Sara didn’t know what it meant, or what the point was supposed to be, but it kicked the fear up another notch. It didn’t look like something the liquor manufacturer had intended to be there. And someone had intentionally set the bottle out for her. Fumbling with the key and the bottle, she managed to get the door open, herself inside, and the door locked behind her.

Only to scream when she saw a man sitting on the couch typing on his BlackBerry, legs crossed casually.

“Whoa,” he said, glancing over at her. “You have bigger pipes than I would have given you credit for given that you look like you have TB. In person you’re even more waifish than the pictures Gabriel had of you.”

Sara gripped her purse, trying to dig inside it for her cell phone. “Who are you?”

“I’m Alex, Gabriel’s friend. We go way back. I’m surprised he hasn’t mentioned me.”

She shook her head, not sure if she should turn and run, or if she should believe him. He must have used a key to get into the apartment, which had to indicate he was Gabriel’s friend, whether Gabriel had ever mentioned him to her or not. She and Gabriel didn’t know each other that well, frankly. He probably had lots of friends she knew nothing about.

“You must be Sara.”

Not sure what to say, she just nodded. “Yes.” The assumption would be then that Gabriel had mentioned her to Alex, which further legitimized his claim of being a friend. But she was still suspicious and a little freaked out.

He stood up, tucking his BlackBerry into the pocket of his dress pants. He was dressed like he was headed into the office, his blue button-up shirt crisp and ironed. Alex had short, dark hair and the kind of smile that, while perfectly charming, almost looked condescending. Walking toward her, he stuck his hand out. “Gabriel told me about you. Nice to meet you.”

“You, too.” She shook his hand automatically.

“Where is Gabriel, by the way? I was hoping to talk to him.”

“Uh, he’s at the hospital. There was an incident outside our apartment last night.” Sara suddenly realized she had referred to Gabriel’s apartment as belonging to her as well, and felt heat start to creep up her cheeks. This was Gabriel’s friend and she didn’t want to sound presumptuous. She also didn’t want to explain Rochelle’s weird obsession with Gabriel.

“An incident?”

“A girl tried to kill herself and Gabriel is visiting her.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “He’s at it again, is he?”

“What do you mean?” Sara wanted a drink of water and some aspirin desperately. She felt like she was having a hard time processing information, like her brain had slowed to a snail’s pace, and her head was throbbing.

“Gabriel. He gets too emotionally involved with these girls.”