Free Flower Girl: A Burton Family Mystery by David Marshall Hunt Page A

got married in a small Catholic church in a village south of Manila. They contributed greatly to my recovery and my sobriety.
    Â "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