Free Blood Stained by CJ Lyons

John continued. "Guess your testimony yesterday put the fear of God into him."
    That was good news. No court. She could head out immediately for New Hope. Except…"And the bad news?"
    "Well, maybe not bad news. Actually, I pulled a few strings to make it happen. I got your psych eval scheduled for today."
    Lucy gave him a slow blink. Something she'd learned from Megan. Less offensive than an eye roll of disgust, but almost as effective. "I feel like all I've been doing these past few months is talking to psych services. Surely they can use those evals for my semi-annual review?"
    "Doesn't work like that. You know everyone working this unit has to undergo evaluation every six months. It's an easy day, Lucy. Go in, do a little moaning and groaning, tell them what their damn ink splots mean, then the rest of the day is yours." He opened his hands as if giving her a gift. "It's Friday. Gives you all weekend to relax. Did you think about my offer of taking some vacation time? It's slow enough around here right now."
    John had never worked sexual assaults or crimes against children. He had no idea how rigorous the psych evals were. Probing into every nook and cranny of your subconscious, trying to weed out potential head cases, the agents close to snapping who might decide to take justice into their own hands against the Plushenkos of the world. 
    Not her idea of an easy day. But his heart was in the right place, so Lucy smiled and nodded like a good Supervisory Special Agent should. "Guess I better change if I'm going to be lying on a couch for most of the day."
    "Great. I'll start pushing through paper to give you next week off." He grabbed his coffee and got up to leave. He stopped when he came shoulder to shoulder with her. "Sometimes it's important to remember why we do what we do. Go someplace fun. Put a smile on Megan's face. Take long bubble baths. Hell, stay home and turn off the phones for all I care. But, Lucy, I need you to come back in a better place."
    She jerked her chin to face him. She'd spent the past two months doing everything the brass asked. "Are you saying I can't do my job?"
    "I'm saying doing this job and taking care of a family requires a tightrope walk. Consider this vacation your safety net."
    What the hell did that mean? It wasn't like John to play word games. He was a friend, an old friend. "John—"
    "Don't say anything. You're the best at what you do. But sometimes that doesn't translate well on paper. The brass are looking at this unit under a microscope. They'll soon get bored and move on and life around here can get back to normal. But until then, you need to stay off their radar, understand?"
    "No, I don't. I almost died for this job. My people almost died. My daughter almost died. If they don't like the way I did things, then—" Anger scorched her words into dust. Her hands clenched into two fists as the muscles at her jaw spasmed. 
    Greally raised one of her fists and forced it to unclench. He slid the warm coffee mug into it. "Take the time off, Lucy. This job isn't everything. In the long run, despite all the good we do, it isn't anything. Not compared to family. Sometimes we need to remember that."
     
    <><><>
     
    Sally had actually enjoyed exploring the rest of Adam's cave. She called him Boots and ordered him around as if he didn't know where he was going. And she wanted him to make goofy monkey sounds, so he did. It was worth it to make her laugh.
    The only time she flinched was when he scooped her up to ride piggyback down the ladder into the pit. At first he thought she was afraid of heights, but once they were on the bottom, she scampered back up and down the ladder fearlessly while he set out her toys and coloring books on her blanket. That's when he realized what had frightened her. Poor kid never had anyone give her a piggyback before.
    "You're sure you'll be all right alone here?" he asked after they sat and colored together for a while. Long enough for the wind-up light to