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She holds a hand to her chest, eyes wide, breathing hard. "What the bloody hell is that...thing?"
"Meet Odin. He's my security system." I stride up to the llama and scratch behind his ears. "Good laddie."
Ava eyes Odin with suspicion and a hint of fear. "Will that thing bite me? Or kick me?"
I scratch my chin, pretending to contemplate her questions. "Aye, he might do both of those, if you annoy him. You shouldn't have come through the gate and invaded his home. Best back away slowly."
She remains immobile.
I whisper more Gaelic to Odin, and he ambles back toward the chicken coop. I approach Ava. "What are you doing out here? You're meant to stay with Rebecca and obey her every command."
"Rebecca thought you would want her to stay inside to monitor Holden's progress. So, I came out here to inform you."
"Of what?"
"Holden is driving very fast and might be here much earlier than expected."
I have my suspicions about why Rebecca told Ava that I would want her to stay inside while the other lass came out to find me. Dinnae blame Rebecca for wanting to harass Ava. She deserved it.
"Go inside and help Rebecca," I tell her. "I need to call for reinforcements."
"But I can help you."
I glare at her. "Go inside, Ava. Now."
She pouts, then scurries away.
And I can't resist harassing her a wee bit more. "Hurry, Ava! Odin's coming your way."
The lass shrieks and leaps over the gate. She sprints back into the house.
Who knew a tough-as-nails intelligence officer would turn out to be afraid of a llama. Odin had surprised Rebecca the first time she saw him, but she recovered from the shock quickly.
I pull out my mobile and ring Errol. "Might have a use for your land mines after all. When can you get here?"
"Dinnae need me. Just access the app on your mobile."
"The what? I don't have an explosives app."
He chuckles. "Aye, ye do. I installed it on your mobile phone while you lot were arguing about whatever it was."
"I haven't noticed a new app."
"Look for one called MacFlynn. Open it up, and you'll see the locations of all the mines I planted around your property."
"You did what?" I shouted those words loud enough that everyone in Loch Fairbairn probably heard it. "Ye bloody cacan. Planting explosives in my yard without my consent is---"
"You're welcome. I'll get the gang ready, and we'll fly out to your place."
"I hope you don't mean that literally. I do not want Marilyn landing in my yard and scaring the chickens to death."
He clucks his tongue. "Chill out, Thane. Those are words I couldn't have imagined I'd speak. The man who never gets upset about anything is 'freaking out,' as my wife would say. But no, I will not fly my plane there."
"Goodbye, Errol."
I hang up on him and rush back into the house, where Rebecca and Ava are sitting on the sofa together, with a discrete gap between them. I crouch beside Rebecca. "Where is he now?"
"Approaching Loch Fairbairn. You better get reinforcements quick."
