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

Edward’s number. When they’d first met, he’d given her his phone number, but that number had been disconnected within weeks of his leaving. Over the years, the same thing had happened repeatedly until Edward had finally acquired a special phone, one for which only Janet had the number. He’d told her that his agency didn’t even know about the phone, and he and Janet had been able to speak daily on that device while they’d been apart.

She hadn’t had to use the number for the past few months, because Edward had been staying at Doveby House and they’d been together nearly constantly. Now she sent the text and then waited for his reply.

A moment later, a loud buzzing noise came from the bedside table on Edward’s side of the bed. Janet frowned as she pulled a mobile phone out of the drawer.

Good morning, darling husband. I’m finally awake and ready to see Paris. The message Janet had just sent was on the screen.

“He’s probably gone to get us some breakfast,” Janet muttered. After a moment’s hesitation, she decided to shower and get dressed. No doubt Edward would be back by the time she was ready to go out. Hopefully, he’d return with coffee and croissants or maybe tea and pain au chocolats.

Even empty-handed, he’ll be more than welcome, Janet thought as she stepped into the shower.

Dressed, with her short bob neatly brushed into place and her makeup done, Janet stepped out of the en-suite and sighed. “Edward?” she called, frowning as her voice quavered.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” she told herself sternly. But the man was a spy, a little voice in her head whispered. What if someone from his past caught up with him?

Janet paced around the room and then let herself out onto the balcony. Below her, she could see people rushing around the city streets. Trying not to look as if she was looking, she searched the crowd for Edward. It was a pointless exercise. She was too far away to see faces clearly. After she found herself staring at every man who bore even a passing resemblance to her husband, Janet gave up and went back into the room.

“This simply won’t do,” she said loudly as she shut the balcony door. After checking it was locked, she walked over to the desk and found the hotel’s stationery.

Darling, I’m going to the restaurant for breakfast. Please join me there, she wrote. She put the note on Edward’s pillow and then checked that she had her room key before she took the lift to the ground floor. There was a small restaurant tucked behind the lobby.

“Ah, good morning,” the man at the desk in the restaurant doorway said. “Just one this morning?”

“My husband may be joining me,” Janet replied, feeling herself blushing over the word “husband.”

“Very good,” the man replied. He showed Janet to a table for two and handed her a menu.

She ordered coffee and then breakfast. While the food was good, she found she wasn’t the least bit hungry. After forcing herself to eat half of what she’d been given, Janet had the meal billed to her room and then left the restaurant.

“Now what?” she muttered as she stood in the lobby. Edward had been in charge of their plans, and she knew he’d arranged for several tours, but she didn’t have any idea where or when any of them were meant to be taking place.

After a moment’s hesitation, Janet slowly walked to the hotel’s entrance and went outside. As the people around her rushed in every direction, she began to stroll aimlessly down the street. By now she was convinced that something terrible had happened to Edward. There was no way he’d have stayed away so long otherwise. She needed to ring someone and let them know, but she had no idea where to even start.

“What would you do if you were at home?” she asked herself as she crossed a road. “Ring Robert, obviously,” she replied.

It only took her a few minutes to find the nearest police station. The young woman behind the desk smiled at her.

“Can I help you?” she asked in accented English.

“My husband is missing,” Janet replied, speaking in English automatically. She frowned as a tear slid down her cheek.

“Oh, dear, I’m terribly sorry. Let me get you someone from missing persons,” the woman said quickly. She took some basic information from Janet and then told her to take a seat. As Janet crossed to the small sitting area, the woman picked up the telephone at her elbow.

A moment later, the door behind the woman opened and a bald man who appeared to be in his mid-fifties walked out. He was wearing a rumpled grey suit and his glasses were badly smudged. After speaking to the woman at the desk for a moment, he walked over to where Janet was sitting.

“Mrs. Bennett?” he asked. “I’m Inspector Caron. Please come up.”

Janet followed him through the door and then into a small lift. When it stopped on the fourth floor, he led her down a corridor and then into a small room. It had a table with four chairs around it as the only furniture.

“Please, sit,” he suggested.

Janet sat down as the inspector walked around the table and sat opposite her. He pulled out a small notebook and a pen and nodded at her. “Tell me,” he said.

“I got married yesterday,” she said. “We flew to Paris last night, and when I woke up this morning, my husband was gone.”

“How long has he been missing?”

She shrugged. “It’s nearly midday. I woke up around nine. I don’t know what time he went out, though.”

“So, three hours,” the man said. He put the pen down