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made his way up to the car. He was a little nervous about lowering the window to this mammoth

shape, but when he heard the muffled taps on the glass he did so, the electronic hum of the window sounding ridiculous in this primitive environment. The shape bent down.

His face was entirely covered except for a slit between the scarf that covered his nose and

mouth and the brim of his cowboy hat. There, Alec saw two dark and watery eyes gazing on him

without expression.

"You called Triple-A?" the stranger asked.

"Yes," said Alec. "Would you like to get in the car and warm up for a while?"

"I was warm in my bed an hour ago."

"Oh. I'm so sorry. I don't know my way around this part of the country."

The stranger pushed his hat up a little and pulled down the scarf. He was wearing a thick wool

poncho with an over-sized neck and two, maybe three shirts beneath—a flannel and Henley showing.

There was thick scruff on his jaw and Alec could tell from his expression that he was not only weary but a little amused. "Yeah." He chuckled. "I got that. Loud and clear."

"Do you think your horse will be able to pull my car out of the ditch?"

Now the man laughed hard and Alec wasn't sure if he liked the sound of it. How dare this big

brute laugh at his misfortune. He was in Montana spending good money… money that this state

obviously could use to plow roads.

"No," he said. "I'm here to keep you from freezing to death. I'll take you up to the cabin and we'll worry about your car tomorrow." He raised the scarf back over his lower face.

"How did you know I was going to a cabin?"

"Because that's all there is at the end of this road. And nobody local would be going there."

"Oh," said Alec, still perturbed by the situation.

Nope, he thought.You're mad at yourself. The situation could have been avoided.

"Roll up your window. We'll take the essentials with us tonight. I'll get the rest when we have the car towed tomorrow."

Alec did as instructed. The stranger stepped back and opened the door for him. He climbed out

with a bit of effort and put the keys into the man's gloved hand.

"So I don't forget later," he said.

The man took the keys. He was tall, a good six or eight inches more so than Alec. He walked

around to the hatch and opened it with the fob. There, he found two suitcases, a toiletry kit, and a messenger bag with Alec's laptop and office stuff.

"Here," the man said gruffly, pushing the toiletry kit into Alec's hands and closing the trunk."

"Wait. I need more than that. My computer."

The man stared at Alec through the narrow slit. "I saidessentials."