Heavy Traffic Ch. 03

"Good to see you too Michelle. Are you ready to roll?"

"Unless Captain Ewell has any other issues with me I believe I'm ready?"

Captain Ewell shook his head. "We were just surprised by the sudden appearance of a DHS helicopter and wanted to know why standard protocols were not followed. The Sergeant Major has explained the situation so there are no further issues here. Please accept my apologies for the delay."

Sean's cell phone vibrated. He checked the display and answered the call from Tosha Touey. "Hi Tosha. Everything is all set here. Thanks for your help."

"Anytime Captain. Take care."

Sean hung up and put his phone back in its holster. He shook Captain Ewell's hand and then led Special Agent Anderson to the front passenger door on his car. He opened the door for her and took her duffle bag. While she got situated, he placed her bag in the back of his car and resumed his place in the driver's seat. Amanda noticed that Agent Anderson had unbuttoned the last bottom button on her polo shirt while they were waiting for Sean to return to his seat.

"Amanda Wallace, I'd like to introduce Michelle Anderson," Sean said as he started his car and began to back out of the parking space.

"I thought your fiancée's name was Kimberly?" said Michelle as she looked over her shoulder at Amanda.

Sean was confused for a second until he remembered that the last time he had been with Michelle Anderson, he was still engaged to Kimberly, and she must think that he and Amanda are now married because of their last names.

"My fiancée's name was Kimberly. Amanda, could you explain the rest to Michelle?"

"Certainly sweetheart," Amanda said. "I stole Sean away from Kimberly and we have been married for over a year now." She said this with a straight face and was able to maintain it until she saw the shocked look on Sean's face in the rear view mirror.

"I'm just teasing," Amanda said with a chuckle. "Sean and I just met today when he saved my life. It is merely a coincidence that our last names are the same."

Michelle smiled at Amanda's joke at Sean's expense then directed her next question to him, "So did you and Kimberly get married or not?"

"Not," said Sean.

"Her loss will definitely be some other lucky girl's gain," said Michelle, and Amanda noticed her smile broaden as well as subtle changes in her body language towards Sean. This tall attractive vixen obviously had an interest in Sean Wallace and Amanda realized that she didn't feel a single flutter of jealousy within herself. She sensed that Sean wouldn't respond to any advances from another woman as long as he was with her. Her trust in the fidelity of a man that she had just met would have surprised her, but for some reason after his explanation about Karen Mason, she almost had expected it where Sean Wallace was concerned.

Michelle turned back to look at Amanda, "I'm please to meet you Amanda. You can call me 'Mickey'. So you were captured with the girls as I understand it?" The breathy voice that she had used when speaking to Sean became entirely professional as she addressed Amanda.

"Yes," Amanda confirmed, "but we were separated early this morning."

Mickey nodded. "Give me a second to activate the recorder feature on my smartphone, and then I would like you to tell me your story from the beginning. I hope you don't mind being recorded because if I tried writing your statement down while riding in a moving vehicle, I'm afraid I would get car sick."

"Of course," said Amanda.

When Mickey gave her the go ahead, she repeated the same details that she had shared earlier with Sean, with clarification or additional details added when Mickey interrupted her with questions.

Once Amanda had finished, Mickey turned off the recorder, turned to Sean and said, "It sounds like Sean has a reward due him for his heroism." She reached over, stroked his arm and continued in a tone that clearly indicated her intentions, "I'll see what I can do to make sure he receives the recognition he deserves."

Sean ignored the obvious flirtation but Amanda sensed his discomfort and thought she should try and change the subject. "Do either of you know if there is an Australian Consulate office in Atlanta? I need to try and get a passport and arrange for some money and credit cards."

Mickey turned back around to face Amanda. "The Australian Consulate in Atlanta closed down in 2012. The closest resource you would have is the embassy in Washington, DC. I can have someone from our headquarters contact them for you and expedite getting you a replacement passport. Let me make the call right now so that you can provide the necessary information to get the process started."

Without waiting for a response, Mickey dialed a number on her phone and put it on speakerphone. Once she had the Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations on the line she explained the situation. The Director asked Mickey to hold for a minute, and when he came back onto the line, he had established a conference call with Consular Services at the Australian Embassy.

A professional voice with a proud Australian accent said, "This is Gregory Talbot. I understand that someone needs to obtain a replacement passport. Can I have the name of the traveler please?"

Amanda leaned forward to speak into Mickey's phone, "My name is Amanda Jean Wallace. My Mother's maiden name was Graham. My residence is in the Northern Territory and my date of birth is March 18, 1989. What else will you need to know?"

"Amanda Wallace of Wallace Holdings?"

Watching Sean's eyes in the rearview mirror for his reaction, Amanda said, "Yes, that's me."

"Good Lord! We had no idea that you were traveling to the United States Miss Wallace. Normally we would have been notified so that we could be prepared to assist you. Do you mind if I ask what your point of departure from Australia was? Heads will definitely roll over this."

Both Sean and Mickey had looks of curiosity on their faces but remained silent as Amanda continued, "This wasn't a planned trip Mr. Talbot. I didn't depart from Australia. I was volunteering in East Timor when I was captured along with twenty-five orphan girls by slave traders. I was rescued this morning when I was taken off the ship that brought us here."

Mickey cut in at this point, "Amanda is currently working with US authorities to locate and rescue the rest of the girls that were captured along with her. She is in our protective custody and we will make certain that her every need is taken care of until we can safely return her to your Embassy."

The Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations added, "While our guest in this country, Miss Wallace's immigration or visitor status will not be an issue, but we wanted her Embassy to be aware of the situation and be prepared to assist her when she eventually returns to Australia."

"Of course," said the Consular agent. "Miss Wallace, is there anything further that we can assist you with in the meantime?"

Amanda spoke again, "I believe I will need some form of identification in order for me to get my credit cards reissued and to have my bank release some funds to me here. Does anyone have any suggestions in this regard?"

"The Embassy will be able to assist you with all of that Miss Wallace. If you would like to provide me with the details of which credit cards you would like reissued as well as the amount of any funds you require, I'll get on it for you immediately along with a replacement passport which should serve as adequate identification for you. I should be able to have everything ready for you to pick up from an American Express office within a couple of hours, but definitely by close of business today. How can I get in touch with you once everything is in place?"

Mickey gave him her cell phone number and provided their destination for today as Atlanta for the proper American Express office to be identified.

As soon as she finished, Amanda continued, "If you could assist with getting my passport and American Express card reissued, I could handle the transfer of funds from that point. I would also appreciate it if you could contact Jeremy Thorndike at Thorndike and Rogers to let him know my situation. Tell him that I will contact him as soon as I can, but no later than tomorrow evening."

"Excellent. Miss Wallace, please note my direct number is xxx-xxx-xxxx. I am at your service twenty-four hours a day."

"One more thing Mr. Talbot. As of this time, only five people, including you know of my situation and the circumstances related to it. I am a very private person Mr. Talbot, so if anything about me shows up in the press, I will have a very short list of heads to place on spikes. Please provide my status and location to Jeremy Thorndike but no one else without either his or my approval. Is that understood?

"I should let the Ambassador know, but I will relay your desires to her as well."

"As long as you and the Ambassador recognize that these are not 'desires', but demands then I am fine with you letting her know. Thank you Mr. Talbot."

After disconnecting the call, Mickey looked at Sean and then turned back to study Amanda. "Are you a member of the royal family or something?"

Amanda laughed and said, "There's not a drop of royal blood in my body."

"Then who are you?" asked Mickey. "I mean besides 'Amanda Jean Wallace of Wallace Holdings'?"

"That's all I am," said Amanda. Her dejected tone was not lost on Sean.

Mickey was getting frustrated so she decided to Google Amanda's name. She had to modify her search by adding "Australia" to the string before she started seeing results that shed some light onto the situation.

After reading the results for a few minutes she turned once again to Sean and said, "Amanda Jean Wallace is one of the 10 wealthiest women in Australia with a net worth of more than $300 million dollars. She's richer than Nicole Kidman for crying out loud."

Turning back to Amanda she asked, "That's who you are, right?"

Amanda simply nodded and turned to look out the side window of the car. Sean watched her reaction in the rearview mirror. He recognized the defeated expression that comes from losing the anonymity that allows a person to be viewed as "normal". He knew better than most how it felt to be treated special because of wealth, and he wanted to share this with Amanda, but he didn't think that this was the right time or place.

Mickey was still reviewing the details she had found on Amanda. "You won an Olympic medal?"

Amanda nodded but kept her eyes on Sean's as she said, "I won an individual Silver and a team Bronze at the 2008 games."

"Impressive," said Sean. "What was your sport?"

"Twenty-five meter pistol," said Amanda.

Mickey and Sean exchanged glances but didn't comment further on Amanda's background. "We're going to be hitting interstate 75 soon," Sean said as he paired his phone with the hands-free Bluetooth again. "I want to see if we can find out where the truck is at this point."

"Wallace", was the greeting when his uncle answered.

"Any update on the location of our target truck?" asked Sean.

"Hold on and I'll get the latest," replied Kirby. After a minute he came back on the line, "Still northbound on 75 approaching exit 97."

"Perfect," said Sean. "We'll be entering 75 at exit 99 in about five minutes. We should be falling in right behind them."

Turning to Amanda so that she knew he was including her in the conversation he went on, "Anyone have suggestions on how we proceed? Personally, I'm for getting the girls safely off the truck and continuing to investigate the conspiracy after that."

"The safety of the girls has to be the priority," said Mickey. "If we can rescue them without tipping off the conspirators that would be the ideal situation."

"I have some thoughts on how to handle the rescue," said Sean. "Uncle Kirby, could you arrange for some cellular dead zones along our route, say the entire section of interstate 475?"

"It would take me about five minutes to shut the towers down in that area," said Kirby. "I have a direct line established already with Ericsson and their technicians are standing by the switches."

"Good," said Sean. "Let me make another call to see what I can get in place to stop the truck and separate it from the blue van. I'll get back to you in a few minutes Uncle Kirby."

Looking at Mickey again Sean said, "Can you start making arrangements for handling the girls once we get them off the truck? We'll need transportation and a location for you to take them for processing."

Before Mickey could answer Amanda interrupted, "I need to be there with the girls. They will be frightened and few of them understand any English. Most speak Portuguese, but some only speak native Tetum Dili. Some will also likely require at least minor medical attention."

Mickey agreed with Amanda, "I think you being there at the rescue would make things much easier for everyone. I'll get a bus heading south from Atlanta immediately with a team of agents for transport and then start identifying suitable locations for the girls to be treated and processed."

Mickey started dialing her phone as Sean disabled his hands free and spoke into his own phone with voice dial instructions. Amanda had trouble following the two subsequent one-sided conversations as Sean and Mickey each gave instructions and received information on their respective plans, so she tried to focus her attention on what Sean was saying.

"John, you do not need to check with anyone else before following instructions that I give you," Sean was telling the person on the other end of the conversation. "I don't care what you have been told. I own the company and unless you want to find other employment you will do what I say immediately and without question." There was a slight pause as Sean listened. He then continued, "Fine, I will follow the verbal instructions up with an e-mail to you, but don't wait for that before doing what I instructed. I expect you to call me back in five minutes confirming my directions are being carried out." He hung up and just stared out the windshield for a few seconds.

"What are you trying to do?" asked Amanda. Mickey was still engrossed in her own conversation and wasn't paying attention to Sean's call.

"One of the truck stops I own is up ahead about forty miles north of us. I want to get three of the trucks currently there - hopefully ones also owned by one of my companies - to help us create a rolling blockade of the target truck somewhere along interstate 475. I'm getting real irritated by the pushback I have been receiving every time I give instructions to people who supposedly work for me and I don't have the time right now to deal with the cause of this irritation. It's almost like someone has been subverting my authority while I have been out on my sabbatical."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" asked Amanda?

Sean thought for a minute, remembering how assertive Amanda had been in her dealing with the Australian Embassy official and then looked at her in the rearview mirror. He saw a way that he could use her skills at intimidation to his benefit and to keep her mind off the pending rescue of the girls. She would need to be accepted as having the authority to speak for him. "Would you marry me?"

"Excuse me?"

He had a grin on his face when he said, "Your little joke with Mickey earlier gives me an idea. Let's stop at that Subway up the road for some sandwiches and I'll explain my idea while we wait for our orders."

After placing orders for their sandwiches and one for Mickey, Sean explained his idea to Amanda and he was pleased to see her smile mischievously. "If you were to pretend to be my wife, your authority to act on my behalf would be accepted by most people.

Returning to the car, Sean handed his cell phone to Amanda, "Here, take my phone and find a contact for my lawyers, Middleton, Parker and Pierre. Call the number, put the phone on speaker and ask for Bryce Pierre."

Amanda did as he requested and as the phone started to ring, she held the phone near the headrest of Sean's seat and leaned forward. Mickey moved her head farther to the right to continue her own cell phone conversation.

"Law offices," was the greeting.

Amanda spoke in a firm, professional voice, "Sean Wallace calling for Bryce Pierre."

"One moment, I will see if Mr. Pierre is available." Hold music filled the background.

Within only a few minutes, the voice of Bryce Pierre was heard, "Mr. Wallace, what can I do for you?"

"Bryce, I want to start by introducing you to Amanda Wallace. She will be acting on my authority for the remainder of our conversation. Is that understood?"

Amanda took her queue and said, "Mr. Pierre, I look forward to meeting you very shortly, but in the meantime we have been receiving some troubling feedback from several of our employees that we wanted to discuss with you."

"I wasn't aware that you had married, Mr. Wallace. Did you have another firm prepare a pre-nuptial agreement?"

Amanda cut him off, "We are not calling to discuss our pre or post nuptials with you Mr. Pierre, and unless you want to stay focused on our current concerns, I am prepared to move all of Sean's legal representation over to my own legal team at Thorndike and Roberts. If you want to call them to check on me, feel free. Ask for Jeremy Thorndike in their Sydney offices. If you call right now, you'll get their after-hours switchboard, but if you say you're calling on my behalf, you will be put right through to Jeremy. I'll give you five minutes."

The hold music returned and Sean smiled broadly and nodded at Amanda to show his satisfaction with the role she was playing.

Pierre was back within the time limit he had been given. "Mr. and Mrs. Wallace, I want to apologize and take the opportunity to congratulate both of you. Now, how can I be of service?"

"I assume that Jeremy didn't have much time but was suitably able to convince you of my validity?"

"Yes Mrs. Wallace. He made it clear that you were someone I should take very seriously. Trust me, I do."

Amanda continued without acknowledging Pierre's comments. "We want to know what circumstances may have occurred that would have usurped Sean's authority with his own employees. Every request or instruction given today to an employee of one of our companies has been met with reluctance until it is approved by Tom Folsom. Why would employees of our company feel recalcitrant where Sean's instructions are concerned?"

"Well, it's rather complicated to explain over the phone..."

"There is nothing complicated about this Mr. Pierre. I am still the sole owner of Wallace Enterprises, am I not?" asked Sean.

"Yes, of course, but..."

"No buts," said Amanda. "We want you to do your job and represent our interest over all others or I'll find someone who will. Is that understood?"

"Yes, of course. What would you like me to do?" said Pierre.

Amanda continued the authoritative lead that she thought Sean was seeking from her, "We want you to immediately draft a memorandum to all employees reminding them of who they work for and that any further hesitation on their behalf to follow direct instructions from either Mr. Wallace or myself will be considered insubordination and subject them to immediate termination. I want to see a copy of it on Sean's phone within thirty minutes. In addition, we want you to initiate a forensic audit of all company financials to commence no later than 48 hours from now. I want you to use auditors recommended by Thorndike and Rogers and no others. You will not notify anyone at Wallace Enterprises of this pending audit. Finally, we want you to notify all manger level employees and higher that they are to remain on-call for a meeting with Sean and myself at a time and place to be communicated to them shortly. This will be a mandatory meeting and nothing short of the person being confined to intensive care will be accepted as an excuse for not participating."