++ Before there was corVus the the cryptically muted member of Defiance there was Jackson Sutter. A rising member in the Las Vegas crime syndicate. And before Jackson Sutter there was Garrett Lincoln. A recent graduate of the Las Vegas Police Academy. That is where my story begins. ++

"Garrett Lincoln"

++ The words echoed throughout the auditorium. The scene is the converted basketball court of the Thomas & Mack Center, the home of the University of Nevada Las Vegas men's basketball team. The arena which was built to hold slightly over 18,000 people for basketball events is now playing host to the most recent graduating class of the Las Vegas Police Academy, as well as their invited guests and distinguished members of the Las Vegas Police Department. Among the many graduates of this years class is me, Garrett Lincoln.

My father was James Lincoln a Chicago Police officer killed in the line of duty and Scarlet Lincoln, a retired School Librarian. After my father was killed during a shoot, my mother and I, packed up everything we owned and drove to Las Vegas so that we could be closer to mom's family. I was 10 years old at the time.

As my name is announced by the Superintendent of the Las Vegas Police Academy I slowly walk across the stage to receive my certificate of completion. The Superintendent shakes my hand. It's the first time we have actually ever been in the same room despite me spending the better part of the last 3 months at the Academy. I take a look out into the crowd and search for my wife and mother. Unable to locate them I instead deliver a faint smile and then walk off the stage and back to my seat where I get lost among the rest of my cohort.

Among those in the crowd to witness this moment are my aforementioned mother Scarlet Lincoln as well as her daughter in law, my wife Emma. Emma and I met during our freshman year of High School and after several failed attempts at courtship Emma eventually gave in and agreed to a date. One date lead to two, two lead to a few more and 5 years later the two of us were married at St. Andrew Lutheran Church on Del Webb Boulevard in front of a small but close group of family and friends.

Emma knew from the very beginning that my goal in life was to become a Police Officer just like my father. She knew it, but she didn't like it. And deep down she had hoped that as we got older and made our way through high school that I would change my mind or by God's grace my gift for throwing a baseball harder and faster than most others would take me somewhere far from Las Vegas but I remained determined to live out my dream. Driven to help others the way my father did for so many years. And so here we are. A day in which I knew that my wife was both happy for me and in mourning for herself. She stands by me and she would never ever tell me that she wishes I had chosen another profession because she knows how much it means to me but no wife wants to be a widow and in a city like Las Vegas being a Police Officer is tantamount to being a widow maker.

The ceremony goes on for another hour and concludes as most similar ceremonies do, with hats being propelled upwards into the air accompanied by thunderous applause. The 200 or so academy graduates continue to celebrate for a few seconds before trying in vain to collect their hats that have lost the battle to gravity and are now crashing back down to Earth. I happen to be one of the few lucky ones to find my hat and once I do I place it firmly atop my head and then begin the uneasy task of finding Emma and my mother in a room packed with people. To borrow from the cliche bank it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack the size of Texas.

Perhaps it was God taking pity on me for once but instead of having to find my family my family found me. From across the room I can see my wife standing up on her chair waving right at me. Somehow she managed to spot me in a room full of people dressed to look exactly the same. God bless her.

I walked over to where my wife and mother had taken up shop and gave them each a hug. The hug itself seems simple but for me, it was so much more than that. I was hugging them both for not just being there to see me graduate the academy but for being my support system. For providing for me and for standing by me. This day was as much about them as it was about me and I wanted them to know just how much it meant for me that they were there. ++

"I'm so happy for you Garrett. Your father would be so proud."

"We are all so proud of you sweetheart. You did it!"

++She smiles on the outside but on the inside I know she's conflicted. And who could blame her? I know I was young but I can remember the pain my mother went through when my father died. I remember her crying all day, everyday for weeks on end. I want to promise Emma that she will never have to experience what my mother did but the truth is I can't. It's a promise that no matter how much I want to keep it, it's one I can not control and so I smile and thank my wife for saying what she has all the while knowing that part of her is scared to death. ++

"Congratulations Officer."

++ I turned around to see a man in a Captains dress uniform standing in front of me, his arm outstretched.++

"Thank you sir."

++ I reached out and accepted the Captain's offer for a handshake and smile.++

"Absolutely sir. I'm sure we can find somewhere quiet to talk."

"No no, not now. Enjoy the weekend with your beautiful family. Come by my office first thing Monday morning."

"Yes sir. Absolutely sir. Thank you sir."

"Congratulations again."

++ The Captain adjusts his uniform and then walks away and over towards a group of other Department Captains. ++

"Intelligence...is that good?"

"Very."

** First Thing Monday Morning **

++ You know it's funny, here I am a graduate of the Police Academy and yet standing here at the entrance of the LVPD, a real Police Officer I feel completely out of place. I stand there for a few seconds thinking about all the things that have happened these last few months to lead me here. The door to the building opens and out walks two patrolmen, a man and a woman to be specific. Judging by their banter I'm guessing the two are partners. Once they clear the entry way I make my move inside. I get about 20 feet in the building and approach the African American woman at the front desk.++

"How can I help you?"

"Hello, I'm here to see Captain Burrell."

"Is he expecting you?"

"Yes he is. Officer Lincoln."

++ The woman picks up the phone and dials a 4 digit extension. Whoever it is that is on the other end confirms that an Officer Lincoln does indeed have a meeting with Captain Burrell. Satisfied with the answer she hangs up the phone and looks my way. ++

"You can have a seat right there and someone will be with you in a moment."

"Thank you."

++ A minute or two later Captain Burrell comes through a set of glass double doors that are adorned with the LVPD shield. It took me a moment to realize it was the same man I had met a few days ago as this time around he was not wearing his dress uniform, or any uniform for that matter rather a suit and tie sans the jacket. He approaches me, arm outstretched. We shake hands and then exchange pleasantries.++

"Can I get you anything? The coffee is terrible but it does the job."

"Thank you but no thank you."

++ The Captain leads me through the glass double doors and then what I assume his the Intelligence Unit which is essentially a bank of cubicles. Working at the cubicles are a bunch of Detectives who like their Captain are wearing suits and ties. Off in the distance I can hear what sounds like shouting coming from one of the Interrogation Rooms located along the far wall. In the far left corner of the unit, tucked away in the corner is the Captain's office. Captain Burrell leads me into his office and then shuts the door. Standing in the office is another man, mid 30's, white with brown hair and a white button up shirt that looks like it might be one size too small. Though upon further inspection it appears that the shirt being too small is on purpose so as to emphasis the man's large muscular arms. ++

"Garrett Lincoln this is Lieutenant Taylor. He is second in command of this unit."

"Pleased to meet you."

++ I offered up my hand but the Lieutenant just looked at me and then took up a position behind the Captain's desk leaning against a small brown bookshelf. After a few seconds with my hand just hanging out there I decided I had had enough of looking like a tool and retract my hand before awkwardly placing it in my pocket. ++

"Have a seat Garrett."

++ The Captain motions for me to take a seat across from his desk. The Captain then walks past his Lieutenant and then takes his seat directly across from me on the other side of his desk. ++

"Do you know what we do here Garrett?"

"I have a good idea."

"You have no idea. And let's leave it at that." The Lieutenant chimes in. Clearly he was brought in to play Bad Cop to the Captain's Good Cop.

"This unit was put together in response to the rising crime numbers here in the city. We handle drugs, and not just arresting guys selling on the corners either. I'm talking about the guys who run the drug organizations. We handle racketeering, corruption, extortion, mass murders. If it attracts the media there's a good chance we will be assigned the case. Does that sound like something you would have interest in being a part of?"

"Absolutely. But would that put me on the Detective Track?"

"It could. It doesn't have to. We have Officers who work as part of the unit. But based on what I've read from your file and from those I spoke to at the Academy your talents would be wasted walking a beat."

++ One of the things I have always been good at is reading people. It's something I learned how to do during the first few months after my father died and my mother spent most of her time not really talking. I had to learn how to read between the lines as well as read what he face and not her mouth said. And after a few minutes sitting across from the Captain I can already see that he is holding back a little bit. He has something on his mind but for some reason he has not come out and said it. ++

"Captain if I may ask and with all due respect, it sounds like you have something in mind for me but are reluctant to share it, is that an accurate assessment?"

"It is. And I do. We have been chasing what seems like a ghost for the better part of a year and have gotten no closer to him than the day we started. We've never been able to get eyes on the man. Nor get his voice on the phone or any type of recording device and this guy is the real deal. He runs the biggest and most violent crime syndicate in Las Vegas. We would like you to go undercover and infiltrate his organization."

"Me? Undercover?"

"Are you deaf? That's what the Captain said. Undercover."

++ The Captain turns his head and looks back at his number two with a look that says "lay off". Taylor doesn't respond verbally but instead nods his head. ++

"Sir with all due respect..."

"There you go again. With all due respect. How about you stop being a massive pussy and just come out and say it. Captain "I'd like to do this but the truth is I'm too much of a bitch.""

"Fuck you."

"Fuck me? Fuck you."

++ Lieutenant Taylor pushes himself off of the book case that he was leaning on and takes a step towards me as I rise from my seat. The Captain immediately gets up and gets in between the two of us. His back to me while he looks at Taylor. He grabs Taylor's shoulders and stops him from moving further anymore. ++

"Sit down. Both of you."

++ The Lieutenant returns to his perch and I sit back down in the seat I was previously in. Rather than sitting down himself the Captain instead begins pacing back and forth behind his desk. ++

"You were saying something?"

"What I was going to say is that this sounds like a fantastic opportunity, one that I am thankful to you for offering but I have a pregnant wife at home. A wife that I barely saw the last few months and now you want me to go undercover for who knows how long all the while I won't be able to be with my wife while she goes through some of the most difficult months of her life."

"I understand your hesitation and I can't force you to do this. You have to enter into it fully committed. So how about this, why don't you take a few days to think it through. Talk to your wife, explain it to her. Let her know that we will have an officer stationed at the house at all times to make sure she is safe and we are perfectly happy to pay for someone to help her when she gets further along in the pregnancy. Hopefully this investigation is over within 6 months, a year at the most."

"And if it's not?"

"Then we see where we are and reasses."

"Ok. Thank you Captain for this. It really is an amazing opportunity, one that I do not take lightly. I'll talk to my wife and I will stop back in a day or so if that works for you?"

"Absolutely."

++ Sensing that the conversation had come to its logical conclusion I get up from my seat and shake the Captain's hand one more time before heading towards the door of his office when a thought hits me.++

"Captain if you don't mind me asking. What's the name of this ghost you're chasing?"

"We don't have a government name but he goes by Hysteria."

F A D E 2 B L A C K