Read Hidden Threat for Free Online Page B

we talk to somebody about it, you know?”
    Amanda pulled away. “You mean like a shrink?”
    “ Something like that,” Jake said, less sure this time.
    “ Get out of here.” Of course, she didn’t mean for him to leave. Rather, she was calling into question the entire foundation of his last comment.
    “ If we’re going to one day get married, like we’ve talked about, I don’t want you having all these man-hating feelings.” Jake had thought his way through this part of the discussion several times, though he had not expected to have it this night. He was operating purely on instinct, and it seemed right to talk about it. He had read that most couples who fail did so because of miscommunication. And he wasn’t going to have any of that.
    The headlights from a white minivan cut across them like a prison searchlight. Jake looked up and saw who it was.
    “ I think you probably need to get inside. I’ll check you later.”
    “ No, don’t leave,” Amanda said, pulling on his arm lightly. A matronly figure with bleached-blonde hair, not thin, not fat, wearing a matching coral pantsuit with a triple string of pearls around her neck emerged from the minivan that was now hemming Jake’s truck into the driveway. “At least say hi.”
    “ Hey there, Jake,” the woman said in a whiny, Southern accent with mock enthusiasm.
    Jake shuffled, looked at the ground, and then looked up at Mrs. Gabrielle Hastings—Hastings being the surname of her fourth husband. “Hi, Miss Gabrielle, nice to see you.”
    “ You can call me Nina, Jake. How many times have I told you that? Anyway, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were lying to me.” The expression she painted on looked curiously like a smile, but for the emptiness in her eyes. “Are you taking care of this pretty girl here?” Without giving him a chance to answer, she continued. “Of course not. Nobody can take care of my Manda Wanda like her Nina.” With that she hugged Amanda, pulling her away from Jake. “Isn’t that right?”
    “ Hey, Nina.” Amanda’s persona changed measurably, assuming the role of a child, becoming sheepish, cowing. Nina was the nickname that Amanda had known for her since she was born. Her grandmother had told her that she could never utter the words “grandma,” and it always came out “Nina.” Though she had no recollection of that, she presumed it was true.
    “ Where’s your momma?”
    “ Be home in a few minutes. Went to get more ice or something.”
    “ With a party like this going on? What are you, crazy?”
    “ They’re being good in there, Nina. Don’t worry.”
    “ Let’s just go see about that.” Nina Hastings pulled Amanda away by the arm toward the porch.
    “ Wait, Nina, I’m talking to Jake about something. The Citadel’s accepted him.”
    The grandmother stopped walking and turned slowly toward Jake, who was sitting in the driver’s seat of his truck with one foot on the cobblestone driveway, elbow leaning on the steering wheel. Nina’s face contorted into an evil mask, the light from the porch casting across half of her face then slowly shining across the entire tortured countenance.
    She locked eyes with Jake, who held her stare. He had never liked the woman. He thought she was bad for Amanda and her mother, quite frankly. He saw her as selfish and controlling, using Amanda to fill her own egotistical needs. They held their locked gaze for a moment. Nina narrowed her eyes.
    Jake smiled. “I think I just made up my mind.”
    Nina snatched Amanda’s arm again and dragged her toward the house.
    Amanda’s eyes widened. “No!” she screamed as Nina hauled her to the porch and into the house.
    Jake listened as someone had stopped the music and there was a collective moan from the party crowd. Then, he heard Nina’s voice say, “Come on y’all, let’s have a party.” The music suddenly cranked back up and thumped at the walls.
    Jake slid behind the wheel of his truck, closed the door and