George Houston's line of work carries with it a degree of infamy, a presage of danger and it's not long before his peaceable ride through Utah is cut dramatically short. After a rare bank robbery and the killing of one of its leading businessmen, the town of Bullhead is angry and wound up. But Agnes Jarrow believes it's not the work of the young hothead who breaks free of the town jail. She shares personal misgivings, thoughts that Houston can't ignore, offers a contract that's hard to turn down. With his movements being documented by a man with his sights on becoming a diarist and storyteller, up against a band of seemingly law-abiding townsmen, Houston has to find a way to satisfy more than one protagonist. When he sets off on a perilous search for Billy Carrick, he has to decide if he is making the affair a personal issue, collecting payment for a completed assignment, or assisting the town sheriff to carry out a lawful duty.