Chapter 579: Taking actions - Part 1

"Joshua, I will forward you two people's information. Find out all that you can about them." Maggie did not move her gaze away from her laptop as she waited for Valerie's message. And the moment she received the message, she immediately directed it to Joshua.

Since the time she had received Valerie's call, Joshua and she had been working their asses off to find what Jared had done. Fortunately for her, Joshua had arrived to attend the meeting Aria and Ian had scheduled with her colleagues from the Intelligence somewhere after evening. Immediately, they started their work while the other four people looked on.

"These two are bioscientists from Japan. Why did they come to our country and why did your Deputy send this information to you?" Joshua continued to type the string of codes on his laptop as he glanced at Maggie, who was in the midst of finding out who had been in contact with Jared the past few days.

"Jared was prepared for this day, Jo. He has planned to release a deadly virus tonight on a large scale, and if that happens, it will only be a massacre in the country." Maggie finally revealed what was happening, making everyone stare at her in shock. They knew what virus she was speaking about. This matter had blown up after Ivy's secret video, causing the first wave of chaos to erupt in the nation.

Maggie too knew about it, and the moment she had received Valerie's call first, she had started to dig up information on Jared, pulling Joshua in for her aid. She had not understood what was happening at first and why her Deputy had asked her about Jared's plans when the man was already arrested by her. It was the second call that made her realize what was happening and why her usual calm Deputy was going bonkers.

"Are you sure he is not lying?" Noah asked skeptically. Though he did not doubt Jared's words, he was still unable to discern why he would do something like this when he was already arrested. Wouldn't it only push him closer to his punishment?

"I am not sure. Either he is lying to gain his freedom or he is saying the truth to gain his freedom. Any which way, his motive at the end is the same." Maggie stated as she waited for the results to load.

"Are you trying to say that he asking for his freedom in return for information about the virus?" Noah now understood what was happening and why the people at the Intelligence were tensed and in distress.

"It has to be the case. If he is lying, he is taking a chance at gaining his freedom by playing mind games, leaving the option for Valerie to choose. She could either choose not to believe him. But if she does believe him, he will get what he wants." Maggie answered as she glanced at Noah briefly.

"But if he is not lying and if Valerie does not choose to believe him, then a lot of lives are at stake. Again, he will not be losing anything. It is a win-win situation for him. He has played well this time." Aria reasoned, and a suffocating silence filled the room.

"Maggie, you know Jared better. Do you think he is lying?" Ivy queried from the side after thinking for some time.

"As far as I know, I don't think Jared is lying. He will never miss any opportunity to harm people if that will help him fulfill his gains. He must be have been prepared for this deadly attack and given his thinking, he must have more than two target locations."

"How can you be sure about it?" Ivy continued.

"There can be two outcomes. If Valerie chooses not to believe him, then he will get his men to release the virus in one of the locations, and Valerie will then be forced to let him go for she would not want to harm more people by ignoring his warnings. Jared is a suspicious and cautious man. He would want his freedom assured. So, he might have planned another attack as a backup in case Valerie and her team were to follow him."

"Got it," Joshua exclaimed suddenly, putting a halt to the conversation that was going around. "The two scientists did enter our country a week ago and they returned home just yesterday."

"Did you find anything suspicious about them?" Ian who had been silent all this time spoke suddenly.

"Yes, I did. Apparently, they were here to attend a conference regarding some viruses and other microorganisms. And as an experimental analysis, they had brought with them some of the microorganisms in containers kept at freezing temperatures."

Joshua read out the report he had found from his search while the others stared at him wide-eyed. "Here's the confusing part."

"The scientists entered our country using a private plane. So, it was not that big a problem for them to bring in the testing tubes and other canisters that held the virus." Joshua lifted his head and stared at his attentive audience, who had a blank expression on their faces, and for a moment, he wondered if they had even understood what he was even pointing at.

"Do you think it might be Jared's private plane that brought them here?" Noah was the first one to break the silence, and Joshua was glad that someone among the group had caught onto what he wanted to tell them.

"That, I am not sure. It is not mentioned here."

"How did the government agree to this?" Ivy queried, unable to believe what she was hearing, and the moment the words left his mouth, Noah stared at her for a few moments before he turned to Ian.

"What do you think, Ian? What might be the possible scenario?" Among the people present in the room, Ian and Aria were the only ones who he deemed to have some idea about his matter. 

"Just as Jo said, they need to constantly maintain a low temperature for the viruses to survive, and to do so, you need special cabinets and labs for the temperature must never change. Maybe the scientists used this reason to ask for a private jet...." Ian just shrugged, not knowing why the government had allowed them on a private jet when they were here as guests.

"Oh, wait, wait, wait." Joshua interrupted before anybody else could come up with any more analyses. "I found another report that says that the conference was being sponsored by a bioresearch company and the private jet belongs to the owner. So, he had specially got it modified so that these two men could bring in whatever they wanted. It was this company owner who took permission from the government, and since it was for research purposes and a good cause, he was granted permission right away."

"Or someone might have pulled the strings," Aria added and nobody objected to it for everyone too felt the same.

"But you know what's the best part?" Joshua continued. "There is no report about how the scientists returned home and but apparently, someone who had attended their conference spotted them on the passenger plane and took pictures with them. They are now on Twitter."

Everyone completely ignored the last part and focused on the key point in his words. While entering the country, they had traveled in a private plane. But while leaving, they had opted for the passenger plane. 

"The researchers left all the virus they had brought with them before they boarded the plane home." Aria summed up what everybody else was even dreading to think about.