Behind the Neon — Vaughn F. Keller

Sure, he'd taught criminology and martial arts for twenty-five years, but could he make it in the real world? That's the question that plagues Dr. Francis Xavier Kelley when he retires and joins Nutmeg Protection and Investigations. The owners find him a case no one else wants. For good reason. Twenty-one year old Judy has been gone for three years. The police don't care. The only reason her mother cares now is because of her new husband -- a wealthy widower dedicated to his own children who encourages his wife to reconcile with her daughter. Kelly's search for Judy takes him into a world he barely knew existed. Judy has been living in a network of strippers, drugs, prostitution, slavery, and violence. And now she is on the run. She doesn't make it easy. Neither does her pimp, who will kill her if he can find her. All of Kelly's skills and knowledge will be needed if he is to find Judy first. With his companion, a large black German Shepherd named Ma Hergen's Boston Noir, Kelly follows Judy from the suburbs of Connecticut to the pay for sex worlds of Tampa and Miami as he searches for Judy as well as himself.