway. "I just told him."

"I don't need to know what his reaction was until after the briefing," CJ said, dropping into a chair.

"It's probably about what you'd guess," Leo said, pacing into the room with his hands in his pockets. He looked at the floor for a second, then looked up at CJ. "This White House has long been a proponent of stricter gun control laws, many of which would make illegal the kind of weapons used in the incident. This incident involved a White House staffer, and the alleged ringleader's out of jail, and the White House doesn't have a comment as to what they think should happen to this guy?"

CJ quirked one corner of her mouth at him. He wanted her to jump on the first part of the statement, to say that the guns used in the incident were illegal, that they were bought illegally. But if she did that, then the White House just went on record commenting on the case. She opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by Josh as he and Sam walked through the door.

"We oughta put him in a locked room with somebody else behind his old gun and see how he feels about it," Josh said.

Leo looked over at her. "I wouldn't go with that."

"No," CJ said.

"Ed Harrington is the right hand of Satan, Leo," Josh said as Sam shut the door, sealing the five of them in the room. "How the hell did this happen without us knowing about it?"

"Because Donna asked you to ask me to stay out of it," Leo said calmly. "So that was what I did."

"And this is the one time you did what I wanted?"

Leo shrugged his shoulders a little. "I figured you'd earned it after all this time."

Josh laughed ruefully. "Thanks," he said, falling onto Toby's couch.

"What did Donna say?" Toby asked.

"I haven't gotten her yet," Josh pulled out his cell again. "She was supposed to go to the doctor."

Sam stepped away from the closed door as Josh dialed again. "What I think is, this guy sold Bell some story about how life had given him the short end of the stick, he made a mistake, he was immensely sorry, and, most importantly, he never intended for anybody to get hurt or killed. She bought it because she wanted to, and who wouldn't? Who wouldn't have trouble accepting the idea that someone you knew, someone who lived in your home, had the potential to do something this violent?"

Toby drummed his fingers on top of his head. "So...what? He tells her...he tells her he wants to turn his life around. He...fell in with the wrong crowd, these other guys really masterminded the whole thing...he wants to make up for the wrong he's done in the world but he can't do that if he spends the rest of his life in prison..."

"Whatever she needed to hear," Leo said. "This woman was born into an empire. Kendrick Communications is a multi-billion dollar corporation. Her feet have never even touched the ground. She feels sorry for him, and her compassion, while...I don't know, while admirable under other circumstances, when combined with the naiveté that comes from living such a sheltered life serves as the perfect avenue for Packard to take advantage of her and her nearly limitless financial resources."

Josh snapped his phone shut again. "She's still not picking up at home or her cell."

CJ looked at her watch. "I've got to brief, Josh."

"It's already out there, CJ, it's not like if we don't say anything she won't know. I'll keep trying, but you've gotta move forward," Josh said.

"Don't give away anything on this, CJ," Leo pointed a finger at her. "The White House has no further comment. I don't care if one of them goes after the weapons angle, I don't care if one of them comes out and says it's Donna's fault, you let this roll off your back like it's so much water to a duck."

"Well, I'm not fond of what I'm compared to in that analogy, but I get the point," CJ said, standing and heading for the door. She ruffled Josh's hair gently as she passed him on the way out the door. He barely looked up from his position with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. "Let me know when you get hold of Donna, OK?"

"'Kay," he mumbled.

CJ slipped out of Toby's office and closed the door behind her. The room was silent for several beats before Leo finally broke position and leaned back against Toby's desk. "Son of a bitch," he groused.

They all nodded their silent agreement.

"Did you get anything done on the Hill before everything hit the fan?" Leo asked.

"I'm not sure how much I did, but Matt worked his magic," Josh said, leaning back into the cushions. "We've got four more."

Leo smiled softly, considering the irony that an hour ago, that news would have made his day. He pushed away from the desk and started out the door, clapping Josh on the shoulder. "Nice job, Josh," he said quietly. "The President's gonna be thrilled."

Josh nodded mutely as Leo left.

"I'm gonna make a couple more calls," Sam said, motioning through the window into his office.

"Do it quietly," Toby said.

"Yeah."

"Go back to your office," Toby said as he reached for the remote to turn CJ's briefing on. "She'll call you back."

Josh stood up, but turned in the doorway. "I guess we should have listened to the two of you about the whole tempting fate thing," he said wryly.

Toby took in his haggard appearance, the defeated look on his face, the exhausted slump in his shoulders. "Go do some work," he said. "She'll call when she gets the message."

******************

He continued to try Donna every 15 minutes, willing himself not to become alarmed. She was just stuck at the doctor, waiting forever, he'd told himself. Then it was that she'd probably forgotten to turn her ringer back on and check her phone. She'd get the message when she got home. He'd gone into the 3:30 senior staff meeting with a slight gnawing at the back of his brain because he hadn't been able to reach her in an hour and a half, but he refused to overreact. For all he knew, she'd gone home and cut the ringer off because she didn't feel well, and was sleeping now. He'd have a message from her when he got out of staff for sure.

There'd been a lot to take care of in staff, and he'd managed to stay mostly focused throughout the meeting. Mostly. Sam followed him back to the bullpen when they finally adjourned at a few minutes before 5. "Hey," he jogged up behind Josh. "What did she say?"

"I didn't reach her before staff," Josh said, noticing the instant concern that swept over Sam's features. "But we're about to find out." He pushed through the double doors and into the bullpen. "Ryan? Message from Donna?"

"Congressman Skinner, Senator Stackhouse's office, the Deputy Whip," Ryan flipped through the pink message slips. "Brenda at the WLC, and your mother."

"No message from Donna at all?"

Ryan looked back down at the pink message slips in his hand. "Not unless she's changed her name to Matt Skinner, Howard Stackhouse, or Brenda or she's the Deputy Whip or your mother and I didn't know about it."

The gnawing at the back of his brain was increasing steadily, but he forced it back. He took his phone off his belt and flipped it open. No missed calls. He went into his office without another word and Sam followed. He dialed her home number first. The machine picked up and he cut the call short, biting his lip a little. He dialed her cell and waited, closing his eyes as it became evident she wasn't going to pick up. He waited on her voicemail.

"Hey," he said, eyes still closed. "I've, uh...I've been trying to get hold of you this afternoon. I've got some...call me and let me know you're alright, Donna, okay? If you...I don't know, if you're not in the mood to talk to anybody that's fine, but...just let me know you're home and you're alright. And after that I won't bother you if you don't want me to. I hope you're feeling better. Bye." He set the receiver back in the cradle.

"Do you think she's just pissed at us? Because we told her she had nothing to worry about?" Sam asked, staring at the TV on Josh's sideboard as the 5 o'clock news led off with the story. "There's no way she doesn't know at this point unless she's been sleeping all afternoon."

Josh opened his eyes and stared at the set. "No," he said softly, lost in thought. "She's probably heard by now. But I don't think she would...I don't think she'd intentionally make us worry."

"Which means she's probably pretty upset," Sam mused quietly, eyes glued to the file footage of Bernard from that afternoon.

"Wouldn't you be?" Josh asked.

"I am," Sam said.

Josh got to his feet quickly. "I'm gonna go over there, just...make sure she's home. If she's not speaking to me, fine, but I'm gonna make sure she got home alright."

"We're gonna make sure she got home alright," Sam said. "Just let me grab my coat."

****************

Josh banged on the door loudly. "Donna! Open the door!"

"You have a key?" Sam asked, looking down at the keys in Josh's hand, in particular the one Josh had just used to get them in the front door.

"It's the one you got from the landlady that night," Josh said, pressing his ear to the door to see if he could hear movement inside. "I just...I keep forgetting to return it."

Sam squinted at him. "If you have a key, then why are we standing out here banging on the door?"

"We're respecting her personal space," Josh said dryly. "If she is pissed at us, it's not gonna help matters any if we go barging in there." He shouted at the door again. "Donna! If you don't open up we're gonna come barging in there!"

"Josh, would you just open the damn thing already?" Sam said, taking the keys from his hand and unlocking the door. He turned the knob and it opened freely, and Josh's concern rose another few notches. "She's not here," he said as they looked into the quiet apartment, lit only by the waning daylight and the lamp on the timer.

"She could be asleep," Sam said as he walked into the room.

Josh shook his head, willing himself to stay calm. "No, she's not here. If she were here she would have bolted the door and set the chain."

"In the daytime?"

"She's been pretty adamant about it since the bank, Sam," Josh said, crossing the tiny living room in three large strides and opening the bedroom door to find it dark. He flipped on the light, and found nothing out of place, but no Donna, either. He came back out and stepped into the bathroom, then wandered back toward the kitchenette, systematically checking the small space. Nothing seemed amiss, except that everything felt...wrong.

"Josh?" Sam called from the living area. "How many messages did you leave Donna on her machine?"

"Just one, I think," Josh said, coming back out of the kitchenette. "Maybe two. I don't know. I can't remember which messages I left here and which ones I left on her cell."

"She's got a few new ones here," Sam said. He reached down and hit
the button.

"You have six new messages," the machine's automated voice informed them. "First message, left today, 1:37 p.m."

If you're there, pick up, I need to talk to you for second, Josh's voice came over the speaker. Okay, I guess you're still at the doctor. Call m—

Sam pressed the button to skip to the next message. "Next message, left today, 2:12 p.m.," the automated voice announced. This message is for Donna Moss. This is Clara Sutton at Sutton's Pharmacy. The voice carried a certain tension with it, not one born of formality or professionalism, but one that indicated a definite uncertainty. I wanted to let you know...you left your purse here this afternoon at the lunch counter. I've got it in the back for safe keeping. I didn't want you to worry. You can come by and pick it up when you come to get your prescriptions...which are also ready, by the way. We filled them right away because we thought you were waiting here for them. Josh and Sam looked at each other with a dread neither was bothering to hide. We're open from 7 to 7. The machine beeped and moved to the next message.

"She left her purse at the pharmacy?" Sam asked, almost disbelieving. "And she's not here. She's not....Josh..."

Josh shook his head back and forth slowly. "This is not good. This is so not good." He blinked and swallowed the butterflies in his stomach that were trying to work their way up into his throat. "What did she say? What pharmacy?"

"Uh..." Sam pushed a few buttons and the message started over. This message is for Donna Moss. This is Clara Sutton at Sutton's Pharmacy. I wanted to—

"Sutton's." Josh grabbed the DC phone directory from under the phone and flipped through it as the message continued to play. "It's on 18th, just down a few blocks. Let's go."

***************

Josh had to remind himself to keep breathing when they found Donna's car parked half a block down from the pharmacy on 18th Street, but they continued on, hoping to get some answers.

"It's a woman," Sam said quietly as they approached the pharmacy counter at the back of the store. "Let me handle it."

"I've got it," Josh said.

"Josh, do you wanna get her bag or do you wanna end up having to explain to the Metro Police what we're doing here?" Sam stopped him in the middle of the analgesic aisle with a pointed look.

"I can...fine. Go ahead," he acquiesced.

Josh hung back and looked incredibly conspicuous while Sam approached the counter.

"May I help you?" the elderly lady asked.

"Yes, ma'am, I think so," Sam flashed his most earnest smile. "I'm here to pick up a prescription and a handbag...both of which belong to Donna Moss."

Mrs. Sutton nodded immediately. "Good," she said. "I was beginning to get worried."

Sam played it off until he had the purse in his hands, concerned he might spook the lady out of handing it over if she thought he hadn't spoken to Donna.

He recognized the handbag as the one he'd picked up from the police station barely a week ago when she pulled it out from under the counter. He paid for the prescriptions and tucked Donna's purse securely under his arm before he dared to ask any questions.

"The cell phone rang several times," Mrs. Sutton said. "But I hated to go rifling through it to answer it. Then I started to wonder if she wasn't calling her own phone to try and find where she'd left it."

"She's always forgetting it everywhere," Sam said lamely. "You'd think she'd be more careful. Her whole life is in here."

Mrs. Sutton smiled. "Don't I know it."

Sam dipped his toe a little further into the water. "She's just been feeling under the weather with this cold. And she gets so loopy on the over-the-counter stuff. What did she, just walk off and leave it?"

"As far as I know," Mrs. Sutton said. "She was just sitting there, having a soda one minute, and the next minute I turned around and she was gone."

"Did she...I've been a little out of touch with her today, because you know...her cell phone," he motioned to the bag. "Did she seem alright?"

"She seemed like she felt pretty lousy," Mrs. Sutton said. "This bronchitis/sinusitis makes the rounds every winter, but it seems especially nasty this time around with all this rain we've been having." She motioned out the windows at the front of the store. "Tell her to stay indoors as much as she can. They're calling for some more tonight."

Sam turned and looked outside to see a light drizzle beginning to fall. "Yes, ma'am. Thank you."

****************

"We didn't get anything new out of that," Josh complained as they piled back in the car. "I wouldn't have played it so coy."

"And you wouldn't have gotten the same information that I did," Sam said, opening Donna's handbag a little hesitantly.

"What information? All I heard her tell you was that the bronchitis was being especially pesky this year," Josh said.

"You have to listen with better ears that that, Josh," Sam said. "She told me Donna ordered a soda, told me she seemed alright, other than feeling sick, when she was in here. An old lady like that is gonna notice if someone seems upset, Josh. They have that...I don't know, that grandmotherly instinct. Like Donna's landlady. The woman at the counter didn't pick up that anything was wrong. So at some point...I don't know. Something happened to make her walk off and leave her purse and her prescriptions. Now we just have to figure out where she went. Cell phone." He flipped the phone to Josh in the driver's seat as he continued to look through the bag for any clues.

Josh scrolled through the missed calls. "They're all from me," he said.

"Cards and everything all seem to be here," Sam said, flipping through her wallet.

"There were a couple of television sets in there," Josh said, his mind working its way to the same train of thought Sam had been on. "Including one over by the soda fountain. If she was here when the story broke, she might have—"

"Yeah," Sam said, then let out a frustrated breath. "Well, wherever she is, she doesn't have her keys." He pulled them out of the purse and turned them over in his hand.

Josh slumped down in the driver's seat. "Ahkay. This shouldn't be that hard. Where would she have gone?"

Sam watched as the rain increased from a drizzle to a steady shower on the windshield.

"I think we have to proceed on two assumptions. One, that she knows about Packard's release, and two, that she's pretty upset about it," he said.

"If either of those things weren't true we would have heard from her by now," Josh agreed. He ran his fingers through his hair. "Sam, she's...she's terrified of this guy. After the way he went after her during the thing, and the threats he made...I'm not sure she's thinking straight if she knows."

Sam nodded. "Alright. Let's just think about this for a minute. She has no ID. No keys. No cards, probably no cash. No phone. And Packard is out."

"She wouldn't go back to her place," Josh said. "You remember how she was the night of the bank."

"Where would she go to feel safe?" Sam said.

Josh thought for a minute. "White House."

"She's not getting in alone without any ID or this," Sam held up her White House badge. "But I'll call Ron and ask him to let us know if she turns up at the gate. Hell, she might have even tried already. Where else?" he said as he pulled out his phone and punched a few numbers.

Josh tried to make a mental list of places she might be, but he felt like his brain was wrapped in a blanket. He couldn't focus beyond his worry to think where she might go. She didn't have her car, her keys, her ID. Anything. As Sam spoke to Butterfield, the rain pelted the windshield and he found his stomach winding itself into knots with worry. Darkness was descending quickly on the city, and Josh could feel it taking hold in his heart as well.

He squeezed his eyes tightly shut, willing the answer to come to him through his haze of concern.

"She hasn't shown up at the White House today. Where does she go when she's upset, Josh?" Sam prompted when he hung up the phone. "Where does she go to seek solitude?"

"There's a reason they call it solitude, Sam," Josh barked.

Sam exhaled slowly and looked out the rain-streaked passenger window at the pharmacy. "She likes Union Station," he offered lamely. "She loves the architecture. Likes to watch the trains come in."

Josh scratched behind his ear. "She likes the Lincoln Memorial. And Jefferson. She loves the Jefferson Memorial."

"And FDR."

Josh raked a hand over his face. "I hope she's not out at FDR, there's no shelter out there. At least at the other places she could get out of the rain. Look at this." He gestured at the windshield.

Sam drew his bottom lip between his teeth. "It's freezing out there. If she wanted to warm up..."

Josh's eyes went wide and he reached forward and started the car. "There's a coffee shop just over on Champlain. And one over on Connecticut—"

"I'll see if I can get Toby and CJ started on the monuments," Sam said, dialing again.

******************

"He didn't reach her?" Toby said as he stood from his desk chair, his disbelief obvious.

"And when we got to her apartment, there was a message from her pharmacy saying she'd left her handbag there this afternoon," Sam said into his cell. "We're trying any place we can think of, but it's hard to imagine where you might go if you didn't know where to go." He lowered his voice a little. "She's out there, Toby, with basically just the clothes on her back. She's been out there for several hours. She doesn't have keys to let herself in anywhere."

"She's fine," Toby said with more conviction than he felt. "She's ducked into a store or something. Donna's got enough sense to come in out of the rain, Sam. It's just a matter of tracking her down."

"Josh and I are gonna check a couple coffee shops we know of," Sam said. "But in the meantime, if you and CJ could hit the monuments...I don't know, it's a shot in the dark, but..."

"But it's dark," Toby finished. "And she doesn't need to be wandering alone out there. Which ones does Josh think? Jefferson?"

"And Lincoln. Maybe FDR."

"Okay," Toby said. "Call me as soon as you know something."

"You too. Thanks, Toby," Sam said, and disconnected the line.

"Ginger!"

"Yeah?" Ginger appeared in the doorway to see Toby getting into his coat.

"Find out if anybody's in CJ's office, and if there is, tell Carol to get them out. I'm on my way over."

***********************

"Dammit," Josh muttered as they came out of Magnolia Coffee on Champlain.

"Don't get frustrated yet," Sam said as he hiked his coat up further around his shoulders. "That's just one down."

"I'm not frustrated," Josh said as he turned his face into the rain. He was worried. He was scared half to death. But he couldn't bring himself to say it.

"I know," Sam said, never looking over at him. "Let's try the one you mentioned on Connecticut."

*************************

The coffee shop on Connecticut proved fruitless as well, as did a bookstore she frequented, two Internet cafés and Love's Bakery, which had already closed for the night. Josh was growing more agitated by the minute, so Sam switched and took over the driving. He was just climbing behind the wheel when his cell rang again. Josh snapped his head up, looking hopeful.

"Sam Seaborn."

"Anything?" CJ's voice came through the earpiece.

"No," Sam said, and Josh's face fell. "I'm assuming the same is true for you, since you're asking."

"I think we've been over every square inch of the Mall," CJ said, glancing over at Toby, who was talking to someone with the Park Police. He'd had the presence of mind to bring a picture of Donna, one Carol had on her desk of all the assistants at New Year's. He'd been showing it around. "I thought the Smithsonian, but they've closed. Where else can we look?"

Sam exhaled slowly and snuck a glance at Josh, who was looking intently at the prescription bag they'd gotten at the pharmacy. Deciding it was better not to push him at the moment, he moved his eyes back to the road. "I don't know, maybe Union Station. Josh and I are headed over to this diner he just thought of."

"Where in Union Station?" CJ asked.

"Dammit, CJ, if I knew where I wouldn't need your help, would I?" Sam snapped.

CJ was silent for a moment.

"I'm sorry," Sam said. "I just...look I don't know where, just...cover as much ground as you can, OK? When we're out of ideas we'll head over there and help you."

"I just meant that it's a pretty big place, Spanky," CJ said.

"I know," Sam nodded. "But then again, so is the National Mall, and look what you did with that."

"I'm quite resourceful," she said.

"Yes, you are," Sam couldn't help but smile a little at her understanding.

"Hey...you two got everything under control there?" CJ asked with genuine concern.

Sam snuck another glace at Josh, who was rubbing his eyes with his thumb and index finger. "Just barely," he said.

"You talkin' about him or you?"

"Both," Sam smiled. "Call us when you know something." He snapped his phone shut.

"2:04," Josh croaked.

"What?

"The prescriptions," he leaned back in the seat, waving the bag at Sam. "There's a timestamp on the little sheet that's attached. The prescriptions were filled at 2:04." He was silent momentarily. "Which means it's been almost 6 hours...at least 6 hours, depending on when she walked out of there, since anybody's seen her."

"I know," Sam said. "So we're just gonna have to keep looking."

"Sam..." Josh was trying to formulate a thought around the worry that wracked his entire body by now, but he couldn't focus like he wanted to. "At what point do you think we ought to get the police involved?"

"I don't think she's been kidnapped, Josh," Sam said firmly.

"Which may or may not remain the case if she stays out there all night," Josh looked out the window. "I mean...at what point do we say that we need more than just us out here looking for her?"

"When I talked to Ron I asked him the same question," Sam said. "He said he'd hold off for now, but that when we've checked every place we can think to call him back and he'll reevaluate the situation."

Dip's proved to be as empty as the day they had lunch, and no Donna. Growing desperate, they stopped at every open establishment that struck them as they worked their way toward Union Station. Josh was distant and withdrawn, staring into darkness as they drove down the streets, shifting impatiently while Sam showed Donna's White House ID to clerks and cashiers. Their luck wasn't changing, but they kept going, hoping with all their might that Toby and CJ were faring better.

********************

"Why would anybody come here if they were upset?" Toby asked as they passed under the central archway and into the main hall at Union
Station.

CJ stopped shaking her hair out to look at him. "The shopping?"

"Well, I don't think she's doing very much therapeutic shopping without her wallet, there, Einstein."

"I don't know, I think Sam's just grasping at straws," CJ said as she took in the massive building and began to feel overwhelmed. "Hoping she's looking for a place to get warm, I'd imagine."

"Okay," Toby pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "Let's try and knock this out as quick as we can. If you think you can keep yourself away from the sales, you check out the shop side, I'm gonna head toward arrivals and departures."

"Gotcha," CJ headed for the stairs.

"Try the food court," Toby called as he headed away. "Anyplace with somewhere to sit. She's got to be tired at this point, looking for a place to rest."

"Toby?"

He turned and met her eyes.

"How worried are you about this?" she asked.

His eyes danced around the entryway for a moment and he shifted from one foot to the other. "If she needs some time to herself after hearing that the guy's out, I can understand that. If she doesn't want to talk about it, I mean at all, that's fine with me. But it's not like her to make people worry. Especially not after last weekend, and...look at this rain, CJ." He gestured toward the main doors. "She's sick, she's presumably pretty upset, and...it's barely above freezing out there, and it's pouring. I...I'm a little concerned, yeah."

CJ took a deep breath. "Then let's look faster."

Toby turned on his heel and jogged away.

**************************

Sam turned onto 16th Avenue. "What about that Starbucks on Pennsylvania?"

Josh just stared silently out the window.

"Josh? Do you think maybe the Starbucks near the White House?"

Josh continued to stare at the rain. "I guess."

"Josh—"

"I don't know, Sam, what do you want from me?" he shouted.

Sam opened his mouth to shout back, then realized he didn't have an answer. He broke into a rueful laugh that was laced with all the futility he felt at the moment. Josh looked over at him. "I don't know what I want from you." At Josh's curious look, he responded, "I'm serious, man. I really have no idea." His laughter trailed off eventually.

He pulled to the intersection as Josh went back to staring out the window. "God, where the hell is she?" Josh said to the glass.

Sam broke into another laughing fit. "I don't know that either, Josh. If I did we sure as hell wouldn't be here, you know?"

Josh looked over at him. "I know this is going to sound like the pot calling the kettle black, Sam, but I think you're a little hysterical."

Sam laughed again, so hard tears appeared in the corners of his eyes. "I think so, too," he howled. "It doesn't bode well when there's a crisis, and of the two of us," he waved his hand between them, "you're the calmer one!" He bent toward the steering wheel, shoulders shaking with continued laughter.

Josh felt a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth in spite of
himself. "Sam—"

"I know," he swiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. "Eyes on the road. We oughta call CJ and Toby and switch partners. The two of us aren't getting anything done," he stifled another chuckle.

"We don't have a future in search and rescue, that's for sure," Josh said as Sam turned the corner. "Stop the car."

"I'm fine, Josh," he said, blinking the remaining tears away from his eyes.

"Stop the car!" Josh hit the release button on his seatbelt and already had the door open before Sam could come to a complete stop. He took off into Lafayette Park at a full sprint toward a park bench. Sam squinted. It was dark, and the rain was really coming down. It was hard to...oh, God.

Her legs were drawn up, arms wrapped around her knees as she tried unsuccessfully to fend off the cold. The hood of her jacket was pulled over her head, hiding her so effectively that Sam was amazed Josh had seen her. Her sleeves were stretched over her balled-up fists and she rocked back and forth on the park bench.

Josh flew to her side and dropped to his knees in front of her. "Donna?" When he touched her she flinched, and fear flashed in her eyes momentarily. She began to scramble about on the bench, looking to make an escape, Sam figured as he approached, but at the last minute, he saw her narrow her eyes at Josh through the rain and stop moving as recognition took hold in her brain.

"God, are you alright?" Josh reached for her again, but she leveled a look at him that made him withdraw his hand. She folded her legs beneath her with no small amount of effort, and just stared at him as she continued to shake, soaked to the skin. Sam had seen a look something like that from her before, on the few occasions when Josh had really crossed a line where Donna was concerned. It was a cross between a pout and a scowl, and was really kind of cute normally, but this...this was that, with the intensity multiplied by a few hundred.

Josh choked back the emotion he felt at seeing her again and did his best to take the punishment he felt he deserved. He'd failed her. He'd failed her and she knew it. He may not have meant to, but she'd trusted him and he was wrong. And now she was truly realizing the nightmares she'd been having for the past week. Now some of them were coming true.

She looked at him for a while, sizing him up like someone she barely knew. Rain dripping off her nose, her chin, her brow, her saturated jacket. She wanted so badly to fall into his arms, but something inside her wouldn't allow it. "H-he's-s out," she stuttered through a chill.

Josh cocked his head in concern at the difficulty she was having speaking, but wouldn't allow himself to touch her again yet. He hadn't earned it. "I know," he nodded. "I'm sorry."

"S-sorry?!?" she shouted with more force than he thought she was capable of in her current state. She put her feet on the ground clumsily and teetered to a standing position on wobbly legs, swatting away his attempts to help her. "You're s-sorry? Well, Ok-kay, then, J-josh. Ev-verything's-s fine!"

"He couldn't help it, Donna," Sam came forward. "It couldn't have been helped. We didn't know about the foster parents...he had a foster mother, with money, and he reached out to her—"

Donna turned angrily, and shoved him. She was too weak to really move him, but it shocked him all the same. "You s-said he w-wouldn't get bail!" she screamed at him, pounding her fists into his shoulders with every word.

"It was $900,000," Sam said, feeling pathetic. "I said if he got it it would be high."

"N-not high en-nough!" She pushed on his shoulders one more time and stepped back, stumbling badly on the brick walkway.

She was still close enough that Sam caught her at the elbows, but she jerked her arms away angrily, wrapping them around her ribs as she continued to shake. "H-he's ou-out," she repeated.

"He's not gonna do anything to you," Sam said sincerely.

Donna let out a staccato laugh, followed by hacking cough that bent her double momentarily. "M-more prom-mises, S-sam?" she asked defiantly. Sam hung his head. "N-not gon-gonna do an-nything? He t- told m-me diff-different."

"He's an asshole, Donna," Sam said. "And at the moment, he's in a wheelchair." Donna threw a shaking hand at him dismissively. "But," he said pointedly, "I've been thinking about it all afternoon. You're a federal employee, working for the President. He threatened you. I know it's not ideal, but the President could order Secret Service protection, like he did when CJ was having trouble—"

He stopped when he saw something flash in her eyes momentarily. Hope, maybe. But the hard look she'd been wearing earlier returned seconds later. "I d-don't want b-bodyg-guards. I w-want him in prison!" she shouted. Hot tears mixed with cold raindrops on her cheeks. She looked down at Josh, still on his knees in front of the park bench as he watched the exchange, dumbfounded. "I w-want it undone," she whispered tearily.

That was his opportunity, and he seized it. He was on his feet and toe-to-toe with her in an instant, wrapping his arms as tightly around her as he could. She laid her forehead on his shoulder and sobbed, holding weakly to the back of his coat. There were so many things he wanted to say, and ask, but he couldn't bring himself to speak any of it aloud at the moment. He eventually became aware that she was leaning on him to the degree that he had to be supporting more of her weight that she was. He lifted her head from his shoulder and cupped her face in her hands.

"Alright," he said. "This is what's gonna happen next."

"Josh-sh, I d-don't w-wanna t-talk ab-bout it," she stammered.

"Listen to me," he said firmly. "We're not gonna talk about anything. At the moment, I don't think you can talk about anything. I'm saying, this is how it's going to be."

She stared at him wide-eyed, and Josh couldn't resist the temptation to brush his gloved thumb across her cheek, wiping away one of hundreds of raindrops...or teardrops, he couldn't be sure which. "You've got to get out of this rain," he said firmly, as Sam shrugged out of his coat.

Her eyes went wide. "I'm n-not going b-back to m-my—"

"Donna," he we warned loudly. She stopped talking and went back to letting her teeth chatter.

"You can stay at my place. You can stay anywhere you want. But you can't stay here," he said. "Do you understand me?"

"Yes-s," she said as Sam wrapped his coat around her shoulders.

"We're gonna get you out of this rain, we're gonna get you warmed up, and you don't have to talk to me, but we're calling Stanley and I don't wanna hear a word about it," he said firmly. "Do you understand that?"

She gave him a shaky nod.

The flood of relief he'd felt at finding her was beginning to ebb just enough to allow his anger to surface. Intentionally or not, she'd had them scared out of their minds for hours. But this wasn't the time. "And I might have some things I wanna say later, and if I do, you are gonna let me, and you're gonna listen. And you're gonna let Sam say anything he wants to say, and Toby and CJ, who are still out looking for you, by the way," he took one hand off the side of her face to point it at her. "Say that you agree."

She regarded him curiously, but finally stammered, "Ok-kay."

"Okay," he said resolutely. "Well, let's go."

She took a few steps before stumbling badly again. Josh scooped her knees up despite her half-hearted protests and carried her the rest of the way to the car. Sam helped him get her into the backseat, and shut the door before sliding back behind the wheel and pulling away from the curb.

As Josh spoke softly to Donna in the backseat, Sam pulled out his phone and dialed. "Toby. We've got her."