Page 32 of B-Side

I took a deep breath. I tried to speak, but my voice came out weak, so I cleared my throat.

"A girl," I said. "She was there, a little way from your gate. She was stranded… I thought she was stranded. She asked me for a ride to the gas station." I let out a sigh, not knowing where to start. "She poured gasoline on me."

"Who poured gasoline on you?" he asked angrily.

"I don't know her name. I didn't get her name."

"Grace, start at the beginning and tell me what happened to you. Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He spoke in a calm, measured tone, and he regarded me as if I might explode if he didn't handle me carefully.

"I'm fine," I said. "The Jeep is out on the side of the road. It's not even parked that well, so I probably need to get back to it."

"Tell me step-by-step what happened to you."

"I stopped, thinking the woman needed help. I agreed to give her a ride to the gas station. She said that I should leave you alone, and then she picked up the gas can and spilled it onto my lap. I looked down at my own clothes. So, I ran away, but then she had a gun."

"She had a gun?" he asked, looking dumbfounded. "Was it Sara?"

"Was that her name? She said she was with you for five years."

Alec rubbed his own face and made a pained expression. I watched the muscle twitch in his jaw as he gritted his teeth. "I'm getting you home to change, and then we're dealing with this. I'm calling the police. They're going to have to take a report and everything."

"Let's just go change," I said with a little nod.

It took internet research and an hour's worth of elbow grease in the shower to get the gasoline smell off of my body. I came out wearing some clothes Alec had waiting at the bathroom door for me, which was men's athletic attire. Thankfully, my undergarments had escaped the gasoline spill.

"Audrey dropped off a bunch of stuff," Alec said when I came out of the bathroom wearing his clothes. "Come talk to the officer for a minute, and then you can go back in there and see what all she brought."

Audrey was his cousin, but in this context, she was acting as his personal assistant which she did part-time. I noticed the bag before making my way to the place where Alec was talking to a policeman.

I spent the next twenty or thirty minutes recounting the incident to them. I had given Alec some of the information before I ever got into the shower, and the police recovered my purse and keys while I was getting cleaned up.

My mind raced, but I was just glad that things were being taken care of. I went into the back bedroom to change into the clothes Audrey had brought for me. She was a Godsend. Everything in the bag was new and perfect. There was a t-shirt, a padded sports bra, women's athletic pants, underwear, and socks. I had everything I needed to get out of the gasoline clothes completely. I had already bagged and thrown out my clothing from earlier, but now I would have on all new clothing.

I took another quick shower, and I felt amazing and finally clean afterward. I had used several rounds of vinegar and a few other household items to remove the smell.

Alec had a gorgeous, three-story home that was positioned up on piers. This created a sprawling shaded outdoor patio area under his house. It had a few walls and partitions, but it was mostly open with games and furniture. There was parking under there, and we had parked the four-wheeler next to his truck.

The police had already left by the time I got out of my second shower. There was a note from Alec upstairs, telling me to meet him under the house. I headed down there instantly.