"Sarah, wait!"

"Good-bye, Carlos!" Sarah was heading towards the exit of Uppercuts as Carlos got up to follow.

"What are you so mad about?" he asked, trying to keep up with her.

"If you don’t know, forget it. I’m going home." With that, Sarah was out the door with a slam. Carlos dejectedly walked back to the table where Trent and Sam were sitting.

"What did I do?" he asked. "Can you talk to your sister, Sam?"

"No way, Carlos. I told you two before that I am not taking sides." Sam’s sister had recently moved to Dallas after getting her veterinarian’s license. Sarah and Carlos were making the transition from a long distance relationship and it wasn’t going easy. "Just leave her Carlos and give her a chance to calm down. Give her a call tomorrow and I bet everything will be fine."

"I hope so," Carlos mumbled.

"Well, Sam we should be going," Trent said. "We’ve both got early appointments tomorrow." He turned to his friend. "Are you okay, buddy? Are you staying?"

"Yeah, I’ll just finish my beer. I’ll see you both tomorrow." Carlos looked about as dejected as he could get.

"Cheer up, Carlos. Everything will be better in the morning," Sam assured him, putting her hand on his shoulder as they left.

Carlos sat quietly, not noticing the woman approaching until she stood directly in front of him. She was tall, blond, gorgeous and wearing the tightest dress Carlos had ever seen.

"You know," she said, smiling, "you should never drink alone. May I join you?"

Carlos flashed a big smile. "Uhhh, sure," he said, standing and offering the seat in front of him.

"My name is Denise," she said as she offered her hand.

"Carlos. Pleased to meet you, Denise." They both sat down.

"I hope you don’t think I’m being forward Carlos but you looked like you could use some cheering up," she said as she flashed another smile.

"Thanks." Suddenly Carlos couldn’t even remember what the fight between him and Sarah had been about. "Can I get you something to drink?" he offered.

"Sure. How about a Caesar?"

"I’ll be right back." As he headed to the bar, Carlos failed to notice Denise slipping something into his beer.

"Here you go," he said as he returned with the drink and placed it on the table.

"So," she began, "tell me about Carlos."

Carlos’ first thought when he woke was about his aching head. He tried to shake the cobwebs out and slowly opened his eyes. He did not immediately recognize his surroundings and he realized there was someone beside him.

"Sarah," he thought, but as his focused he knew it wasn’t. The realizations slowly came…It was the girl from the bar…. And she was dead. Trying not to panic, Carlos got up and looked around. The woman had a bullet wound to the chest and his gun was on the table. Turning, he saw himself in the mirror. There were scratches on his face. Quickly he grabbed his clothes and dressed. His cell phone wasn’t around and he didn’t want to take the chance of using the hotel phone. As he heard the sirens, he pulled on his shoes, grabbed his coat and headed out the door.