Last Train Out

Clay Desno -- recently separated from his wife, Pamela -- takes their adopted daughter, Jenna, on a "homeland tour" to Russia. It's a tradition for foreign-adopted kids like herself. Jenna's intentions, however, are nothing like what either parent imagined.
When prior commitments prevent Pamela from joining them, Clay is both furious and heart-broken. Refusing to give up on their marriage, he had hoped to make this a reconciliation tour ... for all of them. Once in-country, Clay's attractive female tour guide is a nice distraction, but she can't be trusted.
When Jenna goes missing, and Clay receives the kidnapper's call, his worst fears come true. His daughter is gone, and he is alone, halfway around the world, barely able speak or even read the language. The kidnapper's laugh haunts him as he scours the city searching for his daughter.
With no idea what she's getting into, Pamela drops everything and comes to the rescue when she hears the horrible news. Does their daughter even want to be rescued, though? Their only hope now is to catch the Last Train Out.

I was born the night after Halloween in Sacramento, California, though we lived in Folsom near the prison. According to legend, if I had been born just one day earlier I would have been able to "see and talk to spirits." Instead, I only hear voices.
My first "critical acclaim" occurred in high school when my creative writing teacher praised my story's opening line: "The neighbor's yard looked like a three-day beard." The teacher said, "You may never write anything good again, but that is a great line!" I was happy to hear this, but of course focused on the eerily prescient "...may never write anything good again..."
After a decade-long detour in Los Angeles, I have been calling middle Tennessee home for the past 25+ years. I am married, with a young daughter, an old cat, an even older pug, and now, our daughter's Boston Terrier puppy.
I was joking about hearing voices, by the way. My humor is sometimes difficult to detect. The point of my stories is often difficult to detect, too, but are inspired by my greatest fears and/or frustrations. Writing things down in a safely fictionalized way helps me to better understand myself and the world around me. It's a sort of DIY exorcism.
My available titles are "The Lazy Pug Cafe," "Another Way: Beyond the Status Quo," "Last Train Out," "Lottery President," "Operation Detour," and "Temporary Insanity."