The Armstrong Assignment (A Janet Markham Bennett Cozy Thriller Book 1)

by Diana Xarissa

They began a slow stroll towards the river. After a moment, Janet couldn’t stop herself from speaking. “I’m Janet Markham, by the way,” she said.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Janet,” he said. “I hope I can call you Janet. I’m not one for formalities. I’m Bobby, Bobby Armstrong, but everyone calls me Bobby.”

  “It’s nice to meet you. I assume you come from Texas?”

  He laughed. “Born and bred, ma’am. You ever been to Texas?”

  She shook her head. “I’ve never been to the United States.”

  He looked shocked. “But it’s the best country in the world, and Texas is the best part of it. You should come and stay at my ranch. You’d love it, cows and cowboys and horses and barbecues. It’s a little piece of heaven.”

  “It sounds lovely,” Janet replied politely.

  “Where are you from, then? You sound British, or maybe Australian. I’m not very good with accents, though.”

  “I’m British. I live in a little village in Derbyshire called Doveby Dale.”

  “Derbyshire? I’ve been to London.”

  “It’s very much north of London.”

  “Like Scotland?”

  “Not that far north,” she replied, trying not to laugh.

  “Now I feel like I’m in Paris,” he said, stopping as they turned a corner and the Arc de Triomphe came into view. “Let’s get coffee somewhere where we can see the arch.”

  There were at least half a dozen cafés dotted around the area. Bobby gestured towards one. “Let’s go there,” he said. “It looks nice.”

  It looked expensive to Janet, but that was probably Bobby’s criteria for nice. There were only a handful of people inside the tastefully decorated room.

  “You may sit anywhere,” they were told as the door shut behind them.

  Janet translated the words for Bobby.

  “Let’s sit by the window,” Bobby said, leading Janet to a table.

  There were menus on the table. Janet hid a smile as she noticed that they were written in French.

  “They probably have menus in English,” she said. “I can ask.”

  He shook his head. “I just want black coffee and a chocolate creesant. They have that, right?”

  Janet read through the list of pastries. Pain au chocolat was just one of the tempting options. “They have quite a few other pastries,” she told Bobby.

  “Get whatever you want. My treat. I’m not interested in anything else.”

  When the waiter came over, Janet had a short conversation with him about the almond pastry. In the end, she ordered the same thing for both herself and Bobby.

  “You speak French really well,” Bobby said as the man walked away.

  “I was a primary school teacher, and I spent two years teaching English in a small French village before I went back to the UK to teach French for the rest of my career.”

  He sighed and sat back in his seat. “I didn’t expect everyone here to speak French,” he said in a confiding tone.

  “It is France,” she replied.

  Bobby laughed. “Yes, of course it is. I suppose I just assumed that everyone would speak both French and English. I’ve never been to Paris before. Everyone spoke English in London.”

  Janet bit her tongue. The last thing she wanted to do was offend the man, and her last comment might have already come close.

  “Are you going to be in Paris for long?” she asked after a moment.

  “About two weeks, I think, although we may spend some time outside of the city, as well. One of my business associates would prefer to have our meetings near his home in the country. I wasn’t keen on the idea, because I was worried that no one would speak English outside of Paris, but it seems they don’t speak it in Paris, either.”

  “I’m sure there are quite a few people in Paris who speak at least some English, but sometimes they are reluctant to speak to native speakers because they feel they aren’t proficient enough,” Janet told him.

  He shrugged. “Teddy said I needed a translator, but I didn’t believe him.”

  “Teddy?”

  “My assistant. His name is Theodore Bradley, and he hates it when I call him Teddy.”

  Before Janet could question the remark, the waiter arrived with their order.

  “Merci,” Janet said.

  “Yes, mercy,” Bobby added. “Um, mercy buckets.”

  The waiter waited until he was a few steps away before he laughed.

  Bobby took a sip of his coffee and sighed. “I needed that,” he said. “Back home, my cook has my coffee ready the minute I get out of bed.”

  “How nice,” Janet murmured.

  “I woke up this morning and I needed coffee,” he continued. “I couldn’t read the instructions on the telephone. They were all in French. The hotel probably has a restaurant and room service, but I couldn’t work it out. Anyway, I was dying to see Paris. I’ve seen it in movies and I was excited to be here. That probably sounds dumb coming from a sixty-three-year-old man.”

  “Not at all. I love to travel and I’m always excited to get to my destination.”

  He nodded. “I love to travel, too, but I usually go to Hawaii. I have a house there. I don’t take a lot of vacations, though. I’m a workaholic and I’m not letting my age slow me down.”

  “If I had lots of money, I’d do nothing but travel.”

  “I’d rather be making deals than sitting on a beach.”

  Before Janet could reply, a song started playing loudly. Bobby jumped and then sighed.

  “They’ve found me,” he said with a laugh. He pulled out a mobile phone and glanced at the screen. “Teddy,” he told Janet.

  Who hates it when you call him that, she thought.

  “Hello?”

  “Having coffee at a café near the Arch of Treeumph.”

  “I’m sure he is. He’ll get over it.”

  “I’ll be back in half an hour.”

  He ended the call and slid the phone back into his pocket. “My security guard is having fits,” he said with a chuckle.

  “You have a security guard?”

  “A necessary precaution at the moment,” he sighed. “I’m not supposed to go anywhere without him, but I sort of forgot about that because I was so desperate for coffee.”

  “Is he going to come looking for you?” Janet asked, suddenly worried that Edward was going to walk through the door at any moment. What would he say when he saw her having coffee with Bobby?

  “I hope not. I told Teddy I’d be back in half an hour.”

  Janet nodded. “I can’t imagine having to have a security guard.”

  “I don’t like it one bit. The worst part is, he’s British, and he doesn’t seem to trust anyone. But I don’t want to talk about it. Tell me about Derbyshire.”

  “My sister and I own a small bed and breakfast,” she replied. As they sipped their drinks and ate their pastries, she told him a few funny stories about the guests they’d hosted over the years. Bobby laughed heartily at every anecdote.

  Twenty-five minutes later, he looked at his watch. “And now I must go,” he said. “I’ve really enjoyed talking with you, though. You didn’t say how long you’re going to be in Paris or why you’re here, but I have a proposition for you.”

  “A proposition?” Janet echoed.

  “It’s obvious that I need a translator. My security guy speaks French, but I’m not sure that I trust him. I’ll pay you to be my translator for the next two weeks. You’d have to come and stay at the same hotel with me and you’d have to work a lot of long hours, but I can pay you, I don’t know, five thousand dollars a day?”

  Janet gasped. “I’ve no idea what the going rate is for translators, but that seems a lot,” she said.

  He laughed. “I can afford it. I’m the only Texas millionaire who doesn’t own a single oil well.”

  “Really?”

  “Yup. I’ve no interest in oil. I made my fortune elsewhere. But I need to get back. Do you want the job or not?”

  Jan
et frowned. “Yes,” she blurted out before she could stop herself.

  “Excellent,” he beamed. “I imagine you’ll want to pack up your things wherever you’re staying now. I’ll get you a room at my hotel. Ask for me when you arrive and we’ll get everything sorted out.” He gave her the address that she already knew.

  “Okay,” Janet said, feeling as if she’d just done something incredibly stupid.

  “I’ll expect you in about an hour,” he said as he stood up. He pulled out his wallet and selected several notes. “I suppose I should get some French money, shouldn’t I?” he asked. “I hope this will cover it. Let me know when you see me later if there was a problem.”

  He strode out of the room before Janet could reply. She counted the money he’d dropped on the table. One hundred American dollars would surely cover what they’d had, but the café might not be willing to accept foreign currency.

  A moment later, the waiter returned to clear away the empty dishes. When Janet told him that her companion had left US dollars to pay, he simply shrugged.

  “It happens quite a lot. As long as he left enough money, I don’t mind,” he told her.

  His face lit up when she handed him the money.

  Janet knew she looked far less happy as she left the café and headed back towards her hotel. What had she just done?

  Chapter 5

  When Janet got back to her room, she sank down on the bed and tried to think. There was a very good chance that Edward was going to be furious with her for interfering in his assignment. She hadn’t deliberately done so, though. She’d simply been walking down the street, minding her own business, when she’d seen Bobby and tried to help him. It wasn’t her fault that he hadn’t hired himself a translator. She’d simply been in the right place at the right time.

  “Or maybe the wrong place at the wrong time,” she muttered as she dug out her suitcase. Edward’s things were still everywhere in the room, and she wasn’t about to start packing them. Instead, she carefully packed everything she thought she might need for a fortnight working as a translator. As she and Edward had been planning for a four-week honeymoon, she’d left quite a few things in the wardrobe after she was done.

  Now I simply have to get myself and the suitcase to Bobby’s hotel without anyone noticing and ringing Mr. Jones, she thought as she wheeled her suitcase to the door. Whatever Edward thought, Mr. Jones was going to be furious. As there seemed to be no way to sneak out of the hotel, Janet simply took the lift to the ground floor and walked through the lobby with her suitcase, holding her head up high. No one spoke to her.

  Once she was outside, she felt as if her heart were going to beat right out of her chest. The walk to Bobby’s hotel seemed to take a good deal longer than it had earlier in the day. The streets were busier and she was dragging her suitcase, but she knew she was also dragging her heels. They’d only been married for two days and Janet reckoned she and Edward were about to have their first fight as a married couple. The only thing that gave her hope was the knowledge that Edward would probably not want anyone to know that he knew Janet. Surely he wouldn’t shout at her in front of Bobby and his entourage.

  The thought gave her the courage to keep walking, even as the hotel came into view. After a few deep breaths, she walked up to the door and pulled on the handle. The door didn’t open. She looked around and spotted the intercom. When she pressed the button, nothing seemed to happen.

  After a full minute, while Janet wondered what she should do, a voice suddenly said “Yes?” making Janet jump.

  She shook her head. She’d pushed the button. She shouldn’t have been surprised to get a reply.

  “Yes, hello,” she said. “I’m here to see Bobby Armstrong.”

  “Your name?”

  “Janet Markham,” she replied, wishing she’d given Bobby a made-up name instead of her real one.

  “Please wait,” the voice replied.

  A moment later, the door opened. A man in a black suit stepped back to let her inside. “I’ll take your bag,” he said, his accent American. “Mr. Armstrong’s security team is waiting for you.”

  “Great,” Janet muttered. She followed the man down a long corridor, wondering if she could faint convincingly. There was no doubt in her mind that Mr. Jones was going to be furious with her.

  The door that the man opened was labeled “Conference Room Six.” Janet plastered a big, fake smile on her face as the man gestured for her to enter the room.

  Mr. Jones, his younger associate, and Edward were all sitting at the long rectangular table. As the door shut behind Janet, Edward smiled at her.

  “Surprise,” he said.

  Janet flushed. She’d forgotten that they didn’t know that she’d spotted Edward with Bobby the previous evening. They might actually believe that the entire thing was just an amazing coincidence.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, trying to sound surprised.

  Edward’s eyes narrowed before he chuckled and stood up. “It’s wonderful to see you, too,” he told her as he walked around the table and pulled her into an embrace.

  Painfully aware that they were being watched, Janet gave him a quick kiss and then pulled away. “What’s going on?” she demanded.

  Edward sighed. “It’s complicated,” he said.

  “And it’s not your concern,” Mr. Jones snapped. “I don’t care what excuse you give, but you must tell Mr. Armstrong that you can’t accept the job with him.”

  “I thought we agreed that I was going to handle this,” Edward said mildly as he held out a chair for Janet. “Have a seat,” he told her.

  “There is nothing to handle,” Mr. Jones replied. “She doesn’t even need to sit down. She can’t take the job. It’s that simple. It might be easiest if we simply tell Mr. Armstrong that she wasn’t suitable.” He looked at Janet. “You can go,” he said dismissively.

  Janet slid back in her chair and stared steadily at the man. “I’m terribly sorry, but I don’t take orders from you,” she told him.

  The younger man gasped and then quickly looked down at the notebook on the table in front of him.

  “I can have you on a plane back to the UK in half an hour,” Mr. Jones said. “Whether you want to go or not.”

  “If you do that, I’m going with her,” Edward said in a conversational tone.

  Mr. Jones shook his head. “Don’t try to threaten me.”

  “It’s not a threat. It’s a fact,” Edward replied. “You already know that I’m deeply unhappy about the situation. You are simply making it worse. I don’t actually take orders from you either.”

  Janet watched as Mr. Jones slowly turned bright red. He took a deep breath, and Janet imagined that he was counting to ten. She silently counted along with him, all the way to three hundred and six, before he spoke again.

  “I can’t imagine you’re prepared to put your wife in danger,” he said.

  Edward shrugged. “She seems quite capable of putting herself in danger when I’m not around.”

  Janet thought about objecting, but Edward was probably correct.

  “What are you suggesting?” Mr. Jones asked.

  “I think it’s probably in everyone’s best interest if Janet is permitted to take the job that Mr. Armstrong has offered her,” Edward replied. “I don’t believe that she’ll actually be in any danger, and it may prove helpful to have someone here in the hotel that I know I can trust. Obviously, I can’t rely on anyone from Mr. Armstrong’s party.”

  Mr. Jones looked at the younger man and then at Edward. “She could jeopardise your cover.”

  Edward laughed. “I’m posing as part of a security team, here to protect Mr. Armstrong. It isn’t exactly a cover, is it?”

  “You’d have to pretend to be strangers,” Mr. Jones added.

  “Let me worry about the details,” Edward said.

  Mr. Jones looked at the other man again. “What do you think?” he asked.

  “I think that Mrs. Bennett could be a real asset to the m
ission,” he said.

  “Why did I ask you?” Mr. Jones muttered. “I can’t even think straight. This is ridiculous. She’s not an agent. She’s never had a single day of training. She has no business being a part of this.”

  “She’s not here to be an agent. She’s here to be a translator,” Edward argued. “She speaks fluent French. Her French is much better than mine, actually. Mr. Armstrong was smart to hire her.”

  “He’s an idiot,” Mr. Jones shot back.

  Edward nodded. “I won’t argue. We had a long conversation last night about how important it was for him to stay at the hotel and in constant contact with me, only for me to wake up this morning and find him missing.”

  Mr. Jones frowned. “We’ll discuss later how that could possibly have happened.”

  “Surely you’re having the hotel watched,” Janet said, angry that Mr. Jones seemed to be suggesting that Edward had done something wrong.

  “I’m not discussing our security arrangements with you,” Mr. Jones replied.

  Janet hid a smile. Clearly she’d hit on a touchy subject.

  “It’s nearly time for Mr. Armstrong’s first meeting of the day,” Edward said after a glance at his watch. “I need to be there, and so does his new translator.”

  “I will be discussing all of this with Smith,” Mr. Jones said. “Your wife may be back in Doveby Dale before morning.”

  “I’m certain that Smith will see the sense in keeping her here,” Edward countered. “I can trust her, and she’ll be very useful to Mr. Armstrong, as well.”

  “We’ll talk again tonight,” Mr. Jones replied, getting to his feet. “We’ll make a final decision about Mrs. Bennett at that time.”

  He stormed out the door before anyone could reply. The younger man jumped up and rushed to follow him.

  “Welcome to the team,” he said to Janet as he disappeared through the door.

  Janet stared after them, her head spinning. After a moment, Edward got up and shut the door again. Then he pulled her to her feet and kissed her thoroughly.

  “I’ve missed you terribly,” he said eventually.

  “I’ve missed you, too,” she admitted, resting her head on his shoulder.