Chapter 3: Big Sewell

https://www.nationalcrimesyndicate.com/top-5-mobster-rides/

     "Well little buddy, Big Sewell's coming up at the other side of this town," Buddy calls to the little dog sitting up on the passenger seat of his Mack truck cruising into Rainelle, West Virginia. "You've been a real trooper since I picked you up at that truck stop, but we'll get out at the farm on top of this mountain."

The beagle puppy looks over at Buddy and gives a couple of happy whines before standing up on the arm rest to eagerly look out the passenger window.

"What the hell is he up to?" big Buddy wonders aloud as they pass a man standing beside a black Jaguar and speaking into a walkie-talkie. "Fancy car for these parts."

__________

     The Jaguar MT was a rare vehicle for any place in America in 1960. The sleek British import had a price tag to match it's booming Daimler engine, making it one of the preferred vehicles for younger members of Italian crime families in the New York city area. Eager to establish economic credibility with their aging bosses, several soldatos from the Gambino and Lucchese families had been scouting out opportunities in the expanding containerization business at the ports of entry along Kill Van Kull and the Arthur Kill. Discovering the remains of prohibition-era bootlegging operations along these tidal estuaries between the Raritan and Hudson bays made container trucking a prime target for casa nostra expansion.

__________  

     "Oh shit, hold on little buddy," groans big Buddy as they round a horseshoe bend to see two more Jags nose-to-nose and blocking the road.

There's a rock face on the right, a steep wooded bank on the left, and no time to bring the rig to a halt. Ahhh echoes through Buddy's head after the sound of crunching metal and glass subsides, and it takes whining from the puppy to realize he's still screaming.

"I guess that cattle guard did the job," he laughs, pulling the little dog onto his ample lap as he revs the engine up the rest of Big Sewell Mountain. "Those fuckers can take care of their own."