The Big Bad Wolf

The Big Bad Wolf by James Patterson


Prologue

THE GODFATHERS



THERE WAS AN IMPROBABLE MURDER STORY told about the Wolf that had made its

way into police lore and then spread quickly from Washington to New York to London and

to Moscow. No one knew if it was actually the Wolf. But it was never officially disproved,

and it was consistent with other outrageous incidents in the Russian gangster’s life.

According to the story, the Wolf had gone to the high-security supermax prison in Florence,

Colorado, on a Sunshiny night in early summer. He had bought his way inside to meet with

the Italian mobster and don Augustino “Little Gus” Palumbo. Prior to this visit, the Wolf had

a reputation for being impulsive and sometimes lacking patience. Even so, he had been

planning this meeting with Little Gus Palumbo for nearly two years.

He and Palumbo met in the Security Housing Unit of the prison, where the New York gangster

had been incarcerated for seven years. The purpose of the meeting was to reach an

arrangement to unite the East Coast’s Palumbo family with the Red Mafia, thereby forming

one of the most powerful and ruthless crime syndicates in the world. Nothing like it had ever

been attempted. Palumbo was said to be skeptical, but he agreed to the meeting just to see if

the Russian could get inside Florence prison , and then manage to get out again.

From the moment they met, the Russian was respectful of the sixty-six-year-old don. He

bowed his head slightly as they shook hands and almost appeared shy, contrary to his

reputation.

“There’s to be no physical contact,” the captain of the guards said from the intercom into the

room. His name was Larry Ladove and he was the one who had been paid $75,000 to

arrange the meeting.

The Wolf ignored Captain Ladove. “Under the circumstances, you look well,” he said to Little

Gus. “Very well indeed.”



The Italian smiled thinly. He had a small body, but it was tight and hard. “I exercise three

times a day, every day. I almost never have liquor, and not by choice. I eat well, and not by

choice either.”



The Wolf smiled, then said, “It sounds like you don’t expect to be here for your full

sentence.”



Palumbo coughed out a laugh. “That’s a good bet. Three life sentences served concurrently?

The discipline is in my nature, though. The future? Who can know for sure about these

things?”



“Who can know? One time I escaped from a gulag on the Arctic Circle. I told a cop in

Moscow, I spent time in a gulag; you think you can scare me? What else do you do in here?

Besides exercise and eat Healthy Choice?”



“I try to take care of my business back in New York. Sometimes I play chess with a sick

madman down the hall. He used to be in the FBI.”



“Kyle Craig,” said the Wolf. “You think he’s crazy like they say?”



“Yeah, totally. So tell me, Pakhan, how can this alliance you suggest work? I am a man of

discipline and careful planning, in spite of these humbling circumstances. From what I’m told,

you’re reckless. Hands-on. You involve yourself with even the smallest operations. Extortion,

prostitution. Stolen cars? How can this work between us?”



The Wolf finally smiled, then shook his head. “I am hands-on, as you say. But I’m not

reckless, not at all. It’s all about the money, no? The bling-bling? Let me tell you a secret that

no one else knows. This will surprise you and maybe prove my point.”



The Wolf leaned forward. He whispered his secret, and the Italian’s eyes suddenly widened

with fear. With stunning quickness, the Wolf grabbed Little Gus’s head. He twisted it

powerfully, and the gangster’s neck broke with a loud, clear snap.

“Maybe I am a little reckless,” said the Wolf. Then he turned to the camera in the room. He

spoke to Captain Ladove of the guards. “Oh, I forgot, no touching.”



The next morning Augustino Palumbo was found dead in his cell. Nearly every bone in his body

had been broken. In the Moscow underworld, this symbolic kind of murder was known as

zamochit. It signaled complete and total dominance by the attacker. The Wolf was boldly stating

that he was now the godfather.