Watson by Kathi Barton (ebook reader txt) 📕

shoved into the room, she fell over her chains. When told to come to the door, she thought for sure she was being played with, that they had no intentions of keeping her locked up like this. When the door slammed shut, the guard told her to put her hands in the opening, and he’d unchain her.

“This isn’t right. Someone is playing a joke on me.” The sound of the slamming door was still ringing in her ears as she put her hands into the opening. “I don’t think this is funny at all. You’re to let me out of here, or so help me I’m going to own your ass.”

His gun was right there. She only had to wait for one second when she was freed, then she’d show him what a Wilkerson did when things didn’t go their way. Tina didn’t count on the snappy thing being on it, but she was able to wrestle it out without much in the way of trouble.

“Back up.” He lifted his hands up but didn’t move. “You heard me, move back, or I move you back.”

The two behind her were plastered against the wall. They weren’t saying a word of encouragement to her, so she ignored them. As soon as the guard told her she was going to get herself killed, she waved the gun in the direction of his head and fired.

She’d not counted on him moving too. Oh well, Tina thought, one less thing she’d have to worry about. Yelling for Penelope and Salma, she went to get them out of their cells. They were getting out of there, or she’d have to roll a few more heads.

“I don’t have a key. Can you get out?” Penelope was closest to her, so she fired another shot at the lock. The scream had her looking at the criminals in Penelope’s cell, and she realized she’d hit her best friend. “I didn’t mean to kill you, Penelope. I’m so sorry. But I don’t have a key.”

Not even bothering with Salma, she made her way down the stairs. There were a lot of guards there, and all of them had their guns pointed in her direction. They’d not hurt her. She knew this because she was a Wilkerson.

“I’m going to go home and get some of my things. I’ll come back if I can.” No one moved, but they did tell her to put the gun down. “If I do that, you’re not going to let me go home. I just need a few hours to go there. Perhaps a couple of days now that I think about it. Then I’ll come back.”

She smiled at them and felt her lip split open again. That had to be taken care of too. She was going to have to go under the knife. Telling them what she was going to have to do about her mouth, they told her once again to put the gun down.

“My husband used to be an attorney. He’ll sue your asses if you hurt me. Just call me a cab and let me go home. You’ll see. Once I’m fixed up, I’ll come back. But I won’t be treated like a criminal.” The first sharp pain took her breath away. Looking down at herself, she saw that her shirt now had a hole in it. “You shot me? Why? I’m cooperating.”

The second time a gun fired, she fell to her knees. This wasn’t the way to treat her. She was the oldest living Wilkerson wife. There should have been respect given to her, not gunshots into her shirt.

It was then that she heard a volley of guns going off. Nothing could have prepared her for the pain now. She fell to her back and knew that somehow it was going to take her longer to get this taken care of. Firing her own gun, lifting her arm up to do so, Tina saw her wrist shatter, her arm covered in blood, the gun disappearing bringing on so much pain that she screamed. There was something leaking into her eyes. Not having the strength to keep her bloodied arm up any longer, she let it fall to her side. Opening her eyes when she heard her name, Tina looked up at the man dressed all in white.

“Jesus?” He said he was a doctor. “That other woman said that to me too. But she was a criminal. I want to go home.”

“I’m afraid it’s much too late for that, Inmate.” It was getting harder and harder for her to concentrate on things. Even her breathing was hard to make work. “There is no one to notify of her death, I’m assuming?”

When the person she couldn’t see said there was no one, Tina wondered who they were talking about. It must have been Penelope, she thought. It had been an accident, killing her. Surely no one would hold that against her. Penelope was her friend, not a criminal like the rest of these monsters. Tina just wanted to go home. Take a bath. Dress up nicely. Closing her eyes, she knew she’d overcome this. Knew too that she’d be going home as soon as someone fixed her up.

~*~

Wats was sitting on the deck when his dad joined him. Late last night, a guard from the prison, someone he’d gone to school with, had called him directly. His mother was dead, as was Penelope. Then this morning, he’d gotten a second call from him. Salma had killed herself like Christa had, chewing out her wrists and bleeding out. He hadn’t any idea if his dad knew or even wanted to know, so he told him about the baby he delivered last night.

“She’s so beautiful, Dad. And perfect. To me anyway. A head full of the reddest hair I’ve ever seen. Weighed in at nine pounds fourteen ounces.” Dad asked him if the mother was all right too. “The mother, only sixteen, left today without her. She knows, she told the head nurse, that