{"id":13273,"date":"2026-09-18T15:01:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T15:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=13273"},"modified":"2026-09-18T15:01:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T15:01:23","slug":"part-13-a-paternity-test-changed-the-shape-of-our-family-and-my-fathers-old-affair-explained-why-elizabeth-chose-teresa-that-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=13273","title":{"rendered":"PART 13 \u2013 A Paternity Test Changed the Shape of Our Family, and My Father\u2019s Old Affair Explained Why Elizabeth Chose Teresa That Night"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Nobody said the possibility aloud until a judge authorized DNA testing.<\/p>\n<p>Until then, it remained a shape in the room.<\/p>\n<p>Robert Bennett had known Teresa Mercer before he supposedly met Elizabeth. He had worked beside Teresa. Photographs showed an intimacy nobody had mentioned. The timing overlapped with Emily\u2019s conception.<\/p>\n<p>And perhaps Olivia\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>Dad refused to answer questions about paternity.<\/p>\n<p>That refusal answered enough.<\/p>\n<p>Emily consented to testing from her hospital bed.<\/p>\n<p>Olivia consented after staring at the paperwork for nearly ten minutes.<\/p>\n<p>I provided a sample too.<\/p>\n<p>Not because anyone doubted Robert was my father.<\/p>\n<p>Because investigators needed to map relationships accurately against the remains, records and unidentified biological material recovered from Victor\u2019s properties.<\/p>\n<p>Robert\u2019s sample already existed under warrant.<\/p>\n<p>We waited.<\/p>\n<p>Waiting had become strange since the case opened.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing stayed uncertain for long.<\/p>\n<p>There was always a laboratory, an archive, a forgotten account or a dead person waiting to correct somebody\u2019s story.<\/p>\n<p>While DNA technicians worked, Agent Monroe returned to the photograph of Robert and Teresa.<\/p>\n<p>It had been taken outside the company where they worked.<\/p>\n<p>Teresa was twenty-two.<\/p>\n<p>Dad twenty-four.<\/p>\n<p>Elizabeth had not yet become Margaret.<\/p>\n<p>Victor was already in their orbit.<\/p>\n<p>The records from Paul\u2019s notebook suggested Dad met Teresa first.<\/p>\n<p>Not Elizabeth.<\/p>\n<p>Dad had lied about that too.<\/p>\n<p>Monroe brought him back into an interview room.<\/p>\n<p>I watched.<\/p>\n<p>His attorney tried to limit discussion to the identity network.<\/p>\n<p>Dad ignored him.<\/p>\n<p>He looked toward the mirrored wall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClara\u2019s there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Monroe did not answer.<\/p>\n<p>Dad knew anyway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI met Teresa at work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His voice sounded exhausted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was funny.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I had never heard anyone describe Teresa that way.<\/p>\n<p>Everything I knew about her came from murder evidence, frightened recordings and handwritten warnings.<\/p>\n<p>Funny made her a person.<\/p>\n<p>Dad continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe laughed when she was angry. That used to drive me crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>Then stopped himself.<\/p>\n<p>They dated secretly.<\/p>\n<p>Teresa\u2019s family disliked Robert.<\/p>\n<p>Not because of money.<\/p>\n<p>Because Paul\u2014Victor\u2014had already inserted himself into the Mercer family, and Teresa had begun seeing irregularities around him.<\/p>\n<p>She feared anyone close to her could become leverage.<\/p>\n<p>Robert promised he did not care.<\/p>\n<p>For a while, apparently, that was true.<\/p>\n<p>Then Teresa became pregnant.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith Emily?\u201d Monroe asked.<\/p>\n<p>Dad nodded.<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>There it was.<\/p>\n<p>No laboratory yet.<\/p>\n<p>Just confession.<\/p>\n<p>Emily Mercer was Robert Bennett\u2019s daughter.<\/p>\n<p>My half-sister.<\/p>\n<p>Olivia\u2019s sister.<\/p>\n<p>My cousin no longer.<\/p>\n<p>Or not only.<\/p>\n<p>Family language became useless.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Elizabeth know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow did you meet Elizabeth?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThrough Teresa.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Elizabeth arrived one evening after another fight with Victor.<\/p>\n<p>She needed somewhere to stay.<\/p>\n<p>Teresa asked Robert to help.<\/p>\n<p>He did.<\/p>\n<p>Then Elizabeth became dependent on him.<\/p>\n<p>Or appeared to.<\/p>\n<p>The affair began while Teresa was pregnant.<\/p>\n<p>Dad said it once and then looked physically ill.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was twenty-four.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Monroe\u2019s expression did not change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat explains your age, not your choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Teresa discovered the affair before Emily was born.<\/p>\n<p>She ended the relationship with Robert.<\/p>\n<p>Elizabeth left too.<\/p>\n<p>For several months, all three lived separately.<\/p>\n<p>Then Victor pushed his way back in.<\/p>\n<p>Elizabeth reconnected with him.<\/p>\n<p>Robert reconnected with Elizabeth.<\/p>\n<p>And Teresa, according to Dad, decided she was better off raising Emily alone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about Olivia?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked at the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was different from no.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWere you still seeing Teresa?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout nine months before Olivia was born.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Of course.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d Monroe asked.<\/p>\n<p>Dad answered quietly.<\/p>\n<p>Elizabeth and Robert had fought.<\/p>\n<p>He went to Teresa.<\/p>\n<p>He said it happened once.<\/p>\n<p>One weak night.<\/p>\n<p>One mistake.<\/p>\n<p>Every devastating decision in my family had been reduced to those units.<\/p>\n<p>Once.<\/p>\n<p>Fear.<\/p>\n<p>Panic.<\/p>\n<p>Mistake.<\/p>\n<p>Monroe asked whether he believed Olivia could be his daughter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wondered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you test?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Teresa ever tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Elizabeth suspect?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think she did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That mattered.<\/p>\n<p>A great deal.<\/p>\n<p>If Elizabeth suspected Robert had fathered both Teresa\u2019s children, then her obsession with Olivia took on another dimension.<\/p>\n<p>Not merely guilt over her sister.<\/p>\n<p>Not merely affection for a niece.<\/p>\n<p>Olivia may have been living proof of a betrayal Elizabeth never fully confronted.<\/p>\n<p>And still she raised her.<\/p>\n<p>Or claimed her.<\/p>\n<p>I thought of something Teresa said on the tape.<\/p>\n<p>She was going to take Olivia.<\/p>\n<p>Elizabeth had answered with the fireplace poker.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was going to take Olivia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That sentence suddenly sounded less like panic over losing a niece.<\/p>\n<p>More like possession.<\/p>\n<p>Monroe asked Dad directly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Elizabeth know Olivia might be yours?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad stared at the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTeresa told her during the argument.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The night Teresa died.<\/p>\n<p>The revelation came then.<\/p>\n<p>Not years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Not gradually.<\/p>\n<p>Teresa confronted Elizabeth about fraud.<\/p>\n<p>About Victor.<\/p>\n<p>About leaving.<\/p>\n<p>Then she told her that Robert might be Olivia\u2019s father.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat exactly did Teresa say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s voice became thin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said, \u2018You stole him, and now you think you get my daughter too.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That sentence had lived inside him for twenty-one years.<\/p>\n<p>I could tell by the precision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Elizabeth do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe slapped her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore Victor struck her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd then?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s hands shook.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTeresa said she was taking both girls.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily and Olivia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe said Robert could see them if he wanted, but Elizabeth would never raise them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was when Victor intervened.<\/p>\n<p>The first blow.<\/p>\n<p>Teresa fell.<\/p>\n<p>The video already proved what happened next.<\/p>\n<p>Victor struck again.<\/p>\n<p>Robert left the room after Victor threatened Ethan.<\/p>\n<p>When he returned, Elizabeth held the poker.<\/p>\n<p>Teresa was dead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you believe Elizabeth struck her because of Olivia?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad\u2019s eyes filled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe she told herself she was protecting her family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That sounded like Mom.<\/p>\n<p>Make the motive noble enough and anything could fit inside it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you believe?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat she was horrified.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou helped her bury Teresa.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou then helped her raise Olivia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly your daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad covered his face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd never told Emily she was yours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought Emily was gone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou did not look.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His voice broke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The DNA results arrived that afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>Emily was Robert\u2019s biological daughter.<\/p>\n<p>Probability essentially certain.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody reacted dramatically.<\/p>\n<p>Emily simply stared at the page.<\/p>\n<p>Then asked me to sit beside her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re my sister.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHalf.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you want to be technical.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A tiny smile.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve spent twenty-one years being technical.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That landed harder than expected.<\/p>\n<p>She looked toward the window.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI used to imagine my father.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you imagine?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDifferent versions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A teacher.<\/p>\n<p>A musician.<\/p>\n<p>Someone who died young.<\/p>\n<p>Someone Teresa loved but couldn\u2019t keep.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNever Robert.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I did not know whether to apologize.<\/p>\n<p>His biology was not my doing.<\/p>\n<p>Neither was his cowardice.<\/p>\n<p>Emily saved me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t have to defend him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wasn\u2019t going to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We sat quietly.<\/p>\n<p>Then she asked, \u201cWas he a good father to you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The question was difficult.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was gentle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat isn\u2019t the same.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe protected you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I thought about childhood.<\/p>\n<p>Falling from a bicycle and Dad carrying me home.<\/p>\n<p>Math homework.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday pancakes.<\/p>\n<p>Driving lessons.<\/p>\n<p>Then Northwestern.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>Teresa.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe protected the feeling of being a father.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily turned toward me.<\/p>\n<p>I continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe liked the parts that didn\u2019t require courage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She understood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds like him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Olivia\u2019s result came hours later.<\/p>\n<p>Robert was her biological father too.<\/p>\n<p>My father had fathered both of Teresa\u2019s daughters.<\/p>\n<p>And Elizabeth had raised one of them after participating in Teresa\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n<p>Olivia received the result alone first.<\/p>\n<p>Then asked for me.<\/p>\n<p>When I entered, she held the page as if the paper might cut her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDad knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe suspected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom knew?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe suspected too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Olivia laughed once.<\/p>\n<p>A broken sound.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo everything was a lie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked at me sharply.<\/p>\n<p>I surprised myself by continuing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was real?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTeresa was your mother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Olivia\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe tried to leave with you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tears filled her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe wrote to you. She hid things for you. She tried to get you away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Olivia lowered her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe didn\u2019t abandon you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That mattered because Teresa\u2019s letter said exactly that.<\/p>\n<p>Do not believe I abandoned you.<\/p>\n<p>Olivia cried silently.<\/p>\n<p>I let her.<\/p>\n<p>I did not touch her.<\/p>\n<p>Comfort was not yet something I could offer freely.<\/p>\n<p>But I did not leave.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually she said, \u201cYou\u2019re my sister.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was already your sister.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yes.<\/p>\n<p>Biology rearranged labels but did not erase history.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan was now Emily and Olivia\u2019s half-brother through Robert.<\/p>\n<p>I was their half-sister.<\/p>\n<p>Elizabeth was aunt, adoptive mother, murderer, identity thief.<\/p>\n<p>Robert was father to all four of us, though not in any morally useful sense.<\/p>\n<p>Victor had exploited every line connecting us.<\/p>\n<p>Blood.<\/p>\n<p>Marriage.<\/p>\n<p>Fear.<\/p>\n<p>Money.<\/p>\n<p>He understood that family made excellent camouflage because outsiders were reluctant to question what families called private.<\/p>\n<p>That afternoon, Monroe received a call from border authorities.<\/p>\n<p>The Gregory Vale passport had been used.<\/p>\n<p>Victor had crossed into Canada six hours earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Or someone using the passport had.<\/p>\n<p>A camera photograph showed the driver.<\/p>\n<p>Victor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe missed him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Monroe did not sound defeated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot necessarily.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Canadian authorities had been alerted after the crossing without triggering a public stop.<\/p>\n<p>They wanted to follow him.<\/p>\n<p>If arrested immediately, they might capture Victor.<\/p>\n<p>If watched, they might find the rest of his network.<\/p>\n<p>I hated the calculation.<\/p>\n<p>Emily saw my face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes waiting is necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou said that about my arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She flinched.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Monroe explained the difference.<\/p>\n<p>Victor was under active surveillance.<\/p>\n<p>No civilian was being knowingly left in danger to build evidence.<\/p>\n<p>If he approached anyone vulnerable, authorities would intervene.<\/p>\n<p>I accepted that.<\/p>\n<p>Barely.<\/p>\n<p>Victor drove north.<\/p>\n<p>Then east.<\/p>\n<p>He used cash.<\/p>\n<p>Changed vehicles once.<\/p>\n<p>Met a woman outside Toronto.<\/p>\n<p>Agents photographed her.<\/p>\n<p>Cho ran facial recognition.<\/p>\n<p>The result stunned everyone.<\/p>\n<p>The woman was listed on Teresa\u2019s continuity records.<\/p>\n<p>Bridge child eleven.<\/p>\n<p>Name: Hannah Pierce.<\/p>\n<p>Current age: forty.<\/p>\n<p>Officially a pediatric surgeon.<\/p>\n<p>Clean record.<\/p>\n<p>No obvious financial connection.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s one of the children?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes she know Victor?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe just hugged him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That answered something.<\/p>\n<p>Hannah took Victor to a private residence.<\/p>\n<p>Canadian authorities began building lawful surveillance.<\/p>\n<p>Within hours, Victor\u2019s vehicle left again.<\/p>\n<p>He traveled alone.<\/p>\n<p>Then doubled back.<\/p>\n<p>Classic counter-surveillance.<\/p>\n<p>He was testing for tails.<\/p>\n<p>He eventually abandoned the car at a train station.<\/p>\n<p>Security cameras lost him.<\/p>\n<p>For four hours, nobody knew where he was.<\/p>\n<p>Then a message arrived on my secure phone.<\/p>\n<p>A photograph.<\/p>\n<p>Me sitting beside Emily in the hospital earlier that day.<\/p>\n<p>Taken through the window.<\/p>\n<p>Below it:<\/p>\n<p>Congratulations on finding another sister.<\/p>\n<p>My skin went cold.<\/p>\n<p>Victor was not in Canada.<\/p>\n<p>Or not anymore.<\/p>\n<p>He had been near the hospital.<\/p>\n<p>Monroe locked down the floor.<\/p>\n<p>Agents searched buildings, parking structures, cameras.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing.<\/p>\n<p>The photograph metadata had been stripped.<\/p>\n<p>Then another message appeared.<\/p>\n<p>Ask Robert what Teresa promised him if Elizabeth died.<\/p>\n<p>I showed Monroe.<\/p>\n<p>Dad was questioned immediately.<\/p>\n<p>His face changed when he saw the message.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe never promised me anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Monroe waited.<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked toward the mirror.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe asked me once.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I would take the girls if something happened to her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEmily and Olivia?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said yes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Elizabeth?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad stared at his hands.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTeresa said Elizabeth would never let her leave while she had leverage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat leverage?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room went still.<\/p>\n<p>Elizabeth had loved Robert.<\/p>\n<p>Or needed him.<\/p>\n<p>Or needed the legitimacy his life offered.<\/p>\n<p>Teresa believed that as long as Elizabeth could threaten Robert with exposure, custody, fraud or scandal, Robert would remain trapped.<\/p>\n<p>Teresa intended to expose everything anyway.<\/p>\n<p>But she had another plan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Elizabeth died?\u201d Monroe asked.<\/p>\n<p>Dad shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTeresa didn\u2019t say she wanted her dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat Victor eventually kills people who stop being useful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dad looked sick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe thought Elizabeth would be next.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That gave the message another meaning.<\/p>\n<p>Victor was not merely taunting me.<\/p>\n<p>He was pointing toward something from the past he believed we had not discovered.<\/p>\n<p>Ask Robert what Teresa promised him if Elizabeth died.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe he wanted Dad blamed.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe he wanted Mom afraid.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe he wanted all of us looking backward while he moved.<\/p>\n<p>Then Emily said something from her hospital bed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s not talking about twenty-one years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everyone looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe uses old language for current instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen Victor says \u2018if Elizabeth died,\u2019 he may be telling Robert what happens if Elizabeth dies now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>Mom was in federal custody.<\/p>\n<p>Protected.<\/p>\n<p>But Victor had people inside systems.<\/p>\n<p>The continuity list had proved that.<\/p>\n<p>Bridge children.<\/p>\n<p>Prepared identities.<\/p>\n<p>Unknown loyalties.<\/p>\n<p>Monroe called the detention facility.<\/p>\n<p>Elizabeth was being transported.<\/p>\n<p>Scheduled transfer.<\/p>\n<p>Routine.<\/p>\n<p>The vehicle had left fourteen minutes earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Then contact with the transport team stopped.<\/p>\n<p>My blood went cold.<\/p>\n<p>A tracking unit showed the van stationary beneath an overpass.<\/p>\n<p>Agents raced there.<\/p>\n<p>The driver was alive but unconscious.<\/p>\n<p>One guard injured.<\/p>\n<p>The second guard missing.<\/p>\n<p>So was Elizabeth.<\/p>\n<p>Victor had taken my mother.<\/p>\n<p>And for the first time, I could not tell whether he had abducted her to protect a secret\u2014<\/p>\n<p>or to finally eliminate the woman who knew almost everything about him.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=13274\">Click here to continue reading: PART 14: Victor Took My Mother From Federal Custody, but Her Secret Emergency Signal Pointed Us Toward the Place Teresa Had Tried to Escape<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nobody said the possibility aloud until a judge authorized DNA testing. Until then, it remained a shape in the room. Robert Bennett had known Teresa Mercer before he supposedly met &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13297,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13273\/revisions\/13297"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}