Charlie Bishop and Happy Lowman were childhood sweethearts as they grew up in Bakersfield, California, but fate intervened sending Charlie with her parents to Alaska. Now, several years later, they are both in the same place again, but will fate int...
Charlie ran her hands through her hair, not caring if it made it a mess. She looked at the various files laying open on her desk and shook her head. She sighed when she heard a knock on her office door and looked to see Gemma Teller standing there with a white bag and two cups of what Charlie hoped was coffee.
"If that's high-octane, you'll be my best friend."
Gemma chuckled as she shut the door behind herself and handed one of the steaming cups to Charlie. "Well, I think Happy has that position, but I'll take runner up. I had them add a couple of shots of espresso to yours."
Charlie took a sip and sighed. "There is a God." She took another drink before setting the cup down and nodding as Gemma handed her a donut. "To what do I owe this visit?"
Gemma shrugged as she took in the fact that there were bags under Charlie's eyes and she was still in the same clothes that she had been wearing the day before at Fun Town. "I was on my way into the shop and thought I'd swing by and check on you. You look done in, baby girl."
Charlie gave a tired chuckle and nodded. "Good because I feel like a train wreck. Wouldn't want to look better than I felt." She waved a hand around the desk. "I was just sitting here trying to figure out how to do my job without your boys being in my way."
Gemma lifted a brow and frowned. "Are they in your way?"
Charlie shrugged. "Well, you tell me. Sanwa County kicked the warehouse explosion over to us but there are absolutely no leads on who owns the property and the bodies that I saw with my own eyes disappeared before their forensic team got there to collect them." She pointed at another file. "Five dead teens, all from overdoses that everyone swears don't happen in this town. I can't even get a sample of meth to test the results against because Darby seems to be in the wind after I located him." She pointed to the last file that was open in front of her. "And lastly, Kristin Oswald. Her mother swears that the girl can't remember anything about her assailant, but I saw you at the hospital talking to Karen before I had a chance, and she absolutely refused to let me interview the girl." She shook her head as she leaned back in her chair. "To me, that points directly at your little band of brothers trying to clean up the town before the police have a chance to."
Gemma nodded. "You seem frustrated."
Charlie chuckled tiredly. "Do I? Yeah, I think that sums it up pretty well." She looked at Gemma over the rim of her take-out cup. "I'm not an idiot, Gemma. I know they aren't choir boys, but I get really testy when people try to do my job for me."
Gemma nodded. "I can see where you would, but I don't know anything about this shit, sweetheart."
Charlie shook her head. "Come on, Gemma. I wasn't making idle chit chat when I said you were the spine of the group. You know more than you let on about their business dealings. Frankly, I don't want to know what they're doing, but I would love it if they would just stay out of things that don't concern them."
Gemma nodded as she watched Charlie rub her temples. "Headache?"
Charlie snorted. "Yeah, and it has SAMCRO written all over it." She shook her head again as she looked down at Kristin's file. "Should I go ahead and mark this one as closed? I have a feeling that we aren't going to find this guy."
Gemma frowned. "Why? You think he's gone already?"
Charlie shook her head. "Nope, but I think Clay and the others will take care of it before we get a chance." She shut the file with a snap of her wrist before sighing. "I'm sorry. I'm just tired and frustrated. I shouldn't take it out on you."
Gemma nodded. "It's ok, baby. What you need is sleep."
Charlie snorted. "Well, unfortunately, my shift doesn't end for another seven hours." She held up the cup of coffee as Gemma stood up. "Thanks for the coffee. It really is appreciated and better than what they have here."
Gemma leaned over and kissed her on the forehead before smiling down at her. "It's no problem, sweetheart. Try to get some rest soon."
Charlie just nodded as Gemma left, shutting the door behind herself.
About an hour later, there was a knock on her door again, this time Wayne opening the door and smiling at her. "Hey, you busy?"
Charlie shook her head. "Not really, what's up?"
Wayne sighed as he shifted on his feet. "Sanwa needs some assistance with a prisoner transport. I was gonna send Hale but he's due in court. It's simple. You just ride along in case they need back-up."
Charlie stood up, stretching her back before nodding. "Yeah, sounds good. If I sit here much longer, I'm gonna fall asleep on my desk."
Wayne nodded. "I appreciate it. Make sure you grab a vest on the way out the door. Can't be too careful, even though they don't expect any trouble."
Through the haze of pain, Charlie could make out panicked voices and screams amid gunfire and squealing tires. She tried to lift her head but found that she couldn't move as she heard running coming her way. She looked up and saw Trammel kneeling beside her, running a hand over her, looking for injuries. She raised a shaky right hand and touched her left shoulder, her hand coming away bloody. She tried to move her leg and felt a searing pain shoot up her leg and through her hip. Trammel shook his head as took his shirt off and tied it around her right thigh.
"You stay with me, detective! Help's on the way! Do you hear me? You stay awake!"
