John Henry Cole is an operative of Ike Kelly’s Detective Agency, based out of Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory. But after a deadly assignment in Deadwood, Cole decides he needs to pursue a different line of work. Then Ike Kelly is murdered and no one seems to have any idea who might have done it. Leo Foxx, the town marshal, is so disinterested in the crime that he has yet to start an investigation. So Cole decides to start his own.

Stumped, Cole happens to run into an old friend, bounty hunter Will Harper, stopping over briefly in Cheyenne. Harper is tracking Leviticus Book, a black man wanted for several murders, with a sizable reward on his head. Book is a prime suspect in Kelly’s murder, especially since he seems to have been in Cheyenne at the same time. Harper warns Cole that not only is Book armed and dangerous, he is also highly skilled in avoiding the law. Discounting the danger, Cole joins Harper in the pursuit.