Page 10 of A Secret Message

A group of tourists entered the cafe just as Vixen had another hunch, but Juno was quick to give her a thumbs-up sign.

I got this,the younger girl mouthed, and Vixen gave her a grateful smile before resuming her search.

Let's see...oh!

Her heart leaped in excitement as Google provided a list of parks in Mississippi with statues of Elvis Presley, and only one of them was seated on a black pedestal.

What next?

Her gaze switched back to the clues she had written down.

Upon entering the site...

Did this mean she'd have to book tickets to Mississippi?

One must press the right key...

Vixen's head started to ache.The right key?Was this another X-Men reference that...

Oh!

Butterflies appeared in her tummy as she read these two lines again and again, but this time it had nothing to do with a handsome strangerpossiblyentering her life.

Juno popped back on her side as soon as the tourists left with their takeaway sandwiches and coffee, and it was just the two of them again. "What did I miss?"

"Read this..."

"Upon entering the site, one must press the right key..."

"I think that means I'm supposed to enter the official websiteof the park..."

Juno was already nodding vigorously even before Vixen finished speaking. "Good catch."

"But that's just the first half of the equation," Vixen pointed out ruefully."Upon entering the site, one must press the right key, as many times as it took for storm to first appear..."She looked at Juno, asking, "Do you think this could have anything to do with Hurricane Katrina? Maybe the X-Men filmed—-"

"It'sStorm," Juno gasped. "As intheStorm, and wait..."

Vixen watched her employee quickly type something on her phone.

"Here it is.Storm's first comic appearance was in thefirstissue of Giant-Size X-Men..."

The two of them looked at each other for one moment, and then both of them were hurrying towards the aviary, where Vixen had left her laptop.

Her fingers were actually shaking as she pulled up the park's official website on her browser. It took an inordinately long time to load, but she had a feeling the was deliberate, and her heart started pounding against her chest as her fingers hovered over the right arrow key on her laptop's keyboard.

I pray this is it, God.

But before she could do anything, both Vixen and Juno heard the unmistakable sound of a gun cocking...and Vixen's heart nearly stopped beating as she sensed a sinister presence come up from behind her.

Something cold and hard pressed against her back as she heard a man growl,"Nobody move or say a word."

Nine

JUST ONE LOOK, THAT'Sit.

But fifteen minutes had already passed since he had parked his car, and Rule had yet to step out of it.

I'm here for Vix, not her.

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