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

“Thank you,” Janet replied, sliding the card into her pocket.

The others were standing nearby, frowning at her.

As they walked towards the tower, Janet told them about her conversation with the man.

“You should have arranged a time for him to return, then,” Theodore said. “I don’t want to pay for two taxis back to the hotel.”

“I’m more than happy to walk back to the hotel,” Janet replied. “If someone else wants to join me, the rest of you would fit into a single car.”

“Let’s see how much I drink,” Dixie said with a laugh. “If I can still walk, I’ll walk.”

There was a long queue of people waiting to take the lift up the tower. Janet spotted the discreet sign for the restaurant and led the others to a second, shorter queue. A few minutes later, having had their reservation confirmed, they were whisked up the tower and shown to their table.

“We’re very high,” Lucy said, holding on tightly to Tony as they walked.

“Do heights bother you?” Janet asked, concerned by how pale the woman had gone.

“They won’t once I’ve had a few drinks,” Lucy assured her.

“Wine,” Theodore told the man who’d shown them to their table.

“I’ll send someone,” he replied.

Before Janet had even had time to read through the menu, Theodore had ordered two bottles of wine, one red and one white. Lucy, who was next to Janet, looked through the menu and then sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Janet asked.

“I don’t remember enough French to know what any of this is,” Lucy replied. “And I don’t trust the English translations, either. There are three sentences of French about each dish and then it says ‘chicken in white wine sauce’ in English. What does the rest of it say?”

“I’m more than happy to translate the menu for you,” Janet told her, although “more than happy” was an exaggeration.

“Does anyone else want help with the menu?” Lucy asked loudly.

“Absolutely,” Tony said.

“Yes, please,” Theodore added.

Neil didn’t reply, but he looked at Janet as she opened her copy of the menu.

“Starters?” she asked.

“What’s a starter?” Tony demanded.

Janet frowned. “Small plates of food that you have before your meal,” she explained. “Do you call them something different in America?”

“Appetizers,” Dixie told her. “And yes, I think we’d all like to try some of the appetizers.”

Janet read down the list, skipping the lengthy explanations unless she felt they were necessary. The group decided to share three different options. The waiter returned with the wine before Janet had even started reading through the main course options.

“Order the appetizers,” Theodore suggested. “Otherwise we’ll be here all night.”

Ten minutes later, Janet was ready to drink an entire bottle of wine herself. She felt as if she’d read the entire menu a dozen times and people still hadn’t decided what to order.

“What was the second chicken one again?” Lucy asked.

Janet sighed and then slowly read the long description of the dish. It sounded delicious, although Janet had read it so many times now that she wasn’t sure she’d actually enjoy anything.

“That one,” Lucy decided. “Are there options for the side dishes?”

Janet shook her head. “Everything comes exactly as described on the menu,” she told her.

Lucy sighed. “I suppose that will have to do, then.”

Now that Lucy had chosen, the others were quick to make up their minds. When the waiter returned with their starters, Janet placed the order.

“So, Janet, you asked us all a lot of questions earlier today. It’s time for us to find out more about you,” Lucy said as the waiter walked away. “Tell us about your husband.”

Janet took a sip of wine while she tried to work out how best to reply. “I met him when he came to stay at the bed and breakfast that my sister and I own in Doveby Dale,” she told her. “Doveby Dale is a village in Derbyshire.”

“Fascinating,” Neil said. “Theodore, let’s run through the meeting schedule for tomorrow.” He pulled out his phone and looked expectantly at Theodore.

“Sure,” the other man replied, pulling out his own mobile.

“Boring,” Lucy whispered.

“You don’t work for the business?” Janet asked.

Lucy shrugged. “On paper, I’m a vice president, but my father doesn’t really want me involved.”

“You know that isn’t true,” Dixie said. “Your father would love it if you started taking an interest in the company. He’s very worried about what’s going to happen to everything when he’s ready to retire.”

“He won’t ever retire,” Lucy replied. “He’d go crazy without work to keep him busy.”

“That’s another reason why these attempts on his life will have upset him so much,” Dixie added. “If he dies suddenly, you’d be left to take over the business, and you aren’t ready to do that.”

Lucy looked at Janet. “There’s one possible explanation,” she said. “Maybe my father is pretending to get attacked in an effort to get me take a larger role in the company. It’s not much crazier than some of the other things he’s done over the years.”

“Really?” Janet asked.

“When I finished high school, he gave me my own cattle ranch,” Lucy told her. “I didn’t know anything about owning a ranch. I moved into the main house and basically just played at everything until the situation got so bad that my father had to take over.”

“Your father thought that you’d try to learn how to manage the ranch,” Dixie said.

“He doesn’t understand me,” Lucy complained. “I want to be an artist, not a cattle rancher.”

“He paid for you to go to art school,” Dixie replied.

Lucy sighed. “Art school,” she scoffed. “Classes all day, every day. Paint this, not that. Draw this, not that. Sculpt this, not that. It’s impossible to expand your creativity when you’re given nothing but restrictions.”

Dixie sighed. “He also paid for you