"Why don't you ask the man?" said Sabrina.

Tattoo-guy hesitated, and I knew immediately what had happened. They had one person covering us at a time. He had seen Russ come in, but couldn't do anything about it until his friend arrived, and he didn't arrive in time. He either didn't see Russ leave, or chose to stay on us rather than to follow him. He should have followed Russ.

"I'm asking you."

"Someone came with a painting and wanted to sell it to us, but we refused."

"What was his name?" Tattoo-guy kept glancing at the hallway. I could hear some activity. They didn't have much time.

"He didn't give us his name," I said. "He was trying to be mysterious. We told him to get lost."

The other guy quickly searched the room and announced, "No painting here."

"Shit," said tattoo-guy. Then he spied our cell phones on the table. He broke into a smile. "But I bet you took pictures. He snatched the phones from the table. He pointed his gun again. "Get out of bed and come with us."

"Yeah, right," I answered. I could hear a walkie-talkie in the hallway. Obviously an employee. And then I heard a siren. "I think you've got about three seconds to get out of here before the police come. No way we're going with you. Besides, I'm naked. No one wants to see that."

"I do," said Sabrina.

We were playing with them now. We knew we weren't in danger. They weren't masked, and there were too many potential witnesses. Besides, they didn't strike me as killers. Killing was above their pay grade. The guns were simply for intimidation.

They ran. As they reached the hallway, they tried to cover their faces with their arms, without much success. By this time, most of the guests on our floor were standing out there.

Sabrina reached for her pajamas next to the bed and put them on under the covers. Mine were across the room.

"Um," I said.

"I'll get them for you," she said, getting out of bed. A minute later we were standing in the middle of the room. Sabrina had added a robe to her outfit, and I had gone into the bathroom to put on my jeans. The hotel employee was in with us, asking if we were okay. Everyone else was crowded around the door. A dozen heads peeked around the door frame. Thank God there weren't any Sabrina Spencer fans out there.

When the police arrived and everyone else had been chased away, we recounted the incident and suggested they call the Fairfield police for more information about Mario Guidry. We were pretty certain he was behind this event too.

"Do you know Russ Simpson?" asked Sabrina.

A cop rolled his eyes. "We do." Ah, he was just as popular with them as he was with us.

"You might want to warn him," she said, letting them know that he had the painting the men were after.