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Back Lost Soldiers Save as PDF
Chapters (48)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. TITLE PAGE
  3. EPIGRAPH
  4. PRAISE
  5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  6. MAP
  7. PROLOGUE
  8. CHAPTER ONE
  9. CHAPTER TWO
  10. CHAPTER THREE
  11. CHAPTER FOUR
  12. CHAPTER FIVE
  13. CHAPTER SIX
  14. CHAPTER SEVEN
  15. CHAPTER EIGHT
  16. CHAPTER NINE
  17. CHAPTER TEN
  18. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  19. CHAPTER TWELVE
  20. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  22. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  24. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  25. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  26. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  47. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  48. What’s next onyour reading list?

“What will happen on the other end?”

“The same thing that happened here,” said Manh simply. “We will be met by Thai officials and Vietnamese diplomatic staff, who will escort us through Customs. A driver will take us to the Vietnamese Embassy. We will stay at the embassy.”

“Where am I going to . . . sell my rice?”

“Wherever I decide,” said Manh, putting his carry-on bag under his seat and then buckling his seat belt.

“Why is Cong Ly on this plane?”

“Who? We don’t know such a man.” Manh picked up his own copy of Tuoi Tre. “Enjoy your flight, Mister Trong. There will be a meal when we take off. You are the kind of man who appreciates a good glass of wine.”

“I have never had a good glass of wine.”

“Actually, you have had many good glasses of wine. You make this trip frequently. Check your passport. And you always have wine with your meal when we fly to Bangkok.”

“Bangkok is crowded?” asked Dzung gamely, trying to picture their destination. “Like Sai Gon?”

“More buildings,” answered Manh. “Very nice hotels. But the traffic is terrible.”

Dzung felt suddenly weary. “I think I will take a nap on the plane.”

“A good idea,” said Manh, turning to his copy of Tuoi Tre. “We will have a lot of work to do when we reach Bangkok.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Bangkok

“Oh, Cong Ly. This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”

She was on the terrace just outside the fifth-floor hotel room, looking stunning in a black bikini that he had bought for her after their arrival the day before. She had awakened at dawn and spent an hour in the swimming pool while he showered and shaved. Now she stood, one hand on the railing, her chin raised into a gentle morning wind. She closed her eyes for a moment as if she were in the middle of a glorious dream. The wind lifted her long hair, sending it fluttering behind her shoulders so that she looked bold and innocent and free, like an island girl catching her first glimpse of civilization. Watching her, he descended into a flash of mawkishness. For at that moment she, and not the view before her, was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen.

He joined her on the terrace, carrying a cup of room-service coffee. They were staying in a corner suite, so that one side of the terrace looked out on the ancient Chao Phraya River while the other was directly above the Riverside Hotel’s elegant courtyard. The wind blew in from the river, pungent with the smells of lilies, gasoline, and musk. The Riverside was a nice enough hotel, and from their room they had a splendid view. But for Van, who had never before been out of Viet Nam, it was as massively ostentatious as the palace at Versailles.