Stars Over Alaska (Wild River #4) - Jennifer Snow Page 0,91
the Instagram photos, so could the stalker. So, we have to leave.”
“Wait. Eoghan’s here?” Selena paused near the front door.
“Yes. Come on, we’re meeting him at the car.” Leslie zipped her jacket higher as the cold air blew through her hair. “Come on.” She gestured for the woman to follow her toward the shop.
Selena shook her head.
Great, the annoying Selena was back. The attitude had returned. It was going to be a really long car ride back to LA.
Her teeth clenched as she walked toward her. “What’s the problem?”
“Why is Eoghan here?”
“To help. To let me know what was going on.”
“He couldn’t have done it by phone?”
Leslie sighed. “Look, I know you’re not a fan, but he’s here to help and right now, I’ll be honest with you, I’m doubting my own ability to keep you safe, so I could use his assistance on this.”
“Bullshit. You don’t need him.”
The vote of confidence was coming a little too late. Leslie had made mistakes...both personally and professionally and she really just wanted to get out of there and put all of this behind her, even if that meant heading back to LA to face the music. “Well, he’s here.” She guided Selena down the street. “And this is kinda your fault,” she mumbled.
Selena looked enraged. “I told you. I didn’t post any pictures online, Leslie!”
Reaching the shop, she saw Eoghan waiting near her car and Leslie extended a hand toward him. “Can I have your phone to show Selena the pictures she claims don’t exist?”
Eoghan hesitated, but then clicked on his Instagram app and handed Leslie his phone. She turned it to face Selena. “Don’t remember somehow stealing my phone and posting these?”
Selena squinted to look at them. “That’s not Wild River...” She looked harder. “Except the Photoshopped parts.”
Leslie frowned. “What are you talking about?” Her head hurt and right now she actually didn’t care about the photos, she just wanted this whole ordeal to be over. It was tempting to let Eoghan take over and walk away from this mess.
Selena pointed to the picture of her on Main Street. “This picture is on set at Universal. The background has been doctored to look like Wild River...but look closely.”
Leslie peered at the photo. It did look off. Where was North Mountain Sports Co.? It should have been in the corner of the picture...but it wasn’t. That space on Main Street looked under construction.
“And look at my clothes. I wasn’t wearing that anytime we were here,” Selena said, pleased that she was in the right.
It was true. These photos weren’t real. She was really slipping not to have noticed those things herself... Why had she let her personal life throw her off her game so hard? Eoghan’s unexpected arrival hadn’t helped. She rubbed her aching temple. “You’re right. But they say they were posted from your Instagram three days ago.”
“Someone must have hacked my account. Happens to celebrities all the time,” she said with a shrug.
“But how would they have known to change the photo to a shot of Wild River?” Leslie asked. This made no sense. She owed the star an apology, but first she wanted to figure out how this happened.
“I don’t know,” Selena said, but her mistrusting gaze was focused on Eoghan.
Leslie turned toward him to ask, but a right hook caught her cheek and she stumbled backward. Eoghan had punched her? Her brain felt rattled as she steadied herself and prepared to fight back.
“Leslie!” she heard Selena’s voice, but another quick jab had her blinking furiously to maintain focus. She staggered, struggling to comprehend and recover, but a final hard blow had her lights out.
CHAPTER TWENTY
OKAY, SO SELENA’S gut feelings about Eoghan were right.
Her eyes opening slowly, her head throbbing, Leslie forced her brain through the fogginess swirling around her. The events replaying in a haze. Eoghan in Wild River. Eoghan knocking her out, Photoshopped photos...by him? Why? And how the hell had he known where to find them?
What the actual fuck was going on? Had Eoghan been somehow involved with Selena’s stalker this entire time or was he Selena’s stalker? Leslie blinked away a wave of dizziness and swallowed the saliva gathering in her mouth, as she quickly assessed her current situation.
Her hands were tied tightly with a thick rope and fastened to the door handle in the back seat of her own car. Her cheek and left eye felt swollen and she could barely see over the puffiness. Her stomach was queasy—low blood sugar queasy—which meant they