No good news ever came in the middle of the night. It was hard to stave off excitement, but it never interrupted sleep, nothing good was ever that important.

Bad things were what came for you in the middle of the night, ripping you out of comfort and warmth just to throw you into the icy realization that just because you sleep doesn’t mean the rest of the world slumbers with you. If it had just been a phone call Alice’s face wouldn’t be so pale, her eyes wouldn’t look so startled and her palms wouldn’t be sweaty. If it was just a phone call her husband wouldn’t be in the other room talking in hushed tones for what the other senior detective had said was “her own sake.â€?

No. Nothing good ever came in the middle of the night.

Fie against two was never fair, even if it was against Jacob and Stewart Hill, God rest their souls. And God help the ones responsible when the brown eyed blond finally figures out just how bad the news in the middle of the night can be.