Prologue - oil engineer murdered

At first it was confusion, followed quickly by surprise, shock, and finally ending in fear. Pain coursed through his body. The focal point being in his throat. Taste suddenly hitting his senses. The taste of .... death.

Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

The story in the Calgary Reporter read:

Oil Engineer Murdered

EDMONTON - Nelson Graves, an engineer and employee of CanOil, Canada’s third largest oil company was found murdered in his home last night in Calgary. Police are releasing few details, but sources say Graves was found covered in oil.
Apparently, Graves who works in Ft. McMurry on the Alberta Oil Sands project was in town for the weekend for his 12-year-old son’s birthday. Grave’s had arrived early to surprise his son while he and his mother were out shopping.
The killer apparently broke into the home in the afternoon when no one was there. The perpetrator then waited for Mr. Graves to come home in time for the birthday party. Mrs. Graves and her son, upon returning from shopping discovered the body in the garage and called the police.
The police have no suspects at this time and are considering this an environmentally motivated killing.

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He wasn’t covered in oil. He had been forced to drink it. Someone had used duct tape to secure him to a chair in the garage and had then shoved a funnel down his throat.

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“It’s appalling what he did. He’s obviously gone renegade on them and I don’t think they’ll be able to control him. Not even G1. His father will see to that,” said the man in dark gray Ermenegildo Zegna suit. A lean 180 lbs and balanced over a 6’3” frame with delicate silver hair perfectly combed back, Mr. Fremore sat behind a large cherry wood desk that had nothing on it, except a telephone and a Cuban Cohiba resting gently in a crystal ashtray. The view from the window behind him revealed the rest of the downtown skyline. It was from one of the tallest buildings in the city of Calgary. The desk was perfectly clean and shined as if it had just been polished. The office was large, but not excessively so - just enough to allow for a small sitting area consisting of a small couch and two chairs off to the side of the desk area. Two panels in the wall were visible. Both were slightly open - one revealing a fully stocked bar. Two glasses in use were just barely visible. A touch of colored gloss on the rim of the near empty one. The other cabinet door expelling a view and odour of a built-in humidor. “How soon can you do it?” He spoke to a man sitting in a chair in front of his desk.

“I’ll drive up after we finish and review the layout. Tomorrow night at the latest I expect. I don’t foresee any problems. He thinks he’s covered and is probably quite proud of himself right about now. He does have some resources, however as you said, he’s renegade, so most likely gone AWOL on them.” The man speaking was in his early thirties, about 5’ 11” and weighed a hard 195 pounds underneath his jeans and jacket. You wouldn’t think much if you saw him. He had short, lightening hair and an average, but pleasant face. Quite ordinary really, except for two features.

“Good. I want that bastard to suffer for what he did. How you do it up to you, as always. However, on this one I would like to make a request.”

A small but intense look of concern crossed the face of the man listening. Never before had his boss ever said this before. The man called Fremore caught the look and smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m not about to tell you how to do your job. It’s just a general request. If possible, I want you to make that man suffer. And suffer hard. I knew Graves. Not intimately mind you, but I had met him before and he is – was a good man. I’m going to make sure his wife and son are well taken care of, but this is just for my own peace of mind. I want to be able to close my eyes tonight knowing I did something about it.”

For such a powerful, calculating and often cold man, Fremore knew the virtue of loyalty.

“I’ll see what I can do, sir.” Said with just the thinnest of smiles crossing his face.”

There was very little that made Fremore nervous, but that thin smile from that one man was one of them. He never showed his nervousness though. That would be weak. That would be giving away a piece of information. He didn’t do that. Never! But still, that smile would cause an internal shudder every time he saw it - even more so when it was directed towards him. Yes, Keel made him just a little bit uneasy. It was a strange balance with Keel. Trust mixed with fear ever since that first day he had sought him out for the Order. It was understandable however, considering Keel’s background.

“That smile of his still gets to you, doesn’t it? I can sense it in you”. A woman with sharp features, dressed in an expensive looking beige suit had walked into the office from behind the bar cabinet, picking up the nearly empty glass as she entered. It had a swivel built into it allowing a secondary room to exist for viewing guests in Fremore’s office.

“Do you think he can”, asked Fremore.

“There isn’t much he can’t sense in people. Especially fear. Although, that usually comes late for them. He always seems so, … unremarkable, until he gives you that smile”.

“And then your spine starts screaming at you to run. Thank god he’s on our side.”

“And he is on our side. He’s a good, decent, loyal man, who just happens to have a very special talent”.

“Well, let’s get our own senses back in order. We know this job will be done with no complications. So, how about I take you out for some breakfast, my dear, Ms. Granger?”

“Sounds lovely”.

“And then dinner later”, Fremore posed in a way that asked if that was possible.

“Perhaps. Let’s see how the day pans out”.

And with that, Fremore walked from out behind his desk and kissed the woman he called Ms. Granger on the left cheek and lead her out of the office by her elbow. A smile was on both faces as they left.