After settling the bill, she headed to the valet station, assuring them Paul would not be the one driving away.

Luckily Paul had a Nuuvi GPS system in his car with his home programmed in. Allyson clumsily drove them through the unknown streets of LA to arrive at Paul’s duplex, which was painted an ocean blue.

“You should come in, like old times?” Paul said, his eyes half closed as he leaned closer to Allyson.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said matter of factly as she leaned further away.

“Aw you’re no fun. Come on,” he said, his words slurring together. Paul reached over and tugged at her shorts toward him, forcing her to now be turned sideways in the driver’s seat. He rubbed his hands along the top of her thighs as Allyson pushed them away. She pushed herself toward the door, searching for the unlock button because the car did not unlock when she put the car in park.

By this point, Paul was trying to crawl over the center console. “I’m sorry I just left you. I wanted you, and couldn’t stand to be friends with you and not be with you. If I was going to be around you, I had to have you.”

As he was saying this, all that was going through Allyson’s head was, Shit, shit, shit, shit. What the hell do I do now? She had quickly become trapped and Paul was getting more aggressive. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone, finding the dots on the 5 and navigating blindly. Can’t call mom, that’s for sure. Shannon can’t help me, she thought as she moved from the 1 to the 2. Then, still holding the phone behind her back, held down the number 3 key to call JC.

She could barely hear him answer and said, “Help. Come to the ocean duplexes on Gless,” just loud enough for him to hear and hoping there weren’t many blue duplexes on Gless to choose from.

“What? Allie, are you OK? What’s going on?” JC asked as Allyson repeated her plea for help.

Without any hesitation, JC turned to Tony, who he was writing with. “Hey, I’m sorry, I’ve gotta go. That was Allie, and something’s going on. It didn’t sound good.”

“Yeah. Go, go! Can I do anything?” Tony asked as JC was slipping his rainbow Vans back on.

“Actually, yeah. Can you call your buddy at Hollenbeck? I don’t know what’s going on, but the phone was muffled, and I don’t have a good feeling. She said the ocean duplex on Gless. I only know of one, so I’m going to head there.”

“Yeah, I’ll call Bryce now. He should be on patrol now anyway.”

“Thanks, man. I’ll talk to ya later.”

JC hopped in his Jeep and sped off toward the Pico Gardens area of the city, the flashers on his vehicle turned on. As fate would have it, Tony and he had agreed to meet at a small studio a little more than five minutes away from where Allyson was.

He slowed down only to make sure he had the right place. A moving vehicle in the driveway was the giveaway. Wasting no time, he threw the car into park. turned off the engine and jumped out of the Jeep to run over to the car. Trying the passenger door, it was locked.  Undeterred after seeing Allyson pinned up against the driver’s side door, JC reached for a nearby pointed rock and smashed the passenger window with a few well-placed jabs. Quickly unlocking the door from the inside and throwing it open, JC grabbed a handful of Paul’s shirt and yanked him off Allyson, throwing him to the pavement. Paul was so far gone, though, he just laid there.

JC immediately turned his attention back to the car, his eyes fixed on Allyson as she let out a relieved gasp, finally feeling as if she could breathe.

As soon as JC came into focus, the tears began to fall. She was in shock, scared and, now, relieved.

With the doors now unlocked, JC ran around to Allyson’s side and opened it carefully, embracing Allyson tightly as she stepped out of the car.

By then, Allyson’s emotions were taking over as she sobbed into JC’s shoulder.

“Hey, hey, it’s OK,” he said, as his right hand reached up and stroked her hair, while the left arm wrapped tightly around her waist. “You’re safe now. You’re safe. I’ve got you. And police should be here any minute to take care of that shithead.”

“Thank … you … for coming … to … get me,” Allyson said between sobs that shook her entire body.

“Shhh,” he said. “I’ll always come to your rescue. I’m just glad I was so close.”

About that time, JC could hear the sounds of sirens getting closer.

“Mr. Chasez?” the officer asked JC, extending his hand.

“Yes, sir. Bryce, I presume?” he said, shaking the officer’s hand, as he stepped away a little from where Allyson was sitting and talking to one of the other responding officers.

“Yes. Thank you for having Tony call. This isn’t the first time we’ve had to deal with Paul. He’s had quite a few public intoxication charges and a few restraining orders against him over the years.

JC gulped. “Has he ever done something like this before?”

“No. This is his first sexual assault arrest. But with Ms. Stewart’s account, we can do our part to make sure it’s his last.”

“Thank you.”

After giving her report to the officer, Allyson explained she did not need to go to the hospital for any tests. JC had gotten there before it reached that point, thankfully. All she wanted to do was take a shower and then soak in a bath.

“Thank you, Ms. Stewart,” the officer shook hands with Allyson. “We may have some additional follow-up questions, but I think we’re set for now.”

“How are you?” JC asked crouching down in front of Allyson as she sat on the running boards of his Jeep, leaning her elbows on her knees and staring at the street.

“I want a shower,” she said softly, as she looked up at him, tears started to come to her eyes again. “I want to get this off me.” She waved her hands in the air gesturing to where Paul had been on top of her.

“Of course. I’ll take you to Liz’s. Do you have her address?”

“No,” Allyson stopped him. “I don’t want to tell Liz what happened. Not yet. And I know she’ll ask why I didn’t call her. I can’t deal with that yet.”

“OK. If you want to shower at my place, you can do that, and I’ll take you back to Liz’s afterward.” She just nodded.

“Why did you call me and not her?” JC asked as they started to drive toward his house in the Hollywood Hills.

“You’re on speed dial,” Allyson said, flashing a little smile amidst the tears. “I couldn’t see the phone, so all I could do was pick from my speed dials.”

“Well, I’m glad I’m on speed dial,” he smiled back.

“Me too. I don’t want to think about what might’ve happened,” Allyson said looking down at her lap as they drove on.

“And you don’t have to because it’s over,” he said, reaching over to gently rub her forearm. “I’ve got you, and he’s going to jail.” 

She nodded silently, wiping the tears off her cheeks.

“Come on, let’s get you to a shower and a bath,” he said, as he lightly tapped her forearm before returning his right hand to the steering wheel.