The Girl from Cali

A missing girl, a desperate grandfather, and a P.I. hell-bent on bringing them back together-can one man's pursuit of justice stop a ruthless gang of human traffickers?When the school year begins, one senior is notably absent: Maya Chavez, the new transfer student from Southern California. Her estranged grandpa suspects something sinister has occurred and is desperate to find her. She was last seen at the annual end-of-summer party, but no one is willing to discuss her disappearance. When the local police refuse to investigate since she turned eighteen years old, he turns to family friend and former Marine turned private investigator Nick Fischer for help. The investigation plunges Nick into a cesspool of human traffickers backed by a Mexican cartel. Everyone willing to talk ends up dead.Recovering from the gunshot wound that ended his last case, Nick pieces together Maya's movements from small-town Fredericksburg to the seedy underbelly of San Antonio, where she's caught in the lair of the Dragon, the charismatic leader of an extensive drug and human trafficking operation. Nick targets the gang's network of money laundering operations to force her release. However, Dragon has powerful allies connected to corrupt local officials and businessmen who will stop at nothing to protect their own links to the trade, including placing Nick at the top of their hit list.With his physical strength waning and Dragon's ruthless allies closing in, can Nick free Maya before she's sold to the highest bidder and whisked out of the country without a trace?

Pages: 346, Hardcover, Frio Press