Kill Me Again Read Online Free PDF Page A

her husband taken enough for a night, for a week, or maybe for good. She stifled a sob at the thought.
    A sharp gust of wind outside blew snow across the road and against the wall of the house. Whether Duncan was here or not, it seemed unlikely Maggie would be able to get thecar out of the drive first thing in the morning, and for a moment she was relieved. The sick bastard she had been asked to defend would have to be passed on to somebody else. She could stay at home with the children, and wait for her husband to return.
    Where are you, Duncan? I miss you
.
    Maggie’s limbs were tight with cold and lack of movement. She backed stiffly up to the bed, sitting down and wrapping the duvet round her shoulders. Her whole body started shaking, and she didn’t know if it was fear or the frigid air of her bedroom that was causing it. She didn’t want to leave her vigil at the window, though. She bit her bottom lip, trying to stop it from trembling. Crying wasn’t going to help. She had to think.
    The cupboard in the garage was niggling her. What had he needed to take out of that cupboard, and why? It wasn’t his work tools. She knew that.
    Ever since they moved in together, Duncan had kept the green cupboard locked. Initially Maggie had decided not to make an issue of it. He was entitled to his own space, and if she was honest there were things in her past she would rather he knew nothing about – such as her appalling choice of partner before Duncan. A married man with three children. She shuddered at the thought. She hadn’t lied about that terrible period in her life, but she hadn’t volunteered the information either.
    After she and Duncan had been together for a while she had asked him for the key to the cupboard – she was clearing away some clutter – but he had refused to give it to her, saying he would do it himself. She hadn’t pushed it. She had always thought the cupboard might contain something to do with his mother because he had nothing of hers around the house – no photos or mementos – and yet she knew how much Duncan’s mother had meant to him. He had given up his studies at Leeds University to look after her when she was ill with cancer, and had nursed her while simultaneously training to be a plumber, a job he thought he might be able to combine with being her carer. Sadly she had died a couple of years before Maggie had met him.
    Maggie heard a noise and turned her head.
    Josh was standing at the door in his pyjamas.
    ‘Are you okay, sweetheart?’ she asked. Grasping the duvet in her hand, she held out her arm so that her son could snuggle in under it against her.
    ‘Why are you sitting in the dark, Mum?’
    ‘Just thinking.’ She tried to smile at him.
    ‘About Dad?’
    Maggie didn’t want to lie to her son. ‘I’m wondering when he’s going to be home, Josh. That’s all. But don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll be back by the time you wake up in the morning.’
    ‘Is it my fault?’ Josh’s voice was as quiet as a whisper, as if he was afraid to say the words. Maggie pulled him tightly against her.
    ‘Of course not, sweetheart. Why on earth should it be your fault?’
    ‘Because of the message.’
    ‘
What
message? You never mentioned a message before.’ Maggie could hear the desperation in her voice and tried hard to soften it. Josh looked up at her, his little face a picture of confusion.
    ‘I’m sorry if I did something wrong, Mummy.’
    ‘I’m sure you’ve done nothing wrong, Josh, but you need to tell me properly what you mean.’
    ‘Dad’s phone was in the sitting room. I heard it beep, so I knew it was a message. I took the phone to him in the kitchen.’
    ‘Joshy,’ Maggie began, trying to choose her words carefully, ‘I know we’ve said it’s rude to read other people’s messages, but did you by any chance catch a glimpse of what it said?’
    Josh looked at the floor for a moment, and when he looked up his cheeks were pink.
    ‘I didn’t read the words, Mummy.