Stars Over Alaska (Wild River #4) - Jennifer Snow Page 0,92

must have been on the road a little while.

Outside it was dusk and she couldn’t pinpoint their location. It was just stretches of highway and trees as far as she could see.

Selena sat next to her, her hands in handcuffs behind her back, her mouth covered—she talked too much and had probably tried screaming for help. Eoghan knew that once awake, Leslie wouldn’t jeopardize their safety like that. It would be futile anyway in this secluded section of the Alaska Highway. They could drive for miles and not see another vehicle.

Selena’s eyes were wide and bloodshot when they met hers. She was obviously scared, but looked slightly relieved to see Leslie had regained consciousness. Leslie forced her own expression to be calm as she whispered, “It’s going to be okay.” It had to be okay. She needed to get them out of this.

Leslie took a moment to stare at Eoghan behind the wheel, trying to assess his mental state—and his motive. Why would he be interested in the Hollywood star? The Eoghan she thought she knew wouldn’t be, but the man sitting in the driver’s seat right now was barely recognizable. His shoulder-length wavy hair looked dirty and messy in a low ponytail, not his usual carefully styled man bun. His hands clutched the wheel and he was mumbling to himself. Incoherent babbling that she couldn’t decipher.

How the hell had she been so stupid not to see who he really was?

She cleared her throat and his gaze shot to the rearview mirror as though she’d scared him with the noise. His wild-eyed expression made him look unhinged. Wonderful. She was indeed dealing with a dangerous person. “Don’t make any noise or do anything stupid or I’ll shoot you and throw you out of the car,” he said.

Her own gun and handcuffs were in her bag, sitting on the front seat, and she didn’t have her cell phone.

Her heart thundered in her chest. Just what was Eoghan capable of? What had he done already? The break-in at Selena’s house, the messages in blood—was that all him? How had she missed the signs? The connections?

She took a deep breath. Gauging his mental state and finding out his intentions was the first step in getting them out of danger. “Eoghan, let’s talk about this. How do you plan on executing this kidnapping?”

He stared at her through the mirror. “You made it very easy. No one knows where you both are. Only I knew where to find you.”

About that... If it hadn’t been Selena’s fault, if the photos weren’t real, then what had given away their location? “How did you know? I mean if you doctored the photos to convince me it was Selena’s fault...then how did you know?”

“I put a tracking device on your vehicle months ago,” he said, returning his gaze to the road. “On all of Selena’s vehicles too.”

Jesus. He’d had access to the star because of Leslie.

All the clues—the letters, the photos, the intimate details about Selena, the knowledge about her daily schedule, when she’d be on set, when she’d be at home...everything had been because of her relationship with Eoghan, their closeness, her trust in her co-worker. Letting her guard slip had put them in this position.

The first person she’d tried to open up to in years and this happened. Maybe she was right to stay closed off, guarded.

Or maybe she needed to trust the right person...

Thinking of Levi only made her stomach twist in the worst way. What if their last goodbye really was the last one? What if she never saw him again? Panic at the thought made it hard to breathe; and her regret was so strong it had her chest tightening, so she pushed all thoughts of him aside. Survival was the priority right now.

“So why didn’t you abduct her before?”

“You know the answer to that,” he said.

Right. The toying, the intimidating, the pleasure of watching a victim become more paranoid, then scared...

“But all things have to end,” he said casually. “I knew once you heard about the suspect being released, you wouldn’t head back to LA and I was tired of waiting. And besides, you really did create the perfect situation for my next steps.”

Next steps. Truly abducting the star. Where would he take her? They certainly weren’t heading back to LA right now. He could take them anywhere. No one would know.

He’d never tell her where they were heading, so instead she asked, “Why Selena?” Hollywood royalty had never really seemed to interest