volume one IN THE D U D L E Y C L A R K - Ohio Vine Tours

Someone is banging away with his fist.
Somewhere in the building, someone is doing exactly what he
would like to do.
He sucks in a shocked breath and steps back quickly when
door 28/RR snaps open, still on its chain.
He hadn’t even heard the deadbolts.
His right hand’s knuckles hurt.
“You again—what the fuck you want?”
Roy stares into a slice of Old Guy’s face, framed by the door
and its casing.
If the rest of his face is anything like these three inches, he
must look pretty pissed.
“I.” Roy wipes his mouth on the back of his sleeve. “Got a
question.”
Old Guy’s eyes narrow.
“I need to know. Please. I mean—”
This could take a while.
“I want to know who—”
bang
The old guy’s door slams.
Roy’s eyes bulge. Now he’s gone and done it! Now he’ll have
to pack up his duffle and—
A chain rattles.
Roy takes a big swig of air and develops a quizzical
expression. But before he can take delivery of a new thought,
much less generate one, the door snaps open, this time all the
way.
Staring into Roy’s face is the business end of a gun.
Attached to the other end is Old Guy.
Roy was right about the rest of his face.
He looks pretty pissed.
Old Guy takes a few steps back inside his apartment and
waves his gun for Roy to follow.
This is not really what Roy wants to do.
But the old fart has a gun, and he looks mean enough to use it.
In Roy’s world things happen that don’t happen in the
Straight world. In his world, people get stabbed and dropped
1 ROY ROGERS IN THE 21ST CENTURY