You can try using something like a named pipe.

Edit: when I've seen named pipes used as a timing mechanism, it was when there was a process that could run to completion in X seconds or then be killed. You would set up two coprocesses in a shell, one monitoring the other. When time was up, one process would kill the other if it had not completed and sent the completion message through the pipe. I'm not sure if the questioner is wanting a run or die scenario.