Harlan Coben - Miracle Cure

Every social and medical program will be drained.

Whole cities will go bankrupt from the medical bills."

"The patients should foot the bill themselves," Lowell replied.

"There are other priorities, other ways the board could have spent that money." His voice began to crack and Sara knew what was coming next.

She closed her eyes and waited.

"I watched cancer kill my wife," he continued.

"I watched it eat away at my Erin until..." He stopped then, his head lowered, his face anguished.

"And your commitment is admirable," Harvey replied. "I however, never got the chance to see my brother die. Sidney suffered alone while lesions and infections engulfed and destroyed his body. He was shunned, made an outcast by his own family including me. Most of these young men boys in their twenties and thirties, for chrissake die the death of a leper.

If this disease had hit any other segment of the population, the government would have reacted quickly and with lots of money.

But everyone thought it was merely a 'fag' disease, and who cares about a bunch of fags anyway?"

"They should have shown some self-control."

Harvey shook his head.

"You can't play God, Dr. Lowell.

While part of me agrees with your harsh statements on cigarette smoking, I have to ask you, sir, where do you draw the line?

Should thin people get priority over obese? Should people who ignore their doctor's warning about high cholesterol be told that they asked for their heart attack? Where do you draw the line, Dr. Lowell? And who gets to play God?"

John Lowell opened his mouth to continue the argument, then closed it.

His face was etched in exhaustion.

"The sad fact is that resources are limited. That means that tough choices have to be made."

"And who is going to make those choices, Dr. Lowell?"

John waved his hand as though dismissing the question. His voice took on a nervous, shaky edge.

"Enough of this now," he said.

"I want to hear about Michael's condition."

Police Lieutenant Max

"Twitch" Bernstein hated New York in the summer.

Too damn hot for a human to be in the city this time of the year. Not that Max knew anything else. He had been born and raised in Manhattan, went to college at New York University in Manhattan, lived with Lenny in Manhattan, worked as a cop in Manhattan. Homicide. Business was always good when you worked homicides in a place like Manhattan, but in the summer the whackos really came out of the woodwork.

Max parked his unmarked Chevy Caprice squad car (unmarked, his ass like a criminal wouldn't know it was a cop's car in a glance) and moved toward the police barriers. He did not look like a homicide detective.

He was too young, his hair too long and curly, his mustache too bushy, his nose and face just a little too long and thin. Actually, he looked more like he should be delivering pizzas than chasing killers.

He walked to the side of the building with a sign above the door that read

"Black Magic Bar and Grill." Max had visited the Black Magic in more liberated, fun-loving days when it was called the Butt Seriously.

More than once, actually. Always in disguise.

Used an alias too.

He flashed his badge at a couple of uniforms and proceeded down the alleyway. Sergeant WUlie Monticelli greeted him.

"How's it going, Twitch?" Willie asked.

Bernstein did not care much for his nickname. First of all he did not have a twitch. Yes, he fidgeted a lot, gestured wildly, bit his fingernails past the cuticles, played with anything he could get his hands on, blinked too much, never sat or stood still. Sure, everybody was always asking him when he had quit chain smoking.

But there was definitely no twitch.

"Better before I got this call," he replied.

"Looks like you put on a little weight, Willie."

Monticelli patted his stomach.

"Nice to meet someone who's not all caught up in the diet craze, huh?"

"Great." Bernstein took out his pencil, put it in his mouth, and chewed. It already looked like a much-used dog toy.

"What's the story here?"

"A garbage man found him half an hour ago. Wanna take a look?"

Already feeling his stomach churn, Max nodded and bit down harder on the pencil. He hated this part.

"Have to. It's why I'm paid the big bucks."

"Yeah, I can tell by your fancy set of wheels."

Willie walked over to the still form sprawled in the garbage.

He pulled the sheet back. Max swallowed away his nausea. Then he bent down and examined the mess that was once a living man.

"Jesus."

"Looks like the Gay Slasher is back," Willie said.

"Same M.O.

as the other two." "With one noticeable difference," Max said almost under his breath.

"And don't call him that, Willie. The press will dive all over it."

"They're gonna dive anyway."

"They ignored the first two victims," Max noted.

"They won't ignore this one."

"What makes you say that?"

"Do you know who this is?"

Bernstein looked down at the disfigured face and then up at Willie.

"His mother wouldn't recognize him."

"You're not going to like it."

"I never do."

"According to his wallet, his name is Bradley Jenkins. I checked him out. His father is "

"A U.S. Senator, I know." Max closed his eyes and turned away. He stroked his mustache.

"Right. Bradley lives on 12th Street. His father and mother have a house in the Hamptons. Weird, huh? Senator from Arkansas who vacations on Long Island?"

"Senator Jenkins has been living in the Northeast since he began going to school here as a boy," Max explained.

"I doubt the guy has spent five straight days in Arkansas, except during election campaigns."

"How do you know so much about it?"

Max's hand ran through his thick, dark curly hair several times.

"First of all, he's the Senate Minority Leader. Second, I read a newspaper now and again."

"And third?"

"Bradley is a good friend of Sara Lowell's. I met him once."

"Oh," Willie said.

"That's too bad. Think Sara will handle the story? It'd be nice to have a member of the press on our side for this one."

"I doubt it."

"Yeah, she won't waste her time with us anymore. She's big time now.

You see her on TV last night?"

Max nodded, pacing rapidly back and forth but traveling no more than five feet in any direction.

"You got today's Herald in your car?"

"Sure. Why?"

"Get it. I want to show you something."

Willie fetched the paper and handed it to Bernstein. Bernstein grabbed it and thumbed through the pages quickly, ripping several as he went along.

"Whoa, Twitch, slow down a minute."

"It's right here..."

"what's right here?" Willie asked.

Bernstein continued to rifle through the paper, the pencil still in his mouth.

"Did you read the society pages today?"

"Shit, no, I don't read that crap. But I did check out the box scores

"That should be a big help," Max said. He turned a few more pages, his right foot tapping the pavement impatiently.

"Bingo," he said at last.

"Take a look at this."

Willie looked over Max's shoulder. A page of photographs showed the well-dressed people who had attended Dr. John Lowell's charity ball the previous evening. Max pointed to the picture in the upper right-hand corner.

"There."

"Shit on a stick," Willie whispered.

The caption read: The luminous Sara Lowell enjoys the festivities after her triumphant News Flash debut with (right) her handsome hubby and Knick superstar Michael Silverman and (left) Senator Stephen Jenkins' dashing son, Bradley.

"It's him," Willie exclaimed, pointing to the photograph.

"It's Bradley Jenkins."

"Correct."

"Not much resemblance now. Maybe a little around the ears."