Page 3 of Rowe

Little did he know that being on Grayson’s team would lead him to the family he never knew he needed.

CHAPTER TWO

Mara Guillory sat in the attorney’s office stunned by what she was hearing. Her sister had never told her about the will.

Mara worked as a dispatcher for the New Orleans Police and Fire Departments. She often chose to work night shifts so that she could help her sister with her daughter. They were close. She just didn’t realize how close.

Kiera was barely a year old and now an orphan. Her mother gone in the blink of an eye from ovarian cancer. Her father, not part of the picture and no signs of him becoming part of the picture.

“Miss Guillory, do you understand what I’m telling you? Your sister chose you as the sole guardian for Kiera. Are you capable and willing to take this on?”

“I. Yes. I’m just shocked. She never mentioned that she’d even written a will,” said Mara.

“She came into my office the day she was diagnosed. Stage four ovarian cancer is nothing to sneeze at. She couldn’t afford anything extravagant, but she paid for the will in cash, then paid for her cremation. You shouldn’t have any funeral expenses.”

“I’ll make sure I can have day shifts at the department,” she said through a veil of silent tears. The department was more than happy to adjust her schedule. For a while. But they couldn’t guarantee day shifts forever. That would be problematic for Mara.

So, she did what she knew she needed to do. She found a new job.

She knew nothing about insurance, nor anything about Pelican Insurance. The training was six weeks long, but only from nine to four every day. She could manage that with daycare.

The last few days of the training were rushed. The company wanted the agents out there to sign new clients immediately. There was a hurricane coming and people needed protection.

“Sir, I have some questions,” said Mara.

“Me, too,” said another woman.

“What now?” he said with a sigh. There were a handful of women that had asked more questions than he would have liked. He wanted them to be dumb. Not stupid. Just take whatever he said at face value.

“This language isn’t easily comprehended. I mean, it’s very confusing and I have a college degree. Some of these people won’t understand what they aren’t going to be covered for.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just tell them it’s administrative language,” said Calder.

“Administrative language? Sir, this is fraud,” said Mara. “You’re trying to convince people that they have coverage when they actually don’t.”

Lenora let out a long breath and stood at the front of the classroom. She pointed to a dozen new recruits and told them they would move into another room to finalize paperwork and assignments.

Seven women remained.

A few moments later a platter of sandwiches, salads, chips, cookies, and iced tea in a jug were brought in.

“Have some lunch and we’ll talk about your concerns,” smiled Lenora. The women all took their food and sat back down at the desks. They whispered among themselves and looked back up at Lenora, Calder, and Voss every now and then.

One of the women wavered, her head bobbing up and down.

“Hey, are you, are you o-okay,” muttered Mara, her own head spinning as she spoke.

“I-I’m dizzy,” said another.

Suddenly seven women collapsed onto the carpet and Lenora smiled down at them.

“Get the others in the field. When they’re gone, we handle these seven.”

The first one they chained was Mara, but when the concrete slab rocked slightly, Voss panicked and leaped back into the small boat.

“Those fucking idiots didn’t secure this one,” he said.

“Should we leave her?” asked Lenora.