++ It took roughly two weeks for Captain Burrell, Lieutenant Taylor and I to come up with an entire backstory from birth to present for Jackson Sutter, my undercover persona. From there it took the LVPD Tech Team a week to implant Sutter's digital footprint. Once the information had gone live Jackson Sutter became a reality.

While the tech team was doing its thing down in the basement of the LVPD headquarters, the Captain, Lieutenant and I discussed in great detail what the plan would be for me to infiltrate Hysteria's criminal organization. The prevailing thought was that in order to get anywhere near the notoriously invisible Hysteria I would have to go through his second in command Vito Patone. A New York Mobster with a rap sheet long enough to be used as a paper weight. Burglary, Extortion, Jury Tampering, Assault, Assault with a Deadly Weapon, the list goes on and on and on. Also from New York is Hysteria's adviser or in Mafia terms, Consigliere, Bruno Vala. Bruno like Vito has been in the life since his early teens, the difference being that Bruno is in his 60's whereas Vito is only 35. Another difference is that while Vito is known for his violent temper Bruno is known for his calm and rationale demeanor. It is the stark differences in their personalities that make them so successful in their respective roles.

Captain Burrell believed that the best way to get the attention of Patone was to start hanging around Deuces Wild, a dive bar that fronts for an illegal gambling operation that is run out of the back of the bar. The bar's deed as well as it's liquor license are on file under the name Silvio D'Alessandro, a name that interestingly enough does not turn up any digital footprint at all. No taxes filed, no Social Security Number, and yet he owns a bar that has a liquor license. Clearly some highly illegal and shady backdoor dealing went on here, and in time that too will be looked at by the Intelligence Unit, but for now the bar needs to be remain untouched if I am to have any chance at getting noticed by Hysteria's number 2.

And so here I am. At the Deuces Wild, where I have been spending the majority of my days and sometimes nights doing everything I can without being obvious to get noticed by someone, anyone in Hysteria's crew. If anyone has noticed me they have not expressed such verbally. Vito spends the majority of his days holed up in a both in the back of the bar. Across from the booth is a bank of TV's, most of which have varying sporting events on them. The two that don't feature the frequently changing Vegas betting lines. It is from that booth that Vito works his magic. Very rarely if ever does Vito speak to any of the bar's patrons. In fact, the few times I have ever seen Vito speak it was either to curse out one of the televisions or to give orders to one of his underlings.

Some other things I've noticed, Vito refuses to use a phone instead opting to have one of his lackeys deliver messages by hand or when in crunch having one of them use their phone. Vito has an irrational fear of being caught saying something he shouldn't on the phone. Little does he know that every single cell phone in America has the ability to act as a listening device for whatever government agency wants to listen in. In this case it is the LVPD using a warrant obtained from the Cook County Courts. Something else I've caught while trying to watch Vito without him catching me is that Vito eats the same thing for lunch and dinner every single day. I'm not sure if it's part of some odd ritual or because he is extremely picky about food. Either way it stuck out to me.

While my efforts to get noticed by Vito or anyone associated with him seem to have been in vain, I have a feeling that tonight might just be the night I get their attention. And that's because seated at the other end of the bar is a face that I am unfamiliar with, and based on the reactions the bartender as well as the others that I would deem regulars, neither have they. Which in my estimation will also make this the last time he steps in this bar. The reason being... ++

"Fuck you bro, I'm not dr...dr...drunk."

"You are and because of that I am not serving you another drink. You want to keep drinking you are going to have to do it somewhere else."

"That's fucking bu...bu...bullshit. You don't want my money? Is that what you're sa...sa...saying to me?"

"Can you even hear yourself right now?"

"Can I hear myself?" *Hiccup* "Of course I can hear my se...se...self. I got two ears don't I?"

"It sure looks that way. Look son finish up your drink and get out of here."

"Or what? What are you going to do old man?"

++ Something you should probably know about the Sam the bartender. Sam is an Irishman with a temper to fit every single stereotype you've ever heard about the Irish loving to drink and fight. While Sam gave up drinking years ago when he saw the damage it did to his older brother, the fighting thing...Sam is not afraid to throw down. The decision to do so is certainly a bit easier when he knows that there is at any moment at least 3-4 of Hysteria's soldiers somewhere within the bar, and so any fight that does happen does not last long. Something else worth noting. Sam hates being called old. As I said a moment ago this might be my chance to get my foot in the door with Vito, and after what this guy just said to Sam it's clear that that door has just been opened for me and now...now it's time for me to kick it open.

I quickly threw back the rest of my drink, got up from my seat at the far end of the bar and walked towards the obnoxious drunk with a death wish. ++

"Hey Sam is there a problem here?"

"Who the fuck is this guy? Your bodygau...gau...gaurd?"

"N...N...No. I'm just a guy trying to enjoy a drink in peace and you're making that very difficult for me and my friends here."

"You making fu...fu...fun of me?"

"Now why would I ever do a thing like that?"

"I don't kn...kn...know, that's why I'm..." *Hiccup* "...asking you."

"How about you do what Sam said, finish your drink and go somewhere else?"

"How about you go.........fuck yourself."

++ It was at this point the unnamed drunkard finished his drink, picked up his glass and tossed it into the backdrop of the bar, shattering the glass into a hundred small pieces, which instantly put Sam into the red as well as drew the attention of Vito. The latter of which stood up from his booth and started to make his way towards the front of the bar. If there was ever a chance for me to assert myself this was it. Either Vito will appreciate what I am about to do or he will toss me out along with the drunk. This is a serious calculated risk to be sure but if I know anything about Vito's personality it's that he appreciates a guy who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty.

Which is exactly what I'm going to do. The first thing I do is kick the bar stool out of the way giving me room to close the gap between me and the drunken idiot. With the stool out of the way I then kick the man's legs out from under him while simultaneously grabbing the back of the man's head with my left hand and slamming the front of the man's face into the bar, shattering his nose instantly. If the sound of bone breaking wasn't enough of a giveaway as to the severity of the injury the pool of blood quickly forming on the bar sealed the deal. I let go of the man allowing him to fall backwards to the floor, the lower half of his face as well as his white t-shirt are already covered in in crimson. ++

"God damn it. Someone get this asshole out of here before he gets blood all over my floor."

++ Vito looks around and starts snapping his fingers in an attempt to force his flunkies into action. Three men appear who were stationed at various places of the bar hurriedly walk over to where Vito and I are standing. Sam tosses one of the men a white towel which the man then smashes into the drunken fools face while the other two lift the man up by his arms. Using his foot the man on the left kicks open the door and then the three men as well as the drunk disappear. ++

"You didn't have to break his fucking nose."

"You're right I didn't. But I thought it would be the quickest way to get him to stop before he broke anymore glasses or before Sam did something."

"Sam can hold his own."

"No doubt. But the way I see it, if I did something at worst you could kick us both out and never see either one of us again but if Sam gets involved, well then it could get a little interesting. Especially if God forbid something happened to Sam."

"You act like you know the guy. I don't know you, which means Sam doesn't know you."

"You're right, I'm not a regular in the conventional sense but I have been hanging out here pretty exclusively since I moved to town."

"And where is it you came from?"

"Oakland by way of Victorville. Did a 5 year stint for assault."

"Is that so? I got a buddy there, name's Sunny Dileo."

"Yeah I know Sunny, or I should say did. He died a few years ago. Fucking moulinyan's."

++ Either Vito was testing me or he isn't nearly as friendly with Sunny as he led on. A real friend would know when someone is shanked to death by a group of angry black inmates. A real friend would know when someone falls during one of the most bloody feuds in the prison's history. Which is what leads me to believe that Vito was in fact testing the authenticity of my story. ++

"Moulinyan? You Italian?"

"On my mother's side. The name's Sutter. Jackson Sutter."

"Didn't ask for your name."

"You're right you didn't. Figured I'd offer it anyway."

"Why have you been hanging around here the last two weeks? Of all the bars in the area, why this one?"

"This was the bar Sunny told me to come to."

++ The beauty of using a dead man to further a story is that there's no way for Vito or anyone else for that matter to verify the accuracy of it. ++

"Sunny told you to come here? Why would he do that?"

"He knew that I'd have some trouble finding a job once I got out of Victorville and he thought you might be able to help me out."

"Is that so?"

"Yes it is."

"And what is it Sunny thought you could do for me?"

"Whatever you want. As you saw a few minutes ago I'm not afraid to get my hands messy."

"Or my floors."

"I'm sorry about that. If you want I'll clean the floor."

"No. I have people for that. So you wanna work for me is that what i'm hearing?"

"I'd like the opportunity to show you that I can be an asset to you."

"What exactly do you think I do?"

++ Another test? ++

"Isn't it obvious? You run a successful bar."

"That's right. I run a bar."

++ Vito leans in his face only a few inches from mine. ++

" You got a piece?"

"Yes, with the serial filed off."

"Good. You want to work for me? Well you're going to have to audition."

"You want me to put some money in the juke box and sing Karaoke?"

"No. I got a job for you. Come with me to the back and fill you in."

++ The door has been opened and I have just officially kicked it in. ++

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