Angie looked at Mira.  Mira looked to Rollie.  Rollie glared at Loubar.
    "So, you see my predicament.  Who has my disk?"
    None of them said anything.
    Loubar swung his gun around.  "Someone has it!!" he exclaimed.  He pulled one of the drawers open roughly by the bedside.  He sifted through its contents.  Nothing.  He grabbed Rollie's jacket, and felt through the pockets.  Nothing.

    Detective Tony Rizzo exited the elevator and walked straight to the nurse's desk.  "Excuse me, what room is Palmira Sanchez in?" he asked.
    The nurse looked up.  "Number 413, but she's not to be disturbed -- can you come back later?"
    Tony frowned.  "But I was told downstairs that she was accepting visitors."
    "I'm sorry," said the nurse, shrugging.
    Tony thanked the woman, and walked away from the desk.  He'd just been told it was okay to talk to her.  What was going on?
    He was about to step into the elevator when he changed his mind.  He spun on his heel, and headed down the hall in the direction of room 413.  He found it quickly.  He was about to open the handle when he heard a strange voice inside.  A man was talking loudly.  He sounded familiar ...
    Suddenly the voice and the face connected, and Tony paled.
    "Victor Loubar," he whispered, to himself.  For a moment, he considered his plan of action.  Then quietly, he reached out and slowly tried the handle.
    It resisted.  Loubar must have locked it.
    He heard the sound of Rollie's voice inside.  Pressing his ear against the door, he listened.
    A minute later, he had determined there were three of them plus Loubar.  Rollie, Mira, and Angie.  But what did Loubar want?
    Whatever it was, Tony knew he had to do something.  He backed away from the door, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket.  He stepped into the shadow of a doorway and pressed a number on autodial.
    Francis Gatti's phone at the precinct rang.  He sighed.  Not another problem.  The city was still trying to recover from Duncan Torren's reign of terror, and he didn't need more work.  He fumbled for the receiver as the phone rang a second time, and picked it up.
    "Francis, it's me, Tony," whispered Tony.
    "Detective," said Francis.  The fact that Tony Rizzo was whispering meant something was going on.
    "Francis, listen to me.  I was just about to go see Mira -- Loubar's in with her."
    Francis' eyes widened.  "Damn!" he said.
    "Listen," said Tony, "get help.  There's Rollie and Angie in there too.  Loubar wants something -- I need help.  I'm out in the hallway -- they don't know I'm here."
    "I'll get you as much backup as I can find," said Francis.  He reached into a drawer and grabbed his gun and its holster, and strapped it onto his hip.  "I'm coming over!"  He slammed the phone down, and, yelling for others officers to follow, hurried out of the station.

    Inside the room, Loubar was still searching.  He'd already searched Rollie and Mira, and had now begun searching other places in the room.  The problem was, even when his back was turned, he had his gun in his hand, ready for any surprises.  There was no way any of them could jump him.
    Rollie and Mira exchanged worried glances.  Loubar wasn't going to find the disk -- would he really kill them to keep it quiet?  They had a feeling they knew the answer to that -- and it didn't look good for them.
    "So, Loubar," said Angie, "how are things in the sleaze business going?"
    Loubar spun around, training his gun on Angie.  "Shut up -- or you're dead!"
    "Why should I?" said Angie.  She looked mad -- almost crazed.  "You bastard -- all you care about is yourself, and whatever little agenda you have ... "
    "SHUP UP!!" shouted Loubar, grabbing Angie's shoulder roughly.  He pushed the muzzle of the gun in her ear.  His voice lowered.  "Shut up, or I shoot."
    Rollie was on the edge of his seat, so close to jumping Loubar.  But he knew what would happen if he tried.
    Angie was crying.  "Oh god -- please god, no ... don't shoot me ... "
    Loubar pushed her back into her chair.  "Shut up!" he said, again.  Then he continued searching.

    Tony turned when he heard Loubar shout.  He pressed his face against the door, and heard what was going on.  He considered blasting his way in, by shooting off the lock, but that would give Loubar early warning he was coming in.  He just prayed to god that things wouldn't turn ugly in there before help arrived ...