Temper (Knights of Fury #3) - Chantal Fernando Page 0,41
whoever told Renny about it gave his real name instead of his shady drug lord name,” Izzy murmurs, flicking through his photos. “He looks like a normal guy. From his social media, it looks like he lives a relatively clean, boring life. Look, he even volunteers his time at the local food bank and donates there every week. He’s older than I thought he would be.”
“So he’s a generous drug lord who cares about the community?” I say as we scan through the photos. “I don’t know, are we sure this is him? His profile looks extremely wholesome.”
“Well, he hasn’t posted in like two years,” Izzy says, shrugging. “Let’s look at some older photos,” she murmurs, going right to the bottom of the album and starting there.
She swipes through a few, and one of them catches my eye. “Wait, hold on, go back to that one.”
She goes back, and looks at me expectantly. The photo is a group photo of five people, and I recognize the one in the middle.
I point to the woman standing next to Palmer, looking up at him with stars in her eyes.
“That’s my mother.”
Chapter Sixteen
“That’s your mom?” Izzy asks, zooming in on the photo. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” I say, narrowing my eyes. “She’s much younger, but yes, that’s definitely her.”
Izzy looks at me with wide eyes. What does this even mean?
“Maybe they’re old high school friends or something,” she suggests, wrinkling her nose. “I mean, come on, there has to be a valid explanation for this.”
“Should I call her and ask? I don’t know what to do right now. She’s already hounding me to get my ass home, and if I ask her any questions she’s going to worry even more about me.” I groan, scrubbing my hand down my face in frustration.
“Of all the ties, I must admit I wasn’t expecting this one,” Izzy muses, taking a screenshot of the photo. “I don’t think you should say anything to her yet. Let’s speak to Temper and see what he says.” She closes her laptop and chugs the rest of her drink. “I think we’re going to need another one.”
“Yes, please,” I agree, sighing.
How the hell does Mom know some drug kingpin? My mom is the most innocent, boring woman I’ve ever known. She sticks to herself, she makes jars of jam and preserves in her spare time and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her have a glass of wine, never mind have any kind of interest in drugs. Even though she owns and runs a bar, she’s never been into drinking, or any other vices that I can think of.
My mind is blown right now.
We’re tipsy...more like borderline drunk when Temper and Renny show up at the door.
“We have something to show you,” Izzy says to Temper. We all sit down and we show them the picture.
“That’s your mom?” Renny asks, looking between me and the photo. “You don’t really look like her.”
“I know,” I reply, holding my phone. “What do we do? Do I call her and ask her or are we just going to leave it? This could mean nothing at all and be a huge coincidence or...”
Or like Izzy said, it’s the unexpected connection that we’ve been looking for.
“Don’t worry,” Temper assures me, standing behind me and gently massaging my shoulders. “Whatever it is, we will sort it out, okay?”
I nod, but really all I want to do is speak to my mom.
We all head back to the clubhouse, even Izzy, who gives up on work to spend some extra time with us.
Even when life is going to shit, it’s nice to have some people who are right there with you.
* * *
“Where are we going?” I ask Temper, staring out at the road, trying to see where the hell he is taking us.
“I told you, it’s a surprise,” he says again, giving me a quick grin. “You’ve been sitting in the clubhouse worrying about things since yesterday, and we need to get your mind off everything.”