Vancouver 19:16 hrs pdt
Buddy's Pacific Ave penthouse apartment was crawling with cops. His body sat in the easy chair as though the glazed, lifeless eyes could still see the sunset spreading its gold and purple on the waters of English Bay. The two small entrance wounds in the back of Buddy McNaughton's skull served as silent testimony to his premature passing.

Vancouver police Lieutenant of Detectives, Brian Innes stepped out onto the balcony for a breath of fresh air. He'd been called out to this scene some six hours previous and knew his day was far from over. Innes gulped in a lung full of ocean sweet air as he drank in the view.

"Lieutenant?"

Innes turned to find patrolman Lewis in the doorway behind him.

"Yes Don?" he answered tightly.

"You ok, LT?"

What people are saying

Captain Bill Miller, author of The Tampa Triangle, Dead Zone, says: "Millennium Drive grabs hold and won't let go! Roy Gallagher is the Travis McGee for the new millennium. Hold on for a wild ride.

"I wouldn't go that far; in fact I feel like shit." Lewis stepped up to the balcony railing and took in the panorama across False Creek. The lights of Kitsilano twinkled in the distance, gaining strength against the fading daylight. The sunset was glorious as it backlit the freighters moored at anchor in the bay.

"I'm sorry LT. I know he was a friend of yours."

"You didn't know Buddy did you, Don?"

"Not really."

"He was a straight shooter, pretty much of a straight arrow. He'd had his problems in the past, like everyone else had. But he'd put that behind him and made something of his life. Something I admired in his character, that he could come back from the brink and make good."

"What kind of problems LT?"

Innes turned and faced the gothic structure of the Burrard St. bridge. After a moment he replied "He had a few scrapes with the law after he got back from Nam."

"What the hell was he doing in Nam?"

"He was in the Navy, assigned to a brown water unit."

"No LT, I mean what the hell was a Canuck doing in Viet Nam?"

Innes turned to Lewis and smiled. "There were a lot of Canadians in the U.S. forces in Nam. Buddy was a special case. He was a dual national, born here of American parents. His father was a Naval attache to CFB Chilliwack. Buddy was born shortly after they arrived in Canada and they spent five or six years here after he was born."

"They transfer back to the U.S. then?" Lewis probed gently; knowing Innes needed to talk himself out of the shock of losing his friend.

"Yeah, Alameda Naval Air Station. Buddy grew up in the Bay area, not far from Berkeley," Innes paused. After some time he asked Lewis "How old are you Don?"

"Twenty-two" Lewis beamed proudly.

"When did you join the force?"

"About eighteen months ago."

"Well, things were a lot different in the late sixties and early seventies. There was a lot more liberal thinking toward the use of soft drugs, especially here in Canada where so many of the Americans avoiding the war in Viet Nam wound up. Buddy didn't avoid anything though. He went gung ho into battle, following his father's footsteps as a proud American warrior. I guess during his time "in country" he saw enough war and death and poor decisions and whatever, to sour him on life in general. When he mustered out in sixty-eight or nine he went on a kind of bender for about ten years."

"Jesus," Lewis whispered. "What a waste."

Innes' smile was full of irony as he said "He had a lot of company in that wasteland. He hooked up with a couple of old war buddies, bought themselves Harley-Davidsons and they criss-crossed Canada and the U.S. on an endless party run. They'd settle here or there for a few months at a time, then move on."

"Sounds like he turned into a pretty hard case," Lewis ventured.

"I guess he was, though not as hard as his partner was, and still is, as far as I can tell."

"Who was that?"

Innes could almost feel his upper lip moving into a sneer as he said "Roy Gallagher." Lewis looked up at the change in Innes' voice. "Sounds like you two have some history," he surmised.

Innes glanced up and noticed the concern on the young officer's face. He calmed himself and smiled, "We've met," he said.

"Do you think this Gallagher or some other of his old pals might be involved in this in some way?"

"I strongly doubt it. Gallagher and Buddy were like brothers after Nam. They had been in a skirmish where they were both wounded and ended up alone in the middle of a whole shitload of VC. They patched each other up enough to move and traveling at night, it took them three days to reach their HQ. They were both close to death and credited each other for their lives. They both received medals and commendations."

"That sounds like pretty heroic stuff" Lewis said "How did they go from that to hard-case?"

"I'm not really sure. Buddy never did tell me the whole story. Just that by the time he came back from Nam he was fed up and disillusioned with everything resembling a normal lifestyle. But eventually he straightened up, tapped the VA for some college money and studied computers. He was just in time to catch the techno-wave to respectability and financial freedom."

"When did you met him, LT?" Lewis was engrossed in Innes' tale now.

"About eight years ago I was heading up communications at HQ. We'd had some computer problems and Buddy had been referred to the department as a tech rep for the software company. He was good. Over the years he had become a highly respected freelance programmer and systems analyst. He'd done work for all the major software companies and some government work both here and in the US. He was trusted because his integrity had been unimpeachable. He would never dream of compromising the proprietary work of one firm to another."



Innes paused for a moment. "Anyway he came in and worked on the police computers and the communications network in particular and not only debugged them but improved the overall speed and performance levels well beyond the manufacturer's specs. We worked together every day for about six months and developed a friendship that continued to grow over the years."

"When did you last talk to him?" Lewis asked.

Innes smiled and answered "Trying to make detective before twenty-three Don?"

"No LT, I'm just trying to help." Lewis looked genuinely hurt.

Innes' smile broadened at Lewis' discomfort."I'm only kidding you, I appreciate your input and encourage you keep asking questions. You may come up with an angle that I miss."

Lewis' smile had returned. "So?"

"So what?" Innes was lost.

"When did you speak to him last?"

"Oh. About three weeks ago."

"Did you ever discuss what he was working on?"

"Always. Never specifics, but in general terms, yes. And to answer your next question, as far as I know he was not working on anything sensitive enough to get killed for."

Lewis looked slightly disheartened. "Well LT I thought it was a good line of questioning"

Innes' smile returned "It is Don, and its one that I plan to use myself a number of times over the next few hours.."


Their conversation was interrupted by a uniform coming through the glass doors. "Medical examiner says he's ready to transport the deceased, LT"

"Thanks," Innes said and followed him back into the living room. He took one last look at his friend and wondered for the thousandth time why in God's name anyone would want to kill Buddy McNaughton.