Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever
Chapter 845: Digitally triggered bombs

Chapter 845: Digitally triggered bombs

"You aren’t serious!" Aria’s voice rose an octave as she started at Noah disgruntled.

"Oh, I am. You are staying here and that’s the last I can compromise." Noah didn’t succumb to her angry gaze. Aria’s annoyed face looked adorable to him. It only made his heart melt into a puddle.

"But didn’t we agree that you’d bring me with you?"

"Yeah. I brought you here," Noah said nonchalantly. "Also, we had decided upon you staying in the car."

"That’s not fair." Aria pouted, making Noah chuckle lightly.

"I never said I’d be fair. Now, be a good girl and wait for my return."

"You’re sleeping in the guest room, tonight," Aria threatened.

"I have my ways to return to our room. Now, if you’re done grumbling cutely, I’ll leave. Don’t try anything funny while I’m gone, Aria." Noah smiled at her and much to her disbelief, walked away once instructing the bodyguard assigned to keep an eye on her.

Ethan hadn’t arrived yet. However, Joshua and Ian were already inside the hotel and were inspecting the place.

"Do you really think Jared would have sabotaged this place?" Joshua questioned, pushing his hands through his jeans pockets.

"Possibly. You never know how crooked he can be," Ian muttered, raising his head to look at the giant chandelier at the center of the main hall.

"I just hope it’s all a false alarm." Joshua sighed in frustration.

"What do you think, Major? Could there be a problem?"

Noah entered with Ethan and a few other people who seemed to have the poise of military men. Although they weren’t in their uniform, their temperament was impossible to ignore, with their gait strong and backs straight.

"It’s impossible to brush it off as just a hoax. We’ll have to inspect the place to deduce anything."

Ethan pursed his lips as he surveyed the hotel. Any other time, he’d have been awestruck by the beautiful interior. But not now. Although his eyes kept moving, they were more directed at the lower levels of the hotel.

"We’ll have to send in detection dogs."

"No problem. The place is empty." Noah handed over the reins to him and stepped aside to join his friend while Ethan took command.

"Don’t you think there’s something odd about him?" Joshua whispered, gaining the two men’s attention.

"Why do you think so?" Ian quirked his brow, seeking his analysis. He too found something to be strange about Ethan. But he couldn’t quite point out what was wrong with him. Even when the country was at a cross-border war, Ethan had been this terrifying.

"Intuition." Joshua shrugged lightly, unable to pinpoint why he was feeling this way.

"I overheard one of the men speaking. Apparently, all the bombs they detonated belonged to the army."

"You aren’t serious!" Joshua’s eyes rounded in disbelief. Even Ian was spooked and gave Noah a stunned look.

"The bombs were modified. But some parts belonged to the trigger bombs used in the military."

"Who was that bastard who smuggled the goods from the military?" Joshua gritted his teeth in anger and wished to kill the perpetrator himself. "I hope they find him soon."

Ethan, who was walking nearby, heard him and halted in his spot before saying, "We already know who it is."

"Oh, it’d be easy to convict him then." Joshua smiled in relief. His expression soon turned into one filled with surprise when he noticed Ethan smiling back.

"Well, he is already dead."

"Dead? Wow, that was quick."

"Shall I reveal something amazing to you?" Ethan leaned closer as if he was about to say something confidential.

"Yes, please." Joshua’s ears were alert and eager.

"It was Aria who killed him."

Ethan glanced at a stunned Ian before he walked away.

"What did he mean by that? Who..."

"Kevin," Ian answered for the two men and they went silent immediately.

"What the fuck!" Joshua was the first to curse and the other two held the same sentiment. The truth was so devastating that all they could do was curse. How long had Jared planned this master strike?

"Noah, your woman did a favor by killing Kevin." Joshua patted Noah’s shoulder and started observing the detection dogs the soldiers had brought inside the hotel with interest.

The detection dogs who had been silent all along became agitated at once and the men had to hold them back to stop them from sprinting.

"No way!" Joshua’s face lost all color while Ian and Noah’s face darkened.

The detection dogs started running and didn’t stop until they were near one of the pillars in the main hall. They started barking immediately and the man holding the leash glanced at Ethan.

The dogs didn’t stop at that. In less than five minutes, they had led them to eight out of the sixteen pillars.

Ethan’s lips thinned as he walked back to the three men. "There is something wrong with the pillars. We’ll have to...."

On noticing Noah’s dark expression, he stopped speaking, realization dawning upon him. "The pillars support the hotel structure. Am I right?"

Noah nodded and bit his lower lip. Not just him, even Joshua and Ian were apprehensive.

"I am sorry. We’ll have to break open the pillars. Otherwise..."

"I understand, Major." Noah didn’t show much on his face, but everyone understood that he wasn’t alright.

"Let me talk to my men first. I’ll get back to you in a moment."

Noah nodded and pulled at his hair in frustration. His desire to chop Jared into pieces peaked again.

"Can’t you break the pillar without affecting the overall structure?" Joshua asked, hoping to find a solution that could minimize their loss.

"We can. But it’ll take some time. We’ll have to provide temporary support first. Otherwise, the entire hotel will collapse."

"Fuck!" Joshua too felt like murdering Jared himself. The man had been nothing but a nuisance to them.

Ethan returned after a few minutes. "Let me explain the situation to you, considering the situation we faced in the last few days. The bombs were lying dormant and were triggered active only recently."

Ethan looked each man in the eye as he explained the scenario. "Bombs can be triggered in three ways. A remote control, a mechanical trigger, which is not the case in these bombs and the last way is using some software that can be activated over the Internet."

Everyone’s ears quirked up, especially Joshua’s when he heard the last part.

"Although they could have been triggered using a remote, I highly doubt it," Ethan continued.

"Remote control will work only within a certain distance and the person has to be within the range to activate the bomb. So, that leaves us with the digital trigger. There is a high chance Jared might have used this method to activate the bombs."

As soon as they heard Ethan, Ian, and Noah’s eyes went to Joshua instantly.