Chrome and Bone

A corpse in a rural self-storage lot drags small-town investigator Caleb Mercer into a conspiracy that bleeds across county lines and into the halls of power. What begins as a routine identification, working with coroner contacts and local figures like Birdie Jo Tanner and Gerald Fitch, quickly spirals when the dead man's ties surface to a murdered judge, a corrupt congressman, and a casino owner with bodies buried in his ledgers. As Caleb digs alongside allies including Hector Vargas, Renee Mercer, and reluctant federal hand Agent Kowalski, the case circles back to ghosts Caleb thought he'd buried: the memory of Dominic Hale, the weight of Hector's past, and the unmarked driver of a black Suburban who keeps surfacing at the wrong moments. With Denny Park leaking tips and Seamus Donovan circling for leverage, Caleb must choose between the safety of his family and the cost of pulling the thread that could bring the whole rotten tapestry down. In a county where every official has a price, the only currency left is the truth, and someone is already counting how many bodies it's worth.