Never Judge

Cedric sat in Ray's office, anxious to see how things would pan out.

They had agreed to wait for news here while Jonathan remained in the Mountain View mansion. Everyone agreed that it was for the best, it seemed that his visit to Cedric had remained unnoticed by Lucius as he continued to search for Julia's brother.

The Tiu's on the other hand had managed to secure additional security under the guise that Julia was a good friend of Adrianna, so the Reyes Family simply wanted to protect her as well.

While they waited for Tomas to inform Cedric about Julia's departure from Spain, Adrianna's phone began to ring, making everyone turn and look at her.

"It's Jonathan." Adrianna told Cedric as she held up her phone and showed him the name on the screen.

Cedric nodded, telling her to pick the call up.

"Jonathan?" Adrianna asked as she placed the phone on her ear.

"Yeah, I'm with him right now, I'll put you on speaker." She said as she pulled it away.

"What is it?" Cedric asked his wife.

"Jonathan said he has something urgent to tell you but he didn't want to hold the line on your phone in case the Esteves family called." Adrianna said as she switched her phone to speaker mode.

"Smart kid." Ray commented with a nod.

Cedric knew that Ray had been observing Julia's brother and was now quite fond of him. As a matter of fact he was considering offering Jonathan a position either in his legal or illegal businesses. 

Jonathan was unlikely to turn down both offers since they benefited his family immensely, and based on what they knew about the young man, family was very important to him.

"Cedric, I got a call from Lucius Ting this morning." Jonathan said in a concerned tone. "He is looking for me."

"We know that." Cedric said. He wasn't surprised that Lucius had called Jonathan. He was Lucius' last chance to get his child and Julia back. If he managed to alienate Jonathan, then he could say goodbye to seeing his long lost family.

"He's been asking me to meet him or at least to give him information on where his wife and son are, what do I tell him?" Jonathan asked. "If I don't give him an answer he will continue to keep looking."

"Tell him a version of the truth, the public one." Cedric told Jonathan. 

"The public one?" Jonathan asked, confused by what Cedric meant.

"Tell him Juila went abroad to look for him and that you are still trying to contact her." Cedric said in a serious tone as he slowly considered the impact of what Jonathan would tell his current rival. "Admit that you have been trying to get in touch with her but last you heard she was in London."

"And what about their son?" Jonathan asked, worried about Cedric's response.

"Admit that all you know is that the boy was given up for adoption." Cedric instructed Jonathan. "Tell him that you are still trying to find out who adopted their son and that you will tell him as soon as possible."

"What if he asks why I called if I didn't know?" Jonathan told Cedric. It seemed that this boy was thinking of every possible scenario, a trait Cedric couldn't help but admire.

"Just say that you believe the boy should be with his biological family and that you were actually hoping that he would know where Julia had sent their son." Cedric said as he thought of what else Jonathan could say to make the story sound more believable.

"Add that Julia went in search of him so that their family could be complete again." Ray suddenly said. "That will make him hope that Julia is found, or at least he might put in some effort into looking for her."

"And what if he realizes that she is with us?" Adrianna asked her husband, concerned that this would ruin their plan.

"He won't." It was Jonathan that answered Adrianna's concern over the phone. "The trail will end with the Esteves Family, he wouldn't dare get too close." 

"Isn't it possible that he still has connections on the inside?" Adrianna asked.

"I doubt it." Cedric said. "If he did, he would have long known that his wife was being held hostage by the Esteves family."

"What if it's part of his plan to get us to get Julia out?" Adrianna asked with a concerned look.

"That would be impossible, he would know that we would turn him in as an exchange, something he would not allow." Cedric reasoned out, to which Adrianna simply nodded, accepting her husband's answer. 

As they continued to discuss what Jonathan should answer, Cedric's phone began to ring.

"It's them." Cedric said as he pointed at his phone which simply showed an unknown number. 

"Should I drop the call?" Jonathan asked.

"No, stay on the line, but don't say a word. I will be calling the head of the Esteves family by his name so he cannot find out that you are with me." Cedric warned everyone. 

Ray and Adrianna nodded, while Jonathan remained silent.

Cedric quickly answered the call and placed it on speaker.

"Mr. Reyes." Tomas said in a happier tone than normal.

"Tomas, you seem pleased today." Cedric commented, noting his more positive disposition.

"It is a good day, today you see how serious we are in catching Andrew Ting." Tomas said as his tone returned to its normally more formal nature. "Julia Tiu has left Spain, her plane departed five minutes ago on the private jet of your friend Guan Ming."

Cedric and Tomas had agreed that a third party unrelated to them but still trustworthy should be the one to take Julia out of the country and to Kashmere Island.

As a cover, Guan Ming's mother had pretended to buy something in Spain, a quick shopping trip that was not unusual among the extremely wealthy.

  "I promise you, Tomas, we will hand Andrew Ting or Lucius Ting to you as soon as we can." Cedric said as he looked at his phone which received a message from Guan Ming.

It was a confirmation that Julia was indeed onboard his private plane with his mother.

"Ming has confirmed that you have handed Julia over. I will stand by my side of the agreement and hand over Lucius Ting once I am done with him." Cedric told the Mafia boss.

"Good, good, and for the other part of our deal?" Tomas asked.

"My cousin will call you as soon as the contracts are available." Cedric replied with a nod.

"Well then, I look forward to doing business with you in the future Mr. Reyes. You are an interesting one indeed." Tomas said as he dropped the call.

"She's on her way home." Adrianna said as she was finally able to let out a breath of relief.

"Thank you Cedric, thank you Adrianna, thank you Mr. Laurence, my family owes you three so much I don't know if we will ever be able to repay you." Jonathan said as Cedric could hear him sobbing at the other end of the line.

"Don't thank us just yet." Ray said with a chuckle. "I'd like a word with you when we get back to Mountain View." He announced with a grin as he looked at Cedric.

"Did I mess up?" Jonathan asked nervously.

"No, but later.." Ray said as he dropped the call, laughing as he left Jonathan nervous and anxious at the other end of the call.

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