Embrey Denman is a desperate man. After a harrowing journey across Montana Territory with his family, he makes a hasty stop in a depraved mining town in search of protection and turns to the first and only qualified man for the job-a gunfighter called Cincinnati. Three thousand dollars and a handshake later, Embrey and his family are back on the road to Missoula led by a man who he will soon discover is one of the deadliest alive. During their first stop, Embrey's daughter-a beautiful and intelligent young woman named Lizzy-begins to admire their new gun-toting guardian and quickly realizes he could be her ticket to a new life. When she witnesses Cincinnati gun down a group of outlaws in a bloodbath, the incident doesn't diminish her desire for the gunfighter-it only intensifies it. As he travels a long and dangerous road full of roadagents and killers, Embrey can't decide if he's bought his own private savior or made a deal with the devil.