Feeding Frenzy (Watty Award Winner)

Emergency: Chapter Forty-Eight 'B'

It's about a three-hour drive to Toronto and Tonya knew if Waldock/Roberto figured out they were bringing Aunt Helene the hand, he would do anything to get to her first. Priya drove just over the speed limit while Tonya kept an eye out for Waldock's police minions.

As they neared the limits of Loon Lake, Tonya's stomach fluttered and she wrung the hem of her shirt in her hands. She'd wasted too much time. While she was busy fighting Waldock's giant decoy, their true opponent had taken permanent form. How could they stop Waldock now without hurting Roberto?

"I don't want to be the one to tell Lynette," said Tonya. "She'll be devastated when she finds out Roberto isn't Roberto."

"We'll be lucky if we get a chance to tell her," said Ducky. "She wasn't conscious when they admitted her."

"You took her to Loon Lake hospital?" Tonya felt her voice go up an octave. "Waldock controls ambulance attendants there, and Donna the receptionist..."

Priya interrupted. "What choice did we have? She needed emergency care."

It occurred to her that if Waldock controlled Lynette's mind, she and Roberto could happily live out their days together, hunting down innocent people like Tonya and her friends.

Tonya felt the car brake as the country highway ahead backed up with cars.

"This better just be a tractor or something," said Priya.

It took five minutes of stop-and-go driving before Tonya could see the cause of the slowdown. Police had parked a pair of vehicles across the road and were forcing cars to U-turn. A few officers milled around while a fourth signalled to traffic.

"Hold on, I'm going to drive around," said Priya.

"How?" asked Ducky.

Tonya didn't see any space to get by but felt the car roar as Priya hit the gas. With a sudden swerve they crossed the oncoming lane and turned into the ditch on the far side of the road. Tonya pressed her lips together to stifle a scream.

"Yahoo!" shouted Ducky.

Tonya turned to watch out the rear window as two officers rushed to their car and gave chase. Priya gunned it. Tonya took a deep breath as the gap widened between Priya's powerful rust bucket and the cop car. Priya handled the wheel like a stock car racer, all concentration and grace. Seated beside her, Ducky chattered about the 'cool' ways they were going to rain down fire on Waldock, like the final battle scene in King Kong. The boy was speaking in 'Wingdings,' but she loved his enthusiasm. He smiled at her and the butterflies in Tonya's stomach gave way to a strange elation. She had her friends back and together she felt like they could outrun anybody.

# # #

Priya knew just where to execute a series of quick turns in a complex of big box stores, gas stations and farmers' co-ops on the outskirts of Loon Lake. Her friends cheered from behind a parked tractor trailer as they watched the cops drive past, siren blaring. They were free to go and she agreed with Tonya's suggestion to head north. It would be a roundabout route but more discrete.

On open roads Priya loved putting her foot to the floor but things got more complicated as she approached the city. Priya let Ducky navigate using his phone's GPS but there seemed no way to avoid heavy traffic on routes into the city. They were losing time with only a couple of hours left before Tonya's Aunt got processed for surgery. Once she was anaesthetized it would be too late to fight, according to Tonya. Priya pulled out and passed a row of cars caught behind a dawdling van but even the fast lane was slow.

"Why doesn't she just cancel the surgery?" Ducky asked Tonya.

"The cancer is about to kill her and her surgeon is fully booked. She put the operation off as long as she could."

"Why does Waldock have it in for your Aunt?" asked Priya.

"I don't know the whole story," said Tonya, "but it's personal."

Turning off the highway onto a one-way street, Priya was relieved to finally arrive in town. Fifteen minutes later she pulled up in front of the hospital amidst an explosion of car horns and swearing.

"You two get out here and go ahead. I'll meet you at the room."

Priya watched Tonya and Ducky head for the building until she couldn't take the cacophony of horns anymore. She nosed into heavy traffic and crawled around the city block, looking for someplace she was allowed to pull over. Every time she stopped in the curb lane, Toronto drivers honked at her. Downtown seemed to be one giant no-stopping zone. Tonya could be in a life or death fight with Waldock right now but Priya couldn't do anything until she ditched the car. The honking, the snail pace traffic, aggressive drivers cutting her off... She couldn't take it anymore!

Ignoring all rules, she pulled up in front of a row of taxis parked outside the hospital. As she got out of the car, Priya shrugged at the staring cabbies and declared: "It's an emergency."

"Kid, everything's an emergency." The pole position taxi driver aimed a grease-stained finger at the large 'Emergency' sign above the hospital entrance. "Move your car or get towed."

"You don't understand. My friend's aunt is dying in there."

"Yup. It is a hospital." The driver took a toothpick from the pocket of his faded polo shirt and started digging for dental 'treasure.' "I give you three minutes then call the cops."

Priya couldn't believe it! She had to drive around the city block all over again and park in a giant underground lot. Anything could be happening to her friends in that hospital. She took her ticket, wasted another couple of minutes finding a spot and parking, then ran for the exit stairs.

At least finding the hospital entrance was easy from the street, and despite stopping on every third floor, the crowded elevator was taking her to Helene's room at last. She just hoped that when she was united with her friends, Waldock hadn't gotten to them first.

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Thanks again loyal followers of Feeding Frenzy for all your reads, votes and adds! Thanks to you Feeding Frenzy hit #11 in Mystery/Thriller & it won a Watty Award too! Things have gone so much better than I ever expected when I started posting one chapter a week.

Hold on tight, the climax is coming.... Thanks again for joining me on this crazy Wattpad trip.

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--Maaja