Page 62 of A Billionaire for Christmas
She would have to wait for a long time.
‘Yes. I am busy. I have lots of meals to plan and prepare. Is there something you wanted?’ Molly tried to squeeze past her, but Valerie blocked her path. ‘Do you have a new allergy to inform me of, Madame LeRoux?’ Because Molly was certain that Valerie would have to start inventing new ones, seeing as though she’d exhausted the current Food Standards Agency official list.
Valerie checked behind both of her shoulders. ‘You’re probably wondering why I came to your rescue earlier.’
Molly frowned. ‘Did you? It sounded like you were accusing me of a crime I didn’t commit and then expecting me to be grateful not to pay for it.’
Valerie tutted. ‘Don’t be silly. Of course it was you. Now listen,’ she said in a low voice. ‘I need you to repay the favour. I need you to do something for me. Something very sensitive.’
Molly did not trust herself to respond.
‘I need your help accessing a phone. I’m not sure how to get into it without a password. It’s locked me out.’
‘And how can I help with that?’
‘You’re young. You young people know how to get into phones. You live your whole lives with them glued to your hands.’
‘I can try for you.’ Molly had always prided herself on being helpful. Why stop now just because she had a bossy, mad woman in front of her asking for the impossible? ‘Where is it?’
Valerie checked over her shoulders once more before explaining to Molly that the phone she was locked out of actually belonged to her husband, Armand. ‘And I need you to get it for me.’
Molly couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. ‘Let me get this straight. You want me to steal your husband’s?—’
‘Shhh. Keep your voice down,’ hissed Valerie.
‘You want me to steal Monsieur LeRoux’s phone, hack into it and then hand it over to you?’ whispered Molly.
‘Yes.’ Valerie nodded vigorously. ‘And then put it back before he notices it’s gone.’
‘And if I get caught?’
Valerie looked at her blankly. ‘Don’t get caught.’
‘And if I refuse?’
‘Why would you refuse?’
‘Why wouldn’t I refuse? You’re asking me to break the law for no reason.’
A troubled expression covered Valerie’s face. ‘I’m worried about him. He’s not telling me something.’
Molly’s mind flew back to Armand and how ill he had seemed and how guarded he was over her question about medication. ‘I’m sure if you ask him about it, he’ll tell you.’
Valerie scoffed. ‘You have no idea how deceptive and cunning French men can be. It’s in their nature to keep secrets from their wives.’
Oh.
‘But unfortunately for him, unlike French women, I do not turn a blind eye. I’m American. We are proud, outspoken and honest. That is what makes America sogreat.’
The irony that Valerie was whispering to her in a cupboard, out of sight, asking her to steal her husband’s phone, was not lost on Molly.
‘There must be another way. Have you checked his drawers and cupboards?’
There was a good chance Valerie would find his medication and Armand would have to come clean.
‘That would be too suspicious. I haven’t tidied his clothes for more than a decade. No, it has to be you. I will distract him from the online golf while you pretend to clean our room. Actually,doclean the room. And turn down the beds while you’re at it. Hospital corners, obviously. And change the towels. Then bring the phone to me.’
Why not shove a broom up my backside while I’m at it?
