The Hollow Badge

In the stratified republic of Carvania, Leo Draper claws his way from the servant quarters of a decaying manor house toward a career in law enforcement, desperate to scrub away the stain of poverty. When a narcotics task force offers him a clandestine path to a detective’s shield, he fabricates evidence against a quiet mechanic named Liam O’Connell. The ensuing no-knock raid leaves O’Connell dead and a community in flames. As a wrongful-death suit grinds through the courts, Leo discovers that the ambition that lifted him has also hollowed him out, setting the stage for a reckoning from which no badge can shield him.