Free Mindfield (Sideways Eight Book 1) by A Wallace

drag him around if I’m called out of town?”
    “You’re partners on this case only.”
    Hope flooded across Charley’s face. “I can leave him here?”
    “Keep it up, young lady, and I’ll make it twenty-four, seven.”
    Charley’s jaw twitched. “You wouldn’t.”
    “Try me,” Doobie said with a direct nod. “Now, get out of my office.”
    “Doobie, I’m mad at you.”
    “I know. But you still love me.”
    “Argh,” she growled as she left the room.
    Murphy remained seated. “May I ask a personal question?”
    “Shoot.” Doobie fiddled with a pen.
    “Your relationship with Charley differs from the other agents.”
    Doobie leaned back and crossed his legs. His eyes glistened as a warm smile showed his teeth. “Noticed that, did you?”
    “Kinda obvious. I’m not implying anything… uh… real personal.”
    “I got it, Murph.” Doobie rubbed his mouth and grinned. “Where to start?” Doobie tapped his cheek with his finger. “You know nothing about her, do you?”
    “Not much.”
    “Maybe you should get that crankshaft out of your ass and learn instead of assuming.”
    Murphy brushed his pants, removing imaginary lint. “She has her own crankshaft.”
    “She’s entitled.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “Charley’s dad, Chase…” Doobie gazed out the window. “He and I met while in the Marines. Being the only black man in our unit was tough. He befriended me when others wouldn’t. He took a lot of heat, but he didn’t care. After we left the service, we joined the district police force. Sometime later, we became partners.”
    “Long history.”
    Doobie hunched over the desk, rubbing his eyes. “When Charley was twelve, her parents, and both sets of her grandparents, died in a plane crash in the Occoquan Reservoir near Fountainhead Regional Park.” Doobie tapped the pen on the web of his hand. “Christine, her mother, and the grandparents died instantly. Chase, her father, died later in the evening at the trauma center.”
    “I didn’t know.”
    “Charley entered my life the day she came into this world. Chase was on the fourth floor, in a hospital bed with four bullets in his chest and gut.” Doobie stared out the window, swallowing hard and deep. “He was lucky. A twenty-three hour standoff. The shooting caused Christine to go into premature labor. Charley was coming regardless. I was Christine’s birthing coach when she delivered Charley. I held her before her father did.”
    Murphy pulled back his shoulders. “Wow. That’s why Charley is small.”
    “Nah.” Doobie shook his head. “Char is the mirror image of her mom. Christine was Swedish, petite, blonde hair, blue eyes—”
    “Charley’s eyes are green.”
    Doobie tilted his head to the side. “Yes, one of two traits she inherited from Chase.”
    “The second one being?”
    “Temperament.”
    “Tell me about him.”
    “Tall and pumped like you. Handsome. Women loved him. I can’t even count how many propositioned him.”
    “And?”
    Doobie waved his hand. “Not a chance. Chase worshipped Christine. Here was this strong alpha male, and when Christine was near, he turned into a blathering five-year-old.” He chuckled.
    Murphy laughed.
    “After Chase and Christine died, I stepped in and did the best I could. She lived with her mother’s twin, Beverly. I wish I’d had a say. Bev didn’t do right by her.”
    “Meaning?”
    “Charley raised herself. When it was possible, I was there.”
    “Makes sense, when you scold her, she kinda regresses.”
    “It’s a coping mechanism.”
    “You’re kinda hard on her.”
    Doobie’s eyebrows rose. “You’re defending her? You sure you despise her?”
    “I don’t dislike her. She annoys me. I’m not sure why.”
    “Charley’s different, tough to understand. As a child, she was a rascal. Headstrong, aggressive, too smart. It’s part of her charm.”
    “I’ve seen her good side.”
    “Few know the real Charley. She hides behind whatever mask she’s