The shrill ringing of the telephone cut through the silence of the night like nails scraping across a chalkboard. He bolted up in bed, the sound making him shiver. Stretching over the mattress, his eyes fell on the clock. 2:43am burned like a fire and he squeezed his eyelids tightly together against the pain as he answered.

"What is it?"

"Ranger."

His chest constricted at the sound of Tank's voice. It was tense, like a coiled spring on the verge of snapping.

This was the call he knew would come, the one he dreaded.

The one he feared.

"It's Stephanie."