"Who cares if they're temporary instead of permanent? They're still the wardens those inmates have right now. They might not have a full file to work from, but they're bound to know the inmates better than you. I'm not being insulting, it's just the truth. They're the ones with the greatest degree of contact. They're the ones who can tell you what the current plan for management is."

He reaches out on instinct and runs a hand over her hair, worried. "Look, I get that you hate this. I do. The way the Barge isn't so much 'run' as 'turned loose with crossed fingers.' But when you're the foreign entity joining an existing structure, no matter how chaotic, you have to take things from where they are, not where you want them to be."

God, he really does sound like a politician. Neal makes a face and shakes the weird feeling off. "You know how to tell a compromise is fair? No one leaves happy."