Blake sat in his office, having just made another unnecessary change to the city. He pulled out his phone and made a few calls to pay off the entire police unit, allowing them to focus on important tasks he wanted them to handle.

“Hello…? Yes, this is your Mayor…? ….Mayor Blake Pitch? …. Let me speak to your chief, please and thank you!”

Blake waited for the sheriff to answer the call before looking down at his paperwork and reviewing the city’s financial records. Finally, someone answered.

“Oh, for goodness sake, finally someone picked up.” Blake grumbled, returning to his phone call and continuing the discussion.

“Sheriff Wilbur, I need to discuss the current crime rate in the city of Marshwood with you. There are rapid mafias thinking they are in control, and there are constant gangs involved in petty violence in the streets. Did you see the news? A child was caught in the crossfire and murdered. A CHILD?!? I have kids of my own, Wilbur. How am I supposed to explain this to them when they find out about the city they’ve been living in?”

Blake sighed and let out an exasperated scoff, running a hand through his hair. He picked up a picture frame of his recently born fraternal twin children, Liam and Legacy, that he had just welcomed with his wife, Lovelie. He sighed in a mixture of worry and concern before putting the picture frame down on the desk and continuing to listen to the sheriff’s explanation. Blake was fortunate that he and his family didn’t have to experience the chaos in Marshwood, as they lived in a more suburban and quiet neighborhood on the Northside. But good riddance, he thought, catching a break for once.