The Cure

THE SEIZURE OF THE MOB HIDEOUT was a lot easier than many had imagined it would be. Lisa and Tony, however, did their CI a favor by giving them the heads up to make sure that none of the big wigs were there so only the small peons got busted when the tactical units arrived to take the place by storm. The office in question where all the illegal medical treatments were being conducted was located on the third floor of a building that was owned by the crime syndicate in question. The first floor was home to a local pub while the second and fourth were apartments housed by people who had no idea what was going on or who their landlords were. Once the building was completely secure, the agents took control of the third floor and started to look around. Agent Jackson was the first to start looking around to take an inventory of the all the machines that were present in the lab while Tony and Bruce started to interview the staff working there when they arrived. The questions were fast and furious; they wanted to know if any of the nurses had been around when Xavier was the doctor on duty there. Unfortunately, none of them had been around when Carter was the man in charge. Turns out when he went on the run, the entire staff washed their hands clean of this place afraid just this would happen, and they would have to answer to the authorities. Lisa was put in charge of talking with whatever members of the organization were there. They talked to the staff to find out if there was anything left behind by Carter, and if so where was it currently being stored. The only person who wasn’t being very co-operative with the agents was the current head of the operation, the new doctor. A former physician who was stripped of his license over a year ago, he wasn’t willing to talk to anyone unless there were promises made. Tony realized what kind of issues they were dealing with, so he decided to have a little chat with the good doctor in private. Tony walked into one of the examination rooms where the ex-doc was being held and took a seat.

“I hear you’re not in a very talkative mood today.” Tony started.

“I’m not talking to anyone till I can cut a deal.” The man snapped back at him.

“I see.” Tony said with a huff, “Is there any particular reason why you want to cut a deal? Are you currently breaking any laws you need assistance with? Oh wait, I get it! You’re practicing medicine without a license, right?”

“I don’t want to go to jail!” he screamed at him, scared of the options.

“You won’t have to.” Tony said, “I’m not here for you.”

“Then who are you here for?” the doctor asked.

“The man who held this position before you did,” Tony answered.

“What did he do?” the doctor inquired.

“He’s wanted for murders and lots of them.” Tony answered as he opened a file and slapped it onto the table, “This is Xavier Carter, the newest face to grace the FBI ten most wanted list. This is the man I’m after. If you give me the information I want, I’m going to walk out that door and pretend I never met you.”

“You can do that?” the man asked, somewhat shocked by the idea.

“My superiors want this man behind bars bad,” Tony informed him, “And they’re willing to leave the whistle in their pocket for a while and let me get away with a lot. Give me something to work with here, and it just might be enough to get them all to look the other way.”

Tony sat there and waited for the ex-doc to fold like cheap suit.

“I never met him,” the doctor replied.

“I kind of figured,” Tony said, “Considering you were hired after he ran.”

“He did leave behind a lot of stuff that I think might help you out.” The doctor said as he took out a key chain out his pocket and proceeded to remove a single key from the chain.

“This key is to room 4-E,” The doctor informed Tony, “I took all the stuff he left behind and stuffed in there because I had no use for it but never knew if I might one day. It’s yours if you want it.”

“Good man,” Tony said as he took the key, “I’ll get my people to have a look at this. Just stay here until we’re done, and then we’ll disappear. You’ll never know we were here. Okay?”

The man nodded and Tony left him in the room and closed the door behind him. He called over to Agent Jackson who was in a lab looking over the equipment.

“You got something?” Jackson inquired.

“You bet I do,” Tony replied, grinning. “This key opens room 4-E. All of Carter’s leftover equipment is in there. Let’s go check it out.”

Melissa and Bruce followed Tony down the hall until he reached the door where the doctor had said Carter’s stuff had been stashed, and he opened it using the key he was just given. Tony opened the door to reveal a small exam room that was dirty, dusty and hadn’t been used likely since it was packed several months ago.

“Well, that’s very unpleasant.” Tony said with a disgusted look on his face, “Jackson, you’re going have to go through all this stuff and catalogue it before having it all shipped back to Wilson at H.Q.”

“Alright Tony.” Melissa said as she started to peek inside. “This could take a while though. I hope you can handle that.”

“I’m good with that and so is the brass,” Tony reminded her, “I doubt the city of New York is really going to let this place open again for a while, if ever.”

Tony started to stroll around the halls and was doing all right until he received a phone call, it was from Wilson.

“Wilson,” he called into his cell. “What’s the story, morning glory?”

“We have a possible Carter sighting in Pennsylvania, Tony.” Wilson answered.

“Define possible?” Tony quickly asked, “How reliable is the source?”

“Undercover cop thinks he spotted him at a local park.” Wilson replied, “It looks like he was trying to talk a woman into giving him a ride but then the woman got a little spooked and took off in the car and left him behind.”

That decision might have saved her life, Tony thought to himself.

“Did this cop make any attempt to apprehend the suspect?” Tony asked.

“I’m afraid not, D.” Wilson replied.

“WHAT!?” Tony screamed into his blue-tooth. “Why the hell not?”

“The cop was undercover. He’s been doing a case for Vice for over two years. He wasn’t going to blow his cover for something that ‘might’ have been Carter. I kind of can’t blame him for this, that’s a lot of time to gamble on a question mark.” Wilson seemed a little braver since he wasn’t within smacking distance.

“Damn it!” Tony said as he gave the door beside him a swift kick.

“You know what this means, doesn’t it Tony?” Wilson asked.

“It means he’s no longer in this fracking state!” Tony shouted as he knew just as much as Wilson did, a cop’s first instinct was usually right. He did see Carter that day. Two years of undercover work prevented him from putting the cuffs on someone who was on the FBI’s most wanted list. Not exactly something the Chiefs like to hear but Tony was going to break the news to one soon. “Alright, give notice to the local authorities in that city to be on the lookout. Bruce and I are going back to the jet and will be wheels up ASAP.”

“You’re on your way?” Wilson asked, somewhat surprised.

“We go where Carter goes,” Tony reminded him. “Lisa and Dr. Jackson can handle the lab. Contact the plane and have them ready to fly as soon as possible, we’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

“All right D,” Wilson replied, “Making the call now.”

With that, Tony turned off his cell phone and walked back into the lobby where Lisa was talking to many of the local cops where were holding the place down.

“Agent Davis, a word.” Tony called out.

She walked over as soon as she could and could tell something was up just by the look on Tony’s face.

“Something going on, Tony?” She asked him.

“Yes,” Tony confirmed, “I need you to stay here with Jackson and keep hitting the peons here for as much info as you can. Bruce and I are heading back for the jet.”

“Where are you going?” Lisa asked, obviously curious.

“Carter was spotted by a cop in Pennsylvania,” Tony informed her, “We’re on the move, but this lab is still an important clue if we can’t get to him there so keep working on it. I’m leaving you in charge of the scene. This scene is your show now, alright?”

“Alright,” Lisa responded, as she liked that Tony trusted her enough to leave her in charge. “I got this. You go get that son of a bitch.”

“Just what I wanted to hear,” Tony said as he turned and walked away.

He walked over to where Bruce was sitting and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Drop whatever you’re doing, we’re leaving.” He ordered.

“Where are we heading?” Bruce asked.

“All you need to know is we’re going is where Carter was last spotted.” Tony said as he walked towards the door. “We’ve got to get there while the trail is still warm. So, let’s move!”