Trinidad, New Mexico, is an oasis of civilization in an untamed desert ruled by outlaws, bank robbers and horse thieves. Sheriff Harry Gauge rules his town with an iron fist, a fast gun, and an unbridled thirst for power. George Cullen sweated blood to carve a ranch from the wilderness. He'd rather take a bullet to the gut than give in to the greedy sheriff's land grab. But a cattle empire isn't all Gauge wants--he also has his eye on Cullen's beautiful daughter, Willa. Cullen gets word out that he's hiring the fastest gunslinger money can buy to take on the sheriff. When a stranger rides in, townsfolk wonder if this is the rancher's hired gun. Wherever he came from, wherever he's going, two things are clear--the stranger won't be pushed... and his aim is deadly.