Captured by Tina Johansen Read Free Book Online Page A

Neil. I’m sure he’d take you back if you didn’t work so much. Is that company going to look after you when you’re old?”
    “No, Mum,” Grace conceded.
    “I worry about you, that’s all, love. I’m not trying to ruin your holiday; I just want you to have a lovely time. God knows, you work yourself hard enough.”
    “I know, I know. I have to go now. Love you Mum, I’ll speak to you next week.”
     
    A loud crackling sound erupted near Grace’s ear when she lifted the phone. After a beat, she heard Kirsty’s distorted voice.
    “hellooooooo? Grace can you hear me?”
    “Hi!” Grace said. “You’re faint, but I can hear you. Where are you?”
    “Danang. In Vietnam,” Kirsty’s distorted voice responded after a few moments of static. “Sorry the connection’s really slow here.”
    “I can sort of hear you,” Grace replied. “Guess what? I booked flights!”
    “Oh wow, really? When do you arrive? And where ?”
    Grace heard the hesitation in her friend’s voice. “Don’t worry. I fly into Bangkok and I can get a connecting flight and come and meet you. I arrive in three weeks, on the twenty-sixth. Where do you think you’ll be?”
    “Don’t be crazy, I can come meet you in Bangkok”, Kirsty replied quickly. “So how long have you got?”
    “Three weeks.”
    “Wow! How did you manage that?”
    “I’ll have to do some work while I’m there,” Grace admitted. “But it shouldn’t be too much.”
    “Well I have no plan yet, but I’ll aim to be in Bangkok then. What date did you say you arrived?”
    “The twenty-sixth. At 7am local time. So, I’ve been looking into hotels and I think—”
    “Grace, hotels are kind of out of my budget right now.”
    “I know, but I need some pampering so it’s my treat! I’ll book the Imperial hotel, have a look at the website and tell me if you like it.”
    “I like the sound of it already. A hotel . Wherever you want. You should see some of the places I’ve been staying in,” Kirsty shouted over the background noise. “I can’t wait to see you, you know.”
    “I’ve been looking at possible itineraries too—”
    “Oh my god, it’s a holiday Grace! We’ll just go where we feel like going!”
    “I only have three weeks hon, we’re going to have to make some kind of plan.”
    “Look, if you want to make a plan I’m happy to go along with it. Just places though, no detailed hour by hour timetables.” Kirsty laughed. “I have to go, my train to Hanoi leaves in an hour. See you soon!”

Chapter 7
     
    Grace was livid. Her excitement about seeing Kirsty had kept her going on the fourteen hour flight – the longest she had ever taken. It hadn’t taken long for the anticipation to dissolve into rage when she discovered that the hotel had neither seen nor heard from Kirsty. She hadn’t even left a message to say that she’d be late.
    Grace collapsed onto the king-size bed, exhausted. Bangkok had seemed chaotic and exciting from the window of the taxi. Despite all of her planning for their holiday together, she hadn’t developed any preconceptions about the place. The humidity had smacked her in the face the moment she left the airport terminal and its frigid air-conditioning. It was sensory overload: the dripping, humid air; people yelling at her in Thai, presumably something about the taxi queue they were all standing in; the unfamiliar smell (she wondered if it was the smell of pure heat); the cabs honking and jostling for space in the set-down zone. She was relieved when she finally slid into the back of a car and handed the driver the little receipt that listed her destination.
    She had leant her head against the fabric window frame, watching in awe as the car made its way off the highway into a spider’s web of narrow streets and lanes. Ramshackle stalls sold food, clothing, homewares; everything imaginable it seemed. Dirty, poorly-clothed children chased each other through dusty alleys, as fires blazed at the edge of the bumpy