WL Cox's Books

Hunt's life stays hectic as he balances business with lawkeeping, starting with a courtroom battle against newspaperman Jason Fellows, who claims Horse tried to kill him. A family weekend in Green River turns into a work trip when Hunt has to step in and resolve the growing problem, giving Fellows fresh ammunition to accuse the law of abusing its power. Meanwhile, Hunt sends his men on a mission of mercy to help a lawman hold off a lynch mob threatening his prisoner.

Hunt travels to Green River, impressed by the training progress there, and is soon offered the chance to buy the Wiseman ranch in Cottontail Gulch at a surprisingly good price, though he's unsure what he'd do with it. His men take on a bank robbery case, quickly suspecting the wounded local sheriff of being involved. Meanwhile, Hunt leads his men into New Mexico to confront a Mexican militia raiding ranches and killing families, but when his request for Army backup goes unanswered, he and his men are left to face the armed force alone.

Hunt and Roberto return to Denver to a telegram confirming Roberto's amnesty, along with praise from Colonel Markland and President Grant. Hunt sets Roberto up on the Clydesdale ranch, where he quickly proves himself capable. Back home, Hunt takes ownership of a large cattle herd that promptly stampedes through town. Meanwhile, his men race to Grand Junction to stop a gang of marauders tearing through towns, ranches, and Wells Fargo stations, robbing banks and killing lawmen along the way, including in Green River, where they hijack a train after their rampage. Despite warnings reaching Grand Junction ahead of them, the gang strikes again, and Hunt sends his men after the seven outlaws before they can do more damage.

Hunt's adventures continue as he and his men track criminals and protect the vulnerable. Ike returns from training with a changed outlook toward his family, put to the test when two cousins arrive in Denver intent on killing him for leaving. Hunt defuses the situation by hiring the cousins on at Green River under the farming manager. As he moves forward with plans for a new hotel in Salt Lake City, Hunt finds himself alone with his thoughts, weighing whether it's time to retire and focus on the ranches or keep serving as U.S. Marshal.

Torn between his growing empire and his work, Hunt decides to get back into the field, riding along on missions again. He soon confronts a corrupt mayor, sheriff, and deputies terrorizing a county and killing anyone who won't sell out. He also leads his men after a gang responsible for a brutal ranch raid, tracking stolen cattle to a shootout, then burying the dead and returning the livestock home. Afterward, a minister begs him to release son Hunt imprisoned so he can attend seminary, but the boy himself refuses to go.

Hunt helps a minister keep his son out of prison, giving the young man a fresh start on his cattle ranch. He and his men then head to Fairplay, where three ruthless killers have seized control of a mining town, posing as pastor and sheriff and murdering anyone who defies their brutal rules. Hunt's team also assists two Smithsonian scientists driven off government land after discovering a rare dinosaur fossil, before rushing to Durango to save a sheriff protecting a prisoner from a lynch mob. They arrive too late to prevent tragedy, and one of Hunt's best men is shot in a violent night gone wrong.

Hunt and his men keep clearing the plains of thieves and killers. In Denver when Ike Tolby's family arrives asking about Cole Tolby and his mother, only to be stunned seeing Ike now wearing a U.S. Deputy Marshal badge. Meanwhile, a family shows up claiming they bought land in a valley that turns out to belong to Hunt, prompting his trip to Michigan to track down the con man selling his property with forged deeds.

Hunt eases back into work after Green River, riding along on missions again. A tip about a Georgia bandit hiding in Denver sends him digging through Sheriff Drake's office for a wanted poster, though the vague sketch makes the man nearly impossible to pick out of a crowd. Meanwhile, a deadly train robbery near Grand Junction kills two railroad workers, and Hunt leads a long pursuit that ends in a tense standoff at a remote canyon, where the bandits hold a dangerous advantage until Gray Wolf comes up with a solution that saves the day.

Hunt and Ace escort the piano to Salt Lake City, joined along the way by Beth, the children, and architect William Henry Miller, who realizes the hotel's display area isn't grand enough for such a magnificent instrument. Both Hunt and pianist Jules Frigman are impressed by the hotel's progress. Back in Denver, Hunt joins his men in tracking marauding vaqueros hitting southern Colorado, and as the team juggles several missions, U.S. Marshal Director Earl Jefferson arrives with devastating news.

Hunt and the family return from Salt Lake City as new marshal recruits arrive for the Utah office, but one graduate rubs Hunt the wrong way, leading to a fired graduate, a fistfight, and an angry father who happens to be a U.S. Congressman determined to see Hunt lose his job. Amid the fallout, Hunt buys a Percheron horse ranch and finds a family to run it, but disaster strikes when a grizzly bear attacks him on the trail. Hunt manages to kill the bear, but ends up pinned beneath it and his horse at the bottom of a cliff, rushed to the hospital with severe injuries.

Hunt's recovery drags on, worrying everyone, especially Beth. Earl arrives from Chicago to take charge and assign the men to tough new cases, but after two weeks with Hunt still in a coma, he has to hand the Denver office to Ace and return to his own duties. Meanwhile, old friend Charles Crawford senses in prayer that someone close to him is dying, and without knowing who, rushes to Denver where he plays an unexpected role in Hunt's recovery. Elsewhere, the deputies return from a mission with a woman rescued from a killer, and during one of his visits, Earl finds himself falling for her.

Hunt's slow recovery wears on him as Ace and the team thrive without him, leaving Hunt to wonder if he's still essential. Earl arrives at the end of Hunt's leave to check on his return. Hunt also works to convince Junior to spend a year in Indiana learning the pig business. A tense telegram from Salt Lake City's mayor questions why Hunt isn't hiring more devout Mormons, while a mission to Utah tracks down an escaped convict hiding under a false name near the Henry Mountains. Closer to home, Hunt hires four brothers for the Green River farms, only to discover one robbed the hotel bar and badly hurt young bartender Danny, leaving Hunt questioning whether hiring them was a mistake.