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

by Diana Xarissa

  “Janet, my business partner, Neil Sullivan. He partners with me on some of my businesses, but that includes everything that’s happening here in Paris this week,” Bobby said.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Janet told the man.

  He shrugged. “It’s nice to meet you as well. Call me Neil, and please don’t take offense, but just how fluent is your French?”

  Janet took a deep breath. It was just possible that some of the others spoke some French, so she needed to be careful. “It’s very nice to meet you all, and I’m looking forward to working with Bobby to help him with his business deals, but if anyone here doesn’t trust me or doesn’t want me involved, I can go back to enjoying myself in Paris and waiting for my husband to join me. Goodness only knows how long that will take, but I can be patient when I have to be,” she said in French.

  Neil raised an eyebrow. “The only word I understood was ‘Bobby.’ Did anyone understand her?”

  Janet looked at Edward, knowing that he’d understood every word. He was staring straight ahead and didn’t say a word.

  “I understood a bit,” one of the women said. She was the younger of the two women, probably around forty, and today she was wearing a bright red dress. It was cut low at the front, revealing ample cleavage. Her cowboy hat was also red.

  “You studied French for four years at college,” Bobby said.

  The woman laughed. “I studied fraternity parties for four years at college. I dabbled in French when I wasn’t too drunk, which was just about never.”

  “My daughter,” Bobby told Janet. “Lucy Stone. You may have heard of her.”

  “I don’t believe I have,” Janet replied, wondering if the woman was a model or an actor.

  Several people laughed.

  “I guess Lucy’s antics haven’t made it into British gossip magazines,” Theodore said. “That has to be a good thing.”

  Lucy rolled her eyes. “I’ve something of a reputation back home,” she told Janet. “I drink and party too much and I make terrible choices when it comes to men. All of that has changed now, though.” She looked over at the man sitting next to her. He smiled and then reached over and gave her hand a squeeze.

  “I hope so,” he said softly.

  “Janet, this is my fiancé, Tony Hart,” Lucy said. “He’s the first smart choice in men I’ve made since fifth grade, when I fell in love with Jason Thomas. Jason’s a billionaire now. I should have stuck with him.”

  “Thanks,” Tony said.

  Lucy laughed. “I said you were a smart choice. Tony isn’t a billionaire, but he’s not a drunk or an asshole, either.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Janet said. Her eyes met Tony’s, and she felt a chill. The man’s eyes were cold and calculating.

  “Darling, you haven’t forgotten about me, have you?” the last person at the table asked. The woman had deeply tanned, almost leathery skin. Her long blonde hair was plaited again, and she looked as if she’d been born wearing a cowboy hat and boots. Today she was wearing jeans and a pink blouse that matched both her hat and her boots.

  Bobby laughed. “I could never forget about you,” he said. “Janet, this is Dixie, Dixie Davison. We’ve been friends since we were children, although she is a few years younger than I am. Our daddies did business together before either of us was even born.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Janet said to Dixie.

  “Likewise,” Dixie replied. “I speak a tiny bit of French, so I understood some of what you said. I want to hear more about the husband who appears to have abandoned you.”

  Janet chuckled. “I hope not. He was suddenly needed at work and we didn’t want to cancel all of our plans, so here I am, in the most romantic city in the world, all alone.”

  “I can fix that,” Dixie replied. “I know a lot of wonderful men who would be more than happy to entertain you while your husband is unavailable.”

  Janet felt herself blushing. She didn’t dare look at Edward. “Thank you, but I’m quite happy to wait for, um, my husband to arrive,” she said, stumbling and only just stopping herself from saying his name.

  “If you change your mind, let me know,” Dixie replied with a wink.

  “We should get started,” Theodore said. “We’ve a lot to go over before tomorrow.”

  “Have a seat,” Bobby told Janet and Edward.

  “I’m not certain why either of them needs to be here,” Theodore said as Janet pulled out a chair.

  “Edward goes everywhere with me now,” Bobby replied. “He’s here to make sure that no one else tries to stab me. Janet needs to hear the basics of the deal so that she can understand what’s being said at our other meetings.”

  Theodore frowned. “And you’re quite certain she doesn’t have any connection to any of our competitors?”

  Bobby looked at Janet. “Do you have any connection to any of my competitors?” he asked, clearly amused.

  “As I’m not at all clear on what it is that you do, I can’t really answer that question,” she replied. “I can tell you that I’m a retired teacher who owns a bed and breakfast in Derbyshire. Does that worry anyone here?”

  She looked at Theodore. He made a note on the pad of paper in front of him. “Where in Derbyshire?” he asked.

  “Doveby Dale,” she replied. “It’s just outside of Derby.”

  “I was looking over the proposal for suppliers,” Neil said. “Are you quite certain we want to go that route?”

  Bobby pulled a small notebook out of his pocket and flipped through the first few pages. “Theodore, do you want to address this?” he asked.

  Janet sat back and listened as Theodore spent several minutes explaining some sort of business strategy that was nearly incomprehensible to her. She was certain she could understand it if she wanted to try, but she had no interest in doing so. After twenty minutes, as she began to find herself fighting sleep, she looked over at Edward.

  He was staring straight at her, and the look in his eyes made her heart race. She felt her cheeks flushing and she quickly looked down. He had a small notebook in front of him and she smiled when she saw that he’d sketched the Eiffel Tower and a cowboy hat on the first page. When she looked back up, he was still watching her. Studying the suspects is a better use of the time, she thought.

  Bobby was sitting back with his eyes closed and, for a moment, Janet wondered if he’d fallen asleep. Theodore was droning on and on about inventory management and, as he rattled off a long string of numbers and facts, Bobby didn’t move.

  “…three thousand and forty-two in that location versus four thousand and twelve in Dallas,” he said.

  “Three thousand and forty-seven,” Bobby interjected, his eyes still shut.

  Theodore frowned and then checked his notes. “Three thousand and forty-seven,” he said grudgingly.

  A small smile appeared and then disappeared on Bobby’s face but his eyes didn’t open.

  Theodore scowled down at his notes and then continued. One person who seemed to be paying attention was Neil. He was taking notes, seemingly writing down just about every word that Theodore said.

  Next to him, Lucy was busy writing as well. Janet, who was right across the table from Lucy, shifted her chair, trying to get a closer look at Lucy’s paper. It didn’t seem as if the woman was actually listening to Theodore, so what was she writing?

  …hot bubble bath for the two of us, Janet read. She read a bit more and then stopped and looked down at the table, her cheeks red. It appeared that Lucy was writing a note for Tony, telling him about her plans for later. Those plans seemed to include a bubble bath and whipped cream, and Janet didn’t want to know any more than that.

  Tony, for his part, was obviously doodling on the page in front of him. From where Janet was sitting, it looked as if he’d covered the paper with drawings of spiders and insects. She’d already decided that the man was creepy. This was simply more evidence of that.

  Dixie was also sitting back with her eyes shut, but as Janet watched her, s
he got the feeling that Dixie was listening very carefully to what was being said. When Theodore started talking about the potential advantages of partnering with some company about which Janet knew nothing, Dixie sat up.

  “Now you’re into my area of expertise,” she said. “I’ve been working with them for years.” It only took her thirty-six seconds to summarise how she felt about the company, something Janet reckoned would have taken Theodore at least an hour. Janet timed it because she had nothing else to do.

  Theodore was still droning on about something when Bobby sat up and opened his eyes.

  “That’s a good place to stop for now,” he said, right in the middle of one of Theodore’s sentences.

  “I hardly think…” Theodore began.

  Bobby held up a hand. “It’s time for some lunch,” he said. “Let’s go and explore a bit of Paris and then find somewhere fabulous to have lunch.”

  “I need five minutes,” Lucy said, getting up from her seat. “Come along, Tony,” she added.

  “I’m ready to go now,” he countered. “I’ll wait down here with everyone else.”

  Lucy frowned and then picked up the sheet of paper on which she’d been writing. She stared hard at Tony as she crumpled it up and tossed it towards the bin in the corner of the room. It missed by several feet. Lucy turned on her heel and stormed out of the room.

  “I should powder my nose,” Dixie said as she stood up. “I’ll be back shortly.”

  “Janet, I can have someone show you to your room, if you’d like,” Bobby offered.

  She nodded. “Yes, please.”

  As she and Bobby stood up, everyone else rose as well. Bobby took Janet to the reception desk while the others trailed behind.

  “We’ve put Ms. Markham in suite forty-six,” the man behind the desk told Bobby. He handed Bobby a keycard.

  Bobby turned to Janet and gave her the card. “Suite forty-six,” he repeated.

  “I can find that,” Janet said. She turned and headed for the lifts, suddenly quite desperate to have five minutes to herself. On the fourth floor, she walked along the corridor until she found the right room.

  When she let herself in, she gasped. The door had opened into a vast sitting room with huge windows that gave her a breathtaking view of the city outside. The bedroom, with its enormous bed, was only slightly smaller. Janet walked into the bathroom and stared at the selection of lotions and potions that lined the shelves under the mirror. She picked one up at random. It was a body cream in a brand she’d heard of, but not one she’d ever purchased because it was extremely expensive.

  Someone had unpacked her things for her, so she quickly brushed her hair and touched up her makeup. After washing her hands, she couldn’t resist squeezing a bit of the cream into her hand. As she rubbed her hands together, she inhaled the scent.

  “It smells expensive,” she muttered. “And it feels wonderful,” she added with a sigh as the cream soaked into her skin.

  Back down in the lobby, everyone else was waiting, aside from Lucy.

  “How’s the suite?” Bobby asked Janet as she joined them.

  “Lovely,” she replied.

  “Put all of the toiletries in your suitcase before you go out tomorrow,” Dixie advised her. “They’ll give you another complete set.”

  Janet flushed. “I couldn’t possibly,” she murmured. Maybe she’d take just that one bottle of body cream, though, as she’d already opened it. The smell had lingered, and Janet felt as if she couldn’t get enough of it.

  “I’m here,” Lucy called from the end of the corridor. “I took the stairs because I didn’t think you’d wait for me much longer.”

  “Let’s go,” Bobby replied. He rushed out the door with the others on his heels.

  Edward dashed after him. A moment later, Janet noticed that Mr. Harrison had joined them as well. He was walking right next to Bobby. Edward had dropped back a pace, walking between Neil and Lucy. Janet deliberately stayed at the back of the group, keeping pace with Dixie, who didn’t appear to be in any hurry.

  It wasn’t long before they were caught up in a large crowd of people. To Janet, it began to seem as if dozens of random people were determined to get between her and the others. A group of Japanese tourists, following a stern-looking woman carrying a golf umbrella, suddenly crowded around them. They were approaching a busy and complicated junction. Janet watched the cars whizzing past as she was jostled and bumped from every direction. She held onto her handbag tightly and tried to find Edward in the crowd.

  When someone screamed, Janet felt certain that something had happened to Bobby. She pushed her way through the crowd and then gasped. Bobby was lying in the road and there was a car heading straight for him.

  Chapter 7

  Things happened so fast that Janet could only stand and stare. Both Edward and Mr. Harrison ran into the road. Brakes seemed to be squealing everywhere as cars swerved and tried to stop. The sound of metal smashing into metal made Janet jump. People were screaming in several different languages and, even before Janet’s brain had reengaged, she could hear sirens.

  “Daddy!” Lucy shouted over the crowd. She ran into the road and flung herself down on top of her father.

  “Come away, darling,” Tony said, taking a step towards her and holding out a hand. “You’ll only be in the way there.”

  “In the way? This is my father,” Lucy replied fiercely. She glared at Tony until he took a step backwards.

  As the first police officers began to arrive, Edward crossed to Bobby and Lucy. “An ambulance is on the way,” he said.

  Janet could only just hear him over everything else. She took a few steps closer, her eyes on Bobby. A policeman said something to Edward, who nodded and then pointed to Mr. Harrison.

  “I’m a doctor,” someone said in French. The crowd seemed to part in front of the woman. She made her way forwards and had a short conversation with Edward before she bent down towards Bobby.

  “Uuuugghhhh,” he groaned suddenly.

  “Daddy!” Lucy screamed.

  The doctor frowned at her.

  Bobby’s eyes opened slowly. He looked up and then shut them again.

  “Mr. Armstrong, can you hear me?” the doctor asked in accented English.

  Janet had slowly worked her way through the crowd so that she was standing on the pavement right where Bobby must have been standing when he fell. The kerb was several inches high. Had he not noticed the drop and simply tripped?

  “My head hurts,” Bobby said after a moment. He opened his eyes again. “Help me sit up,” he told Lucy.

  “I don’t think that’s wise,” the doctor said. “He may have a concussion.”

  She said the second sentence in French. Janet quickly translated it for Bobby and Lucy.

  Bobby slowly moved his head from side to side and then put his hand on the back of it. “I have a bump,” he countered. “But I’m fine. Lucy?”

  Lucy helped him into a sitting position. The doctor objected in a mix of French and English. Bobby waved her away.

  “I’m fine,” he said. He looked over at Edward. “We have to talk,” he said harshly.

  Edward nodded. “In a more private location.”

  Bobby looked as if he wanted to argue, but, after a moment, he shrugged. “Let’s get lunch,” he said as he slowly got to his feet.

  The doctor looked at Janet. “I strongly suggest that he visit the nearest hospital to get his injuries examined. He undoubtedly has a concussion and he should be monitored by a doctor or nurse for at least forty-eight hours,” she said in rapid-fire French.

  Janet repeated what she’d been told.

  “Teddy, get me a nurse,” Bobby said, looking around for his assistant.

  “Yes, sir,” Theodore said from a spot near the edge of the crowd.

  “I want someone who can be with me for forty-eight hours,” Bobby told him. “That probably means multiple someones. I’d prefer pretty blondes with big, um, you know what I like.”

  Theodo
re nodded and pulled out his mobile phone. Bobby took a couple of steps and then staggered sideways. He looked at Janet and winked at her

  “I’m fine. Just hungry,” he said as he stepped up onto the pavement.

  “Let’s go back to the hotel,” Lucy suggested. “I’m too upset to eat right now.”

  Bobby shook his head and then winced. “I need something for my headache,” he told Theodore, who was still on his phone.

  Edward was talking to the doctor in a low voice. Now he turned to Bobby. “I’ll get you something to have with your meal,” he said. “Mr. Harrison has secured us a table at the restaurant behind you.”

  Bobby turned around and looked at the small restaurant on the corner. “I suppose it will do.”

  “Yes, it will,” Edward said firmly. “Let’s go.”

  He took Bobby’s arm and led him away. Lucy rushed to keep up with them. As they walked through the crowd, the rest of Bobby’s party seemed to appear from nowhere, one by one, to join them. Janet stayed at the back, watching everyone. They all seemed subdued, but that was hardly surprising.

  Inside, they were shown to a small private room on the first floor. Janet held her breath while Bobby climbed the stairs, but he seemed to navigate them just fine.

  “I need something for my head,” Bobby complained as soon as everyone was sitting around the large round table.

  Edward nodded and then reached into a pocket. “This should take the edge off the pain,” he told him, handing him two tablets from a small bottle.

  “A nurse will meet us at the hotel in an hour,” Theodore said. “I’ve arranged for them to come and go in shifts for the next three days.”

  Bobby nodded slowly. “Do they have English menus?” he asked.

  When a waiter appeared a short while later, Janet asked him the question in French. He shrugged and then left the room. When he returned, he handed an English menu to Janet and then passed out French menus to the others.

  “I’ll be back to get your order shortly,” he said in French before he left again.

  Janet handed her menu to Bobby. After a moment, he shook his head.

  “I can’t focus enough to read,” he complained. “Someone tell me what it says.”