1."Mafia Boss Sat In A Broken Wheelchair Begging On Main Street — Then A Poor Baker's Daughter Knelt Down And Asked His Name

By 8:00 p.m. that night, the rain had returned to Cedar Hollow, turning the mountain roads into slick, dangerous streams of mud.

Inside Mayor Harrison Voss’s luxurious hilltop mansion overlooking the town, panic had taken hold.

Mayor Voss—a bloated, corrupt man in his late fifties—was pacing frantically across his mahogany-paneled office. Sitting on the leather sofa was Wade Vance, his jaw heavily bandaged, his face swollen and bruised, unable to speak through his wired-shut teeth.

"What do you mean, one man?!" Mayor Voss screamed, slamming his whiskey glass down on his desk. "Five of your best guys wiped out by a beggar in a broken wheelchair?!"

The door to the office slammed open.

Marco Castellano stepped into the room, flanked by six heavily armed Boston hitmen wearing dark tactical raincoats. Rain dripped from their slickers onto the expensive Persian rug.

Mayor Voss gasped, stumbling backward against his desk. "Who the hell are you?!"

Marco stepped forward, pulled a thick leather wallet from his jacket, and flipped it open, showing a heavy silver crest bearing the Castellano family seal.

"I'm Marco Castellano," he said smoothly, a cold, predatory smile spreading across his face. "And the man who broke your nephew’s jaw is my cousin, Rocco."

Mayor Voss’s face drained of all color. "Rocco Castellano? The head of the Boston syndicate is in my town?"

"He was the head," Marco corrected, stepping over to the bar and pouring himself a shot of bourbon. "Now he’s a traitor who knows too much. We tracked him here. He’s staying at Miller’s Bakery."

Mayor Voss swallowed hard. "What do you want us to do?"

"Simple," Marco said, tossing his drink back and setting the glass down with a heavy clack. "We lock down the town. Cut the phone lines, shut off the power to Main Street, block the mountain passes. Tonight, we burn Miller’s Bakery to the ground with Rocco, the old baker, and his daughter inside."

"Wait!" Mayor Voss stammered, sweating profusely. "If you burn the bakery, the state police will investigate!"

Marco walked over, leaning down until his face was inches from the mayor’s terrified eyes.

"The state police won't investigate anything because you are going to tell them it was a gas leak," Marco whispered maliciously. "And if you say one word to anyone, Mayor... I’ll make sure your family goes down Shaft Number 4 just like Antonio Castellano did thirty years ago."