Dr. Vigilante by Alberto Hazan

Author:Alberto Hazan [Hazan, Alberto]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: VB Publishing
Published: 2013-09-17T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Robert stood in his living room staring at a grid of Manhattan on the large plasma television. He touched the screen and zoomed in on several areas, dotted with three-dimensional icons of various colors: red for homicides, orange for rapes, yellow for assaults.

He was on the verge of putting together a life-or-death puzzle, but couldn’t quite get the last pieces to fit.

One thing he was certain of: there was something horrible brewing in New York City.

He could feel static electricity sparking from his bones, making his brain twitch. It was the same buzz he got when a sick patient showed up in the ER and he knew the diagnosis before running any laboratory or imaging studies.

It was already after ten p.m. Robert sipped his second espresso as he tried to clear his mind of everything but the grid and what it prompted.

A Chinese guy, kicked and beaten brutally.

A busboy going home from work, carrying his under-the-table shift money … and the dirt bags let him keep it?

Shaved heads. White. Multiple tats.

Swastika tats?

Neo-Nazis in Manhattan?

Robert touched the screen and expanded the Midtown West area—Hell’s Kitchen, from Thirty-Fourth to Fifty-Ninth Street. He tapped the date menu for felonies in that section. There had been a big upsurge in hate crimes during the last three months, mostly targeting minorities—blacks, Hispanics, Chinese.

And that poor Hassidic Jew.

The case had made headlines and caused a huge uproar in the Hassidic Community. The student had visited a friend at Fordham Law School on Sixtieth Street and Columbus Avenue, then headed for Times Square and was assaulted on Fifty-Fourth Street. He claimed he was beaten up by guys with swastikas, but the fact that his Fordham friend was also his lover became the main story. The aftermath was a story about homosexuality and Judaism—not about hate crime.

Robert winced in disgust and looked out his wide living room window. Beyond his balcony, the city glittered quietly.

He shifted his focus and stared at his weary reflection. Though he’d fought them, there they were again: thoughts of Sharon.

What was his problem? Why had he been such a jerk to her? He had fallen into his badass ER act that morning without thinking. But as soon as he started it, he couldn’t stop.

Grow up, Robert.

The game had changed, and he didn’t know how to play with new rules. He was pissed, too. He felt betrayed, but he couldn’t figure out why. Was she going to turn him in? He assumed his secret was safe with her, but how could he be sure? Maybe she was out now having drinks with the nurses and yapping about his true identity.

Did she have any idea what was at stake?

The truth was, he had looked forward to seeing her at work that morning, had felt his spirits lift when she sauntered in. When he overheard Rivera ribbing her, he had to force himself not to smile. But then the anger came. He couldn’t control it.

Where does that rage come from?

Robert picked up his espresso and downed it.

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