‘Please don’t pull away from us. I know we should have been more upfront with you, but we’re still your family and we want to help you through this,’ my mom replied.

‘I need time to think, okay? I’ll talk to you guys later. I just need some space to figure things out.’

My mom looked sad and worried as she glanced at my dad. They nodded. ‘Okay, Lizzie,’ he conceded. ‘But we’re here for you, for anything you need.’

I nodded and with an abrupt wave at the screen, hung up. I threw the phone down on the couch next to me and rubbed my eyes. When I looked up, Andie’s face was inches from mine, mouth hanging open, eyes wide in complete shock. ‘Wow,’ was all she said as she opened her arms to pull me into a hug.

Tears poured freely down my cheeks as I leaned my head onto her shoulder. ‘This is insane, Andie. I don’t know anything about my family or myself anymore. I went from having like forty close relatives to zero. Who am I? Where did I come from?’

‘First of all,’ she said after a long moment, pulling back just enough to look at me. ‘I’m always your family no matter what. And second, you have a whole list of potential relatives right there at your fingertips.’ She gestured at the laptop on the table. ‘Thanks to an extremely generous gift from your amazing and beautiful cousin, which should not be thought less of just because it imploded your whole world.’

I laughed despite myself. ‘Shut up, Andie,’ and wiped my tears on the back of my hand.

Andie laughed and said, ‘But in all seriousness, you can click into the relatives you have the highest percentage DNA match with and send them a message. Maybe some of them will get back to you and be able to tell you more about your bio-family.’

‘Really?’ I said, sniffling again.

‘Yeah, here, let me show you.’

VICTIM 1

Linda Lavelle

1974

CHAPTER 2

He watched as she placed her hand on the guy’s chest, laughing at some lame joke he’d made. The two kissed for a moment before the girl pulled away. The guy tried to draw her back in but she pushed harder and took a step back. She buttoned up her leather patchwork trench coat and tied the belt around her waist. Flicking her long blonde feathered hair over her shoulder, she exhaled loudly.

‘John, I have a boyfriend. I can’t just go making out with every guy I meet. He’s the really big, jealous type, so you better watch out.’ She giggled.

‘So, where’s your boyfriend now?’ John looked around. ‘Funny, but I don’t see him anywhere.’