“The thing is, we’re not entirely sure he’s here,” Nemo said. “We’re hoping you might have seen him, though.”

The girl laughed. “Do you know how many people are staying in this hotel?” she said. “Thousands.” She sighed and glanced at the tub she was scrubbing. “And I think I’ve pulled their hair out of every drain in the place.”

“Gross,” Max said.

Nemo looked at the girl’s name tag, which was affixed to the front of her shirt. “Basia,” she said. “Um, this is kind of embarrassing. But Sam is actually my boyfriend.”

Max snorted, and Nemo shot him a dirty look. “Was my boyfriend,” she said. “See, he kind of ran off with this girl. And I think he brought her here.”

Basia was shaking her head, obviously about to tell them that there was nothing she could do to help. Before she could, Nemo burst into tears. “And it’s my birthday and he’s supposed to be here with me,” she wailed.

Basia’s face softened. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know what that’s like. It’s terrible.”

“It is,” Nemo said, forcing tears from her eyes. “And all I want to do is tell him that I don’t need him because I’ve got somebody way better.”

“Me?” Max said hopefully.

“Chad,” Nemo said. “My ex’s best friend.”

Basia laughed. “You go, girl,” she said. “But I don’t know the names of anyone in these rooms. Maybe if you have a picture of this guy. Sam, right?”

Nemo nodded. “I don’t,” she said. “I could describe him, but he looks like a lot of other guys.”

“But maybe you’ve seen the girl,” Max said. “She’s kind of hard to miss. Thin. Pink hair. A little on the weird side.”

“Room 7192,” Basia said instantly. “I don’t know if the guy you’re looking for is with her. She wouldn’t let me in to clean, so I don’t know who’s in there. But she ordered a ton of room service, and I had to cart all the dishes away.” She frowned. “You don’t forget people when they do stuff like that.”

“7192,” Nemo repeated. “Thanks. Oh, and you might want to see about leaving early. But be careful when you go downstairs, okay? Don’t go outside until you know it’s all right.”

“What’s going on?” Basia asked, suddenly looking worried. Her eyes went wide. “Is it a terrorist attack?”

“No,” Nemo said quickly. “There’s just a lot of . . . commotion . . . going on in front of the hotel. Some kind of accident, I think. It’s just safer for you to avoid it if you can. Is there another way out?”

“There’s an exit in the basement,” Basia said.

“Use that,” Nemo said. “On second thought, maybe stay up here until you know it’s safe. Okay?”

Basia nodded. She was already taking out her cell phone and dialing someone.

“Come on,” Nemo said to Max as she left the bedroom.

“Shouldn’t we tell her exactly what’s going on?” Max said. “You probably scared her to death.”