1930 – Monongalia County, West Virginia

Sheriff John Bryan was cruising around outside the city limits of Morgantown, the county seat of ”Mon” County. He was disturbed by the recent influx of gangsters from New York, but so far he didn’t know enough to begin an attack to keep them out. He had reached out to a friend in the NYPD and learned that the Bambino Family, one of the five groups who ran all the crime scene in NYC, had been having some problems lately.
The last of the Bambinos had gotten too old to maintain control of their neighborhood, so he turned the mob over to one of his Lieutenants, Danny Franks, aka Babyface Franks. Babyface had two sons, both of which he installed as his lieutenants. They were trying to rebuild their strength, the older son working on the current NYC territory, the younger by stretching out to other cities in New York, and even to other states. The sheriff had an idea this might be what was happening here. Last week a couple of his “friendly informants” had told him about two strangers hanging around as if they were scoping out possibilities.

The sheriff was nearing retirement himself, and he spent a fair bit of time thinking back on his life as a sheriff. There was a time when he was younger that his job was mostly settling family disputes or breaking up bar-fights. More recently the bar-fights were gone because of Prohibition, and instead he spent a lot of time hunting out moonshine stills. Some of these he dealt with himself, but the bad ones he just turned over to the Revenuers. Prohibition was a strange law, one that had always seemed useless to him. He’d heard rumors that the Government was going to repeal prohibition, but the Governor had made a speech saying that would never happen. Sheriff Bryan knew that only a fool would place much faith in rumors – but he figured it would be a bigger fool who believed anything the Governor said!

He pulled into the lot of Dolly’s, one of the most popular places in the area. You couldn’t call it a bar, of course, because bars were illegal. If this were Chicago you might call it a “Speakeasy”. But since this was Mon County, West Virginia, people just called it Dolly’s. The place had a reputation of serving honest drinks at reasonable prices. The sheriff knew that Dolly also provided another product which was in frequent demand in Morgantown, and this was a big reason for the popularity.

He walked in and the bartender said “Hey Sheriff, didja come in for an off-duty drink? Or maybe we can find some other kinda entertainment for you?”

“Knock it off, Jerry, you know I’m always on duty. Just let Dolly know I’m here and need to talk.”

Jerry grinned and went back behind the bar and pushed a button. It must have been an important button because Dolly came right out. She gave him a quick hug and said “Hi John, it’s great to see you. Come on back to the office, we need to talk.”

They sat down at a small table, and, without asking, she poured them both a drink. The Sheriff decided maybe he wasn’t on duty after all and took a nice long sip, accompanied with a nice long sigh. He started right in:
“Dolly, I’m in a bind and I really need some information about . . .”
She interrupted him, “John I’m way ahead of you, as usual. You want to know about those two thugs nosing around town. Well, they’ve already visited me, stayed about an hour, so I know a lot about them.”

“Well, you surely know more about them than me, but at least I’m smart enough to know where to come for answers. Quit gloating and tell me what you know.”

Dolly got more serious. “The boss claimed to be Babyface Franks’ son and let me know that since taking over the Bambino’s NY gang, they were expanding into other places, including West Virginia. He told me that they were not interested in taking over my business, but that they did want to become my only supplier. Then he gave me a lot of bull about how business would be better with them in the picture. When I explained that I was very pleased with my current alcohol supplier and wasn’t interested in any other deal he got a bit rougher. Let me know in no uncertain terms that they planned on supplying all of West Virginia’s needs, both alcohol and girls. He said I’d better think it over and decide the right way or things would become very hard for me. He’s coming back in two weeks to make sure I’ve agreed.”

“Damn it, Dolly, I know you well enough to know you’re not going to agree to that. But you must have a plan, right? You know I’ll back you up whatever you do.”

Dolly grinned. “Yes, I pretty much knew you’d be there for me, just like you’ve always been. But this time I don’t think I need any backup. I figure the time has come for ME to retire. I’m going to shut Dolly’s down, sell it to somebody, or maybe burn it down. Then I’m going to move in with Alice and the new baby. It’s a great solution. After all, next year you won’t be sheriff anymore, so things probably wouldn’t go as easy for Dolly’s even if the mob didn’t come in.”

John’s smile was ear-to-ear when he heard this. “God, that’s exactly what I hoped you’d say. It’s time for both of us to start taking it easy. By the way, how is Alice doing these days? I haven’t seen her since before the baby.”

Alice, Dolly’s only child, had gotten into some serious problems when she was in high school ten years ago. The sheriff had stepped in and had spent several months talking to Alice and helping her straighten her life out. He also had some one-on-one time with the three football players who were causing the problem. He still had a strong bond with Alice, and this was the beginning of the friendship between him and Dolly.

Dolly replied “She’s doing really great. But you should go see for yourself. Since you sheriffs know everything, I suppose you know she named the baby ‘John’.”

The sheriff just grinned and that was all the answer Dolly needed.
The next morning when the sheriff walked into his office the desk sergeant stopped him. “Sheriff, there’s two guys in the back room say they’ve come to see you. They’re kind of mean looking. Want me to go back with you?”
“Nah, but thanks anyway. I know who they are, and they won’t be causing any trouble here. Maybe I’ll need help later though.”

The Back Room was a general-purpose room used for meetings, interviews, family counseling and whatever else happened that day. John walked in and sat down across from the man who was obviously Franks.
Without offering his hand he said, “I’m Sheriff John Bryan, what can I do for you today?”

Franks replied: “I’m Daniel Franks, Sheriff, and I’m guessing you already know a lot about me and my business. I want to be real up-front with you Sheriff. My organization does not want to cause trouble for you; in the places where we work, we are always happy when there are good law enforcement people to keep the peace. All we want is the freedom to do our business of supplying certain things to the people of this county. We’d like your cooperation in our efforts and are willing to pay you for your help.”

Sheriff Bryan looked Franks straight in the eye as he answered. “No.”

Franks looked startled. “Did you just say No? That is really a mistake, Sheriff. We should talk some more about the benefits and consequences.”

“No more talk is needed. Let me be clear. Monongalia County does not want New York mobsters here, and as sheriff, I won’t permit it. We are happy to stay just the way we are and don’t want anyone forcing their way into our business. I hope you enjoyed your visit, but it’s over. The Deputies will escort you out of town. Don’t come back.”

The sheriff then called the desk sergeant and another deputy in and had them escort the two to their car. They took the sheriff’s car and followed them North, out of town, then reported back to the Sheriff that there were some hard looks, but no trouble.

Later that afternoon, Sheriff Brian decided to take a run up North to the county line, which also happened to be the state line. He thought the hoods had probably gone back to NY to plan their next visit, but he liked driving and this direction was as good as any.

As he neared the county line he started a U-turn when a reflection caught his eye. Then he heard a rifle shot and felt a pain in his left arm. He pulled out his revolver as he continued the U-turn, holding the steering wheel with his bloody left hand. A car pulled out of the woods, and he saw two men. One of them took another shot, breaking a rear window, and the sheriff managed to get off one shot before the car sped North. His arm was hurting like hell, but he figured he could still drive. He was so mad, partly at himself for driving into an ambush, that he wanted to chase them all the way to New York. But good sense took over, so he gritted his teeth and headed back to Morgantown and a doctor. As he replayed the scene in his mind, he thought his shot had hit one of the men, but he wasn’t sure.

2022 – Bradenton, Florida

Dave Franks was home having a drink, but he was in a bad humor. First problem, he had run out of The Famous Grouse and had to settle for a glass of Cutty Sark blend that he found in his pantry. But more important he was still fuming over that Jacko Bryan guy. Dave was a cop, not a mobster, but for his whole life he had kept up with the family. On occasion he helped them out when they needed a special favor in this area, and he was in a position to provide a lot of information. Also, he knew all the family history. So, when he first heard the name “Jacko Bryan” something rang a bell. He checked him out, and his instincts proved to be right on. Jacko was definitely the grandson of the old sheriff who killed his great-uncle in West Virginia 90 years ago. Maybe that’s too long to hold a grudge, but family is family, even after a long time. Dave hadn’t decided exactly what he was going to do, but he was going to keep his options open and not give the SOB any leeway in the investigation.

Dave was also a little nervous about Sam and the Hammer. He had gone to Anna Marie Oyster Bar earlier this evening and found a chance to talk to them privately. Of course they knew he was part of the family, but he wanted to make sure they knew how important it was not to leak any information about him. He would lose all his usefulness if his connections came out. They swore they would be discrete, and he figured they would try, but he wasn’t sure they were smart enough not to let something slip.
Still, he figured the visit was worthwhile, not even counting the oysters! During the conversation, Sam had let him know that they’d had orders to keep an eye on Fairhaven, the victim. Sam wasn’t too happy about this because he didn’t know what they were supposed to be watching for. All he knew was that if he and The Hammer were supposed to have been keeping him safe they had failed and might be in trouble themselves now.

Dave chugged the rest of his drink and poured the Cutty Sark down the drain. He’d get some real whisky tomorrow.