++ In a little less than a week I was able to completely transform my office into a nursery, thanks in no small part to the help given to Emma and I by Captain Burrell and Lieutenant Taylor. True to their word once a color of paint was picked out and the room primed the two came over and helped me paint the nursery. All it took was two pizza's and two six packs of Guinness and by the end of it the Lieutenant was actually treating me like a human being and not...well...whatever it is that he had been treating me like in our two previous encounters. It could have been that he was respecting that fact that we were in my home or that my wife was within earshot of where we were but I'd like to think it's because he actually values me as a member of the unit he helps to oversee.

In addition to getting the nursery ready Emma and I were able to stock up on a lot of the things she is going to need not only during her pregnancy but also during the first few months to follow just in case my assignment does not end before the baby gets here. Emma's sister Olivia is a freshman at UNLV and she has agreed to move in with Emma while I am gone to help her sister through what will undoubtedly be a very difficult next few months. Olivia and Emma have always been close as they are only a year apart in age so this move makes sense from a few different angles and truly if there is one person in this world that I would want here with Emma in my place it is her sister Olivia.

With last night being the last night I was going to be home for the foreseeable future Emma and I decided to have a date night. Dinner and a movie with a nightcap at home. As the hours until my inevitable departure drew nearer Emma's happiness from events of the night turned to sadness for what was to come. We said our goodbyes. Several times last night and once this morning. I promised Emma I would see her again and then I picked up my bag and walked out the door as tears filled Emma's eyes. It broke my heart to leave her and I am hopeful that with the help of the Captain we can work out some sort of schedule in which I can see Emma at least once a month. I didn't tell Emma this of course because I didn't want to get her hopes up but it is something I do plan on discussing with Captain Burrell.

I stopped at a Dunkin Donuts downtown to pick up a few dozen donuts and a few boxes of Joe to Go. The whole joke about cops loving donuts...it's 110% true. I can't explain why that's the case, I can just confirm that it is. I've been told the best way to ingratiate oneself to a new group of people it's to show up bearing gifts and so that is what I am doing with the coffee and donuts.

It took me about 40 minutes to get to the precinct door to door including the stop at Dunkin. Once there I walked through the front door and then through the Intelligence Unit like a conquering hero. All eyes were on me, or more specifically on the food and drink that were in my arms. No sooner did I get everything set down on a table near the Interrogation Rooms was there a line of Officers patting me on the back and welcoming me into the Unit while simultaneously grabbing something to eat. Eventually the Captain made his way to the front of the line and after grabbing a donut, maple glazed to be specific he put his arm on my shoulder and led me into a large room. The far wall of the room has one massive TV bolted to the center and a half dozen smaller TV's placed around it. There are a dozen small gray tables strategically placed throughout the room, all facing in the direction of the TVs. Each table is accompanied by two chairs. A wooden podium is placed at the head of the room. To the left side of the TV's is the United States Flag and to the right is the State Flag of Nevada. The Captain takes a seat at one of the tables closest to the doorway we walked in from and then signals for me to do the same. ++

"So this is it. Are you ready?"

"As ready as one can be Captain. And thank you again, you and the Lieutenant actually for all your help last week. I can honestly say I would have never gotten everything done that I needed to without your help."

"Say no more. Like I said to you last week this unit is a family. You will spend more time with it than you will your actual family. Well, maybe not you right away anyway since you will be out there undercover but once that assignment is over you will spend more time here than at home. It's the nature of what we do."

"Looking forward to it Captain."

"Yes but is the wife? How is she doing? "

"As good as can be expected I suppose. She was obviously sad when I left. Having her sister there will help I think. I hope."

"I'm sure it will son. And like I told you, the Lieutenant and I will be keeping an eye on her. I'll probably stop by there tomorrow in fact and an unmarked unit is already parked in front of your place. Officer Ward is there right now. Nice guy. Been part of the unit for a couple years now. A family man as well. There will be a standard 3 person rotation for that detail. Ward will have the first shift. There will be an Officer Morrison there during the second shift. She is fairly new to the unit but she's done a great job and lastly there will be Officer Davis there during the third shift. I will inform your wife of their continual presence when I go and see her tomorrow. Let her know that they will go where she goes. She does not need to speak with them, in fact she should pretend like they aren't even there and just go about her day. Do you think the constant presence of the police will spook her?"

"Honestly I don't think so. I think that you will be there to explain it will go a long way towards making her feel comfortable so I appreciate that. Obviously this is tough for her as it would be for anyone woman in her situation as you know from your own personal experience. This might be a big ask but maybe if your wife talked to her a little bit that might help as well. Hearing that it will be ok from the wife's perspective might go a long way towards easing her mind. "

"That's actually a really good idea. Tell you what, when I go and see your wife tomorrow I'll invite her over for dinner. I'll even invite her sister as well to help her feel more comfortable. Do you think she would like that?"

"I'm sure she would."

++ It's a refreshing feeling to work for someone who you can tell genuinely cares about your well being as well as the well being of those closest to you. And who knows Emma and the Captain's wife might even hit it off and become fast friends. A guy can hope right? ++

"Well then it's settled. I'll fill you in on what your wife says sometime tomorrow. In the mean time we have a lot of work to do and not a whole lot of time to do it. Are you ready to get started?"

"Absolutely."

"That's what I like to hear."

++ The Captain takes a final bite of his donut, polishing it off in 3 total bites. Remarkable. I wonder how many he could eat in one sitting? Captain Burrell takes another sip of his coffee and then with the cup in his left hand gets up and walks towards the doorway of the room. He stops at the doorway and starts surveying the room in front of him, clearly looking for someone specific. ++

"Taylor!"

++ The Captain leans forward a little bit more. His body straddling the borders of two separate rooms. He continues to look around for the Lieutenant and despite saying his name a few more times comes up with nothing. ++

"Where the hell is he? Did you see him when you got in?"

"No sir I did not."

"I told him to meet us here promptly at 9."

++ The Captain looks down at his watch. ++

"It's now 9:10 and I don't see Lieutenant Taylor."

++ The Captain comes back into the room, picks up the phone sitatuated atop a small table next to the podium and waits for the person on the other end to pick up. ++

"Yes can you page Lieutenant Taylor and have him come to the Wallace Room? Thank you."

++ Captain Burrell then hangs up the phone and comes back to the table I am seated at and takes another sip from his coffee. As he does this a voice over the building loud speaker pages Lieutenant Taylor to the Wallace Room. ++

"The Wallace Room sir?"

"Yes. Robert Wallace. The man who founded this Unit. My mentor actually."

"Did he retire?"

"He did. He was a cop for 35 years. Survived some of this cities worst events. And then two weeks after he retires he is killed in a convenience store stick up."

"Wow. That's...wow."

"Yes. Exactly. Wow sums it up perfectly. The day I got the news was one of the saddest days of my life. Robert was such a good human. Someone who really cared about the job and helping people. He deserved a better ending than that. Much like your father."

"You knew my father?"

"I sure did."

"How? He was a cop in Chicago not Las Vegas."

"He was. About 20 years ago I was a newly minted Sergeant in the Intelligence Unit. Brought in specifically by Captain Wallace. The first case I ever worked on was a case about the Italian American Mafia. Specifically the connection between the Chicago outfit and a new crop of mafioso's that showed up here in Las Vegas from Chicago. I don't even know if you were alive then to be honest. Anyway over the course of the case which involved a trip or two to the Windy City as well as a visit from our friends to the East I was able to spend sometime with your father. Great guy. Like I said, he had a lot of the same qualities as Wallace. When your father died, well, it was a sad day for the force. I was there at his funeral and I knew from your father that your mother had family out here so when you and her moved out this way I made sure to check up on you from time to time just to see how you were doing. Your mother never knew. I never said anything to her. I knew how heart broken your mother was after your father had died and I didn't want to do anything to stir up those emotions. When I had heard you joined the Academy well, I knew that you would be a fit for this unit."

"Why didn't you tell me any of this before?"

"I wanted you to join the Intelligence Unit because that is what you wanted to do. I did not want you to join the Intelligence Unit because you felt like you owed it to your father's legacy."

"That's a lot to take in sir."

"I understand. I promise it was not my intention to dump this on you now nor was it my intention to keep the information from you. I was hoping that the topic would come up naturally, like it just did and then we would take it from there. Are you alright?"

"Yes I am. Like I said, it's a lot to process at the moment."

"Well you don't have to process it now. In fact, why don't we change the subject entirely?"

++ And just like that as if on que Lieutenant Taylor walks into the room, donut half in his mouth and half in his hand. ++

"Nice of you to join us."

"Sorry Capt, I was in Interrogation Room 2. No one told you?"

"Not a soul."

"Good damn good for nothings."

"Well we have Garrett here now so I think it's high time that we get started."

++ The Captain reaches over and grabs a manila folder that was situated at the end of the table. He opens it up, looks at it's contents for a quick second and then slides the folder to me. ++

"Jackon Sutter."

"Who is he?"

"He's you."

F A D E 2 B L A C K