Chapter 25: The Hidden Message

Emily and Olivia spent the rest of the night poring over the documents they had managed to salvage from the USB drive. They were determined to uncover the truth, no matter how deep they had to dig.

As they studied the documents, Emily noticed something strange. A small symbol, hidden in the margin of one of the pages. It looked like a cross, but with an extra line through the center.

"What's this?" Emily asked, pointing to the symbol.

Olivia leaned in, her eyes scanning the page. "I don't know," she said. "But it looks like some kind of code."

Emily's mind was racing. A code? What could it mean?

She decided to investigate further. She took out her phone and snapped a photo of the symbol, then uploaded it to a cryptology website.

As they waited for the results, Emily couldn't shake the feeling that they were getting close to something big. The symbol seemed to be more than just a random marking - it seemed to be a key to unlocking a deeper truth.

Finally, the website returned a result. Emily's eyes widened as she read the message.

"It's a Vigenère cipher," Emily said, her voice barely above a whisper. "And the key is... 'Rachel'."

Olivia's eyes locked onto Emily's. "Rachel?" she repeated. "As in, Rachel from the law firm?"

Emily nodded. "Yes. It looks like Rachel was more involved than we thought."

As they continued to study the documents, Emily realized that the symbol was just the beginning. There were more codes, more hidden messages. And Emily was determined to uncover them all.

But as they delved deeper into the mystery, Emily couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. That someone - or something - was waiting for them, just out of sight.

And then, just as they were about to make another breakthrough, Emily's phone rang. She hesitated, wondering who it could be.

But as she looked at the screen, her heart skipped a beat. The caller ID read "Unknown".