THE TRUCK DRILLED THROUGH THE empty roads like a locomotive. A spume of dust blew off the back, blanketing Emma’s vision. Even so, Emma remained grimly attached to the truck’s bumper. Every now and then she flicked the windshield wipers. Only the one on her side worked. Occasionally a rock rattled across her roof. Three miles outside town, she watched as Harry leaned over the side and shouted in Storm’s window. The truck shuddered to a halt. Storm leapt down from the cab and hurried over to Emma’s car. Harry grinned and blew Emma a very dusty kiss as he slipped behind the truck’s wheel.
Storm slid into the passenger seat and pointed ahead. “Harry says get in front and head for the Kyrenia road. He’s got an idea.”
As they started off, Storm stuck her head out the window. “I don’t hear any sirens.”
“They’ll be coming.” Emma kept accelerating so long as the truck remained a looming, roaring beast in her rearview mirror. When the distance grew to where she could see the dust boiling off the truck, she eased off.
Storm said, “Where did you go back there?”
“I spotted our friend Leon. He was going after Harry. I chased him into the building.” She caught Storm’s look. “What?”
“You entered the police station.”
“Courthouse. But yeah.”
“In your car. This from the lady who couldn’t commit a felony.”
“I was in hot pursuit.”
“Oh. Is that what you call it. And what happened to your rear end?”
“That was an accident. Sort of. I did a number on the commandant’s car.”
Storm grinned. “I know what Harry would say. This just keeps getting better.”
The road entered the hills and narrowed. When the hills closed tightly, Harry flashed the truck’s lights and gave his horn a blast. When Emma stopped, he came trotting up and said, “Pull around the next hairpin and wait for me.”
Three hundred yards later, Emma rounded a bend so tight she feared Harry’s truck wouldn’t make it. He blinked his lights and stopped the truck where the road jinked back on itself. She turned and watched the truck rumble and grind. The rear began to rise, dumping its load of municipal rubble. The debris completely blocked the road from cliff face to drop-off.
He left the dump truck as it was, climbed down from the cab, and flung the keys into the crevasse. He ran back, climbed into the rear seat, and said, “I’m hoping I’ll find the right words to thank you ladies once we’re truly out of this.”