There was nothing even remotely luxurious or comfortable about the interior of the helicopter. Plain and simple, it was a mode of transportation. No food or drinks would be served. The seats were cramped and uncomfortable. The others were struggling with their blow-dried hairdos as wind rushed through the open door. After they all donned sound-deadening headsets, the rotors roared to life with a steady twump, twump that Sam hoped would lull her to sleep in short order.

And then they were airborne.

Sam smiled when she saw her colleagues—that was how she had come to think of them. Even with her khaki jacket she was cold. Wishing for a warmer outfit, she settled back, closed her eyes, and allowed her mind to race.

Thinking about Douglas wasn’t going to get her anywhere, but she did it every time she shifted into what she called her neutral zone. She’d been a fool. Everyone, at some point in her life, was entitled to make foolish decisions and choices. Douglas had been a colossal mistake. How weird that she could actually like her predecessors. She should be raging with jealousy, but she wasn’t. In fact, she actually liked all of them. Maybe at some point in the future the four of them could collaborate and write a book titled, The Honeymoon Junkie. Of course that meant she’d have to track down the other four Rainford wives to make it authentic. She did feel pleased with herself that she hadn’t taken his five thousand dollars. He was probably, right then, right that very minute, courting soon-to-be Wife Number 9.

Sooner or later, probably later, she and the others would come up with a plan to get back at Douglas for his shameless treatment of them. There was nothing like a scorned woman to fuel a plan. So what if Douglas was one of the richest men in the country, a fact she couldn’t confirm or deny because she could find no trace that he actually existed. For all she knew he could be a pauper who lived off credit cards. So what? She knew in her gut that Douglas would never, ever, expect his ex-wives to meet. Especially under the present circumstances.

That was enough thinking about her ex-husband.

At last she actually slept. She woke when Slick shook her.