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caps.”
    “I can do that. Yes, yes, I can do that. Wait for me.” Myra scurried off, Murphy hot on her heels barking every step of the way.
    “I’m not going anywhere. Tell you what, I’ll warm up the truck. Be sure to put on the alarm and lock up. Leave a note for Isabelle. We can call her in the morning just to be on the safe side. Time is money, Myra! Move!” Kathryn shouted to Myra’s retreating back.
    Myra got dressed at the speed of light. She looked at herself in the mirror hanging on the door. Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline. “Oh, my goodness! What do you think, Murphy?” The big dog tossed back his head and howled. “Yes, yes, that’s pretty much my opinion, too. If Charles could see me now, he’d laugh himself silly.”
    All Kathryn could do was gawk, her jaw dropping when Myra left the house by the kitchen door. Her thumbs hooked into the belt of her baggy blue jeans, Myra strutted across the compound in her Timberland boots. She was wearing a navy-blue sweatshirt that said DON’T SCREW WITH ME under a zip-up sleeveless vest with a hood. On her springy gray curls sat a baseball cap that said she was a fan of the Redskins. She wasn’t wearing her pearls.
    Kathryn bounced out of the truck and went around to open the passenger door.
    “This is so exciting. I’ve never ridden in a truck before. How does one get in this vehicle, Kathryn?”
    “I think I’m going to have to boost you up. Right leg up, atta girl!”
    Murphy scrambled into the truck, hopped over Myra’s shoulder and went to his bed behind the cab. He barked sharply, which meant, “All aboard, let’s move!”
    Myra buckled up, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. “Dear, this was…such a tremendous idea. Ooh, we’re up so high! I can see everything.”
    “You’re Queen of the Road today, Myra,” Kathryn laughed as she backed up the big rig.
    “Is this when you say something profound, like this is where the rubber meets the road?”
    “Nah, you only say that when you’re about to get in trouble. We say time to hit the road or time to burn rubber…”
    “I see. Time to hit the road. Burn rubber. I’ll be sure to remember that so I can tell Charles. Both sayings refer to speed, I take it.”
    “You got that right. No one wants to mess with truck drivers. That’s the reason for the saying on the shirt you’re wearing. I had to earn the right to wear that particular shirt, me being a woman trucker and all. Actually, Creaking Granny gave it to me at the Truckers’ Ball three years ago.”
    “You have a Ball? Is it like a cotillion?”
    Kathryn laughed so hard she almost fell off the seat. “Yeah, Myra, like a cotillion.” Her sarcasm did not go unnoticed by Myra.
    “This is so very interesting. I hope I can remember everything so I can tell Charles. The dear man is going to be stunned. Just stunned.”
    “Oregon, here we come!” Kathryn said as she blew a wicked blast on the diesel horn.
    In the thick pine forest that surrounded the Rutledge house and lawn, Garrity almost fell out of his tree when he heard the diesel blast. In a heartbeat the high-powered binoculars were at his eyes. “What the hell?” he muttered. He continued to watch the eighteen-wheeler until it went through the security gates and out to the main road. He was on his cellphone in the blink of an eye. “Jack, Garrity here. Hey, man, the last two birds just flew the coop. The chick with the eighteen-wheeler took off just minutes ago with her dog and the old lady. Both of them were duded up for a long drive, would be my opinion. There’s no one in the house, Jack. Can I go home now?”
    “Give me an hour, Garrity. I’m going to need you to cover my ass. I’m coming out there right now. Well, not right now, but as soon as I can get someone to tail that truck. What about the architect? Any sight of her?”
    “Nope. She took off earlier. I don’t know if this means anything or not but she was carrying an oversize bag and one of those