Never Judge

"Sir, the videos show that they were being tailed well before the attack." Mae informed Cedric as she handed him a tablet.

Cedric could see as a young mother and her children were being followed by several men at a distance.

He frowned at the sight. He couldn't help but feel bad that he wasn't able to provide his people with the proper protection they needed even inside the industrial park.

"We saw the same thing with the other two employees." Mae said in a sad tone.

"Did they have anything in common?" Cedric asked as he handed the tablet back.

"Small families, all of them had lost their extended families as well." Mae reported.

"So the Rajas targeted those that were easier to take." Cedric added as he thought of their circumstances.

"They weren't just easy to take, they went through a traumatizing loss of their family members in the past." Dave told Cedric as he handed him three folders, each representing an employee that was taken.

"Glen Menor lost his father and mother in a car accident at eighteen, Nicholas Perez lost his sister when she was raped and murdered, and lastly Francis Sy lost his first wife in a hit and run incident ten years ago." Mae told Cedric with a heavy heart.

"All of them have been through too much." Ian said as he picked up one of the folders on Cedric's desk.

"They were targeted because they would do anything to stop a family member from suffering again." Cedric said to no one in particular as he flipped open the folder on top.

In it was a photo of a young girl that seemed to be no older than sixteen.

There was no doubt in his mind that this was the raped and murdered sister of one of his employees.

"How could the Rajas be so cruel?" Dave hissed as he glared at the image of the girl.

"Did you somehow hope that they had changed since the old days?" Ian asked Dave in an annoyed tone. "The Rajas want a return to how their lives once were, they already know that their tactics in the past worked. They won't just change because the world became nicer."

Cedric silently nodded as he agreed with Ian.

"This is their chance to get back to power." Cedric said with a sigh as he stood up and looked at the distance. "They know that if they can make one of us fall the rest will crumble."

"But why target the Reyes Group?" Mae asked Cedric. "Wouldn't it be more logical to go after the Seabstians? Without government support their allies would be much weaker."

Cedric nodded, understanding why Mae would think that way.

"To the public the person in the highest seat of government is the person that is most powerful, that's not the reality." Cedric began to explain. "Power involves money, influence, respect, and fear."

"The Sebastians have influence and respect, but they lack the money and people's fear." Ian explained, helping Cedric out. He had heard this speech many times from different people over the years.

Cedric nodded agreeing with what Ian had said.

"The Laurences are feared in the underworld, but they still need to take care of how they are positioned legally. They can't exert their influence too much in fear of exposing their identities as the rulers of the underworld." Cedric calmly explained.

"The Abads and Chans are more lacking, although they are each influential." Ian explained.

"So it's the Reyeses that truly control the strings?" Dave asked Cedric and Ian.

The two men simply smiled and shook their heads.

"It seems that way, yes?" Cedric asked. To which his assistants simply nodded in agreement.

"The game we have been playing has all been about perception." Cedric said calmly. "To the Rajas it may look like that my father is probably controlling the way events unravel themselves. They may even think that I am in charge, when in fact the truth is quite different from reality."

Dave and Mae remained silent as they waited for Cedric to continue. They had an idea of the reality he was speaking of, but they wanted to hear it from him themselves.

"It's not one man ruling over everyone, this isn't some messed up monarchy." Cedric said with a chuckle. "We decide our actions as a group. We don't want to control the country, but it's not a lie to say that our actions often affect more than just ourselves."

"So the reason the Rajas are targeting the Reyes Group is because they have a messed up perception of how the power balance works?" Dave asked Cedric, to which the CEO nodded.

"It's because that's how the Rajas worked long ago." Cedric calmly explained. "Back then they were under the control of one dictator, one man that had the government and most businesses under his thumb. They forget that times have changed."

"Their inability to adapt will be their weakness." Ian said quietly on the side.

"It's also another reason why we need everyone to be at their best and fullest strength." Cedric said with a nod.

"We need to get the Dean family their resources back." Dave said upon realizing that the Dean family was still under threat by the Rajas.

Cedric smiled and nodded.

"When we get back home I'll need to speak with Seth and help him come up with a plan." Cedric told them. "I want to finish it before I have to fly for Kashmere."

"Will you ask Ray to involve the other Mafia families and gangs?" Ian asked Cedric.

Cedric knew that involving other groups to help the Dean family was dangerous, but it was at times like these that the underworld was known to come together.

The ruling groups would not allow an outsider to just push one of their own away.

"If it is needed, yes." Cedric said with a nod.

"They may or may not help." Ian warned.

"I have faith that they will, this time." Cedric said with a nod as he looked out to the distance.