23:30 hrs pdt
To say that Buddy had been a little wild on his return from Viet Nam would mean that Roy Gallagher was gonzo berzerk in comparison. When he mustered out of the navy, in sixty-eight, he returned to Toronto and bought a Harley. He worked as a bouncer in a kick-ass rock and roll joint and dealt some dope.

By the early 1970's he controlled much of the pot and acid trade in the north end of the city. He had maintained his other jobs as well and by then had worked as bartender, disk jockey, waiter and eventually manager of various night clubs. His high profile position was perfect for his extra curricular activity, as he met literally hundreds of people every night.

Where other dealers had run into trouble with the bike gangs, Roy had worked with them. He knew most of these guys from the street and his no nonsense, absolutely fearless, shit-kicking attitude had earned him the respect of the major gang leaders. He never promised anything he couldn't deliver and always kept his word. He never showed any favoritism toward any one of the rival gangs, but treated them all equally. They all did business with him.

By the time he began to travel to California, Mexico, Morocco and Lebanon to personally buy the grass, hash and psychedelics he would import; his network of dealers and customers was immense. Every year he'd travel for at least three months. He criss-crossed North America and Europe, North Africa and Asia. Everywhere he went he met new contacts and made new friends. He had business associates and took on partners at one time or another for particular deals, but no one but Roy knew the entire scope of his enterprise.

What people are saying

Don Bastion, Managing Editor of Stoddard Publishing (Canada) calls Millennium Drive, "well written and well paced."

Roy's IQ had been measured at 186, genius level. He had quit school at sixteen, finding the teachers and subject matter plodding and pedantic. His quick intellect coupled with a huge ration of street smarts had kept him from the grasp of the law, on four continents.

In the mid seventies heroin and cocaine were making major inroads in the drug subculture and the violence and backstabbing that came along with them brought lots of extra heat. Roy decided to move his base of operations to Vancouver.

Once settled in, he opened an entertainment booking and management company at a time when the live music scene in Vancouver was one of the best anywhere. Many international stars emerged from that Vancouver club scene. Roy was in the center of it all. All the while, his side business thrived and grew.

He had met Julie soon after moving to Vancouver and they had dated for a while. On one of Buddy's visits from California, Roy had introduced the two of them and they were both smitten. Roy could see all the signs and gracefully backed out.

By the early eighty's Roy had moved to Miami and Buddy had moved to Vancouver to be closer to Julie. Roy had eventually gotten out of his illicit business endeavors. Word was he had invested a bundle in the market, managed by a Wall Street broker friend of his. His network of friends and associates, worldwide, still remained intact and would be the envy of a multinational corporation or a third world government.

Roy had finally come full circle and gone back to the sea. He sat for and passed his captain's exam. He now worked ocean tugs for six months out of the year and rode his Harley around the continent during the other six . He was content. Until now.

Roy parked the rental car outside the police building, checked in with the desk sergeant and took the elevator to the fourth floor. Julie jumped from her chair as his shadow filled the doorway of Innes' office. Roy was still in great shape. He was lean and muscular. His six foot two inch frame carried his two hundred pounds with an animal grace. He worked out daily and still practiced the martial arts he was so well known for on the streets.

Julie took in his ruggedly handsome features, his short blonde hair combed back into a long braid that hung down to the middle of his back. She ran into his arms. "Oh, Roy," she sighed.

"Hey Jewels," he whispered, as he folded her into his tree trunk arms.

"I'm so glad you're here," she breathed.

"We'll get through this," he replied. Roy look up at Innes "You done with her?"

"Yes, I think we have enough, for now."

Roy turned and walked Julie to the waiting area, "Wait here, I'll be right back."


Innes stood as Gallagher came back into his office. The two shook hands and Innes felt as if his hand were caught in a vise. "Not a very good day," Innes ventured.

"I can't recall a worse day than this," Roy agreed. As they sat down Innes asked

"Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?"

"Shoot," Roy answered looking directly at Innes.

The detective shrugged off the wince he felt at Gallagher's choice of words and asked, "When was the last time you saw Buddy?"

"About four months ago," Roy replied

"Where?"

"In Florida. Buddy flew down for bike week. I rode from Tampa and met him at the airport in Orlando. He rented a Heritage Softail and we rode to Daytona. Stayed for the weekend."

"They rent Harleys?" Innes was astounded.

"There's a place right off I-4 in Orlando. Costs an arm and a leg and you gotta book months in advance, especially for bike week. But Buddy had it all organized. Anyway, we got into Daytona Friday afternoon and Buddy was on a plane to Vancouver Monday morning."

"I don't think I want to know what happened in between," Innes said.

Roy smiled broadly "Sure you do Brian, but I'm not going to tell you."

"When was the last time you talked to him?" Innes continued, ignoring Roy's jibe.

"About three weeks ago, just before I left for Haiti. We would usually talk two or three times during my days off."

"Did anything seem unusual about his conversation, like he was worried or nervous about anything?"

"No," Roy said flatly.

"Did he tell you what he was working on?"

"Yeah, said he was doing some Beta testing and evaluation on some new software from one of he biggies in Silicon Valley."

"Anything else?' Innes probed.

"You think this might have been work related?"

"Just answer the question, Gallagher," Innes snapped.

Roy's steely gray eyes narrowed and his lips formed a thin line as he said in a voice barely above a whisper, "Look asshole, I'm here as a friend of Buddy's, just like you profess to be. I'm not a suspect in this case, so don't give me the fucking third degree."

Innes lowered his eyes for an instant then said, "Ok, Gallagher, I'm just trying to get as much information as possible. I guess I'm a little bit irritable,

Roy's voice dropped even lower, "You're a little irritable, and I'm a little pissed. I'll ask you again, do you think this is work related?"

"This is an active police investigation. I'm not at liberty tell you anything of what we know or suspect."

Roy continued to stare at Innes with icy eyes. "You might as well tell me what you know, Brian, because within an hour after I leave here I'll have everything you do and probably more."

Innes knew Gallagher wasn't just displaying bravado. He knew Roy had enough contacts to get the information. He waited for a couple of minutes then said "Ok, this is what I can tell you. Buddy's apartment was broken into somewhere between six and eight PM. Probably closer to six. The intruder probably went through Buddy's computer files. Buddy returned home around eight-thirty and was shot soon after, most likely with a silenced twenty two. Two shots to the back of the head . Very professional. He had very likely just finished talking to Julie when he was killed. He was found in his easy chair right beside the phone. My read is that the killer was surprised by Buddy's returning. He generally doesn't come home Sunday nights."

"Anything missing?" Roy asked.

"His back-up computer disks are missing and all the computer files have been wiped clean."

"Any leads?" Roy asked.

"I can't discuss that."

"None, huh?"

"Gallagher, I know Buddy was a friend of yours and you consider yourself some kind of one man demolition team, but I don't want you to get involved in this. This is official police business."

Roy rose and leaned over the desk, his fearless stare boring into Innes with an intensity Innes found totally unnerving. Roy whispered, "You don't know jack shit. Buddy was my brother. Family. Whoever did this and whoever is behind them will be going down. And so will anyone who gets in my way."

"I sure hope you're not threatening a police officer, Gallagher."

Roy straightened up and hissed, "All I'm saying is that I will find Buddy's killer. You can either work with me or stay the fuck out of my way." He turned and strode out the office.