Free Captured by Tina Johansen Page A

pointing at the worms and holding up one finger.
    The man looked extremely pleased, picked up one of the charred grubs, and held it out to her. When she took it, he moved to serve a young Thai couple standing behind her. Grace was amazed to see him filling a thin plastic bag with the creatures. When he had finished, he returned his attention to Grace, as did the couple. She forced a smile and tried to stifle her gag reflex. They continued to watch her expectantly. She closed her eyes and placed the odious thing in her mouth, trying to close her throat as she chewed, repulsed.
    When she opened her watery eyes, her audience was still watching, with concerned looks on their faces. She was surprised to realise that she hadn’t been sick, and that it actually tasted of nothing. The young couple clapped delighted, and stayed to chat with her for a while in excellent English as the stall owner packed up his wares.
     
    Grace felt much better as she walked through the revolving door of the hotel, buoyed by her courage. As she passed the reception desk, she saw the receptionist talking rapidly at a young man in a blue shirt, who was poring over her PC with studious concentration. She was struck by inspiration, and wondered why she hadn’t thought of calling him before.
    Checking her watch and mentally calculating the time difference, she hurried back to her room, retrieving his number from her mobile on the way. She picked up the received and typed in the digits quickly, realising that she hadn’t needed to call up the number. She hung up before it started ringing.  They hadn’t spoken for months now, and from the way Kirsty had described her brief encounter with him, his anger hadn’t dissipated. She clutched the receiver to her chest and breathed deeply, before tapping in his number again, more slowly this time.
    “Lennox.”
    “Neil. Hi. It’s me.” She felt breathless and dizzy; her heart was pounding. What if he just hangs up on me?
    “Grace.”
    “Look I need to trace an email, is that even possible?”
    She heard him exhale; then, nothing.
    “Neil?”
    “It’s about Kirsty,” he said finally. “I saw your email. Yeah it’s possible. Who’s the email from?”
    “Kirsty,” she whispered, waiting for him to reproach her for wasting his time.
    He was silent for a moment. “Sure, I can look into it. Is it in your work or personal email?”
    “Personal,” she confirmed. “Do you need me to send you the email, or my password, or what?”
    She was sure she heard him chuckle softly. “You might want to change your passwords once in a while.”
    “Thanks. I know she got in contact, but I’m worried...” she stopped, hearing dial tone.  She felt a sharp stab of regret.
     
    Grace had a quick dinner at the hotel and headed back to the internet cafe, ready to give up and move her return flight forward. The most likely explanation was that Kirsty simply didn’t want Grace in her life any more. She looked so happy in the photos, with her tall, handsome stranger. The zen calm from earlier had withered away, and all Grace wanted to do was get back home and clear the mountain of work that had already built up in her absence. She felt like a fool for calling Neil.

Chapter 12
     
    Grace threw her clothes into the sleek black case and sat down, struggling to zip it closed. After a marathon phone call with UK Airways, during which she spoke with five different members of the reservations staff, she managed to move her return flight closer, but to the ungodly departure time of 7am. She’d gotten out of her routine of rising at dawn, so the alarm call came as a sharp shock.
    Dragging her half-closed case to reception, she signed her bill and bade farewell to the reception staff, feeling a fleeting resentment for the inflated cost of her extended stay. She wished Kirsty luck with her new beau, but she’d wasted nearly two weeks of holiday time and tarnished her hard-earned reputation with her bosses. She didn’t relish