Someone is rustling livestock from two of the largest cattle operations in the Short Creek basin and everyone is busy pointing the finger at his neighbour Elias Fagan, a drifting cowboy with experience working with the law, has agreed to look into the situation and quickly finds himself caught smack dab in the middle It's swiftly made clear that catching the rustlers won't be easy Nobody is supposed to know anything about Fagan but before he even reaches Short Creek someone tries to ambush him Then in town no more than an hour, he is savagely beaten To add to his troubles outlaw members of the old Hole-in-the-Wall gang turn up and recognise him Maybe, he realises, there is more going on than just cattle theft