Queso went very still.

“So?” Beto said. “Let him.”

“If he kills Jonathan, he’s going to start a war,” Maisie said. “I came up here to get the shipment so I could stop that from happening. Now Declan is saying that he doesn’t care about the shipment. He wants to control the gate. And he’s going to do that by taking out—”

She stopped abruptly when she saw the look on Queso’s face. He’d gone so white he was practically see-through. His gaze caught hers. She could actually see the panic unfolding on his face.

“I…” He took a step back, taking in a huge breath.

“What?” Anna asked.

“I need to…” He couldn’t seem to finish a thought.

“You know some Spencers you don’t want to see get hurt?” Maisie guessed.

He hesitated, then nodded.

“Maybe you know a lot of Spencers?” she guessed. The expression on his face. The way he had access to high-level information.

Queso didn’t respond.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

He let out a sigh of defeat. “Ethan. Ethan Spencer.”

“What!” Anna yelled.

Lennon cast a confused look at Maisie.

“Jonathan Spencer’s only son,” she said.

“Yeah,” Ethan confirmed.

LENNON

“THE JONATHAN SPENCER who Declan wants to kill?” Lennon asked. “The one who runs this whole territory? That’s your dad?”

“Yes,” Queso—Ethan—said quietly.

Anna and Beto both pulled their guns out, but left them at their sides. Maisie held up a hand.

“What was the plan?” she asked Ethan. “Are you screwing us, or your family?”

“I—I don’t want to screw anyone. I wanted to help you because it’s not right that the people in the south should die for some stupid turf war.”

“Oh, he’s noble,” Beto said with an eye-roll.

“And you were willing to betray your family for that? For a bunch of people you’ve never met?” Maisie asked. “Why reach out to Hadley in the first place?”

“Because I always listened to her program and when I found out that the shipments were being tampered with, she was the one I thought of. I don’t know, I guess I felt like I knew her.”

It’s just easier to be by myself. Ethan’s earlier words replayed in Lennon’s head.

And I’m just trying to do the right thing for once.

“The Spencers are notoriously brutal on traitors,” Maisie said. “Why risk it?”

“Because whatever they do to me isn’t going to be much worse than my life now,” Ethan snapped.

Maisie’s expression softened.

“I wanted to mess with them a little,” Ethan continued. “Make my dad’s life as miserable as mine. And, yes, he’s the fucking worst, but I don’t want him to get blown up. With my mom and my cousins and—” He cut himself off and took a breath. “I’m just going to take the van and go, okay? I swear I didn’t do this to screw you—I don’t even know how that would work; I just helped you—but I won’t say anything about the shipment or where you are or about Lennon going to the gate; you can just go and—”