Never Judge

________________________________________________________________

Follow me on Instagram @wounded_warriorauthor to see updates and references for Never Judge

________________________________________________________________

"It's not that we didn't find anything." Cedric said slowly. "It's just that we didn't find what we were looking for."

"What do you mean?" Alexi asked as he leaned forward.

"There wasn't a name listed in the files on the owner of the unit below the penthouse. The penthouse is owned by Calathea as we suspected, but the owner's name of the unit below her's is blank." Cedric explained.

"So we did waste our time for nothing." Eric said in frustration. Katerina held his hand in an attempt to calm him down.

"We found things in their files but it's not exactly what we were looking for." Ian said as he typed away on the laptop.

"Stop speaking in riddles." Alexi said in frustration, Ian and Cedrc were both speaking nonsense again.

"Why didn't you guys just hack the employee records and look for the CEOs name?" Miguel asked.

"Because it's not that easy. I only had a few moments to gather the information I could. Hacking into their employee records will take time, and that's time we don't exactly have." Ian explained to the doctor. 

"Oh, isn't it like the movies where you can type away and just get all the information?" Miguel asked with a puzzled look.

"I'm not sure if he's serious or not." Eric asked as he looked at his brother.

"So what did you find out?" Ram, who had been quite silent, couldn't help but ask.

"Well we know for a fact that MT Summit was purchased by Regis Inc. four years ago." Cedric explained.

"Well, that isn't much of a shock." Alexi said as he shook his head, it didn't come to a surprise to them that the ones trying to create trouble for the Reyes was their biggest rival in the industry. "I just find it odd that the Carpios would turn to something like this. They are a well established family and I am sure they can pose a threat to the Reyes Group without underhanded tactics."

"That's the thing, they did purchase MT Summit, but it was sold off two years ago." Cedric said with a knowing smile as he watched his friends realize what he had just said. 

"Wait, so all the actions recently that were backed by MT Summit are not related to them?" Eric asked, this was getting too complicated.

"Did the documents say who they sold it to?" Katerina asked. 

"No, which is odd because all other sales and purchases had clearly documented who they bought it from and who the property was sold to." Cedric said with a shrug. "I'm left with only one option."

"Don't be stupid. You can't go undercover. My wife will kill you if you leave her more work and your wife is pissed off as it is that you keep risking your life." Ray complained as he realized what Cedric was planning.

"Well, that's not what I was going to say." Cedric told his brother-in-law with a sly grin. "I won't get the information by going in, MT Summit was sold two years ago. The current management team started two years ago, so they won't know anything about the sale. I need to go to the person who was in that position at the time." 

"Two years ago Calathea's father Jonathan was the president and CEO." Ram said as he tried to recall who played what role in Regis Inc. at the time. "He was one of five members of the family that chose to stay back when the whole Carpio family moved."

"Is Jonathan Carpio in the Capital too?" Miguel curiously asked.

"No, only Calathea went home." Eric told his brother. Eric always kept a close eye on the actions of the Carpio family. He wanted to avoid any interaction with them. 

"So I'll fly to Spain. I promised Adrianna a trip, I guess we are getting one." Cedric grinned.

"I'm flying to Spain with Veronica next week. Do you want to go together?" Miguel asked as he recalled his planned trip. 

"I need to check if Jonathan Carpio will be willing to speak to me. Why are you going to Spain?" Cedric asked Miguel.

"Some royal patient, I don't need my equipment or team so I decided to fly over. Plus Veronica want to buy something for the house, I don't know, I don't really involve myself in the house she's building for us." Miguel said with a shrug.

"Will you need your lawyer with you?" Katerina asked.

"You're just looking for an excuse to travel." Eric groaned. "Don't you want to stay home with me?"

"If I go to Spain, you're clearly tagging along. You could say you're filming or something." Katerina said with a shrug.

"I would feel much more confident if you were with us." Cedric said with a nod. 

"I'll arrange for everything then." Ian said with a nod. "Do you want to travel high profile or low profile?" Ian asked.

"I'd prefer if no one knew that the Reyes Group CEO met with Jonathan Carpio." Cedric informed Ian.

"So you'll travel commercial?" Ian asked his friend and boss.

"Yeah, it's better that way." Cedric said with a nod.

"I hope you book a flight with my company." Ray teased. 

It took Ian some time to get Jonathan Carpio to agree to meet with the CEO of the Reyes Group. At first the people from the Carpio family were hesitant, they knew that if news broke out about this meeting it would cause quite a scandal and it would affect them more than it would affect the Reyes Group.

One afternoon Ian simply burst into Cedric's office triumphantly. "They agreed!" Ian said as he raised his hand and did a victory lap around the office. 

"Damn this office is big." Ian complained as he made it back to Cedric's desk. 

"Any conditions?" Cedric asked.

"Well, they asked if you could keep it as low profile as possible, I almost laughed at the request. Don't they know how low profile the CEO of the Reyes Group actually is?" Ian explained.

"Okay good. Make the arrangements." Cedric said with a nod.

"I actually have a request." Ian mumbled.

"Speak louder. I don't have super hearing." Cedric complained as he struggled to understand what his friend and assistant had just said. 

"I have a request, bring Dave with you." Ian said more clearly this time.

"Why Dave?" Cedric asked. The young man still had much to learn and a trip like this wasn't one for learning.

"Well, Nicole is one month away from giving birth and I don't want to leave her alone here in the Capital, as for Camilla, she's stressed enough. If she accompanied you she would have to balance Mor Co. and seeing to your needs. So it's either Mae or Dave, in all honesty I think Dave should go since he has more to learn on this trip." Ian explained to Cedric.

"Does he know that we know?" Cedric asked as he placed down the files he was reading.

"No, but his elder brother entrusted him to me before passing away, I want him to learn and you promised you'd help." Ian told Cedric.

"Alright. Just make sure that he knows everything." Cedric said with a nod as he returned his focus back to his work. 

Dave seemed simple at first glance, on paper he was a mediocre student with a strong drive, he wasn't mediocre because he wasn't smart enough, as a matter of fact his IQ was that of a genius. Something bad had happened to Dave and his family as he entered University, he elder brother, the star of his family died in an accident. 

It just so happened that when his car crashed the first two people to run up were Ian and Cedric. Dave's older brother, Arthur, begged the two men to watch over his brother, someone they had never met. Ian and Cedric agreed thinking that Arthur would make it out alive, they were shocked to hear that Arthur was already dead when he arrived at the hospital, it seemed that prior to his accident Arthur had been in a fight and he was already severely injured when his car crashed. 

Cedric sighed at the memory, it was painful, but it was also the moment that he swore to help people who had promising futures stolen from them, people like Ian, Dave, and even Camilla.