Shades of Mercy by Bruce Borgos

Shades of Mercy: A Porter Beck Mystery.  This novel is set in the desert of Nevada.  Sheriff Porter Beck has returned home and has joined the local Sheriff's office. He is part of a twelve-person department that covers a large area.  It is usually very quiet.  But it has changed lately; one of his childhood friends met his death through the use of strong illegal opioids. 

And another childhood friend—now a very successful rancher—is targeted by a military drone. Beck discovers that this military drone was hacked and commandeered by an unknown source. The hacker is apparently local—local enough to call out Beck by name—and that means they are Beck's problem.

Beck's investigation leads him to Mercy Vaughn, the one known hacker in the area. The problem is that she's a teenager, locked up with no computer access at the secure juvenile detention center. But there's something about Mercy that doesn't sit quite right with Beck. But when Mercy disappears, Beck understands that she's in danger and time is running out for all of them.

 

Source: A significant portion of this review is taken from the Indigo website at the following link:

https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/shades-of-mercy-a-porter-beck-mystery/9781250848093.html