THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

Zachary spent the week following his talk with his grandma practically in a daze. Initially, he'd presumed that the news about his parents wouldn't affect him in any way. That was because he'd never gotten to know them on a personal basis.

But as the days passed, he realized that his initial assumption couldn't have been more wrong. He would often find himself wondering about his mom and dad and what could have been if he'd grown up in their care. Their images, he'd only recently seen in a few photographs, would flood his thoughts whenever he tried to focus on anything productive.

Soon, he found himself feeling depressed and started regretting why he'd opened an emotional Pandora's Box by asking his grandma to tell him about them.

He wasn't even in the mood to accompany Kristin on her visits to wildlife reserves and zoos close to Lubumbashi City. He felt guilty about that — which made him all the more depressed until he could no longer focus on training.

After a few more days of struggling with the issue, he finally couldn't take it anymore and decided to do something about it.

He couldn't allow himself to return to Norway — to playing professional football when his mind wasn't in the right place. So, he started taking the necessary steps to get some more answers about his parents.

He especially needed to find out where his missing mom was — and whether she was alive and well — before he could put the whole saga to rest. He hoped that he would have found the peace of mind to carry on with his life by then.

On a Wednesday morning, just four days to his scheduled return to Norway, he dialed the number of a private investigations firm called the International Counterintelligence Services (ICS). It was a high-profile international firm that was recommended to him by his agent, Emily, only a few days prior.

Emily had claimed that ICS employed high-profile detectives and investigators who were the best of the best across the globe. She'd mentioned that those professionals were capable of finding a missing person in any part of the world, whether alive or dead. And that it would only take a couple of years at most.

The only downside was they charged high fees for their services. However, that wasn't a concern.

He had the money, and the only thing on his mind was finding out the current status of his biological mother.

"Hello, thank you for calling the International Counterintelligence Services," a polite feminine voice said from the other end of the line as soon as the call connected. "You're now talking with Roselyn McConnell, one of the customer service staff at the firm. How can I be of help to you?"

"Hello," Zachary replied, first standing up and properly locking his bedroom door. He didn't want anyone to eavesdrop on his phone conversation.

"Hello," the feminine voice emerged from the phone placed close to his ear once more. "Are you there? How can I help you?"

"Hello," Zachary replied, settling back on his bed. "I'm Zachary, calling from Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo. A friend of mine recommended your agency to me. She told me that you're capable of helping me locate a missing person anywhere in the world. Is that true?"

"Yes, that's true," Roselyn, the customer service lady, was quick to reply in a confident tone. "You've called the right firm with the right people to help you out with your issue, Zachary. But if I may ask, how're you related to this missing person you're searching for?"

"She's my biological mother."

"Have you ever met her in person?"

"No."

"Sorry to hear that, Zachary," the customer service lady said in a seemingly compassionate tone. "But worry not. We should be able to help you locate her. But can I first have your full names, age, and place of work. We require the details to open up a file for your case."

"Okay," Zachary said. "But could you please handle my case with the utmost confidentiality? I don't want any other party finding out about it."

"You don't have to worry, Mr. Zachary," Roselyn said. "We treat the information from our clients with confidentiality. That's why the firms we manage are among the best in the world. We wouldn't have risen to such a position if we weren't doing at least that much."

"Good," Zachary said, letting out a breath. "My legal name is Zachary Bemba. I'm eighteen years old and a professional footballer, playing in the Norwegian top league."

"Oh, an eighteen-year-old professional football player!" The voice at the other end rose up a notch. Its owner seemed surprised. "If you want the utmost secrecy, such that no other party can ever get a hold of your case details, then it's better for one of our people to meet you in person. Would you prefer that, sir?"

"No, let's get this over with," Zachary replied. "I'm sure we can talk safely on my phone. It's a new line, and it isn't registered in my name."

"Then, okay," Roselyn said. "Do you have any information that we can use to track your biological mother? Or has anyone else close to you seen or come into contact with her?"

Zachary went ahead and told the lady all the information he had — which was just her first name and a few photographs of her. He also told her about the timeline for her relationship with his biological dad and then mentioned that she might not be Congolese.

"That's not a lot of information to go by, Zachary," Roselyn said after listening to him. "Is there anything else that you might have forgotten that could be of help in finding her?"

"That's the only information I have got on her," Zachary said. "Unless you want me to send you a scan of her photos right now?"

"You can send the photos by email after our phone call," she replied. "With them, we can at least start searching most databases and social media sites and see what we can get. But before that, we should talk about the consultation fees."

"Okay," Zachary said.

"For your case, we'll charge US Dollars 12,000 since it's a case that might take us to several countries. Moreover, we have limited information to go by and find your biological mother. So, our investigators will need to work extra hard if we want to find any information quickly. But you've got to understand that we might request more money later — after getting a handle on your case."

"USD 12,000 is around 100,000 Norwegian Kroner," Zachary said, trying to do the currency conversion in his head. "Is that right?"

"It's 105,000 Norwegian Kroner if we round it off," the lady replied after a few moments.

"Then, that's fine," Zachary said. "I'll wire the money using a direct bank transfer right after our phone call. But please make sure you give me a heads up in time if you wish to request more money during the investigation."

"Good, we'll do that," she said. "Thank you for choosing CSI. We'll handle your problem with the utmost care. We shall keep giving you updates every three months until we managed to solve your case. Is that okay with you, Mr. Zachary?"

"Yes, that's okay," Zachary replied. "But how long do you think it'll take for you to locate her whereabouts?"

"That, I can't tell," she replied. "We have very little information on her. So, I cannot predict the exact timeline for solving your case. But what I can promise is that we'll update you as soon as we get anything concrete."

"Okay, I understand," Zachary said.

"Okay, sir," Roselyn McConnell said. "Thank you again for choosing CSI to handle your case. We shall send confirmation and start working on your case as soon as we receive the photographs of the subject and, of course, the payment. You can get our bank details from our website before you make the transaction."

"I'll wire the money and send the photographs right away," Zachary said. "Have a good day, madam."

"Good day to you, too, Zachary," she replied and then ended the call.

After placing his phone on the bed, Zachary immediately opened his laptop and connected to the internet using his phone's tethering function. He first sent the soft copies of his biological mother to the CSI email. He then opened his bank's website and wired the consultation fees to the account listed on their website.

After receiving the confirmation that CSI had received the money a few minutes later, it felt like someone had lifted a heavy weight off his shoulders. With the help of an international private detective agency, he hoped he would find information about his mother within a short time. He was in a great mood and had even managed to regain the motivation to carry on with his strict training schedule.

Without any more dilly-dallying, he packed his gym bag and said his goodbyes to his grandma. He got into his Audi Q7 and drove out of his grandma's residence, heading towards the TP Mazembe stadium to carry out some serious training. He was determined to use the remaining days before returning to Norway to get back into perfect condition. That way, he would be in a position to continue performing at his best when the league restarted during the latter half of June.