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PERLA

Once Sophie headed to bed, I got her phone out of the lockbox and texted Paige. The text was short and sweet.

My mom doesn’t want you to work tomorrow. Enjoy the day off!

I sent it, then waited to see how Paige would respond. I had spoken to Paige before she left and discussed a long list of items for us to take care of, so this should raise a red flag in her mind.

My cell phone rang, and I placed Sophie’s down on the kitchen counter and answered it.

“Hi, Mrs. Wultz. This is Paige.”

“Oh, hi, Paige,” I said, and walked over to the sink, turning on the water.

“I just got a text from Sophie, but I wanted to make sure ... She said you don’t need me to work tomorrow?”

I paused. “She said what?”

“She just texted me and said that you said to tell me I had the day off.”

I turned off the water and waited for a beat. “Ummm, no. No. I definitely need you here tomorrow. I’ll talk to Sophie. She must be confused.”

“Yeah, I thought it was strange. So, uh, I’ll see you tomorrow? At eight thirty, right?”

“Yes, exactly. The car is still working well for you?”

“Oh yeah. I told you, mine is fixed, so you don’t have to—”

“No, keep driving ours for now. I have surgery this week, so I’ll need you more for the next week or so.”

“Okay . . . if you’re sure.”

“I am.” I smiled. “Have a good night, Paige. Thanks for calling.”

She said her goodbyes, and I hung up, then deleted the text from Sophie’s phone. I scrolled through her day’s activity, checking her social media accounts, texts, and browser history. It was all clean, and I smiled to myself as I returned her phone to the box and locked it.

It was fun, setting all this up. Too bad it was going to end soon. That ending would be sad, but also the start of a new game, one with higher stakes, more deception, more rewards.

I would win at both.