Heavy Traffic Ch. 05

***

Kimberly Morris didn't stress over her access rights being restricted. She trusted that Tom Folsom would get the issue resolved once Mark informed him that she had the same restrictions as they did. She trusted Tom Folsom explicitly, as she had demonstrated to him in every way she could imagine.

Kimberly had been devoted to, willingly dominated and controlled by Tom Folsom since she met him at the age of fourteen. When she had lost a bet on the price of a blouse to her friends, she had to accept their dare to kiss the first Black boy they encountered. The tall, athletic and extremely handsome seventeen year old Tom Folsom soon walked towards the food court in the mall where they were sitting. Kimberly was excited to fulfill the dare when she saw who her target would be. She had kissed several boys before, but the challenge of the dare was the fact that she would be kissing a Black boy in public.

Kimberly was at least seven inches shorter than Tom Folsom's six foot height. While her young body had not developed as early or as fully as some of her friends, she had learned how to use her attributes to her advantage where boys and men were concerned. Pretty, girl next door looks, with straight blonde hair falling to the middle of her back and all the charms a young southern debutante was expected to have, she was convinced that she would have no problem getting this boy to kiss her. She contemplated how passionate she wanted the kiss to be as a reward for him helping her complete her dare.

Approaching him from behind as he waited in line to order his food, Kimberly tapped Tom Folsom on his shoulder. When he turned around and looked down at her, she gazed into his intense eyes and knew immediately that everything she ever wanted in a boy stood right before her.

It amazes her to this day that she was able to form the words at the moment he looked at her, "Hi, when you have a minute, I was hoping you would help me with something."

Tom Folsom had stared at her for almost a full minute, examining her appearance, her expression and her confidence before grinning at her and saying, "What's in it for me if I help you?"

"You get to kiss me," Kimberly responded.

He studied her a few more seconds before asking, "What do I have to do to earn this kiss?" "Kiss me here in the mall, in front of anyone who cares to look at us."

She had loved and worshiped Tom Folsom from that first kiss. Leaving her friends at the mall, she had given him her virginity within two hours and never stopped submitting to his every request or desire.

Knowing that neither of their families would condone nor accept a mixed-race relationship, they had kept their attraction secret and taken efforts to hide their continuing relationship. Folsom orchestrated Kimberly's relationships with other boys to gain the greatest benefit for both of their futures. It was Folsom who had encouraged Kimberly to date Mark, while at the same time targeting Sean Wallace. While Mark didn't have the wealth of Sean, he did provide an easily manipulated partner who would be an acceptable mate to Kimberly's family.

She had willingly whored herself for him with numerous boys and men over the years. She thought back to two weeks ago when Folsom had six of his South American business associates draw numbers from a hat to see which order they would get to have their way with her. After servicing all six men individually, Folsom had offered her to them as a group for a gangbang. The time she and Tom had spent afterwards with her recounting her experience as she repeatedly satisfied Folsom's arousal had made the whole event worthwhile for her.

Although she loved Tom Folsom, making love with Sean Wallace had been so much better than the sex she had experienced with anyone else. Sean had made her feel safe, special and that her wants and desires really mattered to him. It still bothered her that Sean Wallace had dumped her. She knew that she should have been more discreet in maintaining a relationship with Mark at the same time she was engaged to Sean, but she honestly thought that her appeal to a man would overcome any objections either had to her sharing her time between them.

Now it appeared that Sean had recovered nicely from her betrayal and found another woman to marry him. It had been less than two years! How could any man have moved past her and found someone else in such a short time? Kimberly wanted to learn more about this Amanda Wallace to find out what she had that would allow a man to forget Kimberly DuPont so easily.

***

There were three I.C.E. agents on the bus fluent in Portuguese. One of these was send with the prisoners from the blue van and the other two were assigned to ride with the girls on the bus. Once the bus arrived, the immigration agents worked like a well-oiled machine to get all the girls boarded on the bus and eating box lunches within fifteen minutes.

Amanda found Sean and told him, "I'm going to ride on the bus with the girls. Are you coming directly to the hotel?"

"Yes, I'll probably beat the bus. Mickey is going to be riding on it with you so she can continue giving instructions to her team."

Throwing her arms around Sean, she hugged him with all her might and said, "I can't thank you enough for what you have done. You really are my knight in shining armor."

"I would do anything for Mrs. Wallace," he replied with a grin. The brief contact of her body against his resulted in a lingering heat that he didn't want to lose.

"You better be careful or I may hold you to that promise. See you at the hotel." She had to get away from him before she flew back into his arms and never let him go. She felt like a quivering mess. Her wits had been scattered. She couldn't understand how the feeling of Sean's body against hers had made her feel relaxed and ignited at the same time. Amanda turned and climbed the steps into the bus as Mickey walked up to Sean.

"I have some important new information that we need to discuss as soon as we get to the hotel," she told him. "I'll leave it up to you whether you want to include Amanda, but based upon the scheme that you two were pulling earlier, I recommend that she at least hear what I have found out."

Sean wasn't fully aware of Mickey speaking with him. His whole essence was still recovering from the feel of Amanda holding him. "Once we get the girls settled, why don't you me and Amanda find a place to get together and you can fill us in then?"

"Sounds good. See you at the hotel."

***

Sean was approaching McDonough, Georgia before he could drag his thoughts away from Amanda long enough to consider dealing with other matters. Ironically, it was a brief thought about him being able to call or text her anytime he wanted once Brian Hibbert provided her with her new cell phone that reminded him that he needed to call Kyle Mason. He gave the voice dial command to his hands free system and waited for the call to be connected.

"Kyle Mason." The sound of his good friend's voice brought a smile to Sean's face. "Kyle, this is Sean. Have you got a minute?"

"Hey Sean, thanks for getting Karen headed home early. I'm sorry that you couldn't come along with her. If I could find another instructor to test with for my belt, I wouldn't care, but it seems that no one else wants anything to do with your students." Kyle loved to tease Sean about his instructor status, both of them knowing that Kyle was prouder than he could ever express about the interest that Sean had taken in helping him progress with his training.

"I'm sure you could find someone qualified to test your skills at any YMCA," Sean teased back.

"Ouch!" chuckled Kyle. "So, seriously Sean, how have you been? Karen said you sounded rushed this morning. Is everything okay?" Kyle had married his childhood sweetheart nine months earlier at his Uncle's residence. The fact that Kyle's Uncle was the President of the United States naturally limited the invitations to the White House for the ceremony, and Sean had been honored to serve as one of the Groomsmen.

"Actually Kyle, things are looking up. However, I could use your help with a couple of things if you can fit me in. You're still drumming up business for Brandt Consulting, right?"

"Sure. What can I do for you Sean?"

Sean proceeded to fill Kyle in on his conversation with Brian Hibbert and the need for system-wide changes to the security of the Wallace Enterprises IT department. They discussed the breadth and depth of a proposed security audit and Sean gave Kyle the green light to have him get in touch with Brian Hibbert to get things moving as quickly as possible.

"I'll get one of my Project Managers assigned to this within the hour," Kyle informed Sean. "We'll start with getting all your system administration rights transferred to my team so that Brian is not in the middle of any further personnel changes that may be forthcoming as you weed out disloyal employees. Biomorph Research isn't included in this project correct?"

"Great idea," said Sean. "I trust Brian, but I'm sure he would appreciate not being placed into a position that might jeopardize any of his relationships with co-workers. I think you also need to immediately identify any back-door or hidden access holes that may have been introduced through this illegitimate management contract with Tri-Star Partners. Those need to be plugged before anything else begins. To answer your other question, Biomorph Research remains totally isolated from all my other operations."

"Without question," agreed Kyle. "What do you know about this Tri-Star Partners organization?"

"I'm not even supposed to know about them. There are a few loyal employees who have been trying to keep me informed, but they haven't been directly involved in the arrangements, so the details have been sketchy so far. I had planned on making a surprise visit to my office tomorrow in an attempt to get the full story, but that's up in the air right now."

Kyle offered, "Let me get someone on my team researching them this afternoon. I should have something for you by the end of the day that will better prepare you for what you might find once you get to your office."

"Thanks," said Sean. "You still have my contact information?"

"Everything except a mailing address. Karen said that our thank you card for your wedding gift was returned by the post office."

"Let me guess," moaned Sean, "She mailed it to my office address, right?"

"Probably," agreed Kyle.

"Now we both have a better idea of the potential situation. If the company owner can't receive mail at his own office, imagine what the computer systems might hold for your team."

Kyle sympathized with his friend, "I understand. Hopefully you still have a few people left that you can trust."

"I have a few," offered Sean. "There is one person in particular. She doesn't really work for me, but she has done more to support me and my organization in one day than anyone else has done in years of employment." Sean wasn't sure how much about Amanda he felt comfortable sharing. For all he knew, she might have plans once the girls were safe which had nothing to do with him.

"Really?" prodded Kyle. "Is this finally a replacement for that back-stabbing gold digger that you dumped?"

"Time will tell."

***

Dark clouds promising afternoon rain and thunderstorms had been on the horizon during the entire trip to the hotel. Mickey had introduced Amanda to her team of agents, and Amanda had then introduced each of them to the girls on the bus. Mickey explained to Amanda what the typical immigration processing would entail for the girls and they discussed options for the long-term care of them in the United States without either of them even considering the return of the girls to the orphanage. Sprinkles were just beginning to fall as the girls were hustled off the bus and into the lobby of the hotel. Thunder could be heard in the distance.

The hotel had designated the entire top third floor for the Wallace party. Amanda translated the room assignments and pairing of girls as Mickey and her team received them from the front desk staff. Mickey had one of her agents assigned a room to support four rooms of girls each. It took just under half an hour for all the girls and agents to be headed to their rooms, leaving Amanda and Mickey as the last two to be assigned rooms.

Mickey spoke to the front desk agent, "What room do you have assigned for Mr. Wallace?" Checking her computer, the agent replied, "Mr. Wallace has already checked into a suite on the third floor, room 301."

"Is there an adjoining room to his suite?" asked Mickey.

"Yes, room 303 has an adjoining door to suite 301."

"Then please assign me room 303," said Mickey as she smile at Amanda.

"It would be my pleasure," said the agent as she handed Mickey the key to room 303. Turning to Amanda, the agent asked, "Do you have a room preference?"

"My name is Amanda Wallace and I'll just need an extra key to Mr. Wallace's suite."

The agent didn't see the scowl on Mickey's face as she said, "Of course Mrs. Wallace, here you go. You also have a package that was delivered for you."

She handed Amanda a box with a label indicating it was from Brian Hibbert. Amanda took the proffered room key and said to Mickey, "I don't know about you, but I'm going to freshen up some." She headed for the elevator and a resigned Mickey followed in her wake.

Amanda went to the door for room 301 and inserted her key card as she watched Mickey entering room 303. When she opened the door, Sean jumped up from the sofa in surprise but Amanda putting her finger to her lips silenced him.

"Since Mark Morris arranged for the rooms, I thought that we ought to keep up the pretense of us being married in case he checked with the hotel on our sleeping arrangements," she told Sean. "I'll sleep on the sofa if you're concerned about your virtue," she added with a grin.

"Good idea. I mean about maintaining the pretense, not you sleeping on the sofa."

Amanda walked into the room and placed the box from Brian Hibbert onto the dining table in the room. "If you give me a minute to freshen up, you can knock on the door to the adjoining room and ask Mickey to join us. She is anxious to share her news with you. "

Walking towards the bathroom she added, "Actually, she is anxious to share a lot more than her news with you, but I think you know that."

Sean grinned and shook his head, "I'll wait for you if that's okay."

"Would you mind unboxing the package from Brian while I powder my nose?" she asked.

"Consider it done," he replied.

***

In the room next door, Mickey Anderson's cell phone rang. "Anderson," she answered.

"Special Agent Anderson, this is Rick Acosta. We have a Seminole County Sheriff vehicle approaching the turn off from highway 97 to the Parker cabin. How would you like us to proceed?"

"My understanding is that the road to the cabin is a dead end," she said. "Is that correct?"

"Yes Mam. There are no outlets from the highway all the way to the cabin."

"Let it head to the cabin if that is its destination, but then block its exit until you hear from me. You are federal officers operating under a designated national security finding. Make certain that the locals understand your authority over them if necessary."

"Understood and your instructions are acknowledged," Acosta said as he disconnected the call.

The radio in his truck announced that the Sheriff's vehicle had indeed taken the turn onto the drive heading for the Parker cabin. He instructed his people at the road to block the entrance to the drive so that no vehicles could exit and then he gathered his other team members still at the cabin and updated them on their instructions.

***

Amanda returned from the bathroom and went directly to the table where Sean had laid out the computer and cell phone from Brian. There was a designer leather messenger bag beside her chair which appeared to hold several user manuals and accessories.

"Do you know the password for the Wi-Fi here at the hotel?" she asked.

Sean picked up the placard sitting on the bedside table with instructions on connecting to the hotel network and handed it to Amanda as he went to the adjoining room door to answer the knock they had just heard.

When Mickey entered their room, she seemed placated when she saw Amanda sitting alone at the table, with no obvious evidence that the one king-sized bed or other areas of the room had seen any action between the two occupants.

"Is now a good time for an update?" Mickey asked.

"Fine with me," said Sean.

"I can listen as I do this," said Amanda as she booted her new computer and began logging onto the internet.

Mickey took a seat at one of the side chairs in the room while Sean took one of the chairs at the table with Amanda. This purposeful action to place himself closer to Amanda than Mickey wasn't lost on either woman.

Mickey began her update. "When it comes to human trafficking, we can draw similarities to other established business practices. There is typically a 'production' component, where the product is generated, and in the case of human trafficking, this is usually the traders who capture the people as was the case with Amanda and the girls. The 'product' is then sold to a distributor who represents the traders in getting their products to market. The 'distributor' will typically cover a geographic region and the traders will often have multiple distributors that they supply product to.

"So far this seems very similar to my Marketing 101 course," said Sean.

"For all intents and purposes, it is almost identical," replied Mickey. "The distributors recruit dealers, which in the case of human trafficking the dealers are typically specialists. Some deal only with children of one gender or the other, but seldom both. Others deal with slave labor, prostitution, or some other market segment."

"I assume that identifying the distribution channel helps your team with identifying the various dealers and maybe even the production side of an operation," said Sean.

"It usually does," agreed Mickey. "In this case, our initial information on the distributor is troubling though."

"How so?" asked Sean.

"Because it appears to be you," said Mickey.