The Cure

SPECIAL AGENT DEACON HAD DONE HIS very best over the past forty-eight hours, as he collected about as much information as he could about Dryden Pharmaceuticals. He also did what he could to investigate their connection to Dr. Xavier Carter, but there wasn’t nearly enough for his team to work with. The moment Xavier Carter was officially elevated to the renowned top ten list of the FBI’s most wanted, an avalanche of tips, along with people wanting to cash in on the reward, came crashing in their offices and that took up the bulk of their investigative time. It was one of the things Tony didn’t like about his suspect being tossed into the ten. Sometimes it was a paranoid old lady that really believed she saw the person when it was just her mind playing tricks on her again for the fifth time that day. This resulted in a lot of their time being wasted on bad leads that never led anywhere. Tony didn’t like it, but they had no choice. Every call had to be checked out because that one call they skipped could be the one that was legit and could have led to the capture of the fugitive in question. Messages were being left at their office hourly, and it took twice as long to call those back and it was just piling up too fast. It was going to get to the point where Tony was going to consider asking for more manpower, there was no way just the five of them would be able to hand all these leads. Carter was going to get away again because everyone was either out to get a buck or couldn’t remember if the guy they saw at the supermarket was him or just their neighbor with a five day beard. Things seemed to be going completely downhill until Lisa walked up to him with a piece of paper that she was waving around like it was more special than the others. Tony looked up at her since he was willing to listen to anything to get away from the grueling work he was currently doing.

“What do you have?” he called out to her.

“This tip came to my bureau cell, not the hotline.” Lisa said as she handed it over to him. “This guy used to be my CI when I was a detective in New York.”

“And he claims to have seen Carter?” Tony asked looking at the name.

“Bingo,” Lisa confirmed, “But the last time he saw him was four months ago.”

“How reliable is the CI?” Tony inquired.

“Very,” Lisa replied, “This guy was and still is my informant within organized crime. We have a bit of an understanding, and he said that Carter was working for one of his captains for six months up until four months ago when he was almost busted.”

Tony sat up in his chair. “What the hell was he doing for the mob?”

“Playing doctor,” Lisa answered, “Removing bullets, stitching up knife wounds and doing all that freaky stuff so that none of them would have to go a real hospital where wounds like that would have to be reported to the authorities.”

“Why the hell would play mob doctor?” Wilson asked, obviously listening in.

“Money,” Tony quickly responded, “And I’m sure the mob gave him a very cozy spot to hide out that was likely heavily protected. If he really is working on little science project like we suspect he is a mob hospital would be the perfect place to do that unmolested.”

“So, what do you think?” Lisa asked her boss, proud of what she had uncovered.

“I think we’re all going to New York, except for Wilson.” Tony replied as he gave the note back to her. “Chances are if the mob took care of that place there could be leftovers from his experiments that could help us find out what he’s up to. It would be easier to track him if we knew what he was doing.”

“What do I do in the meantime boss?” Wilson quickly asked.

“Get ten probies in here to investigate these rest of these leads and return calls.” Tony said, as he stood up and grabbed his coat. This was the first solid lead they had gotten since the case started and he was ready to get out there. Confidential informants don’t stick their heads out and risk exposure for nothing. He had seen Carter and was in contact with the man for six months. If there were any clues to where he went or what he was doing, it was going to be over there.

Everyone grabbed their emergency carry one bag and quickly left headquarters to drive to the airport to where the FBI had their private planes parked. Tony rarely used these things, namely because he never had permission. Usually, divisions had special permission to use them for big cases but that rarely happened either. This time out Tony got the word from above that he was allowed to use the private jet for this case. The brass didn’t want him or his team to waste any time at the airport that could be used chasing what was now one of their most dangerous fugitives. That was the kind of talk Tony liked to hear, but he never told anyone about it because he wanted to see the looks on their faces when they realized they were stealing one of the jets. They were halfway to the airport when he decided this was the right time, he took out his cell and dialed the number that the director had given him and waited for an answer.

“Hi there, this is Special Agent Tony Deacon.” Tony called out, “I have three passengers and we are enroute to the field. Destination is New York City. Make sure we’re ready to go, I want wheels up as soon as we get there.”

Bruce was the first to speak. “You have got to be shitting me!”

“What’s going on?” Melissa asked, not sure what was going on. She hadn’t been on the field in over a decade, so she wasn’t too familiar with what Bruce had just caught onto.

“I didn’t realize we were authorized to take the jet.” Lisa said from the backseat, “When were you going to tell us that?”

“And spoil the surprise?” Tony said with a childish grin on his face. “Seriously people; this case has been given our highest priority. We are going to be given the full support of the bureau to get this man behind bars. That includes getting to joyride in the private planes until that hunt is finished. We can use the time to study up and keep looking for things that can help our case.”

Tony pulled his car through the gate and towards the cargo bay where their plane was fueling up and getting ready to go. He parked just outside the cargo bay, and they all exited the car and walked towards the small aircraft. Tony motioned his team to enter the aircraft while he talked to some people in the ground crew before coming onboard himself. Once everything and everyone was all onboard, he quickly came onboard himself and noticed that everyone was getting nice and comfortable in the wide leather seats inside the cabin. He was able to stow away his only carry on bag and settle into his own seat quickly as the plane began to taxi towards the airstrip for takeoff. It only took a few minutes to get permission to take off and once they were in the air and cruising, Tony was able to pivot his chair and face the rest of his team.

“Once we’ve secured the clinic/lab in question,” Tony started, “It will be Melissa’s job to look for clues to what Carter was doing there. Hopefully if we can figure out what he was using we might be able to trace orders or track where he’s going.”

Lisa was the first to butt in. “What do you mean by secure?”

“I’ve already contacted the branch of the Bureau in New York,” Tony started to explain, “We’re going to have tactical teams waiting for us when we land. In four hours that lab where Carter was working is going to be property of the US government, at least until the conclusion of the investigation.” Tony had an idea of what was coming next and prepared for it.

“What about my CI?” she squealed with a hint of frustration.

“I’ve already got that covered,” Tony answered, doing his best to be diplomatic. “I’m going to prepare a cover that will keep your CI in the clear. It’s being worked on as we speak. We’re working to protect him. Alright?”

“You better,” She huffed, as it was obvious she didn’t like the idea of losing such an important informant.

Tony didn’t exactly care because his goal was to get all the data he could that might lead to the capture Xavier Carter. Right now, the best evidence and possible clues were at that lab, which likely hasn’t been molested much since he ran. It’s one thing to mess with someone who let someone run, it’s another to try to push the mob around. If her informant was right, the only changes made would have been by a new doctor if they even had a new one hired by now.

“Melissa,” Tony called out, “Once we get to that lab, we’re going to look and photograph everything, interview staff, and try to inventory his equipment. If there is any rare machinery in there, we could use that to track him.”

“What if the place is clean or there is nothing to find there?” Bruce asked, fearing the worst.

“We interview his patients,” Tony responded, and he lifted a finger before Lisa could respond, “I don’t give a rat’s ass what he was doing for the mob. I’m hoping that during their small talk he might have given away some clues to what he might have been doing in his spare time when not patching them up. There’s also a good chance he might have hit them up to fund his science project. These are legit questions, and if they help me answer them, they will all have my undying appreciation. Okay?”

Lisa nodded as she understood what he was saying. “Okay, I get what you’re saying. Carter is the target and everything else is…”

“Is not going to be looked at or considered at all,” Tony said with extreme prejudice. “I don’t care if we find Jimmy friggin’ Hoffa in their freezer, if they give me the info I need to go after Carter… I will look the other way. If these thugs know that they shouldn’t have any trouble spilling the 411 on what the doctor was doing and where he might have gone.”

“That makes sense.” Bruce said as he was taking mental notes.

“In the meantime, I’m going to get a little shuteye.” Tony said as he started to make himself comfortable, “Wake me up when we hit the ground.”

“Is he serious?” Lisa asked no one in particular.

“As serious as Chris Christie at a buffet,” Tony said, smiling back. “When you’re on a hunt, you get rest whenever you can. The last thing you want to do is lose a foot race with your subject because you were tired.”

“Duly noted,” Lisa said, as she understood his thinking.

Tony took out a baseball cap and used it to cover his eyes and he reclined the chair back a few degrees and relaxed. It only took him a few minutes to doze off into a peaceful sleep.