Elle finished her laugh with a snort. “You did a job for her? I thought you got out of the game.”
“I did, but she tricked me, told me it was for Uncle Carl. Anyway, that’s over. I don’t have to do any more cons. Now I’m just curious to reconnect after being gone for so long.”
“Look, if it’s family you want, forget her. Go find your birth parents.”
Not that again! Elle found her birth parents years ago, when she left Los Angeles. I had yet to even feel the yearning. The way I saw it, they abandoned me, so I didn’t have to parade myself in front of them for hugs and kisses. Elle and I even had a fight over this at one point, after which the subject of my birth parents was declared off-limits. “Hey,” I protested. “I thought you agreed to stop bothering me about that.”
“Yeah, but you’re the one who’s waxing nostalgic down there in L.A. I figured maybe you’re ready again.”
“Not even close. I don’t care about my birth parents any more than they cared about me.”
“You’d be surprised. All parents care about their children. My birth parents were too young and poor to raise me, but they were delighted when I found them. Let me tell you, it was amazing—gave me new perspective on the F.M.”
I chuckled at her reference to our foster mother. “Hey, I’d love to get a new perspective on the F.M. To talk to her and ask her some questions. Try to understand her. The last thing I need is three parents to figure out.”
“That’s ridiculous. I’m sure your parents are interesting. They made you. Hell, I’d like to meet them.” She sucked in a quick breath. “You know what? I’ll make you a deal. You let me find them for you, and I’ll never bother you about them again. I promise I won’t even ask if you contacted them. But you have to let me find them for you. I’ll get the hacker on my crew to do it. Okay?”
Silence filled the phone line for a few seconds. She was right about the nostalgia. Even though I should be getting on a plane and leaving here, I remained in town, looking for answers. Maybe I did need to meet my birth parents—one of these days. In a rare moment, I caved. “Okay.”