Stars Over Alaska (Wild River #4) - Jennifer Snow Page 0,88
safe. A man believed to be Selena’s stalker had been arrested in LA. They were heading back in the morning.
Still...
And it didn’t help that Eddie had called a few times.
Like now.
Should he answer? Eddie calling after midnight meant it might be something important. Leslie had asked him not to talk to her family about the situation, but that was when everything was still uncertain. Letting Eddie know what was going on now was fine though, right? He wondered if Leslie would go see her family, say goodbye before she headed out of town.
The cell phone continued to ring and Chad shot him an annoyed look as he lay on the ground. “Dude, either answer it or silence it. We’ve got three hours till we hike out. I’m planning to get as much sleep as possible.”
Levi cleared his throat and answered the call on the last ring. “Hey, Eddie.”
“I’ve been trying to reach you,” Eddie sounded on edge.
“Yeah, sorry, man. I’m at a base camp in Florida. We got a call to assist—”
Eddie interrupted. “Do you know where Leslie is?”
The sense of urgency and concern in the other man’s voice made him sit up. “Yes, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before but...”
“Levi, where is she?”
“At the station cabin. They’ve been there for a few days. She didn’t know what else to do when that news report dropped, but apparently they have a guy arrested in LA so she’s planning on heading back in the morning.”
“He was released,” Eddie said. “Wrong guy—they dropped the charges.”
Shit. Levi took a deep breath. It was fine. Leslie was still in Alaska and she was monitoring the situation in LA. She wouldn’t head back if it was unsafe. “Well, she’s still there, so we have time to warn her.”
“I think the guy might be headed here.”
He frowned. “What? How would he know where they are?”
“Leslie’s car was towed into the shop on Main Street. I noticed it sitting outside earlier today.”
That, Levi knew—he’d called for the tow. “Yeah, she was planning on picking it up this morning before heading back.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Eddie said.
“Why not?”
“I found a tracking device on it.”
Shit.
* * *
“ARE YOU PLANNING on saying goodbye to your family before leaving?” Selena asked as they drove through town the next morning to the shop where Levi said her car would be ready and waiting for the trip back to LA.
Leslie had gone back and forth about it over and over again, but she’d ultimately decided against it. They’d be pissed that she’d been avoiding them, not filling them in on her whereabouts and everything that was going on, so the only way to avoid a whole shit ton of arguments was to keep avoiding them for now. And she’d already started putting her walls back up...no need to compromise them again. “We should hit the road.” Fifty-seven hours of driving awaited them and she needed to call the agency to update them. Selena also needed to call all of her people to let them know she was okay and headed back.
As soon as Leslie’s phone charged.
She’d forgotten to charge it the night before and it was dead. She’d plug it in at the shop while Selena ate breakfast at the diner next door, then they’d be good to go.
She ignored the tug at her chest that said otherwise.
The familiar scenery of her hometown wouldn’t get to her. Her guilt about not saying goodbye to her family wouldn’t derail her plans. This trip hadn’t been a vacation. She had a job to finish and she needed to focus on getting Selena back to LA safely and quickly.
Her phone being dead, she hadn’t had a chance to find out if Levi had tried to call or text her from Florida. She hoped he was safe. She missed him already. Which made leaving that day already difficult. Maybe the way they’d said goodbye was for the best—hurried, short and bittersweet. A long, drawn-out farewell would have been harder and she’d have had time to question her choices and what came next.
Pulling into the shop parking lot, she parked Levi’s truck next to her car and gathered her things. “Okay, we have an hour. Go eat, I’ll charge my cell phone inside, pay for the services and then we are good to go.” She’d also make a very quick stop at the tech shop to grab a new mobile charger.