Free Ann Marie's Asylum (Master and Apprentice Book 1) by Christopher Rankin Page A

Marie went on, sounding somewhat sympathetic. “I didn’t believe you when I was six, when you told me he was on a humanitarian mission in Ethiopia. I also didn’t believe you when I was ten and you told me he was part of a secret government space program and he was on his way to Planet Krypton but I let it go. I’ve let it all go. All the wild stories about him that don’t add up, I let you get away with it.”
    Still silent, Lori took an even bigger swig of her bourbon.
    “I let you go on all your bullshit because I always had the feeling that you were doing it for my own good. Now, that’s over. I am an adult and I earn a living for us. You’re going to explain everything to me right this second. Then we’re going to deal with it.”
    Her face blank, Lori stood up from the table. Without even looking at her daughter, she picked up her glass of bourbon and walked into the bedroom. She slid the door closed. The last thing Ann Marie heard from her mother that night was the sound of the door locking.
     
    ...
     
    Late the following afternoon, Ann Marie was working by herself in her lab when the security alarm in the hallway started to flash and roar. The Asylum’s automated computer voice called out into every hallway in the building, saying, “Security breach. Asylum Laboratory security breach. Lock down all labs and experiments. Intruder on laboratory grounds.” The last part of the alarm message in particular added to her anxiety. She closed and secured the door to her lab and walked out, toward the main entrance. All the lights in the hallways were flashing red.
    When Ann Marie got outside the building, a man she had never seen before was pointing a shotgun and crying. The shotgun was aimed right at Dade Harkenrider. Twenty-five heavily armed security men from the corporation had the entire scene surrounded. The soldiers were ready to shoot the gunman dead on the spot. She realized it was Dade telling them not to shoot.
    “Don’t kill him!” shouted Harkenrider to the halo of security around. “Let me talk to him.”
    The intruder kept his gun fixed on Dade and walked a few steps closer. “El Diablo!” he shouted at Dade while sobbing. “El Diablo!” The man held the sight of the gun up to his face to get a better bead on Dade. The Spanish-speaking man was dressed in rags and looked like he had just crossed the entire Pacific Ocean. He had makeshift shoes made out of various layers of duct tape. “El Diablo!”
    The Sheriff pushed his way through the armor cladded security force and pointed his chrome revolver at the man. “Dade,” he started to ask with his gun aimed at the intruder, “what are you doing? Let us take this guy down.”
    “No,” snapped Dade, who kept an unrelenting eye contact with the armed intruder. He noticed Ann Marie across the courtyard and told The Sheriff to protect her. “Take care of the kid,” he told him. “Keep Ann Marie safe. Everything is fine here.”
    The Sheriff directed five members of the security team to surround Ann Marie. The ring of soldiers encircled her so tightly that it became difficult to even see the man with the gun. She yelled, “Please don’t shoot!”
    “Dade,” called out the Sheriff, “you know that I’m not going to let this guy shoot you. If he doesn’t put that god damed gun down in about ten-seconds, we’re gonna unload on him.” At that point, flying security drones started to spin overhead like miniature helicopters, sending red laser beams over the gunman’s body.
    Then Dade Harkenrider did something that shocked Ann Marie. With his eyes fixed on the barrel of the intruder’s gun, he sat down on the grass in front of him. The armed man didn’t know what to do. It seemed clear that he wasn’t ready to execute a man on the ground. He tried to keep the gun aimed but one could see the trepidation.
    “What seems to be the trouble?” Harkenrider asked him calmly while he crossed his legs on the grass like a relaxed yogi. He