Chapter 23 - Hannah's Hidden Message
Late that evening, Digital Forensics completed restoration of Hannah Pierce's office computer from the courthouse.
Most files had been deleted only hours before police seized the machine.
Fortunately, fragments remained.
Analyst Kevin Ross smiled for the first time all day.
"I think Hannah knew someone would erase everything."
He opened a folder that appeared completely empty.
Then he selected "Recover Previous Versions."
A hidden document appeared.
Its title was simple.
If You're Reading This
The room fell silent.
Marcus opened the file.
> If these records have been deleted, it means I was right.
> I could never prove it alone.
> They don't choose families at random.
> They choose children first.
Rachel instinctively pulled Noah and Lily closer.
The document continued.
> Every target file contains a second evaluation that never appears in court.
> The evaluation is stored in a hidden database called Evergreen.
Detective Ortega immediately interrupted.
"Search every recovered drive for Evergreen."
Kevin typed rapidly.
Seconds later a result appeared.
One encrypted folder.
Locked.
Created eight years earlier.
Modified...
Yesterday.
Marcus stared at the screen.
"So it still exists."
Kevin nodded.
"And someone accessed it after Rachel's case began."
Rachel asked quietly,
"What is Evergreen?"
No one answered immediately.
Because before Kevin could attempt to open the encrypted folder, every monitor in the room suddenly went black.
One sentence appeared in bright white letters across every screen in Major Crimes.
YOU FOUND EVERGREEN. NOW STOP BEFORE MORE CHILDREN DISAPPEAR.
No keyboard responded.
No mouse moved.
May you like
Whoever had sent the message controlled the entire system.
And somewhere behind that single word—Evergreen—lay the secret that Rachel's case had accidentally uncovered.
