Heavy TrafficChapter 10 free porn video

The one-hour time change allowed Sean and Amanda to arrive at the airport in Tennessee only minutes after their departure from Atlanta. Sean had previously arranged for a car and driver to meet them, so within five minutes of Jeannie Sexton opening the door of the aircraft for them, they were seated in the back of the car heading out of the airport. Sean had advised their pilot to check into the Wallace hotel property adjacent to the airport, where a room was reserved for her. He would contact her there when they were ready to fly back to Atlanta.

Amanda snuggled up next to Sean on the back seat, “What’s your plan for the afternoon? Are we going directly to your grandmother’s house?”

Sean put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head as he replied, “I was planning on going into the office first, if that’s okay with you. I don’t want to spend too much time there until we have a better picture of the overall situation with what Tom Folsom has been doing, but I want to check on Moe and meet with an old friend about implementing some new security measures for the building. I also have one of my cars parked in the garage there that I want to get for us to use while in town.”

The ringing of a cell phone made both of them reach for their own devices. Sean answered his and greeted Mickey, “Hi Mickey, are you heading back to Atlanta?”

“Not yet,” she said. “I hope you don’t mind me using your cabin for another night.”

“It’s yours for as long as you need it,” Sean told her. “What’s the situation there?”

Amanda rested her head on his shoulder and looked out the car window as her first exposure to the Tennessee scenery passed by them, all the while keeping her ear on at least Sean’s side of the conversation between him and Mickey. The sky was clear, and when gaps in the trees permitted, Amanda saw a breathtakingly beautiful vista. Rich farmland was evident along both sides of the road, and she thought that she caught an occasional glimpse of a wide river or lake off in the distance. She assumed it was the wide river they had flown over right before landing. Sean had told her that it was the Cumberland River and that his house was along its shores a few miles farther down.

“The FBI found the body of the Seminole County deputy, whose uniform the assassin that got to Sheriff Smith used to gain access to the jail.” Mickey was telling him. “The body was discovered in a gas station bathroom, and we are hoping that surveillance tapes at the location provide us with some way of identifying who the assassin is. So far, there are only a few crew members of the ship with any knowledge of their cargo, but what they know is very compartmentalized and hasn’t been of much value to us yet. The Customs agent who released the container without inspection is still in the wind, but we have some good leads on him. It would appear that most of the arrangements for the shipment of the girls were done on-line through manipulation of existing systems and databases. The forensic investigation on these fronts will take some time, and depending on how good the hackers were, they may result in being dead ends for us.”

“Any word on Tom Folsom yet?” Sean asked.

“His rental car was found parked at a hotel near the Atlanta Airport, but a review of surveillance tapes shows that it was dropped off there this morning by someone other than Folsom. No sign of him or Kimberly Morris so far.”

“Okay, so where do you go from here?”

Mickey was silent for a moment before responding, “The FBI will continue beating the bushes and trying to establish ties between the various players we have identified so far. Have you made any arrangements for the girls or do I need to get them moved?”

Sean filled Mickey in on his and Amanda’s plans for Prestonwood, and Kirby’s strategy to get the girls relocated there this evening. Mickey was impressed with the description of the location selected, as well as the use of city busses to conceal the movement of the girls.

“I look forward to seeing Prestonwood,” Mickey said. “It sounds like a wonderful place for the girls to get adjusted to life here in America. I will let the Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations know that the Methodist Church will be sponsoring the girls, and I’m sure that he will expedite the necessary processing of the required paperwork to establish their legal citizenship status. The fact that they are orphans with sponsorship by the Methodist Church will make things easier by far.”

“I know that Amanda will appreciate anything you can do to make the transition as painless as possible for the girls. If you need anything from either of us, please let me know.”

Amanda’s head on Sean’s shoulder allowed her to hear most of both sides of the conversation between him and Mickey. She remained silent but squeezed and caressed various parts of Sean’s arm to convey her sentiments when she felt it was appropriate to do so. Her focus on their conversation was interrupted when her own cell phone rang. Moving away from Sean, she quickly answered the ringing phone, “Hello?”

“Hello Amanda, this is Beth. Did you and Sean arrive in Tennessee already?”

Glancing over at Sean and seeing his curious expression she said, “Yes Beth, we just landed. We’re heading to Sean’s office right now. Any word on our plans for Prestonwood?”

“That’s the reason for my call, dear. There will be no opposition from the Church to the exclusive use of the Prestonwood Resort as the permanent home of the foundation. There will be quite a bit of paperwork and other arrangements made for moving some events that had already been scheduled for Prestonwood, but as of tonight, your girls have a permanent home.”

“Oh Beth, I can’t thank you enough. Is there anything you need me to do?”

“I can handle things here. I should be thanking you for involving me in this project. The more I get to know Jim Hale and understand the work of the Methodist Home, the more passionate I am becoming about their mission. The foundation will be my primary focus, but I now see ways that I can contribute even more to helping the children served by the church in ways I hadn’t considered before.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” said Amanda. “Working with the girls at the Methodist Home in East Timor affected my life more than I ever would have imagined.”

“Well, I just wanted to put yours and Sean’s minds at ease about Prestonwood. I need to get back with Jim Hale and continue making arrangements to staff the facility by this evening. Please kiss Sean for me, and you two enjoy your time in Tennessee. I wanted to also prepare you for meeting Carol Wallace. I didn’t want to discuss this in front of Sean, and you and I didn’t have enough time alone, but I can’t let you go in without knowing what to expect.”

Beth proceeded to explain things to Amanda for several minutes, with Amanda just listening politely. Beth concluded with her assurances again that the girls would be taken care of, and that Amanda shouldn’t worry about them, “I’ll take care of things here until you get back.”

“I understand Beth and thank you once again.” Amanda disconnected the call and returned her head to Sean’s shoulder. He was just ending his call with Mickey.

He was saying, “So you plan on being back to the cabin by 5 pm for your conference call?”

“I should be there well before five. I would like to have time to take a shower and decompress before the call, so I’m heading there as soon as we’re finished with this call. I would have already left for the cabin, but your warning about cellular service was spot-on. From the time I leave Bainbridge or Donaldsonville I am without coverage and out of communication until I get to your cabin.”

“That’s not a bad thing unless you have to work,” chuckled Sean.

“Or if you had a companion to talk to and keep you company,” hinted Mickey. “Your cabin is a nice retreat, but I would enjoy it and the surrounding area more if you were here to play host and show me around,”

Amanda patted Sean’s arm and winked at him when she heard Mickey’s suggestion. Sean decided to try and derail Mickey’s ambitions.

“Amanda and I would love to have you as our guest at the cabin for a more relaxing stay once everything settles down...”

Mickey was silent for a moment before responding in a tone that expressed her disappointment vividly, “I wouldn’t want to intrude on the two of you, but thanks for the offer. I need to run now, but I’ll call you once I get to the cabin so you know that I am in communication range once more. Bye.” Mickey didn’t wait for a reply before ending the call.

Amanda gazed up into Sean’s eyes with an expression that was both lustful and dreamy at the same time. “I love you, Mr. Wallace. When do you think we might get another chance to spend some time together as husband and wife? I think our marriage needs a lot more consummating.”

Sean pulled her onto his lap and kissed her as passionately as their environment would allow, but it was enough to take the breath away from both of them. Once he had recovered Sean said, “I want to spend every night for the rest of my life being the husband that you want and deserve in your bed.”

“And I need to be the wife you want and deserve in yours Sean,” Amanda moaned as she snuggled against him again.

They rode in silence the few remaining miles before their car exited the Vietnam Veterans Highway at exit 3, which took them onto Highway 31E towards Gallatin. Just prior to West Main Street / Johnny Cash Parkway becoming Gallatin Pike North, the car pulled into a business park. The development was anchored by a large ten-story building that had lettering identifying it as “Wallace Enterprises”. The driver brought the car around to the front entrance, but Sean asked him to pull around to the adjoining parking garage at the side. Sean extracted a card key from his pocket and handed it to the driver for him to use for opening the security gate blocking the entrance to the garage.

Once the gate was open, the driver returned the card key to Sean and drove into the garage. Sean directed him down two aisles until they had reached a section of reserved parking places. Indicating a Volvo XC90 SUV that was virtually identical to the car they had left at the airport in Atlanta, Sean asked the driver to pull up behind it and let them out. When the car had stopped, Sean handed the driver a hundred-dollar bill and told him he could just remain in the car if he popped the trunk so Sean could get their bags out. The driver insisted on helping, but Sean assured him that he could handle the small bags and thanked the driver once again.

Amanda exited the car and stood beside the Volvo as Sean retrieved their belongings. After closing the trunk to the limo, Sean pulled a key ring from his pocket and pressed the release on the key to unlock the back of the Volvo.

“Your key for this car looks identical to the one for your other car,” noticed Amanda. “How do you tell them apart?”

“I don’t,” replied Sean. “The factory in Sweden opposed it, but I insisted that one set of keys work on both cars when I bought them. Once you feel comfortable driving on the proper side of the road, you will get a key that fits both cars as well.”

“Oh, we are going to have so much fun,” exclaimed Amanda. “Identical computers, cell phones, and now cars. The opportunities for confusion will certainly keep things interesting.”

Sean laughed, “You forgot to mention identical last names. That’s where it started. I actually am looking forward to demonstrating to the world just how much of a couple you and I have become, and if having identical belongings drives that point home, then I will embrace that concept.”

He finished stowing their duffle bags, and then looked to Amanda. Indicating the messenger bag on her shoulder he asked, “Do you want to stow that or keep it with you?”

“I think I’ll keep it with me. I may want to respond to a few e-mails while you take care of your business.”

Sean smiled, took the messenger bag from her shoulder and placed it on his. He then closed the hatch and relocked the car. As soon as his hands were free, Amanda flew into his arms.

“Why don’t you start by embracing me?” she said.

Sean pulled her against his body and lifted her off her feet with his embrace. Amanda squealed as he spun her around before setting her down and taking her by the hand.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get some business taken care of so I can get you out of here and take you shopping before we head home for you to meet my grandmother. Since Grandma Beth and her have already spoken, I can assure you that Grandma Carol is planning a formal dinner in your honor. I thought that you knowing this, you might want to stop and buy something new to wear. Rivergate Mall is just down the road.”

Amanda was wearing suitable attire for lunch with Grandma Askew, but if Grandma Wallace had planned something more formal for their dinner, she would definitely need some different clothes.

“Is there anything that you don’t think of?” Amanda asked in amazement. “You are seriously the most considerate person I have ever met.”

“You are now my life, Amanda. Considering your wants and needs, even before you realize them is what my love is all about.”

“I only hope that I can be as fulfilling to you, Sean. I know that my love, respect and devotion for you is growing exponentially every minute that I know you. You make me want to be the best I can be where you are concerned.”

As the elevator arrived at their level and the doors opened, Sean led Amanda inside and pushed the button for the top floor of the building. He then took her into his arms for one more kiss before they reached their destination. Changing the subject as the elevator began its ascent, Sean said “I am supposed to meet Bill Lester here in a few minutes. He used to be Chief of the Campus Police at Vanderbilt University and I’m trying to talk him into accepting a position as head of security for Wallace Enterprises.”

Stepping off the elevator, Amanda saw a lobby area with one wall of windows providing a panoramic view of a wide river in the foreground and a city skyline which she assumed was downtown Nashville off in the distance. The furnishings were sparse, with only a few chairs and potted plants on the floor, but the walls were covered with several professionally framed photographs of select Wallace Enterprises company locations.

It appeared that all of the different business operations were represented in at least one photo and she let her eyes roam over each of them as Sean led her to the receptionist seated at a desk blocking entrance to the inner sanctum of the executive offices. As Sean approached her, she presented a full-facial smile that made her interest in him evident, but it was obvious to Amanda that she didn’t recognize who Sean was.

“Good afternoon, may I help you?” she asked Sean.

“I don’t think we’ve met,” Sean said to her. “I’m Sean Wallace.”

“I’m pleased to meet you, Mr. Wallace. Do you have an appointment with someone?” Looking at the nameplate on the desk Sean said, “No, Ms. Kirkland, this is more of a surprise inspection of the troops. You don’t have to notify anyone since I know my way around.”

“I can’t let visitors in without an escort,” Karen Kirkland replied.

Turning to Amanda, but not lowering his voice so that the receptionist was certain to hear his words he said, “I am getting so very tired of this.”

Sean pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. His call was answered immediately and he said into his phone, “Please have Ms. Kirkland at the tenth-floor reception desk escorted from the building. Her employment with the company is terminated immediately.”

Returning his phone to his pocket Sean addressed Karen Kirkland in a matter-of-fact tone, “Your last act as an employee of my company will be to open that door for me.”

In a surprised, yet defiant tone, Karen said, “You can’t terminate me because I don’t work for Wallace Enterprises, I work for Tri-Star Partners. So, unless you have an appointment, I’m going to have to ask you to leave before I call security.” She pressed a button on her desk before Sean could stop her.

Just as she finished her statement, the elevator doors slid open and two uniformed police officers stepped off. Sean introduced himself and said, “I had wanted you to escort a former employee from the building, but Ms. Kirkland has just informed me that she isn’t an employee of my company after all. Consequently, I would like her arrested for trespassing.”

“Yes Mr. Wallace,” said one of the officers as he stepped around the desk, pulled a shocked Karen Kirkland from her chair and proceeded to place her in handcuffs.

“I’m not trespassing,” she exclaimed. “I am authorized to be here as an employee of Tri-Star Partners.”

“The problem with that logic,” Sean told her, “is that Tri-Star Partners has no authority relative to Wallace Enterprises. Maybe you should communicate that fact to your bosses, if you can get them to bail you out of jail.”

Sean simply nodded at the officers and they returned to the elevator with their prisoner being escorted between them. After the elevator doors had closed and it began its descent, Sean smiled at Amanda and said, “Maybe I shouldn’t have taken my frustration out on her, but she just rubbed me the wrong way.”

“I’m glad you did what you did,” said Amanda as she kissed his cheek. “I was about to see how well Ms. Kirkland could fly.” She nodded towards the wall of windows and smiled wickedly.

“Well, I think we will probably encounter more just like her before things get back to normal,” Sean said. “Why don’t you go over to the doors and I’ll buzz them open for us?”

Amanda walked over to the doors and waited as Sean walked around the receptionist’s desk and pushed the door release button under its top. When she heard the door latch click, Amanda pulled the door open and waited for Sean to join her. As he approached her, his cell phone chimed indicating a text message.

Glancing at the screen he said, “Bill Lester is waiting for me in the lobby. I better go get him and give him a quick tour of the building on the way up.”

Glancing into the inner office space, Sean indicated a tall African-American woman about halfway down the expansive open area. “That’s Moe down there. Why don’t you go introduce yourself and have her set you up in an office so you can check your e-mail? I’ll bring Bill back up and introduce him to you.”

“Sounds like an excellent plan,” Amanda said as she took her messenger bag from Sean’s shoulder. “I have been looking forward to meeting Moe.” She kissed him and continued into the room as Sean returned to the elevators. None of the employees appeared to notice Amanda or pay her any attention as she stepped into the inner office area.

Amanda stood and examined the area in front of her for a minute, noticing several modifications that seemed rather recent. Where the same wall of floor to ceiling windows present in the lobby area had obviously once continued into this section of the building, there were now three large mahogany walled office suites built out into the room. The center of the room was filled with cubicles with four-foot-high walls where employees remained focused on their individual tasks, either working on computers, talking on phones, or both.

Amanda would have had to be blind not to notice that almost every cubicle was occupied by an attractive woman. They all appeared to be under thirty years of age, and except for a consistent overly made-up look, they all appeared professionally dressed. Several of them glanced up at her as she passed and a few examined her with interest but none spoke to her.

Amanda’s attention was drawn to the inside wall of one cubicle when she saw a picture tacked to it that she recognized. Stopping at the opening to the cubicle, she noticed that the picture which had caught her attention was a smaller version of the portrait of Sean in his Marine Corps dress uniform that she had seen hanging at Beth’s house. When the young woman in the cubicle noticed Amanda and turned to face her, Amanda also saw several other pictures of Sean on the walls of the cubicle, most from newspaper press clippings that appeared several years old.

“May I help you?” the woman asked as she paused her work on the computer and turned to face Amanda. Her nameplate said her name was Emily Franklin. She was an average looking woman, with mousy brown hair and a pale face too heavily made up to compensate for the lack of natural color.

“I’m sorry to disturb you,” said Amanda. “I just noticed the pictures and wanted a closer look.”

Emily saw what Amanda was looking at and smiled warmly. “I don’t blame you,” she said. “I never get tired of looking at his pictures myself and I get a lot of visitors who come by just to look at them too. I think every woman here is envious of me because of them.”

“He’s a very attractive man,” Amanda agreed. “Did he give you that picture?” Amanda indicated the one of Sean in his uniform.

“I wish!” Emily gushed. “I salvaged it out of the items that were removed from Mr. Wallace’s office after he died. It used to be in a nice frame, but I think Mr. Folsom is using that for another picture on his desk now.”

“I’m sure he will appreciate your efforts,” said Amanda. “I can tell you that I do.” She left Emily with a puzzled look on her face as she continued past the executive offices.

Walking past each of those, she noticed the name on each door. The suite closest to the lobby belonged to Mark Morris, Vice President – Hospitality Division. The office next to it belonged to his wife, Kimberly Morris, Vice President – Communications Division. The third and largest office area belonged to Tom Folsom, Senior Executive Vice President – Wallace Enterprises.

Maureen McKenna now sat in one of the several small cubicles, positioned across from the door to an interior office, with a nameplate that simply read “S. Wallace”. Moe was distracted and hadn’t noticed Amanda approach. Amanda continued towards Moe’s cubicle, smiling at people she passed as they glanced up at her. When she got closer, she realized that Moe’s distraction was due to her packing items from her desk into a cardboard box.

Stepping up outside the cubicle, Amanda addressed Moe, “Going somewhere?”

Maureen McKenna glanced up at the strange woman standing before her. “May I help you?” she asked.

Amanda answered her by raising her left hand and wiggling her ring finger in front of Moe’s eyes. She could tell her message was clear, as Moe’s eyes grew wide and she grabbed Amanda’s hand in her own. “Mrs. Wallace?”

“Please call me Amanda. Why are you packing your desk?”

Moe glanced at the doors to the executive offices and said, “Mr. and Mrs. Morris threatened me with forced removal from the building if I didn’t leave within a half hour. I thought it best to get what I needed to keep working from my house until you and Sean say otherwise. Where is Sean, by the way?”

“He’s meeting a guest in the lobby. Why don’t you join me in Sean’s office while we wait for him to join us?”

Without waiting for Moe to respond, Amanda walked over to the door, opened it and casually strolled into Sean’s office with Moe scurrying to catch up behind her. She left the door open so that Sean would know where they were. None of the other employees paid any attention to them, if they noticed them at all.

Entering the office, she assumed that it was a converted conference room due to its elongated dimensions. There was a standard office desk positioned at the rear of the office, with a simple high-back chair behind it and two armless side chairs in front for guests. There were a green leather sofa and a glass-top coffee table along one wall and a whiteboard on the wall opposite.

Amanda led Moe over to the sofa, set the messenger bag on the floor beside it, and they both took seats. Maureen McKenna was a very attractive woman, with light coffee-colored skin, big beautifully smiling eyes, and a statuesque body that would complement virtually anything that she wore. She had stood eye to eye with Amanda when wearing shoes with a half-inch heel, and exemplified Amanda’s perception of what a professional woman should look like. Noticing the wedding ring set on Moe’s left hand, she imagined that her husband was one very fortunate man to be seen with this woman on his arm.

With obvious and unbridled awe, Moe also assessed Amanda from head to toe. “You are as beautiful as you sound on the phone,” she told Amanda.

“How sweet Moe. Tell me what’s been going on since the last time we spoke.”

“Well,” Moe began, “At Sean’s request I spent most of the morning tracking down former employees from our various accounting and financial departments that were dismissed, and offering them their positions back. Most have expressed interest in returning only if Sean resumes an active role in managing the company, but some are too scared because of the intimidation they have been subjected to by parties unknown; which I assume has some tie-in to Tri-Star Partners. So, we need to be prepared to address that issue if we want to make any progress getting a loyal and experienced staff to return.”

“I didn’t have all the contact information at home, so I had to come in to get some of them from my cubicle here. Mr. and Mrs. Morris came in right after lunch, saw me, and started making their threats to have me forcibly removed unless I left the building on my own. That’s pretty much where you came in.”

“Are Mark and Kimberly both still here?” Amanda asked.

“They are each in their respective offices. I think they’re on a conference call with people from Tri-Star Partners discussing how to prevent Sean from regaining control of his company and what to do about all their bank accounts being frozen by Federal Court order. They apparently know that Wallace Enterprises has new funds beyond those under their control, so they’re trying to figure out how to gain access to those accounts as well.”

“You know about the accounts being frozen?” asked Amanda. “Do the employees, customers or any vendors have concerns that I need to address?”

“I haven’t heard that anyone else knows,” assured Moe. “I have a connection with the Federal Judge who signed the court order, which is the only reason I know about it.”

“If someone wants to access the new funds, they’re out of luck there,” said Amanda with a grin. “The new funds are mine. I had my lawyers in Australia work with Bryce Pierre to establish the accounts and no one but Sean and myself have access to them.”

“Are you still here?” interrupted a voice from the doorway. A well-dressed but weak-chinned man ignored Amanda as he glared at Moe.

When Amanda stood and approached the man, she saw that he was no taller than her. Without a word to him, she placed a hand on his chest, pushed him back far enough for the door to close, and then shut it in his face.

Turning the handle to lock the knob, Amanda turned and smiled to Moe, “Sorry for that interruption. We’ll apparently need to weed out a few rude employees. Was that Mark Morris?”

Moe nodded, laughed and clapped her hands in approval as Amanda rejoined her on the sofa.

“Has anyone heard from Tom Folsom today?” Amanda asked once she was settled again. They heard the doorknob being jiggled as someone was trying to open it, but ignored this.

“Not as far as I know,” said Moe. “I think this is also a subject of discussion on their conference call.”

“Has this always been Sean’s office?” Amanda asked her.

“Heavens no,” replied Moe. “Sean’s father had an office along the windows out there where the new castle suites were built. The major difference is that Sean’s father, and then Sean after him believed in transparency. The walls to their office were all smart glass. Unless they were holding a meeting that required visual privacy, the view out the windows was shared by everyone on the floor. In all the years that I worked with Sean’s father, I only saw him turn the walls opaque twice, and I never saw Sean do it.”

“How long have you worked for Wallace Enterprises?”

Moe thought for only a few seconds before responding, “I started when I was seventeen, but that was only part-time while I attended college. All told, I have worked here for twenty-one years. Fifteen of those I spent working directly for Sean or his mother before him.”

“You worked for Sean’s mother? I thought you worked for Sean’s father before him.”

Moe smiled and said, “I was an executive assistant to Sean’s father, but I worked in that capacity as a direct report to Sean’s mother. She insisted on that arrangement to make certain that all of Mr. Wallace’s requirements were met. She knew that Mr. Wallace wouldn’t look out for himself as well as she would, and she was right. I never knew two people more in touch with the needs of the other than Mr. and Mrs. Wallace were.”

“Sean had told me about his parents living apart while he was growing up. It sounded strange in some ways, but it seems to have really worked for them. My parents had a similar ability to know what the other needed, but they were together almost every hour out of the day.”