Echo

popping as she looked at Jose. “We have to get that treehouse out of there.”
    “I am sorry, Sister Abby. I did not realize what I did was bad. I will have the Womb take it back,” Echo flashed her auras wildly.
    “No.” Everyone shouted in unison. “That’s okay, Echo, we can handle this. Guys, we will need to discuss this again later. I guess we all realize we have some new developments on our hands. But right now, we have to get that hunk of gorgeous gold cut up and stowed away, fast.”
    Grabbing Echo, Jose picked her up and gave her a huge kiss on the mouth. Scotty did the same. Abby smiled and patted her on the head. Barney put his paws on the table and standing as tall on his tippy toes as he possibly could, gave Echo a very happy, very sloppy kiss. That one made Echo smile. Scotty and Jose took off for the local hardware store with Abby staying home to keep an eye on Echo and Barney. They all agreed that Jose and Abby should quit their jobs. Even if they didn’t have the specter of independent wealth sitting in their back yard, the complexity of Echo, the Womb and their own changes would force them to reevaluate their schedules, their jobs and their public exposure.
    They made a note to pick up a good pair of sunglasses for Abby. She would need them soon enough. Scotty and Jose both noticed that direct proximity to Echo seemed to accelerate the changes. Jose’s eyes had deepened their golden color since they took Echo from the woods. And Scotty’s golden eyes had developed a distinct rainbow shimmer. They both agreed that they needed a more wrap around style of sunglass, for more complete coverage. And how goofy would that look; the three of them walking around in wraparound sunglasses? That only served to draw more unwanted attention. For the glasses to protect them more effectively they should only appear in public separately or maybe just two of them together. With that agreement, Scotty and Jose took off for the local hardware store.
    ###
    Arriving at the huge store, they quickly loaded their cart. They needed a lot more paint to cover the gold. Green and black would do. It should take them all day to cover the gold completely. Then they faced a daunting task; trying to cut up the gold; especially trying to figure out how to hide it from the neighbors. They couldn’t do it in the dark. The light from the blowtorch would be more noticeable. And where to start; Jose decided the top would be best. They couldn’t allow the whole structure to collapse if they started at the bottom. Eyeing the equipment they would need, he realized they probably didn’t have the skills to do the job properly. Glancing in the cart, he hoped his money would cover everything. Abby had been reluctant to pool their money. She just couldn’t get over the idea that it wasn’t necessary to save every penny for her medical treatments.
    Jose smacked himself in the head as he thought of their money shortage; duh . He only needed to blowtorch off a couple pounds of the gold and they would be rich. He could stop sweating. At $5,500 an ounce, even two pounds would be worth over $176,000. And he estimated the gold tree house must weigh over 2,000 pounds; maybe more; holy shit . After doing the rough math, he felt he would wet his pants from shock; and a sizable amount of fright. Could they get in trouble with the government? Would they try to take the gold away from them?
    Did they need to explain where they got the gold? Maybe they should just sell a little at a time. But even a little would be noticeable. The government will take their half, no matter what. Maybe they won’t question where it came from as long as they got their share. Jose realized he needed to talk to Abby about this. But they already had a lot on their plate dealing with Echo and the changes. He didn’t want to flip her out and push her over the edge with new problems. After all, he and Scotty had years to get used to the idea. Jose took a deep breath. His head spun with exciting possibilities and confusing ramifications.
    In the back of his mind … way, way back, a small nagging worry began to grow; Tomas and Armoni. He still couldn’t figure out if they would develop into a problem. He hoped Abby wouldn’t become an issue with Tomas. What about Mama Diaz and the girls? He knew he must go after them and bring them back. Hmm, bring them back . A fabulous idea just occurred to him. The more he thought about his idea, the more he realized what a super