Chapter 17 - When the Cameras Tell the Whole Story
Dispatch managed to trace the anonymous call.
It lasted only eight seconds.
Too short to determine an exact location.
But long enough to identify the nearest cell tower.
Less than one mile away.
Detective Collins immediately radioed nearby officers.
At the same time, another message arrived from hospital security.
"We recovered additional surveillance footage."
Harris looked up.
"From where?"
"The underground parking garage."
The video began playing on his tablet.
A gray sedan slowly entered the garage shortly before sunrise.
The driver's face remained hidden.
Several minutes later...
A man wearing hospital maintenance clothing stepped out.
He carried a black toolbox.
Nothing unusual.
Until the timestamp reached 6:18 a.m.
The same man returned.
Only this time...
He wasn't alone.
A second figure entered the passenger seat.
The image was blurry.
Very blurry.
But one passenger suddenly stood.
"I know him."
Everyone turned.
It was Teresa, the supermarket employee.
"The second man."
She pointed toward the screen.
"He was on this bus yesterday."
Detective Harris paused the video.
"Are you certain?"
"I'm positive."
"He sat in the very last row."
"What did he look like?"
"He wore sunglasses indoors."
"And..."
She frowned.
"He kept taking photographs."
"Of whom?"
Teresa looked directly at Ethan.
"Of him."
The detectives immediately requested footage from the previous day's route.
If Teresa was right...
Someone had been following Ethan long before today's confrontation.
The bus driver quietly added,
"I save interior security recordings for seventy-two hours."
Detective Harris smiled for the first time all afternoon.
"Then we may finally have our first clear suspect."
Outside, officers hurried toward the depot to retrieve the footage.
Inside the bus, Ethan stared out at the rain.
For reasons he couldn't explain...
May you like
He felt the worst was still ahead.
Far ahead.
