About a week later.


"You are not more blood related to each other than you are to me," Dr. Seabrook explained after Liz and Don had taken a seat opposite to her.

They had chosen a private lab so that the DNA-analysis wouldn't show up in the system of the FBI.

"What does that mean?" Don asked. "That we aren't akin at all?"

"Well, there is a marginal match, but you have these results with many people," Dr. Seabrook said. "If you ran a search for blood relatives through DNA-databases, you would get a few matches with people you don't know which doesn't mean that there is a real blood relationship. DNA is individual," she explained, "but because of the history of mankind many people are blood related somehow but not closely."

"Can you explain it more specifically?"

"Let's better simplify it," Dr. Seabrook said. "What I'm telling you is not scientific, but it's easier to understand. If you were brother and sister, same mother, same father, you would have a 100% match. If you were half-siblings, same mother, different fathers, you would have a 50% match. If you had different fathers and your mothers were sisters, you would have a 25% match, meaning that you were cousins. But that isn't the case because your match is under 5%. And I can't tell you whether this is because your mothers were blood related somehow, definitely not closely, or whether it is random because your mothers are maybe from the same area in which some people have often matches like these because the families were blood related at a certain point far back in time."

"Is this something like finding out from which area your ancestors are from?" Liz asked.

"Exactly." Dr. Seabrook nodded. "It's not completely accurate because of the Migration Period and nowadays because of the globalization. But you can exclude certain areas or put two people into the same area. This is mainly possible by the mitochondrial DNA. That's the maternal DNA, and it can be used to trace maternal lineage far back in time. Your mothers are from the same area and it may be that they are akin somehow, but it isn't a close blood relationship. This means that you aren't blood related at all. Not in a way family is usually defined."


"Maybe they were just friends," Liz assumed when they left the lab. "They were abducted by the same cartel, went through hell together and stayed in touch." Although she was glad that Don and she weren't siblings, she also felt a bit disappointed. It could have helped her to understand who she was. "Can you show me the pictures from the microfilm?" She begged.

Don was aware of that if they went to his apartment, Liz would use the opportunity to continue their affair. It had been the only good thing about the situation - he had had an excuse to tell himself that he had never wanted to have an affair with her. Now he knew that he couldn't resist if she tried to hit on him. The break hadn't cooled off his desire. In fact, it had increased it.

"How about dinner tonight?" He gave in. "In my apartment. I'll cook something."

She looked at him in surprise. "I didn't know you can cook."

"I can't, but I'm able to fry a steak, cook some noodles and make a salad. That's not that difficult."

"Well, you could be like me," she said with a smile. "Then the steak would be chewy, the noodles overcooked and the salad too sour."

It made him laugh. "No, I'm not that bad."

"Then I'll bring the desert," Liz said.


Of course, the food had to wait because the moment Don had closed the door behind them Liz had turned to him and had kissed him. When he finally had started to cook they both had been pretty hungry. Therefore, it didn't bother them that the food was quite good but not perfect.

It felt strange to have her in his apartment. Of course, she had been there before when she had asked him for help because of Tom. But she had done it as his partner and had slept on the couch.

Now they had shared the bed and were sitting close to each other on the couch, eating the mousse Liz had bought on her way to his apartment. It felt like another betrayal on Audrey. On the other hand, he had been very lonely lately. That they had to stall the affair for a week had just intensified that feeling - and his desire to be with her.

"I'm so glad you aren't my brother," she said and huddled against him.

It would have simplified matters, but Don had to admit that he was glad about it, too. He brought the dishes into the kitchen and took a box with pictures from a chest of drawers in his bedroom.

"Oh my God, you were such a sweet child!" Liz exclaimed in delight when he opened the box and she looked at some of the pictures. There were in a mess, from all kinds of events and ages. "That's your mom?" She took one of the pictures that showed a blond woman. "She's beautiful," she said in awe when he nodded.

Eleonora had a classic face with high cheekbone, fine lines, a perfect nose, intelligent eyes, full lips, like a painting of a perfect beauty.

"You look a bit like her," she said, comparing them.

"Is that a compliment?" Don asked and felt to his anger that he blushed.

"It is."

To distract her from it he took out the envelope that was hidden under the other pictures and showed her the photos of the five men. The names they had been given were handwritten in Cyrillic script on the photos.

To her disappointment none of the men seemed familiar to her. If one of them is my father, I should recognize him, shouldn't I? She asked herself in despair.

"Is this the ring you remembered?" Don showed her one of the pictures. It was a close-up on the man who was just about to open the door of a car.

"Yes, it's possible, but I'm not sure," she admitted. "Who is he?"

"Ace of hearts. Does he look familiar?"

Liz shrugged. "To be honest, no."

"We'll find out one day." He kissed her cheek and put the pictures back into the box.

"Was your dad a racer?" She pointed at the pictures in the sideboard. They showed different scenes from car racing.

"Yeah. Me, too."

"You were a racer?" Liz was surprised, but then she remembered the way he drove the car, that had actually been a bomb, and put it into the water to avoid nuclear contamination of the Houston And he doesn't like it at all when someone else is driving, she thought with a smile.

"It was a hobby," Don said. "Don't have enough time for it anymore."

"You won a few races." She nodded towards the awards.

"Yeah, some." It was as if it had happened in a different life. Don took the box and brought it back to the bedroom.

Liz thought about changing the subject. Red's try to get Aleko out of the country didn't work because Aleko had already been in custody. He would probably lead the police to the body and testify against her. Cooper had been furious when they had told him, but he was ready to help her in order to keep her out of prison.

No, it wasn't a good subject. She got up and followed Don to the bedroom...