Page 47 of Echo and the Homicidal Sea Panda

“Ahh,”Echo said, sensing Havoc was not a fan of him being there. His gaze flicked to Mael, who seemed not to notice the tone or was actively ignoring it.

“Havoc’s not sure about this whole dolphin-orca thing, so I suspect he’s going to make it hard on you,” Tempest said, giving Havoc the eye. She turned back to Echo. “Don’t worry, his bark ismuchworse than his bite. He’s a big old softy who tells really shitty jokes. Laugh at them until you get on his good side—andthenyou can tell him how horrible they are.”

Havoc gave Tempest the finger. He turned his attention to Echo. The hint of a raised brow returned. He crossed his arms over his chest, glaring.

Echo eyed Mael, who wore a barely-there smile, watching him.

Diego coughed behind him. Echo spun. “Oh, sorry… Tempest, Havoc, this is my best friend Diego.”

“Greetings, Diego,” Tempest said, waving. She turned to Echo. “Another cutie. You dolphins are way too pretty for your own good.”

Echo peeked at Havoc, who glared at Diego with narrowed eyes. Was having two dolphins aboard his boat one too many? From the looks of it, it wastwotoo many.

“Do your brother and sister know what we’re looking for?” Echo asked Mael.

“They have a basic understanding, though I’m sure you have more details to share,” Mael said.

Echo pulled his backpack off his shoulder and dragged his grandfather’s journal and the maps out. Midway on the boat was a seating area surrounding a wide table. He spread the map out there and waited for them all to join him.

Diego moved in close beside him. Havoc rounded the table, his gaze locked on Diego. Echo eyed his friend, noticing Diego looked terrified.

“You’re safe,” Echo whispered as Mael and Tempest took up the spaces beside their brother.

“Are you sure?” Diego asked under his breath before peeking at Havoc.

Echo wasn’t. He’d never met Mael’s siblings, so there was no way he could know if Diego was safe or not. But Diego acting like scared prey might encourage them to act like predators—which would only make things worse.

“What are we looking at?” Tempest asked, eyeing the map.

Echo pointed to an area on the bathymetric map. “This is where my grandfather claims it should be.” He turned to the page in his grandfather’s journal. “His X on his sketch isn’t likely to scale, so we need to widen the search radius a bit.” He circled an area on the map with his fingertip. “I think we should use a grid pattern and search this whole area here.”

“Where did you look the other night when you snuck across into our waters?” Tempest asked, lifting a brow.

Echo flinched, noting a heavy thread of sarcasm in her question. “Iamsorry about that. I meant no ill-will to your pod. I just…” He sighed. “I only wanted to find proof that my grandfatherwasn’tthe flake he’s always been made out to be. If I can prove this cave exists then… he’s a hero. Not a joke.”

“I get it. Family’s important.” Tempest searched his face a moment. “I suppose if our sheriff can pardon your crime, I can, too. Just this once.”

Echo didn’t sense any of her earlier humor. He suddenly sensed she could be just as deadly as Mael if pushed. No way was he pushinganyof the Marinos.

“I won’t cross uninvited again. I promise.”

“Good,” Tempest said.

“Wait—you saidthe sheriffpardoned me? I didn’t know your police had gotten involved. Should I be concerned?”

Havoc and Tempest turned to eye Mael.

“I’mthe sheriff of Maki Island,” Mael said, his voice low.

“Oh,”Echo said, blinking as he processed that. He glanced at Diego before turning back to Mael. “I’d heard you were the matriarch’s enforcer. I?—”

“Enforcer?”Tempest asked, lifting a brow. She barked with laughter. “What the hell’s he supposed to be enforcing?” She turned to Mael. “Though, technically, you are lawenforcement,so I suppose that’s notexactlywrong.” She turned back to Echo. “We have almost no crime on the island. It’s a lot of checking in on our elders. A few daily swim patrols and drives around the island. The occasional drunken bar fight that needs to be broken up. I can’t even remember the last we had a real cr?—”

Mael, Havoc, and Tempest all grew quiet, their faces tense. Had the last crime been when Maelstrom had fought his brother? Echo was too scared to ask.

“That bad, hmm?” Diego asked.

“Our cousin Kaiden was kidnapped and nearly killed by a degenerate in our pod,” Tempest murmured. “He was only a year old.” She shook her head. “That was a very dark day on the island.”

---