Page 65 of Echo and the Homicidal Sea Panda

“Understood. I’ll keep my mouth shut.” Keeley grinned, miming the locking of her lips. “No wonder you don’t come out with us often. If I had a hunk like that at home, I wouldn’t either.”

Echo chuckled.

“Hey, it’s almost one… are we stopping for lunch?”

Echo eyed the clock. “Damn it, I just put some specimens in the centrifuge. You go ahead. I’ll grab something if I can.”

“Want me to grab you something while I’m out?”

“That would be great,” Echo said before digging for his credit card. He handed it over. “Just text me where you end up.”

“Sure thing, Boss,” Keeley said before sailing out the door.

Echo reached for his phone and called Diego—who didn’t answer. “Hey, I got the message to call you at lunch. I’m running behind and stuck in the lab, but I called. I hope you’re okay. I’ll try you again on the way home.”

Forty-five minutes later, Echo wolfed down a sandwich at his desk while instructing Keeley on how to prep some new slides. The rest of the day zoomed past. He hated to admit it, but he sensed it was having Keeley in the lab with him that made the day go so quickly.

“I enjoyed today,” Keeley said on their way out. “If you ever need help, please ask for me. I love working in the lab environment so much more than out in the wild.”

“As much as you got done today, I’ll definitely keep that in mind.”

“Great,” she said, excitement in her expression. “And tomorrow… eyeshadow and mascara. Maybe a little blush wouldn’t hurt, either.”

“I’llthinkabout it,” Echo said before sliding behind the wheel of his Mini.

When he pulled up into his driveway twenty minutes later, he found two huge men in his backyard, hovering over a table of sorts with their backs to him. Exiting his car, the ear-splitting sound of an electric saw made him wince.

“Excuse me?Excuse me?”Echo yelled over the noise.

After turning the saw off, they spun to face him—identical twins who looked a lot like Mael.

“Let me guess. Ravage and Storm?”

“Guilty,” the one closer to him said. Echo wasn’t sure which one was Storm, and which was Ravage, though.

“Can I ask what you’re doing out here?” Echo asked.

One of the twins pointed to the house. “Go look for yourself.”

Echo eyed the wide-open back door and panicked, imagining Tilly had escaped. He was not in the mood to hunt her down.

“Be careful, the back door might still be wet,” one of the twins called from behind him as he marched up the back stairs.

Echo turned, frowning. “You painted my door?”

“We repaired the knob and loose pane of glass—and accidentally scratched the wood. We took it down, sanded it, and repainted.”

“Oh,” Echo said. “Thank you.”

“Welcome,” they both said in unison before the saw was flipped on again, their backs to him.

Echo wandered through the house, following the sound of hammering inside. He entered the foyer and found Maelstrom kneeling and hammering in a wooden tread on his stairs. When he glanced to the left, a whole wall was gone—the one that had been on the outer side of the stairs. The railing was gone, too, and all of the treads looked new.

“Mael?”

Mael whipped his head over his shoulder. “Oh, hey.”

“What’re you doing?”

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