Mickey continued to observe Sean's responses to Amanda. She had to admit that Amanda certainly knew how to handle herself and to effectively impart her will onto others, using either kindness or intimidation when each was called for. She had a smile that inspired servitude, without arrogance or entitlement. Each interaction that Sean had observed between Amanda and another person had obviously increased his admiration in her. Her "Adam, come try a taste of this apple" smile had been saved exclusively for Sean, and it had apparently worked its magic. It was also obvious that Amanda worshiped Sean and she made no secret of her devotion to him. For two people who had known each other for only a few hours, there was a clear and visible bond, and much to Mickey's dismay, it seemed to be growing by the minute. Amanda was about to impress her and Sean even further.
"Sean, could I make a suggestion about the rescue?" Amanda asked.
Sean met her eyes in the rearview mirror and said, "What's that?"
"We're assuming that the blue van following the truck is carrying the traders, right? I suggest that we verify that by you driving past the van and let me see if I recognize anyone in it. If it is holding the traders, then I'll try to get a count of how many of them are in the van, which will then tell us how many might be either in the cab of the truck or inside the carrier with the girls. Ideally, all six traders would be in the blue van, which would allow us to separate them from the truck and make rescuing the girls much safer for everyone."
"How would you suggest separating the van from the truck?"
"The first idea that comes to mind is to give them a flat tire so that they have to pull over to the side of the road. If you position this car behind them, maybe Mickey could shoot out their right rear tire without them noticing the shot. Once they are on the side of the road and away from the truck, they would be sitting ducks."
Sean considered her suggestion. "Even if only some of the traders are in the van, dividing their force makes sense. Okay, let's start by passing the van and getting you a chance to see inside it. My back windows are tinted dark enough that no one will be able to see you back there as long as you don't press your face against the inside of the glass."
"Speak of the devil," said Mickey. "I think I have the blue van in sight about a half mile ahead in the right lane."
"Okay," said Sean. "I'll pass it on the left so why don't you go ahead and scoot over to the right side of the back seat Amanda. Mickey, as we pass the truck try to see if there is anyone in the cab besides the driver. You may not be able to see anything until we're far enough in front of it for you to see the windshield in your side mirror so let's get it adjusted for you now. I have the controls over here, so I'll move it per your instructions. Use one of the trucks behind us as your guide."
Mickey guided the adjustment of the right side mirror until it was positioned so that she could use it to see the windshield of trucks as they passed them. "All set," she said.
Amanda had moved over behind Mickey and she also confirmed that she was in position. Sean sped up to cut the distance between them and the blue van faster. Within only a few seconds, they were passing it. Sean slowed slightly to allow Amanda plenty of time to inspect the occupants of the van.
"I recognize the driver and front passenger," said Amanda. There are two passengers in the middle seat and two more in the very back seat, but I can't see their faces clearly. I would say that we have all six of the traders in the van."
"That's good news," said Sean. "Now let's see if the driver of the truck is alone. Get ready Mickey."
Sean sped up again to pass the container truck. He had to get ahead of it by several car lengths before Mickey had the windshield visible to her in the side mirror. "Only the driver is visible," she said.
"Okay," said Sean. "I'm going to get off at the next exit and let them get in front of us again." He heard his cell phone ring through the car's speakers and he answered it.
"Sean?" said his Uncle Kirby. "Hold on while I bring the three drivers on the line with us."
"Before you do, Amanda got a look at the men in the blue van and identified them as the ones who captured her and the girls. That is definite confirmation that we have the right truck and it is our target," said Sean.
"Good to know," said Kirby. "Hold on. Stan, Bruce, and Tony; are all of you on?" Three separate voices acknowledged their connection to the conference call. "Good. Sean, why don't you take it from here?"
"Yes sir. Gentlemen, my name is Sean Wallace. While you all work for one of the companies I own, I am recruiting each of you today to perform a task in service to your country, not to me or my companies. We need your assistance to rescue 25 young girls who are being held prisoner against their will. There should be no danger to any of you related to your participation in this operation, and your activities will be legal and fully sanctioned by the proper authorities. I must insist that you keep our operation secret until it is completed, but after that, you will be free to discuss it. Are you all in agreement with participating in the operation under these terms?"
"Yes," came the first response.
"Count me in," came the second.
"I'm in," came the third.
"Thanks," said Sean. "Now here's what we need to do. The target truck is currently northbound on I-75 approaching exit 146. As soon as it passes exit 155 where the three of you are waiting, you will need to enter the highway and start positioning yourselves. Once the target truck has committed to taking the interstate 475 bypass around Macon, one of you will need to move in front of the target while at the same time another of you needs to pull directly to the left of the target and pace it exactly. That will have it blocked front and side. There is a blue van following the truck and my silver Volvo SUV will be behind it. I need the third of you to move in behind my car. Several marked and unmarked police cars will be tight on your tail waiting so don't get concerned when you see them. Any questions so far?"
One of the truckers spoke up, "This is Bruce. I'll take the lead position in front of the target; Tony why don't you take the side and Stan you can take the rear. I understand we don't want to use cell phones during the operation itself, so let's plan on channel eight on our CB's so that it would be a quick flip if we needed to switch to channel nine for communicating with the police."
The other two truckers agreed with Bruce's suggestion as Sean continued, "We have two sections of I-475 that we want to try and use. The first is the section between exits five and nine and the second is between exits nine and fifteen. As soon as the target passes exit five, I will attempt to get in position for a shot to be made from the passenger side of my car aimed at the right rear tire of the blue van. If successful, the resulting flat tire will cause the van to pull over to the shoulder where upon the police following Stan will surround it and take the six occupants into custody. As soon as the blue van is separated from the target, we need to box it in and force it to stop, preferably along the shoulder, but in the right lane if necessary. Bruce will gradually slow to a stop, and with Tony blocking the next lane over, the target should have no choice but to stop as well. Bruce, if you see the target trying to pass you on the right, you will need to counter that move by sliding over and Tony will need to do likewise from the side. I will remain directly behind the target, trying to remain so close that I am in the driver's blind spot so that all he'll see behind him will be Stan's truck. Once we have the target stopped, I will secure the driver and anyone else in the cab, after which we open the back of the container to release the girls. Does this plan sound okay to you guys?"
The three truckers agreed with the plan as described. Kirby added a few more details, "There will be an Air Force copter dispatched from Warner-Robins within the next few minutes. The gunner has everyone's cell phone numbers and will send a group text when he sees the target truck passing exit 155. It will be positioned for its fifty millimeter gun to support the capture of the blue van first, and then will move up to cover the capture of the truck. How long do we anticipate before the bus and additional I.C.E. resources arrive to the location?"
Mickey checked the time on the dashboard clock before answering, "Now that we have an approximate location I can ask for a firmer ETA, but I would say right now that the bus should be on location within half an hour of the rescue if not sooner. Remember that it will be heading southbound, so unless there is a spot for it to cross the center median, it will need to go past to the first exit where it would have an opportunity to turn around and return."
"I'll check with the Georgia State Police to see where the median crossings are along the sections we are targeting and let you know," said Kirby.
"Great," said Sean. "If there are no more questions, Bruce, Stan and Tony need to get their trucks ready to roll as soon as you receive the text. If the target takes I-75 instead of I-475, continue to follow it and we'll regroup north of where the two highways meet up again near Forsyth. Good luck everyone."
Once the call ended Mickey wanted to voice a concern. She would have preferred to mention it just to Sean, but she couldn't justify asking Amanda for privacy at this point, although Sean would be exiting the highway soon to allow the target truck and blue van to get in front of them again.
"I am concerned about the idea of shooting out the back tire. When we passed the blue van earlier I looked at the angles and the location of the fuel tank leaves a very small target area to hit the tire."
Amanda heard this and added her own observation, "You will also need to be prepared to adjust for the wind velocity generated by shooting from a moving vehicle." Looking at the trees along the side of the road she continued, "Plus there is a slight cross wind from right to left with our current driving direction. If our direction changes then the cross wind will likely change as well."
Mickey was glad to have Amanda's contribution to her explanation of the challenges faced by trying to shoot out the tire as originally planned. The fact that it was Amanda's idea now being challenged made Mickey feel more confident in raising her concerns with Sean. Her confidence didn't last long.
"Maybe you should take the shot from the window back here," offered Amanda. "You wouldn't have the side mirror in the way and the wind directions would be more consistent because the window here is farther back from the windshield."
"Have you ever shot from a moving vehicle before?" Sean asked Amanda.
"Of course," said Amanda. "That's how we used to hunt wild rabbits on the ranch. My brother would drive the pickup truck and I would shoot them out of the bed of the truck or from the cab if the weather was nasty."
Turning to Mickey he asked, "What do you think about letting Amanda take the shot?"
Giving Amanda one more opportunity to impress Sean was not something that Mickey was inclined to accept, but she relented under the gaze of Sean. "Well, she does have the Olympic medals..."
Sean reached under his seat and removed the Smith & Wesson automatic pistol that he had clipped there. He handed it over the seat to Amanda and said, "Why don't you familiarize yourself with this and let me know if you think you can use it to hit the target?"
Amanda took the pistol and examined it. "This is pretty light. You don't see many automatics without a safety." She released the magazine and cleared the chamber. "Eight shot magazine with one in the chamber and no safety? Sort of risky, isn't it Sean?"
"The best safety is a trained and responsible gun owner," said Sean.
Amanda thought he was being cavalier, especially since the pistol had simply been hidden under his car seat and not locked or secured in any fashion, but she decided not to mention that right now.
"I would prefer a longer barrel and the light weight will be both a hindrance and a blessing, but I can make the shot with this," she said.
Frustrated, Mickey asked sarcastically, "Amanda, were you Prom Queen in high school?"
Recognizing the attempted jab, Amanda didn't ignore it. "I was home schooled until I left to attend Charles Darwin University when I was sixteen. I was never Prom Queen, but I was Miss Teen Australia when I was seventeen."
"Is it common for students to start university at sixteen in Australia?" asked Sean. Mickey didn't want to hear the answer, sensing it would go against her like everything else about Amanda had so far.
"It's not common," said Amanda, "but it's not entirely unheard of. I think most students start university when they are seventeen or eighteen. I actually started taking my university level courses via correspondence when I was fourteen because my parents didn't want me living on campus until I was at least sixteen."
The ringing of Sean's cell phone interrupted the conversation about Amanda's education. "Sean Wallace," he answered.
"Sean, this is Maureen. Have you got a minute?"
"Sure Moe. What's up?" He had just taken an off ramp and pulled onto the shoulder of the on ramp that would allow him to pull in behind the blue van once it passed them on the highway.
"I wanted to let you know that Mark Morris is pushing me for details on the flight arrangements I made for Mr. Parker. I told him that I didn't know the reason behind your request, how you knew Glenn Parker, or any other details about the circumstances leading up to your request but I don't think he believed me. He threatened that Tom Folsom would fire me by the end of the day unless I cooperated with him and told him what he wanted to know. I wanted you to know in case he has my phone and system access shut down and you needed to get in touch with me. Do you still have my home and personal cell numbers?"
"Yes Moe I have them, but you will not be fired. Trust me." Turning to Amanda he said, "Do you mind if I handle this for now?"
With a grin she said, "Please do."
"Okay Moe, here's what I want you to do. I want you to go home. I will contact you there if I need anything, but you don't need the stress or aggravation right now. You will be hearing from either Amanda or myself when we want you back in the office."
"Okay Sean, and I so look forward to meeting Amanda. I'll try not to embarrass you too badly when I turn you over my knee for not telling me you had gotten married." Hearing Amanda laughing made Maureen add, "Is that you Mrs. Wallace?"
"Hi Moe, please call me Amanda.
"Of course Amanda. As with Sean, if there is anything I can ever do for you, please let me know."
"Just go home for now, but to add to what Sean said, please keep us posted if you hear anything from other employees that you feel we should know about."
"Thank you Amanda, thank you Sean. Bye."
As soon as the call ended, Sean initiated a new one using voice command, "Call Brian Hibbert."
The sound of the phone ringing was short as Brian answered almost immediately, "IT, Brian speaking."
"Brian, this is Sean Wallace. Amanda is here with me and we wanted to thank you for jumping on her request so quickly."
"It is my pleasure Sean. The cell phone is ready and the laptop should be finished loading the image within the hour. You still want them to go to the hotel as Amanda instructed?"
"Yes, that will be fine. The reason I'm calling now is related to Amanda mentioning some additional IT projects that we would need your assistance with. You do have full system admin rights for all of Wallace Enterprises don't you?"
"I do. What do you need?
"Write down these three names; Tom Folsom, Mark Morris, and either Kimberly Morris or DuPont. I'm not sure how she may be setup in the system."
"I do," said Brian. "She's setup as 'Kimberly Morris'."
"Okay," said Sean. "We want you to restrict the system access for all three of these employees immediately. No more access to any servers, applications or accounts other than corporate e-mail and we want that restricted to them only being able to send and receive e-mails from either myself or Amanda. Can you do that?"
"You don't want me to just delete their user ID's completely?" asked Brian.
"No, I don't want them terminated yet, I just want them to get the message that they are being put on a very short leash for the time being. Understand? Also make sure that no one else in the organization with system admin rights such as yours will be able to change things once you have restricted their access. Is that possible?"
"That would only be possible if I first went in and changed everyone else with system administration rights to restrict their ability to make changes. I can do that, but it leaves me as the sole master system administrator. I have an idea! Just in case something happens to me, like I get hit by a bus or something, I can setup Amanda and you with the same system administrator rights as me. That way if it ever became necessary, one of you would be able to assign rights to others."
Sean looked at Amanda and she nodded. "That's fine for a short-term solution, but I would like your ideas on a more secure administration protocol going forward. I have a friend who works at Brandt Consulting. I'll send you his contact information so you can bring them in for an analysis and their suggestions."
"Sounds good," said Brian. "I'll get on it right now. The restrictions will be in place within half an hour."
"Thanks, and Brian you may get some pushback and even some threats about this. Know that you are bulletproof on this because Amanda and I have you covered. Got it?"
"I never doubted that Sean. Holler if you need anything else." The call was disconnected.
Mickey tapped Sean on the shoulder and pointed to the target truck and blue van which had just passed the on ramp they were sitting on. Sean accelerated and moved back onto the highway about a quarter mile behind their targets. Only two more exits before the split of interstates 75 and 475. The three blocking trucks should be coming on at the next on-ramp if the Air Force helicopter sends the promised text.
"Sheriff Smith."
"Hello Sheriff, this is Tom Folsom."
"What can I do for you Tom?"
"Sheriff, have you heard anything from the film company crew that is in your area today?"
"No, and I wouldn't expect to. Why do you ask?"
Folsom considered his response. "Do you know of any reason why Glenn Parker would be returning this afternoon on a private jet, landing in Bainbridge around two hours from now?"
Sheriff Morgan Smith thought for a minute and said, "I have no idea. He told me that he would be gone until Friday, and today is only Wednesday. How did you hear about this?"
"Sean Wallace called his secretary and asked her to make the flight arrangements for Parker."
"Why would Wallace do that?" asked Smith.
"Could Wallace have stumbled upon what was going on at Parker's cabin?" asked Folsom.
"Their cabins are pretty far apart for Wallace to hear any screams or anything, so I don't think it's likely."
"The girl chosen to act in the movie was supposed to be untraceable, right?"
"That's what we were told," confirmed Smith.
"Well Sheriff, you may want to check out the progress of the movie and make certain that the production is shut down before Parker gets home."
"I can't send one of my deputies and that cabin is clear on the other side of the county. It will take me at least two hours to drive there from where I am."
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