The Lost Summer (Haven Cliff #2)

Chapter One

The email came in overnight.

It’s short. Unambiguous.

Still, he reads it several times on his phone, then opens his laptop to go over it again, as if it might suddenly yield additional information.

I’m trying to find my birth family via DNA testing on the genealogical website Lost and Found. My results identify you as a close biological relative. I’m aware that this is a potentially sensitive topic, but if you’re willing to discuss this further, I promise complete discretion.

That’s it. Nothing more. No signature, not a hint toward gender, age, or location.

He copies the email address and plugs it into Google.

It doesn’t get a single hit.

That’s to be expected. The Lost and Found website recommends that users create a new address strictly for genealogical research purposes. It’s right there under the FAQs:

While connecting with DNA matches can lead to rewarding relationships, providing personal information to strangers—even those who share a bloodline—may occasionally lead to unhealthy or unwanted communication.

There’s only one way to uncover this person’s identity.

But he’d have to risk revealing his own.

That would be dangerous.

Not for him, as much as for the stranger who sent the email.

Hands poised on the keyboard, he weighs his options.

Then he begins to type.