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Thane grits his teeth. "Haud yer wheesht, ye cacan. I'm trying to concentrate."
I kiss the top of his head. "Take it easy. Get back into the groove and you'll find what you're looking for." I begin to massage his scalp again, moving my fingers in slow, swirling patterns. I also soften my voice. "Relax, Thane. What you need is in there, you just have to stop trying so hard to find it. Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and release that breath slowly. When you open your eyes again, you'll see the clue you've been searching for."
Thane does exactly what I suggested, and I keep massaging his scalp.
When he opens his eyes, he smiles. "Of course. How did I not see that before?" He closes the map he'd been pondering and instead brings up what looks like satellite imagery of a small town. "Here we are. This is Loch Fairbairn, and right there"---He scrolls his mouse until he has zoomed in on a precise spot that I recognize---"is the location where Holden ambushed us. See? There he is, there I am, and Rebecca is a few paces away."
"That's amazing," Errol says in a sarcastically hushed voice. "She's the Thane whisperer."
"Who is?" Evan asks.
"Rebecca. The moment she laid her hands on him and whispered to the laddie, suddenly he got his eureka moment." Errol slaps my arm. "Good job, lass."
Thane grumbles out a sigh. "Dinnae get excited yet. I found the last location where we know for sure Holden was. But I still need to track his path forward from there."
"Remember the video feeds, gents."
That voice, emerging from the computer, makes all of us exchange confused glances. Yeah, everyone forgot that Grey is still on the other end of the video call. Thane's maps cover up the whole screen.
"We forgot about you," Evan says. "Sorry, Grey."
"No worries. I can watch everything you're doing onscreen, which means I can also provide advice as necessary."
"Excellent," Thane tells him. "How about some advice right now? Can I overlay the video on top of the still images?"
"You bet your arse you can. And if you need help, just speak up."
I feel rather superfluous at the moment, despite Errol's claim that I'm the Thane whisperer. That sounds ridiculous. "I'll go outside and talk to the animals while you boys do your thing. I'm just getting in the way."
Thane jerks his head up to gaze directly at me. "Please stay, gràidh. I need your magical skills to get me through this."
Errol smirks. "Thane whispering. That's the official term I just invented."
Thane reaches up to touch my face. "Will you stay?"
"Absolutely. If that's what you really want."
"It is." He takes hold of my hand and kisses it. "You are my lucky charm for certain."
"Aw, that's so sweet."
I did not speak those words. The voice emerged from the computer.
"Quiet, Jess," Grey admonishes. "You'll ruin Thane's vibe."
"But he's got Rebecca to keep him in the groove. I'll go back to the kitchen and call the ladies of the American Wives Club British Branch. They need an update."
"She's gone now," Grey says. "Let's get to work on tracking that knob Holden."
Thane gets back to work analyzing all the data, but now he has the added advantage of seamlessly switching back and forth between a static map and video footage. I go back to massaging his scalp, since it seemed to help before. I'm curious about how this whole geospatial stuff works, and especially how videos can be integrated with flat maps. But I don't want to distract Thane. He's focused on his task, only speaking when he needs to ask Grey to assist him or confirm something.
After about ten minutes, Thane slumps in his chair and shuts his eyes. "Need a wee break from staring at the map layers. How about you, Grey?"
"Yes, I am going a touch crosseyed."
"Let's leave the screen as-is. We'll come back to it shortly."
Grey hums as if he's thinking. "You know, I believe Evan and I could come up with a self-running program that would alert us to any movement or updates on the geospatial data. That way, we could all get a bit of rest. Scouring the maps for hours might make us all barmy and cross-eyed."
