As the nation moves closer to a civil war a brutal murder sends Deputy U.S. Marshal John Franklin Harrison after two men: a desperado called Creek Jack and John's own brother, Amos Adam Harrison. His foray takes him into the Cherokee Nation where a deadly ambush nearly costs him his life. In the Cherokee Nation, John meets a Cherokee beauty named Rose Bennett. His feelings for the young woman plunge him deeper into the violence that divides the Cherokees. The manhunt takes John from the Indian Nations to the arid and sparsely populated lands of West Tesas. The two men he chases join forces with a bandit named Imoke, pitting John against a formidable pair that taxes his resources and his resolve. In time, he descovers the challenge of tracking and apprehending dangerous men may be outweighed by the doubts that are building in his own heart. These doubts cause him to question his chosen profession.