Chapter 7 - who is Keel

Within one hour, Keel was back across town sitting in a booth by himself. He was just starting to dig into his pan bread. It was one of Earl’s’ most popular and core appetizers. That and their buffalo wings with Parmesan dipping sauce. With a rye and ginger off to the right side of his plate, he tore off a piece of bread and dabbed it into the bi-colored liquid. As the strong and unique flavor hit his mouth, he thought about how after so many years of eating it, he never got tired of it. Of course, the fact that it was thick bread in oil and vinegar was not lost on him in that it forced him to work out even harder. He couldn’t afford to have it start to lay ground around his middle section. Tonight however was a treat. So, instead of worrying about it now, he reached over to his left and picked up the book that sitting there.

Keel had found that reading had fit into his lifestyle very well. It was quiet, which he liked and it was an individual act, which he also liked. He could do it anywhere and everywhere if his mind and eyes were not being required for something else. He read literally everywhere, waiting for a movie to begin and sometimes even grocery shopping. He would walk down the isles, knowing what he was looking for and where it was all the while having his face in a book. Sometimes it seemed to draw looks from others, but the book helped to cover and even distort his face. That in addition to his relatively common features made him quite forgettable. It wasn’t that he wasn’t good looking, he was just a little rough looking. Combat tended to do that to a person. He had somewhat dull blue eyes and not the sky or baby blues either that the ladies went after. His hair was usually a little disheveled, but not messy enough to draw attention either. It was all meant to be unseen and overlooked, by choice. He kept his posture a little slumped, with his shoulders down to look smaller than he really was as well. He only brought himself up to his full proportion when he was on the job. In those occurrences, the effect was confusingly intimidating. His size and the aura he gave off always made the “problem causing person” suddenly retreat, physically and mentally, but it was his face that confused them. It didn’t seem to match his obvious physical persuasiveness. And then would come the smile – that little smile. Upon seeing that, the person would know it was over. There would be no negotiating and no pleading.

This evening’s choice of reading was one of Keels’ favorite authors – Jeffery Deaver. It was one that he had read before, a few times, and one that he would most likely read again sometime. The Coffin Dancer was Deaver’s second book in the Lyncoln Ryme series. There was a new book out now, but he hadn’t picked it up yet, so the dancer it was. He didn’t even really read it, but more like skimmed it since he knew it all anyways. It didn’t really matter. He only slowed down at the parts involving the dancer. It was such a great character. A little man with a genius for killing. Someone who knew how to use all of his attributes – all of what was at his disposal despite his diminutive size. He might have been just a vicious contract killer, but then …. so was Keel, in a matter of speaking. That a brought a smile to his face.

Keel was a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, once rated number one as the coldest city in the world. Perhaps it was that environment that helped to foster his innate toughness. At eighteen years old, he enlisted into the army and quickly gained the respect of those around him. He showed distinct promise.

By twenty-one, he had joined the 101st Airborne Regiment – Canada’s elite commando fighting force, based out of Petawawa, Ontario. It was during this time that Keel had really excelled. He became the premiere member of his unit and was often given orders that put his talents as an individual to good use, despite being part of a team. He made his mark in places like Somalia, although that mark was classified and would never be acknowledged publicly. Some things were not for public consumption. Joe and Sally Canadian would not be able to accept such actions, even though it was sometimes necessary.

However, after the Somalia incident, in which Canadian peacekeepers, there as part of a UN peace enforcement protecting humanitarian operations, were charged with allegations of torture, abuse and murder, Keel started to sense a looming sensation of doom for the regiment. The Canadian Liberal government had never been very enthusiastic about the military and had been slowly cutting away at it for years. After having a proud, strong military heritage where a fighting Canuck was someone to be reckoned with, Canada was slowly becoming the social worker for the world. Keel didn’t have a problem with that, but it saddened him that Canada was losing its military backbone as well – a source of pride for any nation.

The end came shortly after Somalia. A hazing ritual involving new recruits into the 101st Airborne caught on tape that found its way into the media. This spelled the final end for the group. The government, using the excuse of embarrassment by its fighting elite dissolved the regiment – one that traced its roots to two distinguished units formed during World War II, the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and the 1st Special Service Force. Keel was to be sent back to his old unit, the Princess Patricia’s.

Salvation came unexpectedly and quickly. Formed in 1993, Joint Task Force II (JTF2) came looking for men like Keel. It was formed to be Canada’s Armed Forces elite counter-terrorism/special operations unit. A maximum classified and secretive unit modeled after the British SAS, its other allied counterparts included Germany’s Grenzschutzgruppe 9 (GSG-9), Australia’s Special Air Service Regiment and America’s Special Forces.

Keel had again found the niche he fit into and again excelled to the top of the bar, which in this case was the barrel of a rifle. After serving in the war against Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan as part of a strike team for Task Force K-Bar, Keel was reaching the end of his tour. Deployed back to Canada, he was to receive a most unexpected visitor and a unique opportunity.