An Absentee Life — Scott Reed

The second part of the Fragments series finds Darrell Hutchings running from one mirage to another. Disappointed very briefly after arriving in Las vegas, he picks up his life and throws it into the gutter to keep chasing a mirage. After destroying what he had set out to do, he settles into a mundane life in Las Vegas, until a fateful road trip changes everything. Bound by a lingering sense of duty and honor, he makes a difficult decision to risk more than just a job or some pride. It becomes time to meet his fate and he struggles with the potential. Gail has disappeared and no one knows she has been taken to Japan to be a sex slave; a prostitute for the wealthy. She left behind no clues and no one knows anything about her disappearance. Her two friends, Jesse, and Aaron continue to look, but neither has the resources to do more than knock on doors in Las Vegas.