A Number, Not a Name

Revelations

2 months earlier:

Milena stood quietly by her father's grave, her eyes red and brimming with tears. Above her, dark clouds overlaid the night and the full moon cast its pale shadow on the cemetery. Norvan's tombstone towered over the bouquet of flowers she'd left there hours before. The epitaph was engraved with the words, Julian "Norvan" Blagueur-Ohanyan. Husband. Father. Son. Over a month had passed since his death and still, she was no closer to the truth than she had been at the beginning. Throughout the past few days, doubt and hesitation had begun to take hold of her mind. Milena looked up at the darkened sky and sighed. "Oh Daddy...I've" she sniffed. "I've tried to learn the truth about your..." she trailed off, unable to say the words. "But it seems that I can't. I've done everything I can...but now I'm starting to think that maybe Loren's right. Maybe I'll never know what happened and I should just move on. But part of me just can't...I...I don't know what to do. I just wish you were here with me." She knelt on the ground and cried.

"You obviously loved your father very much Milena," a voice remarked from behind her. Milena, startled by the voice, looked over her shoulder in its direction. Behind her, she saw an older gentleman standing. He was tall and lean with angular features. He wore a black, three-piece suit, tailored to fit him exactly, along with a wool overcoat. He held a black walking stick with a polished gold knob on the top in his left hand. His hair was jet black except for white streaks that ran from both temples to the back of his head. In addition to most of his hair, his mustache and Vandyke beard were also jet black. He had an air of familiarity to Milena like she had met him before, yet she couldn't quite recall who he was.

She quickly stood up from the ground and turned to face him. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Let's just say an acquaintance of your father."

"A rather ancient one I assume. I don't recall meeting you or seeing you conducting business with him."

"I suppose it would be only natural for you not to recall seeing me. It has been over twenty years after all since your father and I last conversed. Unfortunately, our last meeting did not end how I hoped and we fell out of contact. I heard you became his business partner a few years ago."

"Nearly ten," Milena added.

"I was deeply saddened to hear of his tragic passing, I had hoped to reconcile with him. I'm certain his death must have been almost unbearable for you."

Milena sighed "It has been difficult. My father he..." she paused and took a breath. "He was everything to me. I wish that I could take some solace in the fact that his murderers have paid for their actions. But instead, they're somewhere...out there..free, while my father's lying six feet below the ground" she remarked bitterly.

For a moment no words were exchanged between the two of them. The only sound was the wind blowing and scattering fallen leaves across the grass. Finally, Blackgaard spoke as he walked closer to Milena. "What if you had the chance to know. What would you be willing to give up."

Milena eyed Blackgaard suspiciously, a look of realization flashed across her eyes. "Alright, let's just stop with these games. I'm a businesswoman. I know when someone's about to try to make a deal with me and let me guess...you have an offer which I can't refuse" she snapped.

"I must say Ms. Ohanyan you are quite perceptive, like your father" Regis noted.

"It's the only way to be successful in a world as cutthroat as the oil business."

He stepped even closer to her "Unfortunately what your father possessed in perception he lacked in judgment. He never knew when to cut his losses. The last time we saw each other I told him that we were each determined to see our desires through to the end no matter what. That perhaps we weren't so different as we thought. However, unlike your father, I know when to alter my course. How to achieve my aspirations while taking a different path. Sadly, your father never would veer from the path he had set upon and that cost him his life."