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voice mail.” Abby had not shown up at the restaurant for dinner either.
    â€œI’m worried about her,” Emily said.
    â€œShe’s probably just on a studying binge,” Sean said.
    Emily shook her head as she brushed her teeth. “No,” she gurgled, toothpaste foaming at the corners of her mouth. She dabbed her lips with a towel. “She knew this was a celebration dinner. And she never ignores my text messages. It’s not like her, Sean.”
    â€œMaybe that’s what she was calling me about yesterday, to say she couldn’t make it.”
    â€œI really wish you would have taken her call.”
    â€œIt’s not like I was dodging her. I just missed the call. Kind of like you do nine out of ten times when I call your cell.”
    â€œAren’t you worried?” Emily said, ignoring the jab.
    Sean let out a low breath. “What do you want me to do? I can drive to her apartment. But you remember what happened last time.”
    â€œYou’ll never let that go.”
    â€œIt was embarrassing for her, and for me. If she’s got a boy there again, I just—”
    â€œFine, I’ll go,” Emily said. She marched to the bedroom. By the time Sean caught up with her, Emily had already pulled open a dresser drawer and thrown a pair of jeans on the bed.
    â€œI’m not letting you drive to Capitol Hill at this hour,” he said. “I’ll go.”
    Emily continued getting dressed.
    Sean said, “You have a long day tomorrow. We’ve still got to go through Ryan’s Facebook messages, and you’ve got a shitty meeting ahead with Ryan and Dr. Julie. You get some sleep and I’ll go check on her.”
    â€œI won’t be sleeping until I know where she is, so it doesn’t matter if—”
    â€œEm, please. I don’t mind going. I could actually use the fresh air. Can you try to call her again?”
    He saw signs of retreat in Emily’s face, so he started changing from his dress shirt and suit pants into a T-shirt and jeans.
    Emily frowned as she took the iPhone from her ear. “Still no answer,” she said. “Maybe I should call Malik?”
    â€œI thought she’d stopped seeing him? Do you even have his number?” Malik was a Supreme Court law clerk and six years older than Abby. The age difference hadn’t bothered Sean so much as the kid’s ambition and cockiness, not uncommon traits of the court’s clerks.
    â€œThey still date. I don’t have his number, though. Do you think someone at OSG would have it?”
    Sean looked at his watch. “What am I supposed to do, call the SG or the Supreme Court and ask for the contact information for a law clerk because my adult daughter hasn’t checked in with me in the last day?” Sean watched his wife’s face harden.
    â€œEm, I’m sorry. Let me go to her apartment. I’m sure she’s just studying and unplugged to escape distractions. You know how she is. While I’m gone maybe you can track down Malik’s number from one of Abby’s friends.”
    Emily didn’t respond. Her eyes were fixed on the iPhone, index finger tapping and sliding. Sean went downstairs, dug up the spare key to Abby’s apartment from the kitchen junk drawer, and walked out the side door to the SUV. Was he worried? He tried not to be. But as every parent knows, apprehension comes with the job. It’s a lifetime of disquieting moments—those few seconds you lose sight of them at the neighborhood swimming pool, when they don’t arrive home from school at their usual time, when they grow up and don’t check in. So, yeah, like thousands of other times, he was worried.

 
    CHAPTER 8
    Sean drove on winding Rock Creek Parkway, which mercifully had no traffic. It was dark and he kept telling himself to slow down since deer were common on this stretch of national parkland, which ran from his neighborhood in Chevy Chase,