Free Flags of Sin by J. Robert Kennedy Page A

push
herself from her seat when he waved her off and returned on his own.
    A smack
and a cry, and they both looked at each other with smiles on their faces.
    The door
opened, and the mid-wife appeared, holding the baby, swaddled tightly. She
handed him to Shun-sheng and bowed.
    “It’s a
boy, sir.”
    Shun-sheng
took the tiny infant and carefully cradled him in his arms, as Mei had done so
many years before. “And my wife?”
    “She is
fine. Resting. You may see her.”
    The
mid-wife bowed, then went back into the room, followed by Shun-sheng and Mei.
Her daughter-in-law, Lin, lay exhausted on the bed, but with a glow that only
mother’s understood. She stretched her arms out, and Shun-sheng handed her the
baby. Lin placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.
    “So,
what will you name him?” asked Mei.
    Shun-sheng
held Lin’s hand and smiled at her, then looked at Mei.
    “We
shall name him after my uncle, Zedong. Mao Zedong.”
    Mei
leaned over the bed and stroked little Zedong’s cheek.
    “I think
he is destined for great things.”
     

 
     
     
    Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Detroit, Michigan
    Six days ago
     
    “Welcome back. For those of you just tuning in, we’re at Detroit
Metro Airport, awaiting the arrival of our Dream Vacation winners, husband and
wife Deniz and Alex Berkin, who should be coming through those gates any moment
now, returning from their dream vacation, an all-expenses paid trip to
China. People have been streaming out the doors for a few minutes now, so we
should see them any moment and we’ll find out how their vacation went. While we
wait, here’s a reminder of how it all started.”
    Steve
Madely pulled the headphones off as a recording of the phone call he had made to
the winning household was played. He turned to his partner in crime, Shelley
McLean.
    “Have we
heard anything?”
    She
shook her head and beckoned one of their colleagues over. Rob Snow left a small
gaggle of VIPs, including the station manager, several sponsors, and a
representative from the airline.
    “Anything?”
asked Madely.
    Snow
shook his head. “Nothing. And the airline isn’t being too helpful. They won’t
confirm if they even got on the plane. They’re citing privacy laws.”
    “What
are we going to do?” asked Madely. “I can’t drag this out much longer.”
    “Let’s
just go with the next segment, and we’ll come back to this—”
    “Rob!”
    The
station manager was waving and Madely turned to see that another airline
representative had arrived, a frown on her face.
    “This
doesn’t look good,” he muttered to Shelley.
    “Look at
the kids.”
    Madely
turned his head slightly and saw the Berkin’s two adult children standing,
their own tots clearly restless, talking to an airline representative.
    “But
that’s impossible!” exclaimed the son, whose name escaped Madely at the moment.
    Rob Snow
rushed up to them.
    “They
weren’t on the plane!” he hissed as he took a knee between the two hosts.
    “You’re
kidding me!” Shelley shook her head. “How the hell do you miss your flight in
this day and age?”
    “Has
anybody reached them? Are we sure they’re okay?” asked Madely, his mind
immediately putting on his reporter hat, rather than host hat.
    Snow
shook his head. “No, that’s just the thing. They haven’t been heard from in several
days. I just spoke to the tour organizer, and she said they didn’t show up for
a planned event yesterday, and they confirmed they never boarded the plane.”
    “And the
hotel?” asked Madely.
    “Hasn’t
seen them in over a week.”
    Madely
had a sinking feeling. They’re dead. He made eye contact with Shelley,
and could tell she was thinking the same thing.
    “What do
we tell our audience?” she asked.
    “We tell
them the truth,” said Madely. “But only what we know for sure, which is that
they aren’t here, and apparently missed their flight, to which we’ll chalk it
up to having too good a time, and move on with