Ann Marie's Asylum (Master and Apprentice Book 1) (9 page)

“Dr. Harkenrider,” the agent explained, “the young lady doesn’t have sufficient security clearance and this is most improper.”

“She’s a god damned scientist,” Harkenrider said. “She’s more qualified to know what’s going on than you are. Besides, you want to use MY experimental interrogation room in MY lab, then you’re going to have to stop pretending that we care about your rules.”

“I was told that you are prone to being difficult,” the agent said, “but I’ve been instructed to do what’s necessary to gain your full cooperation. As long as this isn’t being recorded, I will make an off-the-record exception to facilitate things.”

Dade smiled at Ann Marie to demonstrate his small victory.

The agent unlocked his steel briefcase with his thumbprint and took out a photograph of captured Bander Al Zahrani. It looked as though he had been banged up quite a bit during capture. His left eye had nearly welted over from the beating. Most of his beard and hair had been ripped out of his skin.

“Nice job, morons,” Harkenrider said, noticing the man’s beating. “His brain needs to work if he’s gonna be interrogated. I hope he still remembers his own name.”

“
The Camel Spider,
we call him,” said the agent. “We haven’t been able to extract any information of quality from the man. His personality is just too strong. We’ve water-boarded him, tried electroshock to the balls. We’ve already tortured and killed his entire family and the man still won’t budge. He is a true believer, apparently.”

Ann Marie felt sick to her stomach and turned away from the photos.

The agent continued, saying, “I believe we have no other choice than the pharmacological techniques you’ve helped pioneer. The techniques created here have their skeptics but this man won’t break any other way, I’m afraid.”

“I will conduct the interrogation,” Harkenrider said. “No further convincing is required.”

“There must be some misunderstanding, Doctor. We already have someone else in mind.”

“You came here for my help. I’ve agreed to give it to you. I don’t see any misunderstanding.”

“Doctor,” the agent started to say with care, “we have someone very experienced to perform the interrogation. Your help with that won’t be necessary.”

“I don’t understand.”

The agent spoke very carefully as he explained the situation. “You see, doctor,” he said, “we have someone very experienced in high pressure interrogation. We are simply asking for your cooperation and the use of your special facility.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Dade stood up in indignation. “Who? What man? Who is going to come in here and use MY facility?”

“Dr. Harkenrider, please sit down. I’m afraid the
who
involved here is the real crux of the problem. The agency realizes that there may be some personal history but we ask that you put this behind you for the sake of national security.”

“What man are you talking about?”

“We simply ask that you do not interfere with the man. Please give him space to do his job and perhaps some assistance in the laboratory with the chemical agents.”

The idea of assisting anyone in his own laboratory broke what composure Harkenrider had left. He sat back down, started laughing and threw his head back in his chair. “You must be out of your minds over there in DC. You really thought I would comply with this nonsense?”

“Bernard Mengel,” fell out of the agent’s mouth.

Dade Harkenrider’s face became a still snapshot, a mixture of astonishment and rage. He suddenly gave the agent his full and undivided attention. The blood seemed to run out of his face as his mind swirled and calculated. His voice turned to a hybrid of a whisper and a growl. “Bernard Mengel,” he repeated.

“I’ve come here to ask that you allow Dr. Mengel to perform this very important interrogation without any harassment. We understand that you have had some differences with the man and you even made an attempt on his life several years ago. If you could put these differences behind you, albeit temporarily, your laboratory could rewarded with sizable funding for your cooperation.”

“You’re going to pay me to not attack Bernard Mengel?”

“We’ve been trying to catch the Camel Spider for ten years now. He is the key to an entire terrorist network and a grave threat to America. You would be doing a great service to your country.”

“I don’t have a country.”

“Dr. Harkenrider,” the agent started to plead, “this man knows the location of a dirty bomb and his people are going to set it off just down the road in Los Angeles.”

“Let me interrogate him.”

“I’m sorry but Dr. Mengel has forty years of experience in this sort of thing.”

“He is just going to use it as an opportunity to invent new torture,” Dade argued. “You don’t know him the way I do. You won’t get anything of any use.”

“Well, we will have you and your pharmacopeia ready in case he fails. You can be his understudy of sorts.”

“Understudy?”

Ann Marie expected Dade Harkenrider to throw the man out of the building for using that particular term but her mentor looked as though he saw some merit in the plan. He smiled and repeated, “Understudy. I suppose we can make some arrangement.”

...

After the meeting with the agent, Dade disappeared to his personal laboratory. Ann Marie found him up there while he was flipping through a stack of what looked like classified documents destined for the burn bag. When she got closer, she could tell the entire stack was dedicated to Doctor Bernard Mengel.

“Can you tell me what’s going on?”

“Please stay away from that man,” Dade said to her in a manner that was almost pleading.

“Do you mean the terrorist, The Camel Spider?”

“The terrorist is harmless now but no man on Earth is more dangerous than Bernard Mengel.”

Ann Marie giggled at the warning. She said, “He looks like a sweet old grandpa in the photographs.”

Instead of arguing with her, Dade simply displayed a look that suggested she was beyond foolish. “Don’t ever be alone with him. Don’t listen to him. Don’t speak to him. Stay around people. Stay near me.”

“I don’t understand,” she said. “What would he do?”

“Please be careful,” he said. “If he’s around, stay close to me.”

“But, why?” Her voice was pleading for some sort of hint.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“How do you know?”

“You aren’t ready to know and trust me, you don’t want to.”

Ann Marie became more insistent. “When will I be ready to know?”

“I’m not ready to know.”

Suddenly Ann Marie got an idea and a mischievous smile showed itself on her face. She said, “I would probably be more careful around him if I knew a little more about the threat. He just seems like a little old man to me and I don’t find myself scared of him at all. I want to stay away from him like you’re saying but you aren’t giving me enough of a reason.”

“You see,” Dade told her, “this is why I don’t care for humans. It’s the constant games. I’m trying to keep you away from a serious threat and you are trying to twist me into giving you information using your own safety as leverage. Very peculiar behavior if you ask me.”

“Please just tell me something about what’s going on here.”

“Fine,” he answered. “The world isn’t what it seems.”

“You’re not answering me. Why should I stay away from Bernard Mengel? Is he a killer or something?”

Dade Harkenrider nearly laughed at the word:
killer
. “He’s much worse than any killer.” Then he added, “I was thinking that maybe you should come in a little late tomorrow. After the interrogation is over. Or maybe just take the day off.”

Ann Marie could tell that he was hiding something. The request to come in late felt like a serious warning. He also had the look on his face that she was beginning to identify as protective. She said, “That agent mentioned you tried to attack Bernard Mengel years ago. Why?”

“Because I wanted to kill him.”

“What did he ever do to you?”

Harkenrider started to put away the documents relating to Bernard Mengel. He looked at Ann Marie in a way that meant that the topic was closed until further notice. He started for the laboratory door, saying, “You may want to head for home soon. The marine layer is moving in and visibility on the hill will be down to nothing.” Then he turned back to her on his way out of the door. “I’m encouraging you to take the day off tomorrow,” he told her. “If you do decide to work, remember to come in late tomorrow. I don’t want to see you before ten.”

...

The next morning, Ann Marie ignored Harkenrider’s request and showed up to the entrance of the laboratory twenty minutes earlier than usual. It was well before nine when she pulled up the hill. When she reached the guard booth, the turnpike was down and she brought her car to a halt at the gate.

When the Sheriff saw her face, he looked nervous and signaled for her to wait. This had never happened once during her employment at the corporation. He got on the phone and when he received his orders, he nodded in compliance to the other party on the line. He hung up and came over to Ann Marie’s car.

“Looks like you’ll have to wait a few minutes, kid,” he said. She asked him why somewhat insistently. He told her that Dr. Harkenrider had asked that she not be admitted until additional word was handed down.

“This is ridiculous,” she argued. “I’m a principal scientist here.”

“I’m sorry, kid,” The Sheriff said as though he regretted holding her at the checkpoint. “I got my orders. Came down straight from the boss.”

“Did he say why?”

“He said it wasn’t safe for you with the prisoner around.”

“The prisoner is wearing seventy-five pounds of shackles and a black sack over his head. I don’t think he’s going to get me.”

“The boss seemed real concerned. He said that, even though he told you not to, you would probably try to get here before ten and that I should hold you at the gate. I’m sorry, honey.”

A black SUV filled with government people and military police pulled up behind Ann Marie. The driver, who was wearing a suit and dark sunglasses, signaled to let them though.

“I’m sorry, Ann Marie,” the Sheriff said. “Would you mind moving over there and letting these guys pull around you?”

“I definitely mind,” she said. “Why should they be allowed through? They don’t even work here. I’m a principal scientist here and my badge is supposed to get me into all areas.”

“I’m really sorry,” said the Sheriff, “but the boss has given me my orders. Would you please just pull over there and let these guys through?” Behind Ann Marie, the driver of the black SUV beeped his horn in impatience. “I’m gonna need you to pull over there, Ann Marie. These government guys mean business.”

“Fine,” she said as though her will had been broken.

Ann Marie moved her car out of the way and the black SUV pulled up to the turnpike. As the gate came up, she hit the gas and took the lead in front of them. The black truck filled with plain-clothed military personnel stopped just short of hitting her car.

The Sheriff wasn’t sure if he should hit the alarm and after deliberating for a few moments, he dialed Dr. Harkenrider saying only, “I’m sorry, Dade. She’s coming up now.”

As Ann Marie’s car pulled up to the laboratory, her phone rang. When she answered, Harkenrider asked her, “When I told you to come in after ten, which word didn’t you understand?”

“Why can’t I be here? Don’t you trust me? Aren’t I a real scientist here?”

“Of course you’re a real scientist and of course I trust you. That isn’t the issue,” Dade told her. Through the phone, he sounded like he was caught in a windstorm.

“Where are you? It sounds windy.”

“Will you please just listen to me when it comes to this one simple thing and stay with the Sheriff until this is over?”

“Then you need to tell me what’s going on and why it’s so important that I not be there.”

“Oh forget it,” Dade said as he hung up.

The laboratory was already seized by pandemonium. There were more than a dozen black SUVs and assorted military hummers parked outside. Scores of armed guards in fatigues lined the entrance. Countless men in black suits and sunglasses were walking the grounds, talking into their radios. Two helicopters spun overhead at low altitude, loaded with the biggest guns Ann Marie had ever seen. A massive black armored van was parked just outside the entrance with the terrorist locked in the back. Machine guns pointed to it from virtually every direction.

Just behind her, an old man wearing a plaid fedora hat seemed to come out of nowhere.

He rested his hand right on her shoulder. “Hello m’dear,” he said in a very relaxed manner. The old man acted as though he didn’t notice any of the confusion and was simply enjoying the morning. “I’m Bernard Mengel. You haven’t seen that supervisor of yours, have you?” Like a bird of prey, the old man’s eyes scanned the entire scene. “Nobody has been able to locate him this morning.” He spoke to her with the confidence and comfort of someone that had known her for years.

Ann Marie realized that Bernard wasn’t alone. He was being protected by a coterie of special forces men, guys dressed black fatigues with faces covered in a coating of black makeup. There were perhaps ten men and they had Bernard Mengel surrounded.

There seemed to me more men stationed to protect Bernard than guard the Camel Spider. All of them were primed and alert. She heard someone on one of the radios say, “We still can’t find Harkenrider. Keep eyes and ears everywhere and don’t let him get close to the interrogator.” The men swarmed in a tight orbit around the old man.

“What’s going on?” Ann Marie asked him. “What are these guys protecting you from?”

“Oh, it’s nothing to worry about, m’dear. These national security matters do tend to make everyone a bit fearful.” Bernard was carrying a large steel briefcase, which he had handcuffed to his wrist. Ann Marie asked him what it was for.

“Oh, this,” he said. “It’s my interrogation kit. I’ve got the basics like sodium amytyl, some barbituates and a few experimental drugs that I shouldn’t say too much about.”

While she was talking to Bernard, Ann Marie heard a message come through one of the guard’s radios. The voice said, “Keep eyes and ears out for Harkenrider. Use nonlethal force but do not let him reach Dr. Mengel.” Someone else on the radio came back with, “Still no sign of him, sergeant. Stun weapons and tranq darts ready.”

“Oh dear,” said Bernard, who pulled a pocket watch out of his long black coat. “I believe it is nearly time to begin.”

In front of the laboratory, soldiers removed the Camel Spider from the back of the armored van. He was bound with shackles and had a black sack thrown over his head. For a moment, Bernard’s benign expression was taken over by dread. He scanned the landscape like a paranoid fugitive that had just reached free ground.

“Is anything wrong?” Ann Marie asked him.

“Heavens no. It’s just that one can’t be too careful when the whole world is at war. It’s been very nice speaking with you, Ann Marie.” He corrected himself, saying, “I mean Doctor Bandini. I look forward to our next opportunity.” Bernard marched toward the front door with his team of bodyguards forming a tight circle around him. The soldiers protecting him seemed to be expecting not just an attack but an onslaught. The cage of men around Bernard looked impenetrable.

Just as Bernard and his bodyguards reached the main entrance of the building, Ann Marie thought she saw something move on the roof over the men. At first, she thought it may have been a hawk or pelican perching up there. However, it was too large and seemed to move too fast. It appeared as a shapeless shadow or blur, like a tiny, isolated storm cloud sitting far too low in the sky.

Then, the shape dove at Bernard. Ann Marie knew somehow that the shape was Dade Harkenrider.

It landed right on the bullseye, right in the middle of Bernard’s protective circle and right on top of the old man. As Ann Marie ran toward the scene, the struggle seemed to move too quickly for her to make out the details. Bernard and Dade were wrapped up in what appeared to be a miniature but powerful tornado, a blur of rolling, kicking and punching. The soldiers seemed to be moving in slow motion compared to the brawl.

When the two battling men finally slowed down enough to become distinct, Dade had both of his arms wrapped around Bernard’s throat. The soldiers were already trying to free the old man. Ann Marie heard a few dull whistles, which came from the tranquilizer darts beginning to accumulate on her boss’s body. He continued his choke the old man without much reaction to the darts. Then, a few more soldiers came over with sparking cattle prods.

Dade had Bernard in a deadly squeeze and had no intention of letting go. He looked like he was almost in a trance as he held on to the old man like a spring-loaded hunting trap. The soldiers were screaming for him to let go and threatening with the cattle prods. Dade took no notice of the warnings or the fact that he had more than a dozen tranquilizer darts sticking out of his back and shoulders. Bernard’s face was starting to turn a paler shade and his eyeballs looked like they might jump out of his head.

The first shock from one of the cattle prods made Harkenrider loosen his grip for just a moment. The second shock brought some oxygen back to Bernard’s brain and he started to struggle to get away. The third cattle prod finally got Dade to let go but he didn’t give up entirely.

“No!” he shouted to the soldiers. “Don’t let him go. No!” The soldiers kept shocking him. He tried to hold on to the old man’s throat but the tranquilizers and electric shocks were making him lose his grip.

Ann Marie was horrified by the sight. The soldiers continued to hit Dade with their stun weapons. Eventually, his grip started to loosen like a machine with draining batteries. She wondered how her boss’s body could stand that kind of punishment. Then she remembered his impossible dive from the building. She wondered if she had been hallucinating.

Dade Harkenrider’s body was nearly limp but, because his sunglasses had been knocked off in the struggle, Ann Marie saw that his eyes had lost no life. He looked wilder in that moment than any animal she had ever seen at the zoo. When the team of soldiers was finally able to get Harkenrider’s hands from Bernard’s throat, the old man sprung back to life instantly. He picked himself right up while the group of nearly ten shoulders held Dade down with their sparking cattle prods.

Ann Marie yelled to the men to stop. When the sparks ceased, the soldiers all backed away from Harkenrider as though they expected a swift retaliation. “We’re sorry, sir!” hollered one of the men. “You left us no choice! Please desist in your attack!”

A few of the men attended to Bernard Mengel, who appeared to be fine. His steel briefcase was still dangling from his wrist. The prisoner had heard the whole attack from the inside of the black pillowcase over his head. A few soldiers had him secured beyond all the commotion. After Bernard finished catching his breath, he ordered that the interrogation continue without delay.

“Don’t leave him alone with the prisoner!” Dade shouted to the soldiers.

“My goodness, young Dade,” said Bernard. He took a step toward Harkenrider, who was still on the ground. “Have you no confidence in my skills?” Then the old man smiled in an almost threatening way as he held up the steel briefcase handcuffed to his arm. “I’ve got something very special in here, something I believe you remember very well.”

Harkenrider’s body jerked on the floor as he struggled to regain control from the tranquilizers. He tried to get up but his legs were still too runny to stand on. “I’m gonna kill you, old man,” he said, looking like a cobra waiting to strike. “You’re never going to make it into that room.”

The men guarding him looked increasingly afraid as his body started to regain functionality. “We’re really sorry, sir, but you left us no choice,” said one of the men, who seemed to be deciding whether to lower his stun gun.

“If you let him in there,” Dade told the soldier, pulling one of the tranquilizer darts from his shoulder, “many, many people are going to die. That old bastard is nothing more than a torturer. That’s the only reason he’s here today. He doesn’t care about getting answers. He just wants to inflict pain.”

Bernard stood over Dade Harkenrider, who was still sprawled out on the floor and still picking out tranquilizer darts from his upper body. “It’s a pity you feel that way,” said the old man. “It saddens me that you wouldn’t show a fellow scientist the respect he deserves.”

“You’re no scientist and you deserve the opposite of respect,” said Dade. His voice was mixed with a growl.

The soldiers received orders to prepare the prisoner for interrogation. Bernard said to Dade, “I’m afraid I must leave you laying on the floor, my old friend. Discovery awaits.” Bernard held up the steel briefcase handcuffed to his wrist as though he intended to taunt, saying, “Thank you again for giving me everything I need.” He directed the soldiers to bring the prisoner into one of the secured interrogation rooms deep in the core of The Asylum. “I’ll be along in a jiffy,” he said, smiling at Dade in a way that was meant to mock.

Three soldiers still had their cattle prods aimed and sparking at Harkenrider. One of them said, “Please don’t go anywhere, sir. We’re sorry that we had to secure you this way. We have our orders.” They all looked at him like a man-eating polar bear just waking up after surgery. “Please understand, sir,” said another one of the men. “Please don’t consider this an attack on you.” Even though the man was armed and Dade was on the ground, he seemed to be pleading for mercy.

“You have nothing to fear from me,” Dade told him as he finally stood up. He pulled the last tranquilizer dart from his lower back. The men kept their stun weapons pointed. At this point, Bernard Mengel was halfway down the corridor.

“Then we are all just going to let this happen,” said one of the soldiers, who looked relieved. “The doctor over there is going to interrogate the terrorist. We’ll get the information we need, and then we are all going to call it a day, sir.”

Ann Marie went over to Dade and, with her voice shaking, asked him if he was OK. She realized that her hands were trembling. The attack had left quite an impression on her.

Her boss looked back at her and, with what appeared to be something like regret, apologized. He said, “I didn’t want you to see that.” Then he added, “Or what I’m about to do.”

Looking confused, she asked him, “What do you mean?”

Dade Harkenrider suddenly vaulted over two of the soldiers and knocked another to the ground on a mad charge toward Bernard Mengel. He took a few hits from the cattle prods but they barely slowed him down. Instead of grabbing hold of Bernard, he locked onto the steel briefcase and started bashing it. It was still connected to Bernard’s wrist and, as Dade smacked it against the floor, it whipped the old man’s body around. By the time the soldiers were able to reach him, the contents of the briefcase were smashed and dripping all over the hallway floor.

Bernard gasped when he got up and saw the jars of broken interrogation chemicals. “Look at what you’ve done,” he said. “That was my entire supply.”

“I know,” said Dade, smiling.

“I was going to use that today.”

“I know,” Dade said with his smiling blooming even more.

“You little shit!” Bernard started to reveal his anger and quickly got himself under control. “How am I supposed to interrogate him now?” Then he shouted to the soldiers, “Everyone keep away from the spill! These chemicals are very, very dangerous!”

“You could try just asking him nicely,” said Dade almost gleefully.

A military police sergeant, who was apparently in charge of the operation, came into the hallway. He looked angry but seemed to do his best to contain it when he spoke to Dade. Ann Marie thought that the sergeant even seemed afraid but she couldn’t understand why. “Dr. Harkenrider,” he said, “can you tell me what the hell is going on here?”

“Of course,” said Dade. He was now being perfectly polite as though the entire struggle never happened. “It’s very simple. Mengel isn’t going to interrogate the prisoner. In fact, he is going to get out of California right this second.”

“Dr. Harkenrider,” the sergeant said in a manner that seemed like begging. It was almost like speaking to a difficult child. “You are aware of the national security emergency?”

“Sure am.”

“Then what are we going to do about it?”

“I’m going to interrogate the man. I’m more qualified that that old hack. Besides, Bernard doesn’t give a shit about your national security emergency. He’s got his own agenda.”

Bernard shouted, “He’s a lunatic!”

“Listen Sergeant,” Dade went on, “let me tell you how this is going to happen. I’m gonna walk into that interrogation room. You’re going to leave me alone with the prisoner and I’m going to get you more information on that bomb than you know what to do with. Stop listening to this old fool and start letting me take care of business.”

The sergeant seemed as though he was about to agree but still asked, “If I refuse?”

“Sergeant,” Dade went on, “how many times have I been through this kind of thing with you people? I’m going to do exactly what I want. The more you try to stand in my way, the more you will fail. You people should have learned that by now. In this case, Sergeant,” he glanced at Bernard, “I’m the only one that’s going to help you.”

Bernard Mengel argued, “I can come back with supplies in a matter of hours and finish the interrogation. We don’t need to continue to entertain this monster.”

“Tick Tock,” said Harkenrider. “Tick Tock.” He scowled at Bernard. “Fifteen minutes and I’ll have the entire matter handled.”

“Fine,” said the Sergeant, sounding exasperated.

“Very wise decision, Sergeant,” Dade told him. “Very wise indeed.”

Bernard was so furious that one of the veins in his neck looked ripe enough to explode. “I can’t believe you’re going to let this monster get away with everything he’s done,” he said. “I don’t understand why I’m allowed to be victimized by this lunatic.”

“This is just the beginning, Bernard,” said Dade. “We both know that. I don’t care if no one else sees what you really are. It doesn’t matter. I got you in my sights, old man. Your plan here isn’t going to work.”

Bernard Mengel shook his head in total exasperation. He seemed unable to listen to another word. “It’s a shame what’s happened to you,” he said. “Such a young man. So much potential.” Then Bernard turned to Ann Marie and looked at her as though he was about to dispense some fatherly advice. “Please be careful around that boss of yours.”

Dade told Ann Marie, “Be extra careful of old pricks bringing advice.” He looked at Bernard as though another attack may come at any moment. He told him, “Stay far away from the kid. The farther the better. Every bit farther increases your chances of survival. If you try a god damned thing with her, those chances drop to zero.”

At that, Bernard started down the hall with his wrist still attached to the mangled steel briefcase. The Sergeant brought Dade and Ann Marie to the secure interrogation room. Ann Marie followed with the fanciful hope that she would be allowed to observe. When it became clear that she would be asked to wait outside, she attempted to make a plea to her boss.

“Pretty please let me inside with you,” she said to Dade.

“Did you really just say,
pretty please
?”

“I’m sorry. I did,” she said, realizing that she had sounded even younger than her actual age. “It’s just that I want to help.”

“I don’t need your help. I don’t need anyone’s help. Besides, you don’t want to know what I’m going to do to him.” He left her standing in the hall.

The Camel Spider sat shackled to a steel table surrounded by mirrors, even on the floor and ceiling. It made the disorienting room seem infinite. A strange hum, like white noise, filled Bander’s ears. When he concentrated on it, the sound started to seem deafening. There was something very strange about that room. He found himself wishing for the pillowcase to be put back over his head.