Flower Girl: A Burton Family Mystery

by David Marshall Hunt

  Reddy didn't hazard an answer. However, several of Mugzy’s patrons did. "Damn Arab terrorists," said a stout man seated in the next booth.

  "Wasn’t neither. It was those pesky university environmentalists," countered one of the fishermen, and the debate was on.

  When we return to Craft's cabin on the lake from Mugzy's, there is a note pinned to the screen-door. "Thanks for the free lift to Huntsville; I'll find my own way back home. Your pal, Critter"

  Reddy said, "I wondered why he was being so passive and cooperative. Now we know he wanted to get here, to Huntsville, for his next contract hit assignment. I reckon we didn't break him after all. I underestimated him. He says he’s headed back home. Back to Oakland is my guess. That's where he thinks the girl he kidnapped a few years back is living. Critter is not about to relinquish the girl he wants for a bride."

  I think these failed assassination attempts at Deersville reinforced Reddy’s decision to go off the reservation. His intent had always been that when his hi-tech sniper weapon was completed and tested, collateral damage and misses would be things of the past.

  Several weeks later Reddy told me he suspected that his employer, the CIA, had sanctioned the Deersville hits. The CIA had spun the rumor that there was a spy on the G-8 subcommittee who was going to sabotage the global panic prevention co-operation efforts and turn against Craft and the rest of the G8.They narrowed the shortlist of spy candidates to two, Sergei Lazerov or Ahmad Khamal. It was a very convincing subterfuge except for Reddy knowing Sergei better than that. Nevertheless, the CIA simply attempted to take them both out. Reddy's Rule Number 1 "Never kill anyone who doesn't deserve killing" carried with it the implied meaning that there would be no collateral damage. Rule 1 had been violated and Reddy blamed the CIA.

  We soon found out that Sergei was out of danger, and I was relieved that Reddy wasn't the shooter. Laz and Rhyly flew the Porter from Moosonee to Huntsville and went to the Huntsville Hospital Emergency to see Sergei. A week later, back at Moosonee, they flew back to River View. I suspect she finally had the opportunity to thank Uncle Sergei properly for the Porter.

  The next morning we packed for our flight back to River View. Five large dogs, four humans, and luggage was an easy load for the Caravan.

  Back home in Berkeley, Shy and Comet ran about the house and grounds making sure no one had violated their turf while they had been away at Skeleton Lake. I suspect that Reddy had already cleaned the place of spy devices. However, Angie and I didn't need to guess this time. Following the incident with the two botched assassinations at Deersville, Reddy was back on the scent of Critter Purcell.

  On our flight back to Berkeley, Reddy told me he was upset that his employer, the CIA, would even consider hiring an asshole like Critter for a sanctioned hit. Hell, he was unreliable and a lousy shot, as he had just proven for the third and fourth times. His two deposits consisted of half upfront for the first shooting which failed and another upfront deposit on his promise of the second hit being the charm.

  Reddy sent Sgt DeRosa at RVPD copies of the deposits with a copy of the ballistics report on the 223 rounds recovered by the OPD at Deersville Resort. The report confirmed that they matched the 223 rounds from both of Rhyly's shootings. Critter was the owner of the 223. Reddy now had evidence for what he had suspected, that Critter had only admitted to the one shooting as part of his act to get to Huntsville and to keep Reddy searching for the second shooter.

  As Reddy took in the aroma of fresh brewed Kenya AA and followed the trail up the basement stairs and into the kitchen the next morning, I asked the obvious, "So, who's the second or first shooter? Were Critter and the second shooter both hired by the same punter?"

  "First and foremost, the Deersville shooter is Critter, the same nut case and child kidnapper who shot Rhyly both times, and the same creep I delivered to his latest assignment site. He loves his work and at the very least he feels justified about everything he does."

  "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 arr
anged 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.