Page 19 of Her Last Secret

This confused Paige at first. But as she got to her feet and Janell answered the door, Paige understood. When the door swung open and she saw Agent Carson on the other side—or Mr. Stephen, as he’d asked her to call him when he’d watched over her a year or so ago—a huge smile lit up her face.

“Mr. Stephen!”

She nearly knocked over the discarded Uno cards in her hurry to get over to him. She hugged him tightly and was overcome with the sudden need to cry. She kept it together, though (God, how embarrassing would that have been?) and tried to act calm and mature.

"Hey, Paige! How's my favorite junior agent?" His voice was gruff but warm, wrapping around her like a comforting blanket.

“I’m great!”

“She’s whipping me at Uno, that’s for sure,” Janell said.

“Oh…oh yeah, I believe that. Paige here is brutal when it comes to card games.”

She launched into his arms for a second hug, feeling the sturdy reassurance of his embrace. "I missed you!"

"Missed you too, kiddo," Carson said, releasing her and stepping inside. "Now, are you sure you’re going to be okay with me keeping an eye on you?"

She was very excited about the idea but also didn’t want Janell to feel left out. “Sure! But…I mean, can Janell stay, too?”

“Oh, I’d better not,” Janell said. “I told you, I’ve got all those silly exams to study for. Besides, I don’t want to cramp Mr. Stephen’s style.”

Janell gave a playful salute to Agent Carson as she slung her bag over her shoulder. "Keep her out of trouble, will you?" Her voice carried the lightness of her usual conversations with Paige.

"I’ll do my best," Carson bantered back. “Thanks for the assist, young lady.”

“No problem. Bye, Paige. I’ll see you again soon enough.”

"Goodbye, Janell!" Paige called out as the door clicked shut behind her babysitter. She turned to Carson, her expression softening. "I'm glad you're here. Where have you been all this time?"

“Working. Staying busy. But I just had to come back to see you!”

Paige’s smile softened even more when another thought came to her. “Are you here because we’re in danger again?”

“No more than usual,” he said with a smile. “But I think your mom wasn’t quite as ready to get back into the field as she thought she was. She’s just worried about you.”

“Even with the guys parked out front?”

“Yeah. But I mean, let’s face it. They’re clearly not as strong as I am, right?”

“Probably not.”

She could see a slight hesitation on his face, something that made him look sad. She supposed he knew about Grandma Tate. She wondered if he wanted to say something about her but was trying to decide if he really should or not.

"Is school going okay?" he asked after a moment, shifting the conversation.

"It's fine," Paige replied, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I can't wait for the holiday break though."

"Looking forward to some rest, huh?"

"Definitely." Paige glanced at the unfinished Uno game, its pieces scattered in disarray from her earlier excitement.

“Do you think Santa is going to come visit?” Carson asked.

Paige frowned and shook her head. “I know the deal about Santa.”

“What deal? That’s he’s awesome?”

“No. That he’s not real. Mom told me.”

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