A woman's scream draws Luke Steele into a fight that could cost him everything.

The solitary trapper finds Pluma, a courageous young Zuni woman, bound and helpless at the mercy of four former Confederate soldiers. Steele sets her free at gunpoint?only to discover that her captors are ruthless killers. Pluma witnessed them rob a stagecoach and slaughter everyone aboard, and they will stop at nothing to silence her.

But an even deadlier enemy is already closing in.

The Apache war chief Bear Claw had intended to take Pluma as his wife. Now he wants revenge against the woman who escaped him., and the white man who stands between them. With his warriors in pursuit, Steele must guide Pluma through treacherous mountain country where every pass may conceal an ambush.

Then comes word that Bear Claw has raided an Army outpost, seized its weapons and stolen a wagonload of dynamite. His target is Rimrock; the fiercely Confederate town that branded Steele a traitor and drove him out for fighting with the Union.

Steele owes Rimrock nothing. Yet hundreds of lives depend upon his warning.

Forced to return to the place where old enemies still rule, Steele finds himself caught between an Apache war party outside the town and murderers within it. As bullets tear through the streets and betrayal threatens the defenders, he must fight to save a woman condemned by both sides and a town whose people may gladly sacrifice them to save themselves.