Knowing Vera (Romantic Suspense, Family Drama) (Chance for Love) by Rachelle Ayala Page B

to go on forever. I’m starting to get claustrophobic and dizzy. The light colored walls zoom by, and there’s only a single strip of overhead lights on the grey ceiling.
    Suddenly the car swerves into the next lane. My eyes widen in alarm. “Zach? Did you get enough sleep?”
    He chuckles and rolls his eyes. “How can I sleep when you snore as loud as a backhoe?”
    “I don’t snore.” I tickle his knee. “You always bugged me to sleep with you. I knew you wouldn’t respect me in the morning.”
    “I would if you didn’t snore.” He cups my hand to stop the tickling. “So how do you like my country?”
    “We’re stuck in a tunnel, what’s there to say?” I yawn loudly. “Are the bugs bigger here?”
    “Oh, yeah. Flies the size of bumblebees, swarms of mozzies, that’s mosquitoes to you, so thick they’d suck a kangaroo dry in two minutes, and …” His voice drones, but I’m already tuning it out, and my eyelids are too heavy to enjoy the monotonous tunnel view.
    ***
    I’m jerked awake and spinning. “Zach, what are you doing?” I scream, flapping my hands.
    Flashes of yellow grass swirl outside the windshield. We bounce. One. Two. Three. And pow! The airbag socks my face. I see stars and hear a zinging noise as I bat it from me.
    Zach bounces off his airbag and reaches for me. “Vera, you okay?”
    “Sure, sure, I’m still alive.” My eyes sting from the acrid airbag powder, and my ears are ringing. Sunlight glares through the windshield while traffic zooms by on both sides.
    “What happened?” I grab my purse and jump out of the car. We’ve spun out onto the grassy median of a divided highway, and the front end of the car is stuck in a drainage ditch.
    “Some SUV cut me off, sorry.” Zach stoops awkwardly on one knee to examine the underside of the car.
    I wave at the passing traffic for help. Minutes later, a dark silver Range Rover rolls to a stop, and three guys jump out. Two Asians and … Cliff?
    They swagger toward me, and I’m standing there trying not to look flustered. I mean, my hair’s rumpled, I’m sweating and dizzy, but this is unreal, like a movie scene.
    Cliff slowly removes his shades and whistles, shaking his head. “Looks like he can’t drive.”
    One of the Asian guys says, “And they say we can’t drive?”
    The other one ambles to where Zach is bending over and says, “Hey, mate, need a hand? Er, a foot?”
    The three of them laugh while Zach pushes himself up from the ground. His face is red, and he’s probably in pain since he’s been wearing his prosthesis for more than twenty-four hours. I brush Cliff’s hand from my shoulder and walk to Zach’s side, but Cliff sticks to me and parks himself between us.
    “You endangered Vera’s life,” Cliff says. “Hand me her bags. I’m taking over.”
    Zach doesn’t back down. In fact, he stands straighter. “No can do. Vera’s with me.”
    Cliff’s two sidekicks swarm over, their biceps bulging under fierce tattoos. It’s starting to look like a standoff but a horn blares, and a police car slows and comes to a stop.
    Two officers get out of the cruiser and come toward us. I’m worried about Zach, but surely we can get a tow or exchange the car and be on our way again.
    “What happened here?” one of the officers asks.
    “Bloke lost control of his car.” Cliff points at Zach. “Not sure he’s supposed to be driving with that gimp leg.”
    The other officer calls from where he’s examining the rental. “You’ll need a tow. The front tires are busted, airbags out. We’ll need to see your insurance and license,” he says to Zach.
    Zach hobbles back to the rental and digs in the glove.
    I’m feeling faint and hot. The grass swirls at my feet, and I see black and white patches. I try to walk toward Zach, but my knees are wobbly.
    “We’ll be going, right?” Cliff claps an arm around my shoulder.
    The officer replies, “Sure, thanks for calling it in.”
    Cliff sweeps me into his arms and