Free Hidden Threat by Anthony Tata

eighteen.”
    “ Ma’am, I don’t think this is helpful. Our lawyers, as I mentioned, have looked at this. His last child support payment to you was at the beginning of this month. He used that date as the date to—”
    “ The effective date is her birthday!” Nina Hastings had joined the fray. “He can’t do that!”
    Amanda watched her mother and grandmother circle like hawks around the major and chaplain. Each would take turns diving and swiping their talons at the two uniformed officers. She let it go on for about two minutes, then stood and screamed, “Stop it!”
    She stared at her mother and then turned toward her grandmother. “Stop it!”
    Amanda Garrett took the envelope the major had passed her, turned and bolted up the stairs, leaving the others frozen in time, as if in a wax museum, staring at her as she fled.
    She closed the door behind her and leaned against it. This is crazy. Five hundred thousand dollars?
    She found her cell phone, dialed, and said, “Hey, can you come get me. I need to talk to you.”
    ***
    Nina Hastings looked at her daughter, Melanie Garrett, from across the dining room table with a purposeful stare.
    “ Well, what are you going to do?” Her voice had the tenor of a high-pitched fire engine alarm, both pleading and accusatory at once.
    “ About what, Mother?”
    “ What do you mean, about what? You have no idea what’s going on with this situation, and you know you stand a good chance of getting screwed out of that money. Probably Amanda, too.”
    “ I know, Mama. I have a plan.” And she did. Melanie quickly conjured an image of the mansion at The Cliffs on Keowee Falls. The idea had been careening around in her mind for months, and she figured that this was the last best chance to do something about it.
    “ I’ve been right all along about him. Ever since Amanda was born. I knew he was bad news. Thank God I was standing right there when she came into this world.” She looked away through the window as if staring at an apparition. In a lower voice not necessarily directed at Melanie, she continued, “God sure gave me what I wanted.”
    Melanie shot her mother a glance. Whose life was she living, Melanie wondered, hers or her mother’s?
    “ You’ve got to remind Amanda who raised her. You’ve got to keep repeating it so that she understands. She needs to know in her heart that it was us.” Nina was punching her chest with a wrinkled finger.
    “ Mama, just let me work this, okay? It will all be under control. Things are moving fast, and I’m just trying to sort everything out. I’ve got my eye on a few things, so trust me when I say that the insurance money will work itself out.”
    “ Work itself out? How dare you! How many times do I have to tell you that you don’t get anything out of life that you don’t take? Everything’s already been had; it just moves around, and you have to go after it.” Nina uncrossed her arms and hovered next to her daughter. “I spend my entire life raising you and then raising Amanda, and you have the nerve to challenge me at this time?” She leaned across the table. “The money is the only thing that loser will have ever produced for you or Amanda. If you don’t get that, then what was it all for?”
    “ What was it all for, Mother?”
    “ What are you talking about? Wasn’t it me that encouraged you to move back here instead of uprooting every two or three years? Wasn’t it me that supported you when we had to go to court to get more child support? Wasn’t it me that wined and dined the judge of your divorce case so that you could get the best deal? Who did you live with after the divorce? What the hell are you talking about?”
    Melanie dropped her head. She had heard it all before so many times.
    “ You’re right, Mama, you’ve been there for me and Amanda.”
    “ You’re damn right I have. Now is not the time to forget it. We’ve got to make sure we get that money . . . for Amanda’s sake.” Nina then