With Carmondy in front, using his significant bulk to clear a path, they moved much more quickly until they reached the hallway where Sonny had disappeared. There were two bathrooms and an emergency-only exit that warned an alarm would sound if the door was opened. Molly was glad to see it, since that meant Sonny had to be in one of the bathrooms. Even with the loud music and the angry mutters of the patrons, she would’ve heard the fire alarm if Sonny had left through that exit.

“Thanks,” Molly said to John once they’d left the worst of the crowd behind. As soon as the press of hostile strangers lightened, her heart rate slowed, and she could take deeper breaths. “Now I know what it’d be like to be mobbed by zombies.” As John chuckled, she felt herself relax slightly, comforted by the warm, familiar sound, and gestured toward the women’s bathroom. “Check the men’s, and I’ll look in here.”

He nodded and turned toward the men’s room as she shoved open the door to the women’s. She entered cautiously, worried that a smaller—but just as angry—crowd of women would be waiting to poke her eyes out with their stilettos or stomp her into the tile with their motorcycle boots. To her relief, the bathroom seemed empty. As the door swung shut, muffling the music from the bar, she eyed the dingy space. Her boots tapped against the worn tiles, her gaze taking in the shadowed stalls and the crack that ran up the dirty, tarnished mirror. She glanced back at the door, tense at the possibility of someone following her into the small room. She could usually hold her own, but there were a lot of people right outside the bathroom who were obviously on Sonny’s side, and she couldn’t fight off an entire mob by herself.

Reaching out, Molly shoved the first stall door open, using a little too much force. The door banged into the partition, making her jump and then feel like an idiot for scaring herself. Shifting to the second stall, she pushed on it more gently this time. The door swung open, revealing a second empty stall, and she exhaled hard, her shoulders relaxing slightly. As she peered around the bathroom again without finding any possible hiding places, she laughed at herself. This search for Sonny was making her ridiculously jumpy.

Cautiously, she cracked the door to the hallway, finding it empty. As she slipped out, the other bathroom door swung open, and she pivoted around to face it, automatically falling into a defensive position. When she realized it was John, she straightened, her fists returning to her sides.

“Nothing?” she asked, even though it was obvious he wasn’t dragging a full-grown man behind him.

“Empty.”

They both turned toward the exit door. “The alarm must be disabled,” Molly said as she hurried over. Despite her certainty, she held her breath as she shoved against the release bar, ready for the piercing squeal of the fire alarm. The door swung open silently, and she stuck her head outside.