“That won’t happen, Samantha. We know what we’re doing. You were chosen carefully. You just proved I didn’t make a mistake. I didn’t think the person was born yet who could take Donovan. I’m impressed. You can let him and his associate go now.”

“Yeah, right. They go free when I’m good and ready to let them loose and not one minute sooner.”

“What will you gain by keeping them prisoner, Samantha?”

Sam thought about the question. “Let’s just call it female power for the moment. Donovan referred to us as stupid, dumb females. I didn’t like that assessment; neither did the others.”

“I guess I can understand that. Okay, you can keep them.” There was a hint of laughter in the voice. Sam noticed it and grinned to herself.

Sam clicked the OFF button. She repeated the entire conversation to Slick, who listened with rapt attention. Her only comment was, “One duffel bag!”

The doorbell rang. Both women leaped off the bed and raced downstairs. Sam opened the door to admit the girls and their Chinese dinner. She fished in one of the bags and withdrew two fortune cookies, which she carried to the garage. She tossed one to each man. “Dinner! By the way, Pappy said I could keep you both. Tsk, tsk.” She slammed the garage door behind her.

Sam sat down at the table to join the women. Slick was repeating the telephone conversation Sam had with Pappy. “Day after tomorrow. High noon at Dulles Airport. One duffel bag each, weighing no more than a hundred pounds.”

“I have that much stuff in my bathroom,” Kayla grumbled.

“I take that much stuff for an overnighter,” Olivia said.

“That’s impossible. What about accessories. I need two bags just for shoes and purses,” Zoe snapped.

Sam dug into her chow mein. “It’s called sucking up. We suck up, or we stay here. Your call, ladies.”

The women ate in silence as they pondered her last statement. By the time they got to the lichee nuts, they were all in agreement. They had another round of Chinese beer before they decided to call it a night with the promise to touch base prior to meeting up at Dulles Airport in two days’ time.

“We need to decide what we’re going to do with those two guys,” Slick said.

“I say we strip them naked and turn them loose. Let the cops pick them up,” Olivia said. “Should we take a vote?”

“Hell, no. Let’s just do it,” Zoe said, getting up from her chair.

Both men groaned when Sam opened the kitchen door leading to the garage. Slick looked at the pitiful-looking men and laughed. “Cut them loose,” she said to Kayla, who was holding a wicked-looking pair of scissors.

“Zoe, strip Mateo down. Olivia, peel off Donovan’s clothes.”

The women made a production of holding their noses as they tried not to laugh.