Dead Man's Trail

Inside the book

The story begins here.

A herd crosses Bowen's south section before daylight, but the ground does not carry the confusion of ordinary cattle theft. Six riders kept the animals in a controlled line from Two Forks into the broken country. One of them left the others long enough to wait above the trail with a Sharps rifle trained on anyone who followed.

United States Marshal Walker Davis has worn the badge long enough to recognize men who planned for the law before committing the crime. They chose their route carefully, watched their back trail, and placed a rifleman where a pursuing marshal would have to pass. Whoever they answer to expects Walker to come after them.

The chase carries Walker across more territory than one horse can cover. He works from one man to the next, matching names against tracks, testimony, and the lies told in every settlement along the way. Each answer sends him farther into the broken country while the riders ahead separate, regroup, and try to close the trail behind them.

What began with a stolen herd soon points toward a man whose name has survived every arrest made beneath him. Walker knows that reaching him will require more than following tracks. It will mean dismantling the line one rider at a time while someone with a long rifle waits for another chance to stop him.

The farther Walker rides, the clearer the purpose of the trail becomes. The men ahead are not simply escaping. They are leading him toward a reckoning prepared long before he crossed Bowen's land.

Dead Man's Trail is Book Three of the four-book Walker Davis Westerns.