Page 57 of Not This Soon

She knew that the answers lay somewhere within the footage, waiting to be uncovered.

Rachel hit pause, her finger tapping the space bar over the shoulder of the security officer.

“Please, let us operate the equipment,” the head of security tried to interject.

But she ignored him, freezing the image on the screen. She leaned in, studying the man's face, searching for any distinguishing features that might help identify him. The red baseball cap cast a shadow over his eyes, making it difficult to get a clear look.

"Ethan, take a look at this," she said, gesturing to the screen. "What do you make of it?"

Ethan stepped closer, his brow furrowed in concentration. "He's definitely trying to keep a low profile," he observed. "The cap, the way he's keeping his head down... he doesn't want to be recognized."

Rachel nodded, her gaze still fixed on the screen. "And look at Eleanor's body language," she said, pointing to the woman's hunched shoulders and tightly clasped hands. "She's nervous, maybe even scared."

The possibility sent a chill down her spine. What could this man have said or done to elicit such a reaction?

"Keep playing," she instructed the security team, her voice firm.

The footage resumed, and they watched as the man leaned in close to Eleanor, his mouth moving rapidly as he spoke. The interaction lasted only a few seconds before he abruptly turned and walked away, his stride quick and purposeful.

Eleanor remained frozen in place, her knuckles white as she gripped the armrests of her wheelchair. A clipboard rested on her lap. Even through the grainy footage, Rachel could see the tension in her jaw, the fear in her eyes.

"Something's not right here," Rachel muttered, more to herself than anyone else. Her instincts were screaming at her, telling her that this man was somehow connected to Eleanor's disappearance.

She turned to the security team, her expression fierce. "I want every angle you have of this guy," she said, her tone leaving no room for argument. "Every camera, every second of footage. We need to find out who he is and what he wanted with Eleanor."

As the team scrambled to comply, Rachel felt a surge of determination.

Rachel's eyes remained glued to the screen as the security team worked, scanning through hours of footage. The room was silent save for the hum of the equipment and the occasional click of a keyboard.

Minutes turned into hours, and still, no sign of the man in the red baseball cap. Rachel's frustration grew with each passing moment, her jaw clenched tight.

Ethan shifted beside her, his own gaze intense as he studied the footage. "There," he said suddenly, pointing at the screen.

Rachel leaned forward, her heart racing. On the monitor, she saw the man in the red baseball cap approaching Eleanor near the hospital entrance. He seemed to be speaking to her, his body language aggressive.

"Pause it," Rachel barked, and the footage froze.

She studied the image, taking in every detail. The man's face was partially obscured by the cap, but she could see the hard set of his mouth, the tension in his shoulders.

Eleanor, in contrast, seemed to shrink back in her wheelchair, her expression uneasy. She clutched a clipboard to her chest, as if it were a shield.

Rachel watched intently as the man in the red baseball cap hastily left Eleanor's side. He moved quickly, his strides purposeful and aggressive.

"Follow him," Rachel commanded, her voice tight with tension. "I want to see where he goes."

The security team obliged, scrolling through the footage to track the man's movements.

As the footage continued, Rachel felt her frustration mounting. The man seemed to disappear from view, lost in the sea of people coming and going from the hospital.

"Damn it," she muttered under her breath. "We need to find him."

She turned to the security team, her expression fierce. "Pull up the parking lot cameras," she ordered. "If he left the hospital, he had to have gone to his car."

The team quickly switched to the parking lot footage, scanning the rows of vehicles for any sign of the man in the red baseball cap.

Rachel's heart pounded in her chest as she watched, her eyes straining to catch even the smallest detail. She knew that every second counted, that any delay could mean the difference between finding Eleanor and losing her forever.

And then, suddenly, there he was. The man in the red baseball cap, walking briskly towards a nondescript sedan parked near the edge of the lot.

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