Unmasking the Heiress

By the time Alex got to the scene, it looked like a tornado had hit. Walter's blood was everywhere.

"Hey, hold up!" Alex yelled at the top of his lungs.

Yale spotted Alex and was the first to back off.

Holden, still fuming, gave Walter one last stomp before he quit. He faced Alex, all serious business, and laid it out straight, "Every wrong has a wrongdoer, every debt its debtor. We Fosters don't let things slide, but we don't pin stuff on the innocent either. Gordon family's number two, you're off the hook for Evie's car wreck. You're free to go."

He gave Alex a dismissive wave, but Alex was not about to budge. Instead, he wheeled himself right up

next to Walter.

"Sorry, but I've still got things to say, so I'm sticking around.

"I've got a hunch that Evie isn't dead!"

That bombshell sent shockwaves through the trio.

Yale felt internally torn. He would give anything for Evie to be alive, but after such a horrific crash, it seemed impossible...

Holden, ever the hothead, jumped in before Yale could get a word out, "That's crazy talk! We've done our homework. Evie's car was smack in the middle of the crash zone. How in the world could she have made it out?"

Walter, catching wind of that, looked like he could not believe his ears either.

Alex surveyed the trio before him, instantly recognizing the shock that had paralyzed their thoughts-the shock of losing someone dear, too sudden and too raw.

However, that was okay. He was there to unravel the mystery for them.

"In an accident that big, survival seems nearly impossible. However, what if Evangeline never even took that highway?"

With the three of them watching intently, Alex took a tablet from his bodyguard and gently placed it in Yale's hands.

"Mr. Yale Foster, could you set the video to 11:54 a.m.? Watch closely."

Yale did as asked, with Holden leaning in beside him.

Walter tried to get a look too, but the tablet screen was too small for three. Yale and Holden had taken up all the room, and with his niece's fate on the line, Holden was not about to back down. He shot Walter with a glare that sent him retreating. The video was from the highway entrance's camera.

Yale, ever so compliant, slid the timeline to the moment Alex had pointed out and watched with rapt attention.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

The video was silent.

Yale and Holden watched, the world around them fading away.

Then, Holden's eyes sparked to life, and he jabbed a finger at the screen, his voice a mix of surprise and recognition. "Isn't that the Foster family car?"

The Foster family car, caught on the highway entrance camera, meant Evangeline had indeed been on the highway. Holden, without missing a beat, turned to challenge Alex's earlier suggestion.

"Alex, we've spotted the Foster family car in the footage. How can you claim Evie never wasn't on the highway?"

Alex was about to respond when Yale, as if struck by a sudden revelation, shot his hand up and scrubbed through the video timeline once more.

With each play of the footage, Yale's brow glistened with more sweat.

On the second scrub, he beckoned Holden over excitedly. "Holden, my eyes are playing tricks on me after watching this so many times. Can you do a quick tally? How many Foster family cars are on the highway?"