Stars Over Alaska (Wild River #4) - Jennifer Snow Page 0,47

was back and quickly jumped down. The German shepherd’s sheepish look would normally garner a reprimand from Levi, but given the circumstances, could he really give the dog shit over breaking a rule? Instead he reached into his drawer for a treat and held it low for him.

The dog accepted it happily then curled up on his own bed in the corner of the office.

“Why doesn’t she just go back to LA or go to the station? Selena obviously isn’t going to press charges. Can’t she clear up the whole misunderstanding?” Chad peeked through the office blinds toward the bunk room where they could hear Selena and Leslie talking.

“Selena is in danger. They aren’t sure who they can trust. Leslie thinks there’s a guy on the inside...”

“Or woman?” Chad gave him a pointed look, releasing the blinds.

Levi sighed. There was no way in hell Leslie was the bad guy in this situation. She’d been living by the law her entire life. Her family were all law enforcement in some way and she was the most honest person Levi knew. He could rest assured that he wasn’t helping a criminal. “She’s not guilty of anything but rash thinking and impulsiveness.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I’ve known her my entire life and I have no reason to believe she’s lying to me. Besides, if she was helping Selena’s stalker, wouldn’t she have handed the woman over by now instead of hiding her in Alaska?”

Chad seemed to think on it. “Okay...but you know the risk you’re taking having them here right? If anyone finds out, your job could be on the line.”

He was aware of the consequences. He couldn’t turn his back on Leslie when she needed his help and until they found the stalker, he had to help protect Selena too. The footage of the letters and the image of her vandalized room they’d shown on the news report didn’t look like someone just out to scare her. Leslie had been right to flee LA. It may have been her only choice. “I’ll take full responsibility for this if it goes sideways...”

“When this goes sideways.”

Levi nodded. “If, when...it’s all on me. Just please keep this to yourself, okay?” Chad was the only other full-time member at the station. No one else was scheduled to be there for another few weeks when preseason training would start. Levi hoped all of this would be over by then. At least, most of him hoped... A small, very stupid part of him hoped to have Leslie around for a little while.

Something was definitely wrong with him. He must be a sucker for punishment.

“Can I count on you?” he asked Chad. If the guy didn’t agree, Levi wasn’t sure what else he could do. His own apartment was being sublet and like Leslie, he wasn’t sure who they could trust. Hell, even her family would be inclined to tell her to contact authorities and let the law figure it all out, but his gut told him that wouldn’t be in Selena’s best interest.

Someone wanted the star dead and there were too many people she couldn’t trust.

Chad looked conflicted, but then he said, “You’ll remember my discretion at review time?”

Levi sighed and pointed to the office door.

Chad grinned as he left.

Levi slumped in his chair and ran a hand through his hair. Through the one cracked blind in his office window, he saw Leslie and Selena setting up their bunks in the room across the hall. His gaze narrowed in on Leslie and his stomach twisted in knots. He better be right about his former best friend.

CHAPTER TWELVE

SHE HAD TO be doing the right thing. That was the only way she was getting out of this whole mess, saving Selena’s life and having any hope of a future in law enforcement. And now she’d dragged Levi—and possibly Chad—into it as well. Levi had looked confident in his decision to help and had reassured her that it was no problem on the drive from Wild River and she almost believed him, but he had to be worried. He was putting his own neck on the line for her. Chad hadn’t been as welcoming and she just hoped Levi could convince him to stay quiet about their whereabouts for a little while. A few days at most. That’s all she was willing to put them at risk for.

She groaned as she splashed water on her face in the station cabin bathroom.

There had to be something she was missing, overlooking.