Undue Competition by R A Wallace

Author:R A Wallace [Wallace, R A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-25T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

She heard the main office phone ring but ignored it knowing that Mrs. Brzeski was there to answer. Callie accessed her online newspaper subscription and began to search for Marquita Dixon. She didn’t find much. There was a reference to an open horse show when Marquita was a young teen. She’d competed with others at the agricultural center. Although she hadn’t won, Marquita was in the photo submitted with the story. Callie stared at it for several moments. She could see a resemblance in Jesse.

She continued searching. Finally, she found what she was looking for. It was the birth record for Jesse that was posted in the newspaper around the time he was born. The fact that the father’s name wasn’t given in the paper with the vital statistics was telling, but not absolute. She doubted that a father was listed on the birth certificate but there was no way for her to access the original record to confirm it. Still, it was something.

Based on the information that her mother gave to her, Marquita gave birth shortly before Guy Gallagher left Florida and approximately nine months after the beach party that Marquita refused to ever discuss. Not with Margaret, at any rate. Callie sat for a moment longer, trying to imagine what her mother and the others involved in the current drama were like as teenagers. She wondered how much of their past had brought them all to where they were now. She knew what her parents had looked like from old family photos. Now she also had an image of Marquita in her mind. She needed to get a better image of Guy Gallagher as well.

***

The sprawling conference center was a constant hum of activity everywhere she went. The rooms holding competitions were closed for admittance while the students were working through the projects given to them. Ariana mingled with others throughout the building whenever possible. There was a large cafeteria area with seating that provided a constant flow of new faces.

There were other rooms where students met to discuss events they’d just completed or those they were scheduled to participate in. She knew that many students came and went throughout the day depending on the events they’d signed up for. She assumed that the majority of older people she saw were the advisors who had accompanied the students from all over the country.

Ariana finally found Michael and Sierra standing in the hall outside one of the rooms used for a two-hour competition. She could tell by their expressions that they were focused on whatever they were doing. She wondered if they’d made any progress.

“How is it going?” Ariana stopped next to them.

“We’ve learned a little bit,” Sierra said. “But not as much as we need to.”

“We have a plan in place.” Michael watched as a constant stream of people passed by them going in both directions.

“We just aren’t getting to talk to the students as much as we’d like.” Sierra’s brows pulled together as she followed Michael’s gaze.

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