One Lock between Life and Death

I had just helped the doctor carry my mother-in-law, Kelly Hawkins, downstairs when I saw four heavy wheel locks blatantly clamped around all four tires of the ambulance.

I'd only just gotten home from work when Kelly came over. She'd barely made it upstairs when she suddenly collapsed. If I hadn't gone back down and discovered that my own car had been clamped, I wouldn't have panicked and called for an ambulance.

It couldn't have been more than five minutes from the moment Dr. Goldberg went upstairs to when we carried Kelly downstairs together. And in that period of time, the ambulance had been clamped.

My expression darkened as I turned toward the security guard standing nearby—Jake Gould.

"Jake, that's an ambulance! Don't you know that even police cars have to yield to an ambulance on the road? And you have the nerve to clamp it? Are you out of your mind? Remove them right now!"

Jake glanced at me and said, "I know all that, Mitch. But this is a residential complex. And here, we follow the community's rules and regulations."

He tilted his chin toward the ambulance's windshield. "See that? There's a phone number there. Just give them a call, and they'll unlock it for you."

I took a deep breath, looked at Kelly's pale face, and pulled out my phone to make the call, forcing down my anger.

As soon as I made the call, I heard the phone in the security booth in front of me ringing.

Jake walked in with a smile, hung up the phone, and came back out holding a set of keys. "Unlocking it costs 200 dollars. Would you like to proceed, Mitch?"

Even though I'd suspected something like this, I was still furious. So much for "rules and regulations"—this was clearly all just his doing.

But I didn't have time to argue with him right now. I nodded, my expression stony. "Yes. Quickly!"

Jake didn't move.

"Hurry up!" I snapped, anxious. "I still need to get Mom to the hospital!"

Only then did he speak again, slowly. "You haven't paid me yet, Mitch. What if I unlock them for you and you refuse to pay later?"

He waved his phone at me. Without another word, I transferred 200 dollars to him.

Watching him start to unlock the clamps, I finally felt some of the tension leave me. I quickly got into the ambulance and comforted Kelly, "Mom, just wait a little longer. I'll get you to the hospital right away."

But to my surprise, the ambulance didn't move.

The driver, Trevor Plume, turned around toward me awkwardly. "He only took off one lock. Maybe you should ask what's going on? To be honest, I've been driving ambulances for over ten years, and this is the first time I've seen anything like this."

My gaze had just landed on Jake when he grinned at me. "I forgot to mention earlier, Mitch. It's 200 dollars per clamp. There are four clamps here, so you didn't pay enough."

My anger instantly flared up. I jumped out of the ambulance and stormed over to him. "Have you lost your mind? 200 dollars per lock? Why don't you just go rob people instead? If something happens to Mom, I won't let you off the hook! Hurry up and unlock them now!"

Jake looked at me with a wronged expression. "I'm just following the rules and regulations, Mitch. Can you please not make things difficult for me?

"The unlocking fees may be a little expensive, but it'll get your mom to the hospital faster. You wouldn't be so cheap that you won't even pay that, right?"

I jabbed a finger at his face and roared, "You dare to take money like this? Have you no shame?"

The smile on Jake's face froze, and he said indifferently, "Fine, Mitch. If you don't want to pay, then forget it. You can think of some other way yourself."

But my car had already been clamped in the garage. If the ambulance also stayed clamped, how was I supposed to get Kelly to the hospital?