Days With Zion Dawsey

24. Jack Pepperwood

"Cancel the appointment for 5 p.m., get me a new computer from the store downstairs and let them deliver it to my house." Michael nodded and wrote down all the points. Then he saw Zion nod his head as well, telling him to leave his office. So the personal assistant turned around to leave his boss' office.

"And Michael?" Zion cleared his throat, making the young man turn around again.
"Thank you." Zion felt no need to elaborate. Michael was a clever young man, he knew exactly what Zion meant. That was why he bit back his smile and simply nodded in response. He turned once more and finally left the office.

Zion immediately placed his hand on his cellphone and called a number he hasn't called in a while. It was only a day after him and Bonnie reached a dead end and they've already wasted a whole day. There was no time to waste anymore, seeing as even though Bonnie and him had both burned their contracts last night, Kent could still have some things up his sleeve and Zion had no idea when he was going to do the next step. Or if he even had a next step. But Zion was not naive to think that was it, he always thought about the worst case scenario.

"The great Zion Asher Dawsey calling me. To whom do I owe this honour?" The man on the other end answered.
"A man named Cirus Kent. I want you to follow him and give me a report every hour." Zion said.
"And what did he do?" Pepperwood asked.

The name of the detective and former police officer was Jack Pepperwood. Zion knew that was a stage name and he liked it that way. At first he was keen on never talking to the man again after he had needed him in order to make sure he could trust a business colleague of his. But the detective had to some extend earned Zion's trust and he needed him more often than anticipated.

"I cannot tell you for sure yet. But I'm hoping to find out after a week of surveyance." Zion answered.
"It's always a bit of a mystery with you, isn't it? But fine with me, it makes the operation only more exciting. I'm on it." With that, the man hung up and Zion put his phone back into his pocket.

Now all Zion had to do was go online and type in Cirus Kent's name in order to see what the press knew about him.

He saw that Kent was a rather irrelevant person, almost not even worth searching for. All he found out about that guy was the fact that he was Hank Kent's son. He was mentioned in a few charity events because he attended them, but other than that, he was a no one. So Zion signed and shut his laptop. He leaned back in his chair, his left pinky was twitching.

He took out his phone after receiving a message. It was his mother. Not only has she now found an actual appreciation for smartphones, but she has also found a new way of talking to Zion every day. Now that she had a few hours with River, she seemed so much more like herself than ever.

He couldn't help the smile that overcame his features once he saw the attached picture of the message.
'Breakfast with grandma' she wrote with a picture of River chewing on a piece of croissant. He was already so big, Zion thought as he scrolled up to his mother's message from yesterday. She had sent him a video of River playing with blocks and trying to stock them while eventually chewing on them. He watched the video a couple of times yesterday. He found himself watching it again in that moment. It seemed to never get boring.

He was very happy for his mother, now that she knew about her grandson. But he also never knew how to respond to her ecstatic messages. He might appreciate updates about his son more than he thought, but he still didn't know how to act. Was he now officially a part of River's life? He didn't know. And he didn't want to ruin his mother's mood by reminding her of how complicated he made it.

So he just responded with: 'Am at work. Can't text.' With another sigh, he tossed his phone aside and started to actually work.

.

"That guy really has a boring life. Much like yours, actually." Pepperwood said a he picked up the phone. Zion rolled his eyes.
"I called for an update, not an insult." He reminded his old acquaintance.

"Of course. I am sending you my first week's result as we speak. Open them on your computer now, so we can talk his schedule through." Zion did open the email and its attached PDF file.
"Got it." Zion said, so Pepperwood could go on.

"You'll see that he wakes up, goes to work, visits the hospital and then goes home. Every day last week did he repeat that routine. I found out that he was visiting his father, who is suffering from serious burn out syndrome, but was initially sent in because he had a stroke about five months ago. He is still in induced coma but Kent is believed to recover."

"I believe that there is more to Kent Junior than I saw last week. I found out that his business has been going downhill for a while now, even before he had officially inherited it from his dad. He walks into the warehouse every day but what's interesting is the fact that no one else walks in or out during the day. His employees may get in really early and leave after he does, but I highly doubt that."

"Furthermore, as I attempted to call the number of his alleged business, I found out that the number has changed. And the new one is in no telephone book or on the internet. So whatever the guy does in the warehouse, is a mystery. I will find out tomorrow once he is visiting his father. He usually stays between one and one and a half hour. I have enough time to do what I have to do in order to find out what he's doing. That is if you want me to."

"Do you even have to ask?" Zion said, thrilled that his suspicion has been proved right.

Kent had a secret and Zion thought it was only right for him to find out what that was.