All things familiar belong to JE. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1

Stephanie POV

"No! No! No! Oh Come On!" I directed my piece of shit car to the side of the road as the engine sputtered before the care came to a complete stop. "This is just perfect." I said to myself as I knocked my head on the steering wheel. I looked over at the passenger side of my car and grabbed my cell out of my purse. Hitting the screen the low battery screen popped up. "Shit" I took a deep breath before letting out a scream of frustration.

My name is Stephanie Plum. I'm a 25 year old Trenton New Jersey native currently trying to make it to Christmas dinner from Newark and this has been without a doubt the worst day of my life, well maybe not the worst. That had to go to finding my ex-fiance, Dickie Orr, screwing my high school nemesis, Joyce Barnhart, on the dining room table of the apartment we shared less than a week before our wedding. While I was crushed at first in hindsight I'm glad I found them before I got married to the Dick it saved me a lot of time and money for a man I wasn't really in love with anyways.

So I guess when I thought about that today wasn't really all that bad. I still didn't have a job and I was facing living out of my car come January if I couldn't pay my rent on the first of the year but I was really hopeful that one of the interviews I had today would go well. Unfortunately I was in such a hurry to get home to Trenton for dinner at my parents that I didn't have time to fill up the gas tank and now I was stuck on the side of the road with no gas and no way to contact someone for help in the middle of a freaking snowstorm.

I pulled up the zipper on my jacket, put on my hat, and reached into the backseat to grab the blanket my Dad always told me to keep in my car. Hopefully someone would come along and help but the roads were pretty empty because of the storm so I wasn't hopeful. Although I wasn't about to risk my life walking to the nearest exit to find a gas station in the dark.

I was humming Christmas carols to myself to try to keep my mind off how cold I was when light illuminated the dash in front of me indicating someone had just pulled up behind me. I looked up into my review mirror to see a large black SUV and two large men get out. There was a knock on my window. I took a deep breath hoping that I wasn't about to get kidnapped and thrown into a basement before opening the drivers door.

"Hello Ma'am are you okay?" The larger of the two men asked. He was about 6"6', muscular, and sexy so it took me a minute to get my head on straight before answering.

"I um well I ran out of gas and my cell phone died so I guess the answer to your question would be no" I said trying my best to flash a small smile at them. The second man was even scarier than the first. He was only a few inches taller than me at about 5"9' but he had two tear drop tattoos under his eye making him automatically someone I knew was capable of killing me should this interaction take a turn.

"We can help you out, if that's okay?" The man replied. "My name is Hal and this is Hector. We work for Rangeman down in Trenton. We can drive you to a gas station to get gas, or we could go get it and come back for you, or you could borrow our phone to call someone."

I thought about the options he gave me trying to determine which one would be best. I didn't really have anyone to call except my dad but I didn't really want him driving out in the storm and everyone else I knew in Trenton was with their families for the holiday. I didn't really want to sit in the car and wait for them because one it was cold and two who knew if they'd even come back which would mean I lost any chance I had to call for help too. I guess I was going to have to risk being kidnapped. "I'm Steph, I guess if it isn't an inconvenience I could use a lift to the gas station."

Hal nodded and then led me to the SUV opening the passenger door for me before walking around and getting in the driver's seat. I noticed Hector had stayed and gotten into the driver's seat of my car. "He doesn't have to stay." I tried to argue with Hal but he just started up the car and pulled back onto the highway.

"He'll be okay, this won't take too long and we don't want them to tow your car." He finally responded after a few moments of silence. I nodded my head and then turned to face the road ahead. The exit was only about 3 minutes down the road and the gas station was right off on the right. Hal pulled up to one of the open stalls and parked. "I'll go in and get a gas can" I said as I unbuckled my belt.

"No need" Hal said and so we both got out and walked around to the trunk where he pulled out an empty gas can.

"Wow you just keep that back there?" I questioned.

"Company requirement. All SUV's must be fully equipped." He stated as if I was supposed to know what that meant. I have never worked for a company that had walked over and I started fumbling in my purse for the 20 dollar bill I knew I had in there. Hal pulled out his credit card and put it in the machine before I could find it though. "Hal you've already driven me to get gas you don't need to pay for it too."

"It's Christmas Ma'am, consider it a gift." He said with a slight smile.

I gave him a small burg glare before sighing and returning the smile. "Fine but please don't call me ma'am"

Hal nodded. We waited for the gas can to fill up before placing it back in the trunk and getting back into the car. We drove down the highway in a circle back to my car. We approached and parked behind the car and before I was even out of the SUV Hector had come and gotten the tank and started walking over to my car to fill it up. Once the can was empty he put the cap on and returned to their SUV without saying a single word.

"He doesn't say much does he" I joked to Hal.

"No but that's because he doesn't speak English." Hal replied

"Oh. Well thanks for all your help please tell him as well." I said holding my hand out for Hal to shake.

He looked hesitant but eventually shook my hand before turning to walk back to the SUV. "Merry Christmas Steph." Hal said just before he opened the door to the truck.

I climbed into my car and fumbled with the key a minute before getting the car started and pulling onto the highway with my saviors pulling out behind me. I looked at the time and saw that it was almost 6:30. Shoot I was definitely gonna get yelled at for ruining the roast. I decided to not think about it too much and focus on a way that I could thank Hal and Hector for their generosity and assistance. Hal said they worked at Rangeman so I knew where to find them now I just needed a way to thank them. I decided to ask my grandma to help me bake them some cookies I could drop off just as I pulled in the driveway.