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First published in Great Britain by Preface Publishing 2010
Published by Arrow Books 2014 This edition published by Harper 2017
Copyright © Kimberley Chambers 2010
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2017 Cover photographs © Shutterstock.com (woman); Bemjamin Harte/Arcangel Images (background).
Kimberley Chambers asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9781409051282
Ebook Edition © Jan 2017 ISBN: 9780008228712 Version: 2016-12-05
Trussed up like a dead chicken, the man was in agony as he lay on the cold, concrete floor. His left arm was definitely broken, and he suspected his right leg could be as well. As his captor picked up the gun and pointed it at him, the man shut his eyes. His colourful life had finally caught up with him; there was no way out this time. Images of his family flashed through the manâs mind. He pictured his beautiful wife and children whom he loved so very much. He wasnât afraid of death â he never had been â but he was very afraid of never seeing his family again.
Laughing at the man, his captor aimed a kick at his head and put the gun back down on the floor. The captor had waited years for this moment and he wanted to torture his prey as much as possible before he finally killed him off.
The man opened his eyes again. Every second that passed seemed like a minute and every minute like an hour.
Out of the shadows, the captorâs accomplice reappeared. âYou not killed him yet? What you waiting for?â he asked.
The captor laughed, his tone full of evil. âI was waiting for you. I thought youâd wanna watch the cunt take his last breath anâ all,â he replied, picking up the gun once more.
The man clenched his eyes firmly shut as he felt the steel of the metal barrel pushed into his temple. This was it now, and with his past sins, he wondered if God would accept him in heaven or banish him to hell.
The captor put his finger on the trigger and ordered the man to open his eyes. He wanted to feel his anguish, see his fright.
âWanna make one last wish?â he said mockingly.
âGo fuck yourself,â the man croaked. He had never bowed down to anyone in his life and he wasnât about to start doing it on his deathbed. If he was going to die, then he would die the way he had lived, with pride.
Hearing four gunshots, the man shut his eyes and prayed. He was no Bible-puncher, had never really believed in God, but what choice did he have now? Surprised that he wasnât feeling even more pain, the man wondered if he was already dead. Did the pain start to leave your body as your spirit left the earth? he wondered.
