Read Ann Marie's Asylum (Master and Apprentice Book 1) for Free Online Page A

cab ride all the way back to Lakewood. Even after working full time, all the expenses and her mom’s spending habits had them living nearly paycheck to paycheck. She had no friends, no one her own age. Then she felt nearly crushed by the idea that she didn’t even have that back home. As she stood all alone in that parking lot by the beach, it all seemed so overwhelming.
    The only thing she could think to do was dial the number for the security booth at the lab. As she dialed, she found herself hoping to get the Sheriff on the phone. When he picked up after the first ring, she experienced an immediate relief.
    “You OK, little lady?” The Sheriff asked her.
    “No,” she said. “Yeah, I guess. I’m sorry, Sheriff. I’m fine. It’s just that I’ve had a rough night with my mom and I’m kinda stranded.”
    “Sounds like you need some help.”
    “Yeah,” she said as she realized she was starting to cry. “I kinda do.” She covered her phone so the Sheriff wouldn’t hear.
    “We can send a company vehicle right over, honey. Wherever you are, we’ll come get you.”
    “Do you think I could talk to Dade, I mean Doctor Harkenrider, just for a minute.”
    “Well, honey, I don’t know.”
    “I understand,” she said before starting to get choked up again. “I know he’s busy. I don’t want to bother him.” By that point, her crying was obvious to the Sheriff on the other end of the line. “I don’t want to bother anyone. I’m sorry, Sheriff.”
    “Listen, honey, you got nothing to be sorry for. I’m really happy you called me. You can call me absolutely any time. Remember that. Now, I’ll put you right through to Dade and we’ll work on getting you home safe.” He transferred her and she counted eight rings before the call went through.
    “Are you in danger?” Harkenrider asked her.
    “No, but I could really use a ride home.”
    “I’ll come get you.”
    “Don’t you want to know where I am?”
    “No need. You’re near the bottom of the hill at The Pink Pelican.”
    “How do you know?”
    “I can hear the sound of the ocean in the background. Based on the audible frequency dispersion, I can determine your height above the water and a general map of the terrain. Also, the Sheriff and I are tracking your phone.”
    He hung up.
    Dade’s truck, Asylum One, made it down the hill a few minutes later. Ann Marie was sitting on a large piece of driftwood that was used to mark the entrance to the Pink Pelican parking lot. The strange matte-black vehicle made a breathy hum, something like the inside of a tornado. It looked like a six-wheeled battering ram used to break through a brick wall in a hostage crisis. It was odd that the prototype assault vehicle brought her a warm feeling of security. It was like spotting a familiar face on the first day of school.
    Dade opened the door to the back compartment, where he was working on one of the three large computers screens inside. Ann Marie was still getting used to the fact that the truck drove itself. The computer-drive allowed Harkenrider even more time to tinker with his drone designs and develop new chemical recipes. Wearing his sunglasses even at that time of night, he took his attention away from the screen and looked at her in a way that could only be interpreted as protective.
    “Thank you for picking me up,” she said to him.
    “Your thanks are not necessary. Are you certain you’re not in danger?”
    “I’m pretty certain, I guess.” She got inside and faced him across the back compartment.
    “Dr. Bandini,” Dade said to her, “granted I’m not a father but I don’t think it’s ideal for an underage girl to be waiting outside of a bar all by herself.”
    “You’re really nice to pick me up.”
    “Of course.”
    Harkenrider’s autonomous vehicle pulled out of the restaurant parking lot and started the remainder of its descent down the hill to Los Angeles. The lights in the valley twinkled below them. Harkenrider seemed to study