would have paralyzed Nell on a normal night, jarring her out of a deep sleep and causing her heart to skip a beat. But neither she nor Ben had slept much. They’d stood on the back deck, watching the sky light up as police cars and emergency vehicles headed north along the shore road. And then they had gone back inside and up the back stairs to get ready for bed because at that late hour there was no one to call for information, no one to assure them that everything was fine. No one to say that it was a minor car accident, but no one was hurt. A slow night for the police, so they sent out the whole crew. It was just a bad scare. Everyone—everywhere—was fine. Sleep came reluctantly, and when it did, it was a slight, light sleep, dipping just beneath that thin layer that separates sleep from wakefulness. Ben was out of bed in an instant at the first ring. Pulling on sweatpants, he took the back stairs two at a time.
