Swamped

"We're going to take a look at the cells. See if we can find any leads." And so you can check for sure if it was Jackson who escaped; you can't trust everyone here to get Bogknight names right, and some bad info might have made its way to Crosswinds' ears.

"So which way should we head?" Starling asks. "I've never been to the cells before."

"That's a good point. There's two main routes. One's a little bit longer. But you know... let's give Rotmouth her first little test. We'll split up, in case we spot anything odd along the way. Legs, you and Rivers lead Rotmouth down the short route. The rest of us will take the long way. Holler if there's any trouble; I know you've got the lungs for it."

"Rivers isn't used to combat!" Legs protests. "I'd rather have Shorty along."

"It'll be fine, the halls are busier over there. If a fight breaks out, someone's sure to join it." And, you can't help but recall, Rotmouth's not exactly popular, even among members of her old gang. "Besides, it'll only be about seven minutes before you reach the cell block, ten minutes for us. If she can't behave herself for seven minutes, well, it's not going to matter if she gets away. She'll get caught sometime, and then there won't be any more chances."

Legs doesn't look happy, but he doesn't argue.

Rivers is another matter.

"I'm not going that way," she says. "Let Shorty go, it's like Legs says, he's got more experience."

You know what this is really about. She doesn't want to be split off from Starling; and if she has to be, she really doesn't want Starling to be on your half of the team. She doesn't trust you not to do something stupid and get Starling hurt.

And right now, you're not sure it would be a good idea to raise any of those points explicitly. Maybe it's got to be done sometime down the line, but not in front of the squad. And especially not while Rotmouth is here.

How should you handle this?