Gray Resurrection Read Online Free PDF

to settle in for the evening.
    “I suggest you stay in your room
tonight,” he told Grant.  “The streets of Isabela are not safe for a
stranger, especially after dark.  Abu Sayyaf are everywhere, and you would
make a good trophy for them.”
    Grant agreed to the suggestion.  He
took the stairs to the first floor and found room one zero eight, and once
inside he realised that his idea of ‘good’ differed hugely from
Lorenzo’s.  The bedding had seen better days – not to mention a lot fewer
stains – and the toilet was functional in that there was a pot to sit on but no
cistern to flush his bodily fluids away.  Instead, a bucket full of water
and a large ladle had been provided.  His morning ritual for the next
couple of days would consist of shit, scoop, shower and shave. 
    The television offered only local channels,
so he settled on the bed, wishing he’d brought a book along, but at the same
time thankful for the insect repellent.
    In the street below, Lorenzo sat in the
patrol car looking up at the second floor.  He toyed with the phone in his
hand as he wondered what exactly there was between his old girlfriend and this
foreigner.  It didn’t make sense for a company owner to accompany a member
of staff to their home town for a funeral unless it was more than just a
working relationship. 
    When Alma had announced that she was
going to Manila to stay with family just after her twenty-fifth birthday he had
been devastated.  He had been trying to cultivate a romance between them
for the previous three years, building on their friendship.  He would visit
her in the evenings and often bring his guitar to jam with Arlan, though she
rarely took up his offer to meet on the weekends, insisting that was family
time.
    Then she’d dropped the bombshell,
dashing all of his dreams.  He’d tried to persuade her not to go, to stay
with him, but she’d wanted more for her family and saw Manila as the place to
find a better opportunity.  He’d relented after a while, convincing
himself that she would be back within a few weeks, but as the months wore on
her letters told him she was doing well and really enjoying the new
challenge.  Whenever he had written to her he’d casually joked about her
new man but she had always assured him that she wasn’t looking for a
boyfriend. 
    That was, until three months ago. 
    Her letters had suddenly become less
frequent and a lot shorter, until they had stopped completely four weeks
ago.  Now she was back, and with a foreigner in tow.
    He had told the truth when he’d told Sam
that he hadn’t taken bribes from Abu Sayyaf.
    However, there was always a first time.
    He punched in a number and waited a
moment for the recipient to pick up.
    “Pare, I have something you might be
interested in...”

 
    Chapter 3
     
    Monday 16th
April 2012
     
    Grant didn’t know if it was the lack of air-conditioning
or the food he’d eaten at Alma’s house, but he woke up just after midnight
covered in sweat, the thin cotton bed sheet sticking to his naked body. 
He headed into the bathroom and stood under the weak shower, allowing the tepid
water to slowly wash away the layer of perspiration.  As he dried himself
he realised after five minutes that he was no longer towelling off water: he
was back to the layer of sweat that had replaced it.  Giving up on the
fruitless exercise, he walked back into the bedroom where he grabbed a local
newspaper and used it to fan himself.
    He turned on the television, knowing
that trying to get back to sleep would be futile.  The music from a talent
show blasted into the room and he jumped for the remote, turning the volume
down to an acceptable level.  After flicking through the channels he
settled on cock fighting, although he saw more adverts than action.  That
was the trouble with TV in the Philippines: they showed four minutes of the
program followed by five minutes of advertisements.
    Grant was just learning how to get
bigger breasts when