Never Judge

"Well the most obvious guess would be Lucius, but he thinks Fernando is dead." Ian said as he thought of the possibilities. 

"What if he lied to Camilla and Benedict?" Cedric asked.

"He'd be keeping up too many lies, it would be way too complicated." Ian said, shaking his head.

"Ian, based on our experience, we know things are usually not what they seem, and Lucius seems to be the smartest out of all of them." Cedric said as he scratched his chin.

"And Aiden was not complicated enough for you?" Ian asked.

"He had Benedict." Mae added. "The real brains of that operation was Benedict and not Aiden."

"And despite his intelligence Aiden had managed to trick his own brother, getting him to work for him." Ian argued back. 

"Benedict still saw the light though, and we are lucky he is now on our side." Cedric said with a nod.

"So fine, potentially Lucius." Ian said as he gave into their reasoning.

"Do you think it could be the Chan family?" Mae asked.

"You have to be more specific than just the Chan family, Mae." Ian said as he rolled his eyes at the other assistant. "It's a huge clan, but yes, potentially someone in the family could be behind this."

"Do you think it could be Uncle Raphael?" Cedric asked Ian. "You know the Chans the best, do you think he could be the one hiding this man?"

"I doubt it." Ian said with a frown. "I don't see the point why he would hide Fernando."

"Maybe he planned on using Fernando in case someone claimed to be Andrew Chan." Mae theorized as they sat in the office.

"It would be too risky and it probably cost whoever hid him quite a fortune." Cedric said as he thought of the possibilities.

"Then maybe grandpa Chan himself?" Mae asked as she thought of the old man and his remorse. 

"What use would the nurse be to him?" Cedric asked Mae.

"Actually, if he had known about the nurse it would make sense." Ian said as he thought of the old man. "He could be trying to make up for his crimes against his son and grandson."

"Hmmm, alright, he could be Fernando's backer." Cedric said as he looked out the window. 

"So what will you have us do?" Mae asked Cedric. 

"Hire locals to spy on the house as well as on the places he frequented." Cedric instructed as he stood by the hotel window that overlooked the city. "Have them alternate so that people don't notice that the same people are watching over the same places."

"And what should they look for?" Mae asked.

"Anyone acting suspicious, people asking questions about Fernando." Cedric said. "Maybe have one or two move in next door to Fernando's apartment. It would be suspicious if they moved into Fernando's apartment themselves."

"How long do you want them to stay?" Mae asked as she typed Cedric's instructions in her phone.

"Two months." Cedric said as he thought of how long the person backing Fernando would be willing to wait before hearing news from the man. "If no one shows up in two months, extend it to six, if there is still no one by then, make it a year."

"Isn't that too long?" Ian asked Cedric with a raised eyebrow. 

"Whoever has been supporting Fernando has been doing it for decades." Cedric explained. "I'm sure at some point they had lessened their communication with each other. I mean if he hadn't been found in years, what would make them think he would be found now?" Cedirc asked.

"The fact that you are here could raise suspicion." Ian pointed out. "You also brought all the Chan siblings. It could have gone unnoticed if we were just gone for the day, but we had to stay longer."

"Then that just proves the urgency for us to move." Cedric said with a shrug.

"We'll get it done." Mae said, cutting Ian off before he could even respond. She knew that Ian was about to begin a full on argument and it wasn't something that would be productive at the moment.

As Mae was about to leave the room to arrange for people to watch over Fernando's apartment, when someone knocked on the door.

"Adrianna?" Mae asked as she saw her boss' wife waiting on the other side.

"Adri, you didn't need to knock." Cedric said in a loving tone as he walked over to her.

"I'm pretty sure you guys were discussing something important and confidential, I didn't want to be a bother." Adrianna explained.

"It's fine, Adri." Ian said with a smile. "We're done discussing what we needed to talk about." He said in a somewhat bitter tone.

"We'll talk about this later." Cedric said as he pointed at his former assistant who simply nodded and left.

"Actually we all need to head out." Adrianna told Cedric. "Capt. Lim arrived and he said he had news."

Cedric looked at Ian who simply shrugged.

"Let me get what you need done first, I'll follow. Please ask the captain to wait." Mae said as she shuffled out of the room. 

"We will." Cedric called out, hoping his assistant still heard him.

"What did you ask Mae to do?" Adrianna asked. "You know the girl is grieving. Despite everything, that nurse became a fast friend."

"It's related to Fernando." Cedric told his wife in a serious tone. "Don't worry, she's doing this because she wants to as well. It's Ian that has some hesitation." 

"Ian?" Adrianna asked as she turned to face her husband's friend who was leaning against the door frame.

"Cedric and I don't always agree on things, you know." Ian said with a laugh. "Which is actually good. Anyway, I'll head on to my wife. You guys just follow. It should buy Mae some time."

Cedric nodded as his friend left.

Adrianna hugged her husband and leaned her head on his chest.

"How are you holding up?" She asked. "This shouldn't be your problem, you know." 

"Adri, we both know that I, no, we, the Reyes family is Lucius' first target and the sooner we can cut him down, the better." Cedric said as he kissed his wife. "I'm glad you are with me. Now, let's face those policemen." He said with a stern look as he pulled his wife out of the office and towards the dining room.