The Darkness - Jason Pinter [89]
on the young girl's face at that statement. Abby had a look
of pride, both at her love for this girl and her confidence
in telling her mother off.
"Fine, Abby, if you want to do this by your rules, so
be it. But remember I asked for privacy."
"I'll remember to tell that to the judge," Abby said.
Pam laughed. Paulina had to struggle not to shoot the girl
a dirty look.
And then she looked at her daughter, her young, beautiful vibrant daughter, who might never speak to her again
after today.
"I found out more about that...issue I talked to you
about the other day."
Abigail placed her hand against the door frame. It
was clear she'd tried to put it out of her mind, and
from the change in her stance it looked like she'd succeeded until now.
"What did you find out?" Abby asked, almost perfunctorily.
Paulina looked at Pam again, then back at her daughter.
"Last chance," she said.
"Spill it, Mom."
254
Jason Pinter
"Okay then. I had some friends look into the photo
and the album it came from. Did you know Pam here
had a blog?"
Abigail smiled, turned to her girlfriend. "Of course I
did. She showed me every posting before it went up."
Pamela blushed and said, "At first I wanted to make
sure Abby was okay with it. Then she just trusted me."
"How sweet," Paulina said, her voice emotionless.
"Do you know a girl named Samantha Isringhausen?"
Abigail squinted, trying to figure her mother out.
"You're talking to me like a reporter," Abigail said. "Asking
me all these questions like you're going after a story. 'Do
you know this person? Have you heard of such and such?'
Be an adult, Mom, and tell me what the hell is going on."
"Fine," Paulina said, "but if I'm going to talk to you
like an adult, you're going to have to act like one when
I'm done."
"I'm sure that won't be a problem."
"Your words," Paulina said. Then she nodded at Pam.
"Your girlfriend there sold you out."
"What?" came the confused cry from both girls.
"You heard me," she said.
"Mom, I swear to God, you and me have never really
gotten along, but if you ever want to talk to me again
you'd better have a damn good explanation for this."
"I do," she said, "and take a second to look at your
'girlfriend.' She doesn't seem that angry."
They both turned to Pamela. The girl's mouth was wide
open, but it was more out of protest than surprise. "I don't
know what the heck she's talking about," Pam said.
"Samantha Isringhausen," Paulina said, "took those
photos at the beach. You then posted the album online.
All except for one photo. The photo that man showed me
The Darkness
255
the night he threatened your life and burned me to drive
his point home."
"Burned you?" Abigail said. "What are you talking
about?"
Paulina lifted her shirt to reveal a deep red burn mark,
several inches long. Abigail and Pam both sucked in
their breath.
"Mom..." she said.
"That doesn't matter now," Paulina said. "You told me
you didn't post that photo, it doesn't go public, and yet
somehow Pam ends up with a copy."
"What the hell is she talking about?" Abigail said to
Pam.
Pamela stuttered. "Okay, I wanted a copy for myself.
So what? You looked gorgeous, Abby. I thought it was
kind of romantic."
"And then Sam deleted the memory card, right?"
Paulina said.
"I saw her do it," Abigail said. "She had a set of her
ex-boyfriend on there and erased the entire memory card."
"So if you two are the only ones who had a copy of
the photo," Paulina said, "can you explain to me why a
man who threatened my daughter's life had one, too?"
Abby stared at Pamela, the girl's mouth flopping open
and closed.
"I..." Pamela said.
"Pam," Abigail said, her voice trembling. "Pam, did
you do something?"
Tears began to flow down Abigail Cole's cheeks, and
Paulina felt her heart ache at the sight of this. She knew
exactly how this was going to play out, but there was nothing
that could steel her for the sight of her daughter crying.
"How much did he give you?" Paulina said.
256
Jason Pinter
"What?" Pam said. Not that she didn't hear, but