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

would follow.
    He did.
    Raul exited the house, glowering. “You,” he said in a low, threatening voice. His body was tense, a coiled spring full of unpredictable energy.
    Take control , she told herself. Keep him off balance . “I need your help,” she said quickly, forestalling the accusations that she knew would come.
    She turned to face him, positioning herself under the porch light so that it would illuminate her scrapes and bruises. She saw his eyes move, and knew that he had seen them. His mouth opened, but before he could say anything, she continued.
    “I ran away, Raul. You saw how violent he is.” She held his gaze, tightening the muscles of her eyelids so that her eyes would not betray the fiction in her words. The ability to detect falsehood was instinctive, even in those untrained in the techniques she was now attempting to use.
    Raul’s indignation seeped away. “He did that to you?”
    She nodded, but did not elaborate. The lie would be all the more convincing if she let Raul’s imagination fill in the details. “I can’t go to any of my friends. You’re the only person that can help me.”
    His eyes began moving, and Jenna recalled Noah’s words. Most people are an open book. She had no difficulty reading his thoughts. Raul was calculating how he would turn her vulnerability to his advantage. He would invite her inside, get her somewhere isolated, comfort her with words, a touch, maybe offer her a drink, and then he would take her. She knew this was a dangerous game, but it was a game she could win.
    “Do you need some money?” he asked.
    That surprised her. “Money?”
    “Isn’t that why you came here?” A faint smile played across his lips.
    She shook her head. “No. Maybe. I don’t know. I just need to get out of here.”
    I’m losing him , she thought. Get back on track. Control the scene . She glanced at the street, gauging the distance to the nearest well-lit storefront where she might be able to find refuge.
    His expression was becoming more confident. “Oh, sure baby. I can help you with that.”
    With an effort, she stilled her racing heart and met his gaze again, reminding herself to mimic his stance. “I shouldn’t have bothered you, Raul. I thought you might be able to drive me to Miami, but I have no right to ask.”
    There , she thought. The seed is planted . Without breaking her stare, she turned her body away from his, as if preparing to leave.
    “Hey baby, don’t run off. Of course I can take you to Miami. First thing in the morning. And you can crash here if you want. Or come back to my place.”
    “No. I have to go tonight. Right now, before he realizes I’m gone.” It’s not working , she realized. It was a stupid idea. Time to go .
    In the moment she looked away, preparing to step off the porch, she felt a hand close around her arm. The grip was firm, and it sent a throb of pain through the wound she’d sustained when Zack had shot through Mercy’s door. She jerked away.
    “Wait,” Raul implored, drawing his hand back and holding it up in a disarming gesture. “I can help you. I’ll take you.”
    Jenna studied his face again. He was doing his best to project sympathy, but his eyes could not hide a predatory gleam. You knew this might happen , she told herself. You knew you would be playing with fire . She took another deep breath and managed a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
    “I’ll go grab my keys. Meet me around back.”
    As she watched him leave, Jenna felt no sense of victory. The most dangerous part of the game, she knew, was yet to come.

 
     
    14
     
    10:01 p.m.
     
    Any sense of physical relief Jenna might have felt at sitting in the plush seats of Raul Villegas’s 2006 Corvette was squashed by the stress of maintaining her façade of innocent helplessness and hiding the sheer terror she felt. She was ignoring a sacrosanct command that had been drilled into her head by Noah, Mercy, her teachers and innumerable public service announcements: