Never Judge



At the end of the alley stood a luxury black sedan surrounded by bodyguards that stood at attention.

There were no other cars or people in the area, just them. 

Normally it would look worrying or suspicious, but not to Al. 

It was normal for his father's car to be the only one on the road while his fleet of security vehicles barricaded the area. 

"Sir." A bodyguard greeted as he opened the door, allowing Al to get into his father's car.

"Aldrich." Ray greeted his son as he gestured to his driver that they could go. "Good job out there." 

"Thanks dad." Al said with a smile, genuinely appreciative of his father's praise. "Do you think this is the end?"

Ray knew how important it was to his son to get to the end of their mission. 

After Cara had left, he swore that once it was safe for her to come back and for things to be fixed as normally as possible, without the lies, he would find her.

"Hopefully." Ray sighed. 

"Do you think I can go get her?" He asked his father.

"Well, we will see. If this mission leads to her brother Colin and the people backing him, then yes." Ray told his son. 

Al nodded as he considered his situation. 

When Cara had left he didn't even have it in him to say goodbye. 

He locked himself up in his room like a pathetic child and let her leave.

"You know, you don't need to catch her brother and eliminate that threat to bring her home, right?" Ray asked his son with a raised eyebrow.

"I know, dad." Al grumbled.

Ray had been insisting almost weekly for Al to speak to Cara, patch things up, and bring her home. 

He knew that his son was a different person since she left.

Even her father, Peter Jao, had spoken to Al multiple times in an attempt to get him to speak to his daughter. 

Peter had tried to convince Cara to come back, but unfortunately it wasn't his voice she needed to hear.

"Dad, if I ask her to come back now and this mission regarding her brother is not yet settled, I will still have to lie to her." Al confessed his worry. 

"Al, we work in the underworld, there will always be lies." Ray reminded his son.

"But not to the people we care about." Al told his father.

Ray nodded and looked at his son.

He knew this should have been brought up months ago, but everyone had been careful not to say anything to trigger Al.

"Son, tell me, what is Cara to you?" Ray asked.

Al looked at him with a sad look on his face.

"I don't know dad." He managed to confess. "I know I like her more than a friend, but if you ask me if I love her, I'm not sure."

Ray nodded, understanding his son's predicament. 

"Where to now, dad?" Al asked as he noticed the driver wasn't taking them home.

Normally after a mission, his father wanted them to go straight home. According to Ray Lawrence, it kept them grounded and reminded them about what mattered. 

"Unfortunately, since we want this over as soon as possible, we have to go to the headquarters first." Ray said with a sigh. "Peter is already there waiting."

"To identify Colin?" Al asked.

"Yes, hopefully he is among the men we captured." Ray nodded.

"And if he isn't?" Al asked,

"Then you stay hidden until we find him." Ray explained to his son. "Then you don't go to Cara's aunt to bring both of them back."

"Both of them?" Al asked, surprised that Cara's aunt was willing to return to the country. 

Ray sighed and nodded.

"I spoke to her a month after Cara was placed in her care." Ray explained. "It seems that when she heard for Cara that your Uncle Andres had remained single after they broke up, it melted her heart."

Al smiled and laughed.

"She wants to give it a shot with Uncle Andres again?" Al curiously asked.

Ray nodded.

"She does, but she won't leave Cara there." Ray told his son. "Andres doesn't know yet, so I hope you can keep this a secret until the women return."

Al agreed and smiled.

He was glad that his Uncle Andres was finally getting his happy ever after, or at least he was going to get another chance at love with Cara's aunt. 

"We're here, sirs." The driver said as they stopped by one of the secret entrances to the headquarters. 

A bodyguard opened the door for Al and Ray to step out.

"Have they arrived?" Al asked as he fixed his hair. 

His shirt was still bloody from the assault, but he could change his shirt inside. 

"Yes, sir." The bodyguard reported as they walked into the building. "They are in the holding cells. Mr. Jao is waiting in your father's office."

"Let's go then." Ray said as he appeared next to Al. 

They walked through the maze of halls until they reached Al's office.

"Do you think they got him?" Peter asked as he anxiously paced across the room.

"I saw him there." Al said with a nod. "I'm just not sure if he was still there when we attacked. It was enough time for him to get away."

Peter nodded and smiled at the young man.

"Thank you, for doing this Al." Peter said as he looked Al in the eyes. "I know this mess was partially made by me, then my son decided to make it worse." 

"It's fine, Peter." Al told the older man. "If it weren't for Colin and his backers, I'd never meet Cara."

"Who knows, you might have met her at one of the Mafia events." Ray teased his son.

"But I would have been Uncle Seth's nephew or your son, she would never have spoken to me." Al smiled at the thought of Cara being shy in a corner. 

"I still think you would have found each other somehow." Ray said as he smiled at his son.

Ray then glanced at the clock and noticed the time.

"We should go to the holding cells, if he was among the men we took, he will be there." Ray told Peter as they walked out of the room, side by side.