Flower Girl: A Burton Family Mystery (7 page)

"Justified!" I said. "That sounds a lot like Rule Number 2: Don't kill anyone out of revenge."     

"Okay, I'll buy that up until the collateral damage; that was not justified. Hell, Critter has met with rejection at every turn in his life, even the thing he wanted most since his earliest memories had been taken from him by the very Marine Corps he cherished. They busted him out of sniper school and he resents them now."

"I get it, it's justified in his mind because he thinks the world owes him something,” I concluded. I wondered how Reddy knew so much about Critter on a personal level; however, I kept silent.

"He wants credit for his work. He scared the hell out of the folks living in the Bay area with a series of three shootings and a child kidnapping six years back. He loves the notoriety and the press and the fear that his kills generate; however, he also wants to remain invisible," Reddy said.

"What happened to the kidnapped child?" I asked.

Reddy replied, "I chose to track Critter's kidnap victim. I figured it would be easier to track her and to let her tell me her tale, rather than risking a showdown with Critter. Critter has kept the girl for seven years and named her Penelope. The Stockholm syndrome has long since taken over. She's now twelve and, for all intents and purposes, Critter's daughter and bride to be.

"On her twelfth birthday Penelope calmly walked into a shelter for battered women in San Jose. The shelter happens to be a project of Sara-Clare O'Callahan's. At the shelter, Penelope told Sara-Clare that Critter came home to the cellar apartment they lived in, all disheveled and looking like he'd been in a really bad fight.

He had a scary look on his face and he shouted, "That bastard Burton and his dogs ain't catching me again."

 When she heard that last bit, she decided to pack, get the hell out, and go to the shelter.

"Sara-Clare called me about Penelope and I decided that if I stashed her away somewhere, Critter would eventually come to me. No need to waste any more time and energy chasing him," Reddy said. "I told her to catch the next bus for New Orleans, to go to the Quarter, 915 ¼ Saint Croix Street, and ask for Aunt Selma who lives over the bar."

 

Chapter 4: An Unexpected Addition to the Burton family

I found myself twisting back and forth between nightmares of the man-in-black crashing through the wall, Reddy assassinating foreign dignitaries, and my recurring dream of the man climbing the mountain to visit the two graves. However, I was also starting to adjust to having a father, if one can ever adjust to having a father who was absent more often than not; and oh yes, one who was an assassin, living in one's basement where he was building a deadly weapon. Even so, protecting Penelope gave me a warm feeling about Reddy.

Reddy disappeared again, the morning after he told us about Penelope. When we returned from our morning run on a Monday four weeks later, I glanced at the kitchen calendar and saw the date 11 October circled. Reddy must be home, and it was 11 October. Angie and I simultaneously asked, "What's happening on 11 October?"

Right on cue Reddy strolls through the front door, something he rarely does during daylight hours, preferring his secret entrance into the basement after dark.

"Not a word for four weeks and we are supposed to do what?" Angie said.

"Thought I'd join you, Angie, and the pups for breakfast after your morning run. I brought some chocolate and almond croissants from the French bakery over by the campus south gate," he said with a big grin.

"No cannoli cookies for the pups?" I asked. "Angie and I figured you were tracking Critter, but for four weeks?"

Reddy replied, "I have a second bag of goodies from the Beastro, and I have a fix on Critter. I'll deal with him in due time. Meanwhile, Sara-Clare's TV documentary on child brides is debuting today. That's why I circled 11 October." Shy and Comet were licking his hand and sniffing at the bag eagerly.

"I reckon you're not such a bad dude after all." I said, adding, "That was the documentary Matte told us about at the lake."

Angie said, "Let's set up in the living room by the TV." I nodded and arranged some plush cushions in a semi-circle on the floor with a good view of the 42” plasma screen. Angie added, "I'll make some Hojicha."    

Then it came to me, "Wait a minute. It's a Monday. The Beastro's closed."

Reddy rubbed his hands together, then pointed his palms upward and said, "Reddy has some magic of his own." Meanwhile, Shy and Comet devoured the cannoli and scrambled into the living room and found places to curl up on the cushions, figuring they were meant for them.

"Great memory is a Burton family characteristic," Reddy said, as he turned on the TV and scrolled to the Past Meets Future (PMF) channel. Reddy hit the play and record buttons on the DVD player. Sipping hojicha, we started to watch Sara-Clare adroitly and passionately interview several young girls, mostly from Guatemala and the Philippines.

New York Times correspondent, Sara-Clare O'Callahan, reporting live from a coastal village in Belize and from several other locations on the practice of slavery known as child brides. I have interviewed real people to reveal more about the practices of child marriage in developing countries and to see how a few courageous people are making at least a small difference in solving what is historically an ancient and often cruel practice. The stakes are high as are the risks. Child brides often experience violence, venereal diseases, infection, and poverty.

We were glued to the monitor screen as Sara-Clare's report unfolded. When she interviewed a teenager from south of Manila, Reddy said, "Hit the pause button.” He pointed at the girl. "That girl is the spitting image of my second wife, Maria Cruz, but she was murdered many years ago."

“Your second wife, what's that all about?" Angie said, glancing at me.

Reddy said, "Yes, Sara-Clare sent me an advance copy and that is the moment I will remember forever. Meanwhile, would you like to hear what happened next."

"Okay if you promise to tell us more about Maria Cruz," I said. Reddy hit the resume button. After the documentary, Reddy continued the story of his latest adventure.

"When I first viewed the documentary on child brides, it gave me some clues that I wanted to follow up on, so I called Sara-Clare and asked her where was the girl she called Dalisay in her TV special on child brides. She told me that Dalisay is Tagalog for 'pure' and that the girl is working as a nurse at Doctor Dooley's clinic in Belize. Sara-Clare offered to call her and tell her to expect a visit from me.

I also asked her if any of the girls she had interviewed mentioned a Parks' Clinic in Singapore. She thought the name may have come up once, but didn't remember the exact context and would check her notes.

"Okay, more about Maria Cruz," I insisted.

Reddy cracked a wry grin and said, "A Philippine girl of twenty-one came into my life while I still anguished over the loss of Anne and my unborn daughter. Maria Cruz Highland befriended me and her family took me in for nearly a year before we got married in a small Catholic church in a village south of Manila. They contributed greatly to my recovery and my sobriety.

 "Shortly after Maria-Cruz and my first anniversary, I received tragic news from Hamish. It was the 2nd of June, 1993, the seventh anniversary of Anne and Shannon's death. I was in Cheju-do visiting their graves, and Maria Cruz was back home in a village in the south of Luzon Island. Hamish informed me that Maria Cruz has been kidnapped by rebel Muslim terrorists. I returned to Luzon immediately.

"Maria Cruz was seven months pregnant. Dr. Duncan Highland, Maria's Scottish-born father and a close friend of Hamish's, ran a small clinic the terrorists had overrun. He and Maria's mother had been murdered along with most of the patients and camp personnel. However, because Maria was about to give birth, the terrorists thought they could profit from the sale of her baby to slavers operating in the South China Sea and frequenting the Malacca Straits.

"I was devastated by the kidnapping of Maria Cruz and our unborn daughter. The burden of a second tragedy that so nearly mirrored the first saddened and angered me at the same time. However, this time, there was at least a glimmer of hope.

"After carrying the pain and chasing empty clues for years, I wasn't able to track Maria Cruz or the baby beyond Singapore. A rumor from a contact of my friend Hamish was the only clue I had. Islamic terrorists frequently traded with pirate slavers operating in the South China Sea. Singapore was one of their ports of call. At that point in time I knew nothing about the Parks' Clinic in Singapore. However, I went there only to discover that if the baby was ever there, she had either been sold or transported elsewhere. There were no clues that Maria Cruz nor the baby was alive or dead.

"That was then. Now, these many years later, the trail that had long ago gone cold, came back to life in Sara-Clare's TV special. Her interviews included three girls aged sixteen to twenty, one of whom was clearly Amir-Asian and bore a strong resemblance to Maria Cruz. I was hanging on to what was my only clue in over five years."

"Matte says hope is sometimes all we have," I said.

While watching the documentary, another one of the girls being interviewed  described a vague memory of being in a hospital or clinic when she was about four years old. She remembered then being sent to a mountain village in Luzon where she spent seven years learning Arabic and social graces.

Reddy pointed at the TV screen and said, "That is when I flew to Belize and then to Saba Island to talk with the girl called Dalisay who would now be twenty years old. I started backtracking her life. This led me to find out that the second biggest tragedy in my life was actually a clue to the first tragedy. Both events were based on lies and deception perpetrated by Dr. Evel Park, Sr. and his sons. However, this tragedy, like Shannon's rescue, has both a sad and a happy ending."

Meanwhile, I can't stop thinking about Reddy's second wife. The CIA triggered my curiosity, but now I have a name, Maria Cruz, and she might have had a daughter by Reddy. A step sister's fate hung in the balance of his story.

"Sara-Clare's research into child slavery first brought me into the picture to investigate on behalf of her friend and colleague Princess Zubaida whose granddaughter had disappeared. I shall tell you more about that case later. Serendipity don't you think? Meanwhile, Sara-Clare's documentary gave me some clues that I wanted to follow up on immediately. I took off without even leaving Angie and you a note as to where I was going. My apologies," Reddy said.

"Now that's a first," Angie said, "an apology from Reddy."

"With Critter on the loose, why did you leave us alone?" I asked.

"No way Critter is coming near these dogs." Reddy said while scratching their ears .

Shy and Comet suddenly got up off their cushions and rushed to the rear screen-door, curled white tails wagging vigorously. They were excited to have a visitor but they showed no signs of suspicion that the visitor might be unwanted. Someone was standing quietly in the shadows on the back porch. Reddy stepped over to the porch, calming the dogs while he undid the latch and held the screen-door open.

"Is it okay with you and Angie if a young lady I recently met down in the Caribbean comes here to live with us for a while. She's had a pretty rough life and she's made a remarkable adjustment, mostly on her own; however, she needs a safe place and some people she can trust while she rebuilds a sense of family."

"It's the girl Sara-Clare was interviewing for her documentary," Angie blurted out. "What was her name?"

"Dalisay," said a small soft voice from behind Reddy.

While we demolished the chocolate and almond croissants she had brought with her, I brewed some more hojicha, and Reddy and Dalisay continued to tell us the details of her incredible tale.

"I am Señor Burton's daughter." I couldn't help but think; here's the daughter the CIA missed altogether.

 "After carrying the pain of losing two wives and two unborn children, I chased empty clues about Maria Cruz and my daughter for years. I spent enough time in Hong Kong's Chungking Mansions to earn citizenship." Reddy continued.

 The people who live and work at the Mansions speak of the them as A, B, C, D, and E blocks, located on Nathan Road. Crowded, degenerating, and a mixture of buildings and people, they attract many and repel an equal number of the people to and from Hong Kong. Elevators and some escalators connect the first and second floors where the bazaar operates in a sort of foggy grey light. British expatriates call it Little London. People from nearly every country in the world flock to this labyrinth to exchange information, make deals, trade, dine, drink, pray, and fornicate, all in an environment of docile law enforcement and constant change. The Mansions consist of a virtual jungle of smells, sights, and sounds, a maze of shops that can easily befuddle a tourist, food stalls selling live snakes, and kiosks and dormitories stacked one upon the other in an impossible clutter. It stands fifteen stories high and spreads out over a part of the city from 36-44 Nathan Road.

"Hamish told me before I first went to the Mansions that it resembled the Spaceport Cantina in the original ‘Star Wars.' When I stood on Nathan Road at D block, I saw the similarity. However, there was no evidence that Maria Cruz had been there, or I had arrived too late. Hope was all that sustained me until a few months ago when I previewed the advance copy of Sara-Clare's TV documentary.

 "The video contained interviews with three girls aged fifteen to twenty, one of whom was clearly Amir-Asian. Her name was Dalisay, and she bore a strikingly resemblance to Maria Cruz. My hopes rose a bit for the first time in years.

 "After calling Sara-Clare and obtaining Dalisay's whereabouts, I visited Dr. Dooley at his main clinic in Belize and enquired about the three girls that Sara-Clare had brought to him from the PI. He told me they had been transferred to Saba Island in the Lesser Antilles a month before.

 "While I was at the Belize City airstrip, I was thinking about how I was to fly  the entire Caribbean island hopping mission that I was about to undertake in search of lost girls. A for sale sign was hanging on the hangar wall next to an immaculate white and forest green Pilatus PC12. The sign read; contact Snuffy, hangar #1.

"The PC12 is a fabulous single engine turboprop aircraft designed for short runway takeoffs and landings, perfect for island hopping. I talked to Snuffy, who constantly was blowing his nose into a red handkerchief then stuffing it into his coveralls. He was once an RCAF mechanic and the owner of the aircraft. I asked him about a short term lease with option to buy. Then I gave the Pilatus PC12, tail number N77BF, the ultimate test by flying to the Cayman Islands where I checked up on my bank accounts. Shannon, remind me to talk to you about keeping track of my financials."

Take care of his financials? What was that about?

Reddy continued, "Then I was off to Santa Domingo, dodging a small but violent storm which forced me to land for the day until it passed. The skies cleared by 4pm the next day so I decided to make the final leg before landing on Saba Island's very short runway just before the sun set. Dooley's clinic on Saba is loosely affiliated with a USA funded Medical School where Dalisay and her two friends are now training and working.

"I did a combat landing onto the short tarmac airstrip at Saba and taxied to the hangar where I refueled and tied down. That's when I knew I had to own this PC12 because it handled so beautifully. I trekked the hundred yards across the beach to a hotel and collapsed into its porch hammock from exhaustion. Before I was fully asleep, Dr. Penshaw, the Director of the Dooley Clinic and School on Saba, came up the steps onto the porch and welcomed me to the island. Dr. Dooly had texted him that I would be arriving soon and that I wanted to interview three young women who had come from Belize and Guatemala to get educated and become either nurse practitioners or doctors. He had his assistant contact the three young women.