"Carpetbagger Justin Hornsworth had grown to wealth exploiting the spoils of the post-civil war South. He had also grown over-confident and arrogant in his criminal successes. Following the scent of gold and silver, he made his way west fully self-assured of his attaining further wealth. Getting off the stage in Fort Collins, Hornsworth learns of the Pelletier family who owns the most valuable piece of property on the Cache la Poudre River. Setting his sights on stealing the property, he calls in his Atlanta partner and a gang of cutthroats to help him run the Pelletiers off. A disastrous move on his part, Hornsworth vows revenge against the Pelletiers and kidnaps women of the family with intentions to sell them to a white slaver on a Mississippi riverboat bound for New Orleans. Across the plains of Colorado and Kansas, the Pelletier men pursue them. If they fail the women will be lost forever. As Jean put it, 'This dirty business can have only one end, our women home safe and unharmed, and my bullet in Justin Hornsworth's black heart'."--Back cover.