Moonlight on the River

Excerpt: ...Every ounce of her adrenaline fed body adjusted itself toward her driving. Without hesitating she pulled left, touched her brakes and pushed the Jeep's nose in the direction of the middle of the road. She punched the accelerator. The car leapt forward. The Mercedes looked far behind. She reached over and shook Anna. "Wake up. We are in trouble."Frightened, Anna sat up. "What's wrong?""There is a car trying to force us off the road. Get on your cell phone and call 911. Then call Jet." During this whole incident she never felt a speck of fear. She allowed her instincts and reflexes to take over. Her years of schooling on race tracks and evasive courses gave her complete confidence. She crested a small hill and faced another frightening choice. Only a hundred yards away a tractor was stopped in the middle of the road. A glimpse of dirt road appeared on the right. Once again, her intuitive responses and training took over, a quick flick of the wrist and her Jeep's fat Pirelli tires bit deeply in to gravel, spraying stones and dirt out like gases from a rocket. Anna flopped to the side, dropping her phone. All of her previous decisions were made by reflex. Now, she considered if what lay ahead might be a trap. In an instant she reached a dead end. Her choices were limited to one. She slammed on the brakes and brought her Jeep to a halt. She kicked open the door and yelled at Anna. "Run."Zoya grabbed her purse and ran toward a pile of junked cars. Fifty yards beyond them was safety. Only one more abandoned car to pass before safety. She took a breath and raced on. Pain! She felt a thumping blow. A stinging sensation which radiated like an electric shock through her. She lost consciousness...In the enduring beauty of the Allegheny Mountains, two people from different ends of the earth create a love story. Just as their idyllic passion reaches its peak, reality in the dark form of kidnapping and violence comes from nowhere, and a newly formed relationship is gravely tested.Jet Mollenaux and Zoya Okamoto, two young, brand-new professors, meet at a faculty tea. Nothing goes right and they both walk eagerly away from the awkward encounter. This outwardly clear-cut boy meets girl story is anything but predictable. At their next meeting, Jet, absorbed in a pick-up basketball game, literally crashes into Zoya. She walks away angry and he winds up with a broken collarbone. Considering their divergent backgrounds, awkward encounter, and painful collision, an affair is the last thing you'd expect. Somehow, they manage to get together and fall in love. Still, from their beginning you know they will have a complex relationship. Excerpt: ...No matter how long Jet lived he would never forget how a moonlit sky illuminated the past as well as the future. So far he'd learned their journey together could be a hurricane ride, and yet they inevitably found the eye of the storm. If he reflected and allowed his senses to direct him, he could envision a future of un-paralleled contentment. Chance had brought Zoya to him, and their love was shaped in conflict and uncertainty. His grandfather often remarked that things forged in fire come out the strongest, but Gramps was usually half-lit on dandelion wine when he said it. If karma had a heart, Gramps' theory would be right.