“Come on,” she said, dragging him towards the elevators.
“But—” Max objected.
“You can kick his ass later,” Nemo said. “I promise.”
The doors of one of the elevators were open. Nemo pulled Max inside and hit a button at random, aiming for a high floor. As the doors slid shut, something crashed against them. One of Boomer’s little bombs, Nemo thought as the elevator started up.
“Where are we going?” Max asked. “And why? I almost had Seamus.”
“Yeah,” Nemo agreed. “You did. But what were you going to do with him?”
Max looked at her. “Pay him back for being a traitor,” he said, as if this was the stupidest question she could ask.
“And after that?”
Max shrugged. “I hadn’t gotten that far,” he said.
“Exactly,” said Nemo. “Think about it. We don’t have anywhere to stick him. We don’t have anyone to help us. Everyone who works here is freaking out.”
“For good reason,” Max said.
“For very good reason,” Nemo agreed. “My point is, we’re on our own, at least until Nine shows up again. And we have more important things to do than beat the crap out of Seamus and Boomer. Besides, if those two are here, there are probably more of them. Like Freakshow.”
Max made a face. “That girl is bad news,” he said.
“Right,” Nemo said. “So let’s try to stay away from her and do something useful, like find Sam.”
“We don’t have any idea where he is,” Max reminded her. “He might not even be here.”
“I think he is,” said Nemo. “All of this is happening here for a reason. I think Sam is here, too.”
“Okay,” Max said. “But there are like two thousand rooms in this place. He could be anywhere. And I’m guessing he’s not by himself.”
“Probably not,” Nemo admitted.
“And right now Seamus and Boomer are probably warning whoever is with him that—”
“I get it,” Nemo interrupted. “We’re still going to go look for him.” She patted her pocket, where she had stored two syringes containing the parasite antiserum. Nine had two as well, and whichever of them found Sam or Six first was supposed to administer it to them.
“I’m not saying your plan is bad,” Max said. “But like I said, there are more than two thousand rooms here and only two of us.”
“Housekeeping,” Nemo said.
“You mean like maids?” said Max.
“I hate that word,” Nemo said. “It sounds like they’re servants or something. But yeah, them.”
“How are they going to help us find Sam?”
“The housekeeping staff know everything,” Nemo said. “They’re in and out of these rooms all day long. And trust me, if they see anything weird, they remember it. My cousin Ha worked in a hotel last summer, and she had some crazy stories about what went on there.”
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Nemo stepped out. They were on the sixty-third floor. It was deserted. But at one end she could see a room door propped open with a housekeeping cart.
“I’m surprised anyone is still working,” Max remarked as they walked towards the room.
“News probably hasn’t reached up here yet,” said Nemo. “This place is huge, and it’s not like the hotel is on fire—yet—so anyone who hasn’t been downstairs might not have any clue about what’s going on.”
They reached the room. From inside the sound of water running spilled out into the hall. Nemo stepped in and peered into the bathroom. A young woman knelt next to the tub, scrubbing it and humming along to a popular song that was just audible. She wore headphones. Max, looking around Nemo, said, “No wonder she has no clue the place is under attack.”
Nemo wasn’t sure how to get the girl’s attention without startling her, so she knocked on the bathroom door. The girl turned around and frowned.
“Hi,” Nemo said, trying to sound as friendly as possible. “I was wondering if you could help us find our friend. He—”
“What?” the girl said, removing the earphones.
“We’re looking for someone,” Max said impatiently. “Our friend Sam.”
“If he’s a guest here, you can ask at the front desk,” the girl said. “They’ll connect you.”
“Yeah, that might be a problem,” Max said. “See, there are these things attack—”
“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?”