Guilt crawled up his spine. He hadn’t really considered the mountain of problems that he was leaving for Maisie. Was she even going to be able to get back to the south? And even if she did make it back, she was returning to a south in turmoil. Dr. Lopez was dead and everyone was making a play for his spot.

Val leaned back, gesturing at the girl in the doorway. “Go get Beto Lopez for me, will ya? Bring him here.”

The girl nodded and disappeared.

Val scratched her cheek. “He should be here if you two are making big plans together.”

The girl returned a moment later with Beto. She unlocked his handcuffs before walking back to the doorway. He shook out his hands.

“Beto, Maisie has been telling me about your agreement,” Val said. “And I was just about to tell her how friendly Dr. Lopez and I were.”

Beto nodded. “I know.”

Maisie looked at him quickly. “What?”

“We worked together,” Val said. “Made life easier for each other.”

“You did?” Maisie asked.

“I helped ensure those shipments made it down south. I negotiated with Jonathan in Northgate. Part of the reason that the shipments aren’t making it anymore is because they’ve started playing hardball. They’re…well, I don’t know what’s going on up there, but it’s something. They may also be dealing with some mutiny.” She tapped her fingers on her desk. “Tell you what. I’ll make you a deal.”

Maisie perked up. “I’m listening.”

“First off, I will have one condition if I’m going to help you.” Val pointed at Maisie. “I want her in charge of the south.”

MAISIE

MAISIE BLINKED. “YOU want me in charge of the south?”

“Not immediately, but yes. Soon. It’s what your father and Dr. Lopez had planned.” Val walked around to the front of her desk and leaned against it. “A Lopez would take over as head of the family, and Maisie would run the day-to-day, like her father did. That was always the plan, according to what Franco told me.”

Maisie looked over at Beto. “Did he tell you this?”

“No.” Beto frowned.

“You told your father you didn’t want the responsibility of running the south,” Val said.

“Yeah, but that was before…” He trailed off, swallowing.

“Before you realized Declan was going to take it from you? This was never going to be an easy transition, son. Maisie’s a good choice. It won’t ruffle feathers.”

“It won’t?” She was increasingly baffled.

“Well, you’ll never please everyone. But according to Dr. Lopez, you have strong relationships in the community.”

“You just want her because you think you can control her,” Beto said. “You make a deal and basically run the south. Sounds like you’ve already taken West Spencer.”

“I haven’t taken anything, son. And I’m not taking the south. I’m helping the south. The men of the Lopez family could stand to learn the difference.”

Beto sighed, and then looked at Maisie. “Dad did tell me once that he was having you out collecting for the past few years because he wanted you to build strong relationships with people. Everyone knows that he was grooming you for something.”