Free Flood Rising (A Jenna Flood Thriller) by Jeremy Robinson, Sean Ellis

taken everything from her now.
    No, not everything. You’re still alive .
    With a start, Jenna realized that the killers were not done with her. They would almost certainly check the wrecked truck, and when they discovered she was not in it, they would realize where she had gone.
    I have to get away from here , she thought, but then another inner voice countered: And go where?
    She turned back to the lights she had spotted off in the distance. Boca Chica Key lay off to her right, perhaps a mile away. In the other direction, a little closer, was Stock Island.
    Going to Boca would put her that much closer to her ultimate destination on the mainland.
    But what would she do once she got there? Hitching a ride was just too risky. If the killers didn’t spot her walking along the roadside, the cops almost certainly would, and chances were good that they were already looking for her. She might be able to stow away in someone’s car or truck. That was less risky, but there was no guarantee that it would get her where she needed to go.
    Steal a car?
    She felt a twinge of dismay at even considering that possibility, but she couldn’t dismiss it out of hand. As with the theft of the SCUBA gear, extreme circumstances justified extreme actions. She tabled her moral reservations, and considered the practical aspects of such a course. She had a learner’s permit, and she was pretty confident behind the wheel. She didn’t have the first clue about how to break into a car or hotwire it, but she was pretty sure that it wasn’t the kind of thing that could be learned through trial and error. Noah had always scoffed at how easy they made it look in movies. No, if she was going to boost a car, she would need to find one that came with keys. A valet parking lot maybe?
    She shook her head, dismissing that idea as well. The Overseas Highway was more than a hundred miles long. Even if she could steal a car, she’d never reach Miami without being caught. So what did that leave?
    If she went back to Stock Island, she would be moving further away from her goal, but there were a few more options that way. She knew people there: school friends, teachers, some of Noah’s acquaintances.
    She glanced up at the truck, wondering again whether Mercy was trapped inside, dying, or maybe already dead. Was that the fate that awaited anyone who helped her?
    Suddenly, Jenna thought of someone else who might be able to help her. It was a crazy idea, crazier even than stealing a car, but the more she thought about it, the more certain she was that it would work.
    She rolled over in the water, and as quietly as she could, she began swimming back toward Stock Island.

 
     
    13
     
    Key West, Florida, USA
    9:38 p.m.
     
    When she had heard the words ‘night club,’ Jenna had envisioned a glitzy, neon-bright industrial exterior, pulsing with a deafening bass backbeat, and a crowd of young over-dressed socialites queued up behind a velvet rope. In hindsight, she should have known better. This was kitschy, touristy Key West, not Miami. The place looked like a standard Key West home, a pastel pink Bahamian conch house, single-story, built on wooden piers so air could circulate underneath. The only indications that it was anything but a residence were its location on historic Duval Street, an area zoned for commercial use, and the hand painted sign that read: The Conch Club—Members Only . The only neon around was a sign in the window with the words: ATM inside . There was no line waiting to enter. The entire block seemed sedate, as if people were making an effort to avoid being seen in the vicinity. As Jenna stared at the old house, she wondered if she had made a mistake in coming here.
    It had seemed like a good idea an hour before, floating in the Boca Chica Channel, hunted, sore, exhausted, hungry, and worst of all, completely alone.
    Who am I kidding? she thought. This is a terrible idea .
    She realized now that the actual destination had not been as