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

“He’ll see the video one day,” Howard replied.

“There’s a video?” Janet asked.

“Let me show you to Mr. Bennett’s room,” the nurse said. “Follow me.”

She led Janet down a short corridor to a small lift. Edward’s room was on the third floor.

“Mr. Daniels is in this room,” the nurse said as they walked down the hall. “He’s probably going to sleep for twenty-four hours, but he should be fine after that.”

“What about Edward?” Janet asked.

“He has a mild concussion and he lost some blood. Head injuries can bleed a great deal. The doctor will be back to check on him tomorrow and, if nothing has changed, Edward will be released, as long as he has someone to look after him.”

“That would be me,” Janet told her.

The nurse nodded. “It’s unusual for agents to get released so quickly, but it’s unusual for agents to have partners, as well.”

“What a shame,” Janet murmured as the nurse opened the next door.

Edward was lying on the bed, his head wrapped in bandages. He was hooked up to a machine that was beeping quietly. As Janet approached, the beeping got faster.

“Hi,” she said, suddenly feeling quite shy.

“Hi,” he replied, holding out a hand.

When Janet took it, he pulled her towards him. The kiss went a long way towards helping her forget every horrible thing that had happened that night.

“What’s this I hear about you breaking Tony Hart’s kneecap?” he asked when the kiss ended.

She sat down on the side of the bed and patted his arm. “You were the one who insisted on teaching me basic self-defense,” she reminded him. “I just put it to use.”

“I knew it would come in handy one day. I must admit, I didn’t think you’d need it on our honeymoon.”

“But how are you?” Janet asked. “The nurse said you might be released as early as tomorrow.”

“The doctor told me that I have a very hard head,” he replied. “As long as I’m still reasonably coherent tomorrow, they’ll let me go, assuming you’re willing to look after me.”

“I think I could be persuaded to do that.”

He chuckled. “We may have to tour Paris a little bit more slowly than I’d originally planned, but I promise we’ll still have a wonderful time.”

“And then Venice?”

“Yes, of course, and then Venice. I’ve already told Mr. Jones that I’m truly retired now, no matter what.”

Janet tipped her head and studied the man she loved for a moment. “I doubt he believed that. I don’t.”

Edward frowned. “I mean it.”

“We can talk about it later, when you’re feeling better. But what happened after you went up to Bobby’s floor?”

“I decided to pretend that I’d come to relieve Mr. Daniels. When the lift doors opened, Tony was standing there. I’m not certain why. I told him that I’d come to replace Mr. Daniels and he just nodded and walked past me, into the lift. As I took a step into the corridor, he hit me over the head with something. I pretended to be unconscious as he left me there and went back into Bobby’s suite. Then I actually did lose consciousness.”

“Did you know that I found you?”

He nodded slowly. “Your voice woke me. As soon as I heard the door to Bobby’s suite shut behind you and Theodore, I dragged myself into the lift and pushed the button for the lobby. By the time I arrived there, it was swarming with police. Apparently you rang someone?”

“I rang the inspector with whom I’d spoken when you first disappeared. I didn’t know anyone else to ring. I don’t have a number for Mr. Jones.”

“You will from now on. I was going to ring for backup before I went into Bobby’s room, but Tony caught me by surprise.”

“It’s a good thing I followed you, then.”

He sighed and then squeezed her hand. “I’m afraid I need to sleep now. It’s been a long night and they’ll be waking me every hour until morning.”

Janet glanced at her watch. “It’s nearly morning already.”

“You need sleep, too. Talk to Beverly. She’s the nurse who brought you here. She’ll have somewhere you can sleep for a few hours.”

When Janet woke up several hours later, it took her a moment to realise where she was. The room she’d been given was large and comfortable and, for a moment, she was tempted to simply stay there until someone came looking for her. While she was still trying to decide what to do, her mobile rang.

“Janet? What’s going on? I thought you were going to ring me back. The last time we spoke, Edward was missing,” Joan said, sounding angry.

“I’m sorry I didn’t ring you back,” Janet replied. “Things got a little bit crazy, but everything is fine now.”

“Go on, then, tell me everything.”

Janet sighed. “I’m not certain I can talk about any of the things that happened.”

“Don’t tell me Edward dragged you into one of his secret missions. He promised me when you got married that he was well and truly retired. Even if he did end up getting pulled into something, he should never have allowed you to become involved. What happened?”

Janet swallowed another sigh and then gave her sister a very abbreviated version of events, glossing over the whole being-held-hostage-at-gunpoint situation. Joan was still upset when Janet finished.

“Edward should be ashamed of himself for allowing you to be in danger,” she said tartly.

“It wasn’t his fault. I stumbled across Bobby entirely by accident and found myself working for him before I’d even realised that he was the man that Edward was trying to protect,” Janet said, stretching the truth a tiny bit.

“Still, Edward should have insisted that you leave immediately when he discovered that Bobby had hired you.