Page 6 of A Secret Message

"It might take over a month to complete the renovations," Carl estimated after inspecting Rule's draft. "I like to take my time with these old places, give it the respect it deserves."

Most other firms would have finished the job in half the time, but Rule decided to keep this thought to himself. His friend was no fool, and Gabriel wouldn't have recommended Carl if he wasn't the real deal.

"How many weeks are we talking about exactly?"

"Probably six, give or take a few days."

"And the projected cost?"

Since Carl named a figure that was extremely reasonable, Rule decided to give Gabriel's guy a chance, and they were able to close the deal soon after.

"Why the library, by the way?" Rule asked as they walked out of the study room they had used as their meeting place.

"Multitasking," the older man explained with a grin. "I'm also on babysitting duty. That's my granddaughter right there."

Carl pointed towards the children's nook in the lobby, and it was only then that Rule noticed who it was seated in front of the kids, and aNarniabook on her lap.

It washer.

The woman at the cafe...and whose smile he had actually found himself still thinking about while having coffee this morning.

Rule was tempted to stay right there and watch her until his gaze would make her look his way. Maybe even make up an excuse so that Carl would introduce him to the lady. But when he felt his phone vibrate inside his pocket, and he saw that it was Beatriz calling him again—-

Rule said his goodbyes to Carl and forced himself to walk away. He was too old to believe in destiny. Too weary, too cynical. Someone like her, who looked as if she had never known heartache or hardship—-

Someone like her didn't deserve someone like him.

Six

TAYLOR SWIFT

Nintendo Game Boy

Ted Bundy

Berlin Wall

The Simpsons

Vixen felt as if she was missing something that was right in front of her. All of these events took place in 1989, but none of their actual dates coincided with any important events in Great-Aunt Joy's life.

What if she was looking at this the wrong way, and the numbers weren't even meant to represent a chronological figure? What if they meant something else...like maybe the combination of a secret safe? Or perhaps the coordinates to where Great-Aunt Joy had hidden treasure lying in wait for her niece?

What am I missing, God?

Vixen got to her feet in a fit of restlessness, and her lovebirds immediately flew to perch on her right shoulder as she started pacing the length of their aviary. She still had half an hour left before her cafe officially opened for the day, and Vixen gently petted the heads of her feather babies while reconsidering her strategy.

Instead of looking at the clues like they were two separate entities, shouldn't she also take the time to consider them as two halves of a puzzle?

Her pulse actually leaped in excitement at the idea, and Vixen had this feeling she was on to something,finally.

Salt and Light chirped on her shoulder as she hurried back to her laptop and started typing. First step was to do an image search and see if Google could find an exact match or anything close to it, and from there she could look for something that was related to '1989' and...voila!

Vixen couldn't believe her eyes.

I did it!

She had actually figured out what the secret message was all about, andno wonderit had taken her so long to understand what the drawing was.