Flood Rising (Jenna Flood #1)

Jenna braced herself for the expected reprisal, but Carlos surprised her by holding out his phone. When she reached for it, he whispered, “You try to call someone or send a text, and I will hurt you.”


She nodded and took the phone. Although Noah had never let her own one, she had used Mercy’s phone many times, as well as occasionally borrowing them from her classmates. She brought up the phone’s search program and typed in the coordinates from memory.



25.321304 -80.557173



The search returned a variety of options. She spotted ‘maps,’ but as her finger hovered above the screen, she quickly scanned the other search results.

Interesting.

The list was replaced by a close-up satellite projection of the area. She saw a road leading to it, but if her suspicions about the place were correct, there would be no vehicle access. With two fingers, she zoomed out until the outskirts of Homestead were visible, a patchwork of neat green and tan rectangles sitting above the featureless brown of the Everglades. She found the airport at the edge of the city, and then she memorized the route they would need to follow to reach their final destination.

She handed the phone back to Carlos without making any effort to erase the search. It didn’t matter if he knew the coordinates now. Her brief look at the search results had revealed something very unique about their destination. There hadn’t been much really, just links to web pages, with only the title and a few words of description for each, but it was enough for her to finally make sense of the bizarre coordinates, and the last set of numbers Noah had written down.

Jenna felt as if there was now a light at the end of the tunnel. For the first time since Raul had revealed his treachery, the advantage was hers.





18



The Everglades, Florida, USA

1:31 a.m.



Jenna watched Carlos’s face as he contemplated the gate blocking their path. “It’s about six miles down that road,” she said. “Sure you don’t want to come back and try this during the day?”

He gave her a patronizing smile, leaned forward and whispered something in Raul’s ear. The younger brother reached under his jacket and took out a pistol. He waggled it under Jenna’s nose. “Oh, look! We brought the key, chica.”

She stared at the weapon, more angry than surprised. She hadn’t realized that the brothers were carrying guns, though in hindsight, she realized she should have expected it. No matter, she thought. A lot of people with guns have failed to kill me tonight. It doesn’t change what I have to do.

Raul got out and walked up to the barrier. He looked around, as if making sure that they were as alone as they seemed to be, then aimed the gun and pulled the trigger. The loud report sent a pressure wave rippling through the interior of the car. They were well away from inhabited areas, so there was little chance of the shot being heard. Even if it was, the locals might assume that it was one of their good ol’ boy neighbors out poaching. The broken padlock fell to the ground at Raul’s feet. He kicked it out of the way, then swung the gate open and returned to the car.

A concrete road waited beyond the gate. It was wide enough to allow two vehicles to pass, but encroaching vegetation had shrunk the passable space down to one lane. Raul steered the rental car down the middle, proceeding slowly to avoid storm debris and other obstacles. More than once, Jenna glimpsed movement in the shadows, as large animals ducked away from the headlights. Intersecting roads hinted at human activity, but most were overgrown. Jenna knew from her brief glimpse of the satellite map that these roads led to empty lots and abandoned buildings.

“How much farther?” Carlos asked after about fifteen minutes.

“I’ll tell you when we get there,” Jenna retorted, but then to avoid any repercussions, added, “It shouldn’t be much further. The road goes straight for a while, then makes a hard left turn. Just follow the pavement.”

They arrived at the turn less than a minute later. It was the first significant deviation from the straight line they had been following since leaving the main highway. A dilapidated concrete building stood at the corner, and Raul slowed the car. “Is that it?”

Jenna stared at the half-ruined structure for a moment. She didn’t actually need to take the brothers to the exact place indicated by Noah’s coordinates. She just needed a place where she could slip free of their control and escape. On the other hand, if she had to run, she might not get another chance to retrieve Noah’s fire alarm.

“No,” she said. “That’s not it. Keep going.”

A mile and a half later, she saw another building, a sheet-metal structure, several stories high, with a large square opening, like a garage door, at the southern end. “That’s the place.”

Raul pulled to a stop fifty feet from the opening. He shut off the engine, but left the lights on, illuminating the interior and revealing another identical opening on the opposite side.

Carlos stared at her for several seconds, as if searching for some hint of treachery. “Your old man put the money in there?”