The toilet seats were cushioned, though. If I could find a way to stomach it, I’d have to come back later when there wasn’t mass panic and try it out on my aching bum. But enough of that. I had a mission to complete. My bizarre fascination with the women’s room could wait.
I scanned all four of the stalls carefully, even looking up at the ceiling vents to see if they looked like they’d been toyed with recently, but everything looked to be exactly in place. No signs of tampering or a struggle.
“Grr,” I muttered. “Not in here, then.”
Like I said, it had been a long shot, but I’d still held out just a tiny bit of hope.
I walked back into the bar proper to find Sevin and Yuri milling about. The two were looking around the rather large room in a bit of a huff. It looked like they were finally starting to take this thing seriously.
“Anything?” Yuri piped up.
I shook my head. “Nope. Nothing in there.” I bit my lip. “You two really didn’t see anything?” I pointed at the broken glass shards on the bar. “She dropped a glass in her exit. Whatever it was, it must have been really abrupt and against her will.”
Yuri shrugged and shook his head. Sevin just stared at the floor, cheeks burning a bright crimson.
I could understand how Sevin felt. The guy had been coming to Mei’s bar almost as long as I had. It was a place of refuge against the cruel outside world. A place where people like us felt truly safe and accepted, and Mei’s musings were almost like therapy for the magically inclined. The loss must be crushing for him, too.
My eyes darted around the room again, trying to take it all in. I went back in my mind to the moments right before I’d gone to the bathroom, wondering if there was anything I could have done differently.
If only I’d held it a little bit longer, perhaps. At least until Yuri had gotten his refill.
But that was just wishful thinking. Whoever had taken her had likely waited for the place to be as empty as possible, which would make sense. Why fight off more would-be defenders than you had to? And with me gone, it had just been Yuri and Sevin to contend with.
Or had there been more? Hadn’t someone else been there, too?
I tried to recall everything, down to the slightest detail. I had been sitting at the bar, leaning in close to Mei. Yuri and Sevin had been on my right side, nursing their beverages when Yuri had asked for his refill. In my head, I looked all around the room in that moment, trying to recall everything.
That’s when it hit me. The guy in the left-hand corner. There had been six patrons sitting down at the bar when I’d come in. Hank, Sally, Isaiah, Sevin, and Yuri made five. My usual five friends that came in most every night when they weren’t off working their jobs or doing something equally important.
Which left only the tall, lanky guy on the far left of the room unaccounted for. He had been there when I’d gone to the restroom, but most assuredly wasn’t there now, meaning if someone had taken Mei, it was probably him.
I strained my memory. What did he look like again? I couldn’t quite remember, only that he’d been a bit on the tall and lanky side. Barely an ounce of fat on him. Other than that, he’d seemed relatively nondescript, wearing average clothes meant to blend in instead of stand out. Hell, he’d even joined in on some of the jokes.
He was basically an everyman, which would make him hard to find. I needed help.
I strode over to where Sevin was pacing in two giant steps and took hold of the man by his shoulders, shaking him to rouse him from his little pity party.
“Sevin!” I barked. The poor guy looked up at me with sad, puppy dog eyes, appearing even more flustered than before. “The guy in the left-hand corner of the room tonight. Who was he?”
Frenchie frowned and blinked slightly, shook his head, then he looked back up at me as his eyes brightened and he let out a gasp of surprise. “But of course! Yes, I remember him now. Tall, lanky, wearing a bluish outfit and a wide-brimmed hat.”
I nodded. That all gelled with my memory of the guy. “Yes, that one. What was his name? Where did he say he was from? Did he do anything that struck you as odd?”
Sevin’s expression went blank. His eyes glistened like fresh tears were welling up in the corners. “I do not know, mon ami.” He sniffed a couple of times and raised one hand to wipe away a tear that fell from his left eye. “I wish I could help more, truly I do.”
I grunted and let go of the man. He was in trauma much like me and wouldn’t be of any help. At least not right now. I turned and shot a glare at Yuri instead.
“What about you? You catch Lanky Guy’s name?”
The big Russian shook his head. “No, Damian.” He spread his hands wide. “He never spoke once whole night except to Mei.”
“Ugh.” I threw my hands up in disgust. This was getting me nowhere.
My eyes darted around the room, finally focusing on a rectangular object in the far corner of the room. It was the emergency exit door, and from this angle it looked to be slightly askew. I squinted my eyes and let out a small gasp, pointing at it. It was definitely partially open, which explained where the strange draft had been coming from.
Without a second thought, I raced over to the exit door and flung it open so hard I swore it would tear off its hinges, though in reality likely not, plunging into the dark alley behind the building. In retrospect, I probably should have been more cautious,
