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C rystal Corwin pushed her wavy light brown hair over her shoulder so that she could lean forward on the bar, with one elbow propped next to her drink.

Despite the fact her brow was furrowed in concentration, she was in a celebratory mood and waiting for her friend Noelle to arrive so they could celebrate together.

Noelle was late, but that wasn't unusual for her busy friend.

Crystal was excited because today marked the release of her third published book, and though she wasn't a best seller yet, she enjoyed a good following and being published at all was a feat in itself.

She and Noelle had made plans to go out for drinks and celebrate the accomplishment earlier in the week.

Crystal had arrived early though, and had taken a seat at bar, ordering a red wine.

"Would you like another?" the bartender asked, indicating her glass of red wine.

"No, I'm fine for now, thank you," she said. She picked up her glass and took a slow sip. She didn't want to overdo it before Noelle even arrived.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and looked at the text. It was Noelle with an apology.

I'm so sorry, I can't make it. Babysitter didn't show up. Can we celebrate tomorrow? xo.

Crystal released a sigh of disappointment. She had been looking forward to this night out, but she couldn't be too upset with Noelle. She knew how hard it was on her as a divorced single mother of a five-year-old. Things like this happened and it was simply part of being friends.

No worries, tomorrow sounds good.

Then she placed her phone down on the bar with another sigh.

"That bad, huh?" a deep voice said.

She turned to see a man cozying up to the bar to order a drink.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Your phone. You put it down with a sigh, so it seemed like someone disappointed you." He smiled.

Crystal looked him over. He was tall with dark brown hair and blue eyes and seemed pleasant enough, but there was something in his eyes that unsettled her.

"Oh, right. My friend was supposed to meet me, but she can't make it," she said as she picked her phone back up and slid it into her back pocket.

"That's a shame and also a bit of a coincidence," he said.

"What? How so?" she asked.

"I was supposed to meet a blind date here and she stood me up," he said.

"Really? That is coincidence but probably something that happens at a bar around this time of evening anyway," she said.

He chuckled. "Very astute observation." Then he held out his hand in greeting. "I'm Mason."

She hesitated for a moment. She normally didn't strike up conversations with strange men in a bar, but she was in a good mood. This was supposed to be her celebratory night after all. She shook his hand. "I'm Crystal."

"Nice name, Crystal. Can I get you another?" he said, pointing at her glass of wine.

She looked around the bar. More patrons were spilling in and it was getting busier by the minute.

She didn't want to sit at the bar alone feeling like all eyes were on the sad girl at the bar.

Though Mason seemed a bit off to her, he mostly seemed harmless, and at least so far offered a conversation instead of pure sleaze.

"Alright, just one more couldn't hurt," she said.

"Excellent, and you'll be doing me a favor. Sitting next to a gorgeous woman will help mend my ego after being stood up, so thank you for that," he said. Then he gestured at the bartender. "Two more here."

"Coming right up," the bartender said.

Crystal finished her current drink and pushed it aside, making a mental note to only have the one drink incase Mason was attempting to get her drunk.

"So tell me, Crystal, what do you do for a living?" Mason asked as she settled onto the bar stool next to her.

"I'm a writer," she said.

"Very cool. What do you write?"

"Fiction. Psychological thrillers, that kind of thing."

"Here you are." The bartender pushed two glasses of red wine in front of them and then scurried off to take more orders as peopled began to crowd the bar.

"Then you must be a very smart woman. You need to weave a whole web of deceit and intrigue to build one of those, don't you?" Mason said, then took a drink of his wine.

She was flattered. Most men immediately began to pitch their own stories to her the moment she named her occupation, but Mason was different. "Yeah, pretty much. I enjoy it."

"Do you find yourself studying people in order to create your characters?" he asked. His voice held a bit of charm and his smile was disarming.

"Yes, I do, but I don't let them know I'm doing it. That wouldn't be nice."

"And what about me? What kind of character would I be in your story? A stranger in a wool coat, casually sitting next to a woman and engaging with her. Would I be arrogant? Confident? Or merely a man of mystery?" he asked.

Crystal laughed. "You're funny. I haven't figured you out though, I don't know what character you would be."

Then he leaned in close and whispered, "A dangerous one?" Then as he leaned back, he grinned and took another sip.

"No, not dangerous at all," Crystal said.

Suddenly a rush of giggling young woman pushed against them and Crystal moved her elbow, which knocked her purse off the bar.

"Oh, I'll get it," Mason offered.

"No, no, I'll get it. Thanks," she said.

Crystal looked down, attempting to simply lean her long form over in the stool and fetch it from the sticky bar floor, but one of the women kicked it without knowing it. Crystal slid off her stool and took a few steps to fetch it from the floor.

When she straightened, a woman had pushed into her place, not sitting on the stool but standing with her arm in the air attempting to get the bartender's attention.

"Excuse me, Miss. My friend is attempting to get back in her chair," Mason said to the woman.

The woman rolled her eyes and stepped away. Crystal took her seat on the stool.

"Well that was an adventure," she said with a slight annoyance.

"You look like you could use a drink." Mason chuckled.

"Indeed," Crystal said. She picked up her glass of wine and took a long sip. Then she looked at Mason. "Thank you for moving her out of the way."

"No problem. It's getting crowded here. I didn't realize this place got so rowdy. I thought I was going to a nice quiet conversation bar."

"It's usually tame, but it's Saturday night," Crystal said.

Mason nodded and took a sip of his wine, Crystal mirrored him.

"So what do you do?" she asked.

"I work in pharmaceuticals. Not as exciting as a thriller writer, but it pays the bills," he said.

"Right, so you're a drug dealer?" She laughed, growing comfortable with him when she cracked a joke.

Mason chuckled. "I guess I am when you think of it. You've got me all figured out."

"If only that were so. There's one thing I know from writing thrillers is that you never, ever, actually know anyone. Everyone has their secrets," she said.

"Even you?" he asked.

She was quiet as she contemplated her secret, the fact that she thought being successful meant that she would never find love.

"Yes, even me," she said. Then she picked up her glass and drank all the wine to the last drop.

"Easy now," Mason said.

"I can handle it. That was my second drink, but it will be my last."

"Really? You won't have another with me? I thought our conversation has been interesting so far, is it not?" he said.

"Better than most I'll confess, but this whole scene, it's getting loud for me," she said.

"That's true. Looking around I can see it's getting a bit out of hand. Before you go let me ask you one more question, Crystal," he said.

"Alright," she said.

Then he took another sip of his wine and set it down. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time, then shoved it back in. He turned to her and looked up at the ceiling, prolonging his thoughts.

"Well?" She laughed.

"Sorry. So here's my question. Looking at me, do you think that my blind date walked in, saw me, and then walked out? I'm asking for a woman's perspective."

"Hmm, interesting. So you had never met her before?"

"No."

"Any idea what she looked like?"

"No, not at all. We had described what we would be wearing to find each other," he said.

"Well, I suppose—" Crystal uncrossed her legs and leaned back in her chair a moment, but then quickly leaned forward and put her hands on the bar. "Whoa, that was weird."

"What?" he asked.

"Just a bit, I don't know. Felt dizzy, like I was about to fall off the bar stool," she said.

"Afraid of heights?" he joked.

She laughed it off and slid off the bar stool, but as she planted her feet she stumbled back a step.

"Whoa, there. Okay, let me help you. I think you need some air, is all. It's a bit close in here," Mason said, standing up and putting his hand on her arm to steady her.

"Yeah, maybe you're right. It's suddenly really crowded in here," she said as a group of guys pushed into her as they tried to get by. She picked up her purse and then stared after them with a glare.

Because she needed the help, she allowed Mason to walk her toward the door, where a big bouncer stood.

Crystal locked eyes with him and then suddenly everything went out of focus.

Her body felt limp, but also alive and buzzing at the same time.

She felt Mason put his arm around her waist and she leaned all her weight on him.

It felt like she was walking on air toward the door in slow motion.

Something was very wrong with her, but she couldn't figure out what.

"Wait, hold on buddy," the bouncer said but the words echoed in Crystal's mind.

"She's had too many. I'm her brother. Taking her out of here," Mason said.

"Sweetie, you alright?" the bouncer asked her.

It suddenly dawned on her that she'd been drugged and she opened her mouth to say so, but no sound came out.

Panic filled her as the world around her blurred and her heart raced uncontrollably in her chest. How the hell had she missed this guy drugging her?

She couldn't leave with him. She raised her eyes to the bouncer again, hoping he'd see the fear in her eyes since she couldn't make her mouth work.

"No, I'm sorry, I can't let you walk out of here with her. I've been here since early evening and saw you walk up to her. You didn't come in with her," the bouncer said to Mason.

"What are you saying, man? Accusing me of something?" Mason said, anger filled his voice.

Crystal couldn't add anything to the conversation instead she slipped from Mason's grip to the floor as everything went black.