Jess parted from the gunslinger Deacon and was now on the hunt for a wanted man by the name of Ron Johnson. He was a malevolent killer who had raped and murdered a woman with child.
After putting Johnson in the grave where he belonged, he continues his hunt for ruthless killers. His travels take him to the town of Hugely, where a man, who is wrongly believed to be Burt Logan, is in the town jail accused of murdering an unarmed man.
Jess determines that the man is telling the truth. He’s the identical twin brother of Burt Logan and his name is George.
Believing his story, Jess convinces the town marshal to let him take George into federal custody until he can find his brother Burt.
His task becomes a tough one, with townspeople wanting to kill or lynch George along the way. On top of that, he has to contend with other bounty hunters who want to kill George for the bounty on Burt’s head, and they don’t care if he’s the wrong man.
Jess rides out of the town of Raleigh, leaving John Bodine and Frank Reedy. He’s now on the hunt for Sidney Meyer. His hunt eventually takes him to the town of Bruin, where he finally kills him.
In Bruin, he meets a gambler by the name of Deacon, who had come to town to play in a high stakes poker game there, but the safe in the saloon is robbed before the game starts.
The gamblers pay Jess to hunt the four men responsible for the robbery and Jess allows Deacon, who had worked as a bounty hunter in the past, to join him.
During the long and deadly hunt, Jess discovers that Deacon will gamble on just about anything…even their lives.
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.