"Have a young lady here who I can no longer treat. Faith's father now works for the same place I do. There's a custody dispute, so the attorneys want an unbiased psychiatric opinion. Can we step inside your office for a moment?"
"Certainly," Dr. Conway assured him.
The moment they were out of sight, Faith leaned toward me and asked, "What is he telling him?"
"Only what he needs to know, kiddo," I assured her. "I think Cy's making sure this doctor's good enough to talk to you."
"Oh, ok." She accepted that easily.
A few minutes later, the door opened, Cy stepped out, and Dr. Conway called Faith in. She hopped up and turned to look at me, but I made it clear that this was all her. Dr. Conway smiled at me in appreciation, and I heard him introduce himself to her just as the door closed.
"Well?" I asked Cy when he claimed the chair on the other side of me from where Faith had sat.
"He's not a sexist pig," Cy said. "He said that same-sex relationships are healthy for children and that the gender of parents matters less than the acceptance they offer. I explained to him that she's been bullied, had an issue with cutting that we've worked through but I'd like him to check on, and may have told him that you're receptive to ways to improve."
"Buttering him up?" I asked.
"No," Cy assured me. "More like shop talk. When you take your car to a mechanic, you're less worried about his politics than whether or not he can actually get your car running, right? In order to do that, he needs to know what noise it's making. Same idea, Luke."
"Good."
For a moment, we both sat in silence. I leaned back, kicking my feet out before me. A moment later, Cy did the same, but he crossed his arms over his chest. The receptionist still hadn't come back, but that was ok. For all I knew, she was observing the room since there was a man alone with a child on the other side.
"You know that fight she got into at school is going to be a problem, right?" I asked, turning to look at Cy.
"A history of bullying makes lashing out less shocking," Cy assured me.
"They're trying to find anything they can." I glanced at the doors leading into the room, making sure we were alone. "Hey, what are we going to do about Simmons, anyway? Is there anything wecando?"
"We're going to make sure your custody stuff is spotless," he assured me. "That arrest is still a problem, though. Knowing he's got them sitting on it?" Cy huffed. "It just feels like a setup."
"Which part?" I asked.
"That old man talking about it at the grill like he's begging to be overheard. Why would he risk doing it there?" Cy asked.
"It's the town watering hole, or the closest we have," I explained. "Simmons has always paraded around the place. Basically pissing on everything so everyone knows he's the big fish around here. He also doesn't exactly have an office."
"He could do it at his house, though."
"Annie," I countered. "Mrs. Simmons is a talker, and if his wife hears it, everyone will know it. And I meaneveryone,even those who shouldn't. Grill's probably safer than his home."
"Yeah," Cy agreed begrudgingly. "And I guess it's pretty obvious when someone walks in, so he knows when to shut up. I just can't believe he honestly thinks Violet would leave town because she broke up with you. Hell, with anyone! Does he not realize that she's dated before?"
"I know," I grumbled. "Then again, he's from the 'women should be seen and not heard' generation."
"The eighteen hundreds?" Cy asked.
"No, last year in Cat's Peak." I chuckled to make it clear I was mostly joking. "But Cy, I need that arrest to go away. Isn't there anything the rainbow can do?"
He thought about it for a moment. "Maybe. We'll need to run it past Cess first, but if she's on board, I bet Violet could convince Cobalt that this is a Southwind thing and not a boyfriend thing. I mean, we could always see if Blaze can help if that falls through."
"WhoisBlaze?" I asked, because he'd come up before.
Cy flashed me a grin. "Punk-ass, good for nothing loser. White trash, skinhead-looking guy. Billy was the one who started shit. Any shit that happened, he started it. Well, Bea got him using that power for good instead of evil, so he grew up and went to D.C."
"Another politician?"
"No," Cy assured me. "He's what's called a political fixer. Thing is, he doesn't just stick to politics. He's not a mob boss, but only because what he does is technically legal. Blaze is rich, he's powerful, and he's unstoppable. He's the guy Senators call when they get caught with their mistresses. He's the one who changes news trends and handles the uncomfortable things that would get hands dirty in D.C."
