Sixty Seconds Read Online Free PDF Page B

and followed him into the
kitchen.
    “ Where’s dinner?”
    “ In the oven,” she said, glad she had the presence of mind to
turn on the heating or he’d be kicking up a fuss about that as
well. She put his boots away and waited while he took out some milk
and drank straight from the carton. She ground her teeth, he was
doing it just to annoy her.
    Shane
left the carton on the counter and opened the cooker. He observed
the dried out meal in disgust. “Are you for fucking real? Am I
supposed to eat this crap?”
    “ It’s after three in the morning, Shane, it was fine at
dinnertime.” Mags had spent ages making it just the way he liked
it. She wasn’t sure why she bothered.
    He
picked up the plate and threw it at the wall, barely missing her
head. Tiny broken chips flew at her, sticking in her hair. She held
up her head and watched him pass, annoyed rather than scared now.
That was a brand new plate.
    “ Where were you until three in the morning, Shane?”
    He
ignored her, not wanting to listen to her nagging if he told her
he’d been with some young one for the last few hours. Not that the
girl would want the word spread around either. The teasing bitch
had said no at the last minute but he couldn’t stop. Not when his
business was falling apart – debt up to his eyeballs now. All of
his assets were about to be liquidated just to pay some of the
creditors. Everything he worked for was turning to piss before his
eyes.
    The idea
filled him with an impotent rage that boiled up and spewed over,
giving him heartburn. He turned back and punched Mags in the face.
Enough to hurt her, but not enough to send her to hospital. She
didn’t cry out, mores the pity, that always gave him a good excuse
to hit twice.
    He
mumbled something under his breath and thought about the girl’s
cries of protest. He pictured her in Mags place, tried to get
himself going, but nothing happened. He roared, an incoherent roar,
and raised his fists in the air, looking all the world like an
ape.
    Mags
stared at him, her chin trembling. Years and years of this shit, it
had gotten old a long time ago. The only thing keeping her around
was money and he hadn’t given her any of that in months, the greedy
bastard.
    He
punched the wall and howled with pain when the resounding crack of
his knuckles reverberated throughout his body.
    “ Fucking hell.” Tears burned his eyes. Fucking business. All
those years of hard work for nothing. He couldn’t even get a decent
dinner from the bitch.
    “ You better not wake the kids with your noise.”
    That
nagging woman again.
    “ The kids, the kids! Always the fucking kids. They’re
not my fucking
kids! I don’t give two fucks if they wake up!”
    He
pointed his finger right in her face. Her eyes crossed and she
batted his hand away. He pushed her to the floor and stalked away,
kicking the pregnant cat in the stomach. The cat yowled and fled
out an open window, leaving a few drops of blood in her
wake.
    “ Leave my cat alone!”
    Mags gasped in horror at her daughter’s scream. No, baby, not now. Not when he’s in the height of
it.
    Shane
was already leering in the girl’s direction. Thirteen years old.
Not his child. Fuck, why did she ever move in with such a monster.
Mags saw his fist curl and ran back into the kitchen, picking up a
knife, anything to threaten him with.
    She got to him just as he lifted his arm to hit her precious
daughter. Darling, darling, darling, so
sorry, so sorry, so sorry . The knife slid
into his back – easier than she had expected. He gave a little
grunt and turned around slowly, so very slowly.
    Ignoring
the wide eyes of her daughter, Mags sank the knife deep into
Shane’s chest – every punch, every kick, every bad word giving her
the strength. She had already been sick of him, he had to go and
push her too far. Well, fuck him. He should never have raised his
hand to her child. Not ever.
    Shane’s
mouth widened into an O shape as he sank to the ground and gazed up
at