The Armstrong Assignment (A Janet Markham Bennett Cozy Thriller Book 1) by Diana Xarissa (books for 10th graders TXT) 📕

other possibility,” Edward said. “It’s only just possible that Bobby himself has been behind everything that’s happened.”

Janet sat back on the couch and stared at him. “He’s been making attempts on his own life? To what end?”

“That’s a very good question. I wish I knew. At the end of the day, though, we’ve very little evidence that anything Bobby has told us about has actually happened. His refusal to involve the police could be seen as suspicious, as well.”

Janet ran through the various incidents in her head. Edward was correct. Bobby could have made some of them up and he could have been behind the others, as well. Perhaps he’d been wearing a bulletproof vest because he’d known for certain that he was going to be stabbing himself.

“While you think about that, we’ve only ten more minutes before we have to get back to Bobby,” Edward said. “Let’s try to make the most of those ten minutes.”

He pulled her into a kiss that made her mind go blank.

Chapter 10

“You’re late,” Bobby snapped as they walked back into his suite at five minutes past five.

Edward shrugged. “We had a lot to discuss,” he replied.

Mr. Harrison had opened the door for them. As they’d entered, Janet had heard his whispered remark to Edward. “He’s in a terrible mood,” Mr. Harrison had said.

“How are you feeling?” Janet asked, her voice full of concern. “Does your head still ache? Has the swelling gone down? Did you manage to get any sleep?”

Bobby blinked several times and then shrugged. “I feel like shi, er, awful,” he snapped. “And, apparently, I can’t have any more painkillers.”

“Oh, dear,” Janet said. She turned to the nurse and switched to French. “He’s grumpy, anyway,” she said.

The nurse nodded. “He wasn’t very happy when I woke him every hour. Now he’s demanding more tablets, but he needs to wait another two hours before he can have more.”

Janet nodded sympathetically. “Do you have something else you could give him? Sugar pills or vitamins? Something you could tell him was a strong painkiller?”

The nurse raised an eyebrow. “I’m not certain that’s a good idea,” she said hesitantly.

“It’s better than listening to him complain all afternoon,” Janet suggested.

“I hope you’re convincing her to give me something for my head,” Bobby said loudly. “I can’t communicate with her.”

Janet translated his words for the woman. She sighed and then crossed the room to where she’d left her bag. Janet joined her as the nurse opened a case.

“Children’s gummy vitamins,” she told Janet. “He’ll have to know that they aren’t proper painkillers.”

“Not if they’re sold to him properly,” Janet replied with a wink.

The nurse tipped two bright purple gummies into a small paper cup. Janet grinned.

“They look yummy,” she said.

“They’re very sweet and they taste of blackcurrant,” the nurse told her.

“Bobby, you aren’t really meant to have any more tablets for another three hours,” Janet said in English as she walked towards Bobby. She added an hour to what the nurse had told her in the hopes that he’d be pleasantly surprised if he was given his next tablets a bit earlier than he’d expected. “I’ve managed to persuade the nurse to give you these, though. They’re not like anything you’ve ever had in the US. She’s only allowing you to have them because you’re going to be under her supervision while you’re taking them.”

She held out the cup. Bobby looked into it and frowned. “They don’t look like painkillers,” he said.

“You need to chew them up before you swallow them, and then drink a large glass of water,” Janet improvised. “Because they’re chewy, they work a good deal faster than hard tablets.”

Bobby didn’t look convinced, but he took one of the vitamins and put it in his mouth. “It doesn’t taste too bad,” he said.

While he was chewing the second one, Janet went over to the large bar and got him a glass of water. He swallowed the gummy and then drank the water.

“As I said, they’re very fast. You should feel better in ten minutes, maybe even less,” Janet told him as she took the empty glass away from him.

He frowned and then walked over and sat down on one of the couches. “We were supposed to be having dinner at the Eye-fell Tower tonight,” he said. “I don’t think I’m up to it.”

“Do you want me to ring Theodore and have him cancel dinner?” Janet asked.

Bobby shook his head. “I don’t want to stop everyone else from enjoying Paris. They should all go. You should go, too. Edward speaks enough French to keep me company for tonight. Tomorrow I have business meetings, though. I’ll need you for those.”

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Bobby groaned. “They don’t have to bang that loudly,” he complained.

“The taxis will be here in half an hour,” Theodore said when Mr. Harrison had let him into the room. “Everyone is looking forward to dinner at the top of the Eiffel Tower.”

“I’m not going,” Bobby said. “My head hurts too much. Besides, someone in that group tried to kill me and I don’t feel like socializing with you all right now.”

Theodore looked shocked. “We’re all terribly upset about your accident…” he began.

Bobby held up a hand. “I was pushed, and this wasn’t the first time someone has tried to kill me in the past two months. I’m going to stay here with my bodyguards and my nurse. I’ll see you at nine tomorrow. Actually, make it eight, here in my suite. I may have some things to discuss with you before the meeting at nine.”

Theodore nodded. “I’ll tell the others that they’ll have to make their