Jess is on the hunt for Lyle Dailey, which takes him to the town of Raleigh. When he gets there, Dailey is already gone.
He heads out after him and comes across a widowed woman by the name of Violet living alone in a small cabin and barn. She informs him that Dailey had tried to approach her, but that she ran him off with her rifle.
When Jess heads back out on the trail, Dailey sees him coming and ambushes him. Violet finds him on the trail not far from her cabin. He’s been shot in the shoulder, but still alive.
She tends to his wound at her cabin, joined by the town nurse. Once he’s well enough to travel, they take him to the hotel in Raleigh.
Meanwhile, a cattle baron by the name of Felton Vanover has been attempting to buy her land to get access to the river running through it. Frustrated, he goes out to make another offer, but when he finds her missing, he orders two of his hired guns to burn her place to the ground.
When Jess finds out that the woman who saved his life has lost everything, he vows to make things right one way or another, as soon as he’s well enough.
United States Marshal Frank Reedy travels to Raleigh to watch over Jess and sends John Bodine to the town of Newell, where they think Lyle Dailey is heading. Bodine kills Dailey and then travels to Raleigh to be with Jess.
Problems mount when other gunslingers find out Jess is staying in Raleigh and they start coming for him. If that wasn’t enough, he ends up in a war with Vanover and his hired killers.
Jess is after the cold-blooded killer, Tom Walker, who seems to prefer a bowie knife as his weapon of choice. He comes close to catching him several times, but Walker proves to be a much more elusive prey than most.
To make matters worse, Walker leaves a trail of innocent victims in his wake, and Jess is faced with other setbacks along the way that makes it harder to finally catch the killer.
Jess is on the trail of Ivan Bush, which takes him to the town of Bravo, Texas. On his way, he meets a widow by the name of Penny, who lives outside of town. He befriends her and stays in her place for the night.
After he leaves Bravo, he discovers that two outlaws robbed Penny and beat her to within an inch of her life. He returns to Bravo and arranges for her to be taken care of before heading out on the hunt for the two men who committed the crime.
Then, a United States senator is murdered and the president of the United States offers a five-thousand-dollar reward. Jess goes after the man who killed him.
Along the way, he meets another bounty hunter who wants in on the hunt…but he’s not the only one.
Deputy United States Mashal Frank Reedy sends Jess on a special assignment to track down and kill a vicious murderer by the name of Trey Ward.
Jess travels to Andrew, Texas, in search of Ward, but he’s not there. He runs into two of Ward’s friends. They know where he is, but they’re not talking.
Jess is not one to give up easily. Eventually, he tracks down Ward and his two companions after they commit a brutal stagecoach robbery. Then, he’s sent on another assignment from Reedy.
The town of Bender, Texas, has become rife with drifters and violent outlaws. The federal marshal who had been sent there to clean up the town has been murdered. Jess travels to Bender and takes over the law in town until another federal marshal can get there.
As soon as the second federal marshal arrives in Bender, Jess goes on the hunt for the two men who murdered the first federal marshal. After tracking them down, he’s sent back to Bender again because the second federal marshal has been wounded in yet another ambush attack.
When the job is finally finished, the local cemetery has a lot of fresh graves.
Jess is on his way to Shelbyville on the hunt for Scott Carroll when he encounters a raging windstorm. He changes direction to the abandoned town of Worley to seek shelter for himself and his horses.
After getting into the deserted livery in Worley, he discovers he’s actually not alone. A young woman and her son are hiding inside. They have been traveling on foot and have no food left. He finds out that woman and her son have been abused by the boy’s father.
He takes them to the town of Shelbyville, where the town marshal helps her and her son settle there. However, Scott Carroll isn’t in Shelbyville and Jess has to travel to Linden in search of him.
On another hunt, Jess discovers a second bounty hunter is after the same man. A deal is made, but things don’t go as planned, forcing Jess to make things right.
He returns to Shelbyville, only to find the marshal has been wounded and the woman he helped was beaten and robbed. He discovers that the boy’s father and his two cohorts are the ones who did it.