‘No, I haven’t connected with anyone from that side yet. Cris and Rosie, my grand uncle and his wife, didn’t even know my mother, Teresa, had given birth until I contacted them. They knew Teresa had a boyfriend, but they never knew his name.’

Beck nodded and continued. ‘Can you tell us about your grand uncle, Liz? And any other male relatives in the picture? That may help us decipher if anyone you know of is a candidate for our match.’

I shot Travis another nervous look but he gave me a nod, letting me know it was okay to continue. I took a deep breath. ‘His name is Cristian Dominio. He lives in Connecticut with his wife Rosie, who is so sweet,’ I added hastily, anxious to quell any concerns the agents may have about them. But suddenly I was doubting my first impressions. I really didn’t know that much about them, even though they’d seemed harmless. Could it have been an act? ‘He’s my maternal grandfather, Frank’s, half-brother. Same dad, different moms.’ I squinted, concentrating, making sure I explained the relations properly. ‘Actually, hold on. It may help if I write the names down for you.’

I looked around, about to stand up when Travis interjected, ‘Oh, here, Liz, I got you,’ and he quickly got up and grabbed his leather briefcase he’d brought with him from work. He handed me a yellow legal pad and a black felt tip pen.

‘Thanks, Trav.’ I pulled the lid off the pen and snapped it onto the back. Scooting closer to the coffee table and placing the legal pad down on top of it so that everyone could see, I leaned forward and started to write Cris’s name, the ink flowing smoothly. Wow, I thought, looking at the pen appreciatively. There’s a high likelihood Travis is not getting this pen back.

Underneath Cris, I wrote Frank next. ‘The only other male relative Cris talked about in detail was Frank, my mother’s father who I just mentioned, but he passed away before I met them.’ I paused for a second, the pen hovering next to Frank’s name and thinking back on my conversation with Cris. ‘Cris also mentioned he had a cousin named Adam. But after Adam’s father died, he and his mother moved away, so they lost track of them. Sorry, I’m not sure how helpful this is,’ I said as I scribbled down Adam’s name under Frank’s.

‘No need to apologize,’ Beck said, smiling. ‘You’re doing great. Please, continue.’