Chapter Ten
P aula Campbell took a final drag of her cigarette, pulling the smoke into her lungs while ignoring the burn of the filter against her fingertips. Violent rage shook through her muscles at the paper lying on the table in her trailer. Her bitch of a daughter had actually filed a restraining order against her, as if being held in jail for two nights hadn’t been enough. Her body temperature rose as she looked at the temporary order to stay away from her daughter and the summons to court. Her veins throbbed with the hate polluting her blood. She grabbed the neck of an empty vodka bottle and pitched it against the wall. Glass shards rained down, and she didn’t even feel the bite as the pieces crunched beneath her feet, slicing her skin and leaving prints of blood in her wake.
She cursed the day she’d brought Samantha into the world. She’d mothered the ungrateful brat who’d turned on her and stripped away the only man she’d ever loved. He’d been tossed into jail like a common criminal. So a few grunts had died? Big fucking deal. They’d known what they signed up for. She and her husband should’ve run away, left Sam behind, and escaped the sentence that kept her husband behind bars. Her arms shook as she raised up another bottle to her lips. Well, she would have the last laugh.
She might not have the cash to pay back the loan shark, but she was sure Sam had some squirreled away. Her house was a shoebox, and it wouldn’t take long for her current roommate to break in and check things out. She’d promised him a cut of whatever he found. If there wasn’t enough to cover what she owed, she could add her daughter to sweeten the pot. She imagined the loan shark would be able to fetch a fair price for her in some trafficking ring. Once Sam was gone, she might even be able to cash in on some of her assets. She was her mother, after all.
Paula glanced down through eyes that were partially swollen shut and took in the large angry handprints that bruised her arms. Some thug had busted into her trailer, detailing exactly how vital it was to pay off her debt and fast. Debt that she wouldn’t have accumulated if Sam hadn’t been so selfish. Her daughter deserved every nightmare coming her way. The more she thought about seeing the terror in Sam’s eyes, hearing her apologize and beg for her life, the more she loved the idea of giving her to the loan shark.
Maybe she’d hand her daughter over as a sign of good faith in case she ever required a loan again. She had to plan just the right moment to grab her. A time when her boyfriend wasn’t lurking around. He’d no doubt get sick of her eventually, but she couldn’t wait to take Sam. Not if she wanted to live. There was the added benefit of letting Sam know exactly who was responsible for her future misery. Payback for all the pain and anguish she’d caused her doting mother.
A cruel smile spread across her face, splitting open the cracks lining her lips. Trickles of blood snaked down her chin as she laughed.