Chapter 7

***Bette***

I am
sitting here with my wife and my sister. Not Kit my sister, but Olivia. I just
found out that I have a sister. Shes thirty-four, and she lives in New York. I
also found out that my mother, whom I thought were dead for the past eleven
years, was actually alive, well up until two years ago. Naturally I would have
lots of questions.

Why now?
Why after all these years?

I never
knew I had a sister. Mom never mentioned you. Im sorry.

Oh. I
replied, with obvious dejection and disappointment.

No, no,
its not like that. She had to. By my silence she realised she wasnt yet
reassuring. Apparently the guy who attacked her was a serial rapist and
murderer and our mother was his only living victim. And when he found out she
was still alive he tried to kill her at the hospital. Well he sent some one of
his thug friends to do it. They caught him and everything, but he never gave
his name. So mom went into protective custody. They gave her the name Serena
Benson.

Did they
ever catch him? Tina asked.

Eventually.
He was dying by the time he was caught.

So how
did you find out about me?

After she
died I went digging. Well I was taking care of some things. She looked down in
silence for a moment. She kept a box. Hidden away. I sometimes saw her looking
through it when shes alone and she would always hide it whenever I came in. So
the detective in me decided to find out what was so personal she couldnt even
share with me. I saw some pictures of her with a guy and a little girl. It was
hard though, because I was looking for a Serena Benson and not a Maxine
Porter.

So you
had no idea that she was under witness protection?

No. She
never told me. I mean how could she right?

Yeah. I
guess. So how did you know where to find me?

I was
coming up blank with every search for Benson. I knew I was a child from a rape
but thats all I had to go on. When I joined Special Victims I did my own
investigations and found out about the guy, about my father and then I found
out that Serena Benson was once Maxine Porter, who lived in Chicago with a
husband Melvin and daughter Bette and step daughter Kit. They were separated
when you were about eight. She left Chicago a year after, after the divorce. He
got custody of you and I guess the rest is history.