The Armstrong Assignment (A Janet Markham Bennett Cozy Thriller Book 1) Diana Xarissa (the beginning after the end novel read .txt) 📖

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.”

Theodore 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.”

For a moment, Janet was afraid she was going to have add reading English to her job description, but as Lucy and Theodore shot daggers at one another, Dixie reached over and picked up the menu.

No one else spoke as Dixie went through the menu. She read only a handful of the options, muttering things like “you don’t like that, or that...” as she skimmed her way down the list. When she was done, Bobby laughed.

“I’ll have the chicken,” he said. “And I’ll bet Dixie knew I was going to say that before I did.”

She nodded. “Of course I did. I know you better than anyone else does.”

Lucy made a noise, but didn’t say anything.

“It’s nice weather for December,” Neil said after an awkward pause.

“It’s better in Texas,” Lucy snapped.

“Everything is better in Texas,” Bobby laughed. “Bigger and better.”

Lucy nodded.

“Have you always lived in Texas?” Janet asked Lucy.

She shrugged. “I was born there. I