Chapter 44 Mrs. Howard Is in a Bad Mood
She was totally stunned. Her heart, which had been doing somersaults, just froze up, like someone hit the pause button.
Margaret peeked at the back seat again. No sign of him.
Alvin saw her just standing there by the car door, looking all confused. "Mrs. Howard, what's up?"
Margaret didn't say a word, just ducked down and got in the car.
Alvin gentlemanly shut the door for her.
He hopped back into the driver's seat.
Margaret whispered, "Alvin, don't rush off just yet."
Alvin gave a nod.
Margaret pressed her lips together, trying to keep her cool. "Where's Raymond?"
"The Hughes Group is diving into some new investments, so Mr. Howard's swamped," Alvin said, cranking up the heater.
To Margaret, that sounded like a load of crap.
She let out a bitter laugh. "He's busy with Sarah, isn't he?"
Alvin jumped to defend him. "Mrs. Howard, Mr. Howard and Ms. Martinez aren't what you think."
Yeah, right. They even took wedding photos together.
The day she found out she had late-stage liver cancer, Sarah had the nerve to send her a selfie from a hotel.
Not what she thought? Then what the heck was it?
Margaret looked down and asked, "Have they set a date for the wedding?"
They had the photos, so the wedding had to be soon, right?
After a pause, Alvin reluctantly said, "I haven't heard Mr. Howard mention it."
He really hadn't heard Raymond talk about marrying Sarah. He was scratching his head over where Margaret got this news.
Margaret wasn't shocked by the lack of useful info. Alvin was Raymond's right-hand man, of course, he had to keep secrets.
She switched gears. "Forget about him. Why are you here?"
Raymond had found out that Ashley and Margaret were on the same flight, so he got worried and had Alvin set things up at the police station ahead of time.
They'd been waiting here long before Margaret showed up in Eldoria.
But Raymond didn't want Margaret to know any of this.
So Alvin just said, "I came here to discuss a contract. When I heard the alarm, I came to check it out. Didn't expect to see you, Mrs. Howard."
She asked, "Did you seal the deal?"
Margaret's fingers curled slightly on her knee. So Alvin being here was just a fluke, nothing to do with Raymond.
Alvin replied, "Yeah."
Margaret said, "Then you can head back to The Hughes Group."
Alvin nodded. "Sure."
They sat in silence, the air thick and heavy.
Margaret felt somehow suffocated as she sitting in the car, like the air was too thick to breathe.
She pulled out her phone from her pocket.
After punching in the password, the screen lit up.
A blocked spam message popped up.
Margaret opened it. It was from some unknown number.
Just a short line: [Mrs. Hughes, thanks for coming to my birthday and seeing me off on my final journey. Don't forget to get the gift I sent you in half a month.]
She knew it was from Ashley.
She remembered Ashley's words when she invited her to the birthday party. "Mrs. Hughes, what kind of gift do you like? I'll send it to you, but you'll have to wait more than twenty days."
Back then, she didn't take it seriously. "No need, I might not make it to that day."
But now, Ashley had moved the gift up a few days, making it half a month later.
What was the gift?
What kind of shock did Ashley experience to make her crash into the bridge railing on her birthday?
Alvin's voice broke her thoughts. "Mrs. Howard, the ambulance is here. They've pulled her out."
Margaret looked up. She saw an ambulance stop right in front of their car.
A bunch of medical personnel jumped out.
Ashley's body was soaked, her hair and clothes dripping, her arms dragging weakly on the snowy ground.
Blood dripped from Ashley's fingers, one drop at a time.
The medics lifted Ashley onto the ambulance.
The ambulance sped off.
Suddenly, a rough hand knocked on the car window.
Alvin rolled it down.
A cop leaned in, his eyes zeroing in on Margaret. "Miss, please come with us."
Alvin drove Margaret to the police station to give a statement.
The streetlights cast flickering shadows on Margaret's face, making it hard to read her thoughts.
Now she was a suspect.
At the police station entrance, Alvin opened the car door, holding the top so she wouldn't bump her head.
"Mrs. Howard, it's just a statement, don't worry." Seeing her cold expression, Alvin thought she was scared and tried to comfort her.
She looked at Alvin with no emotion, a slight curl to her lips. "Since you've done Raymond's task, you should hurry back to The Hughes Group."
Without waiting for Alvin to respond, she turned and walked up the steps, pushing open the glass door and entering the police station.
Alvin dialed Raymond's number. "Mr. Howard, Mrs. Howard is fine, just in a low mood, probably freaked out by Ashley. She seemed pretty bummed not to see you.
"How about you come see Mrs. Howard yourself?"
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