The call came mid-morning, when the house had settled into an odd, tired quiet after the long night before. Val had been sitting near the tall window, the faint lines of daylight streaking across her lap as she idly turned the pages of a magazine without truly reading it. The ringtone that cut through the silence was distinct, one she hadn’t heard in some time. Her brows lifted in faint surprise as she reached for the phone and saw the name flashing across the ...