Outlaws of the West #45

Years of hate transformed Texas Ranger Brett Melody into a grim, joyless shell of a man—all because of a betrayal from his childhood that cost him everything, including the woman he loved. When duty brings him back to his hometown of Tumbleweed with a prisoner in tow, Brett discovers the object of his vengeance is finally within reach, and the moment he's lived for is at hand. In "Bullet Bait," a man consumed by years of rage must confront not just his enemy, but what that rage has made of himself.

Texas Ranger Bill Dawes infiltrates a hidden camp of gunrunners and Native American warriors on the Texas frontier, where he confronts the ruthless Russian outlaw Goganoff—but his attempt to capture the man alive sets off a chain of explosions that forces a daring escape. With the camp's ammunition and dynamite destroyed, Ranger Dawes links up with Captain Ethan Hill and the ranger company to mount a coordinated strike while Goganoff hunts the man who humiliated him. This tense tale of frontier justice pits one ranger's cunning against an outlaw desperate enough to bet everything on a final confrontation.

When Ranger Ross Bell arrives in town to keep the peace, he faces suspicion from those who see only his Cheyenne heritage—especially Jake Grove, a man whose hatred of Indians runs deep after a tragic raid claimed his wife. When the stagecoach carrying Grove's own daughter comes under attack by hostile Cheyenne, Ross must prove that his loyalty to his duty as a lawman matters far more than the blood that runs through his veins. As Grove's prejudice threatens to destroy the very person he's trying to protect, the ranger has a chance to show that character transcends race.

A decade of rage fuels Lance Hanover's quest for vengeance against Sharpe Dunlap, the gunslinger who murdered his father and now controls the town of Destiny through fear. Determined to even the odds against a man legendary for his speed, Lance devotes years to mastering guncraft and engineering an edge—a swiveled holster that fires with mechanical precision—before finally tracking down his quarry. When the reckoning comes, a young man armed with ingenuity faces a ruthless tyrant in a confrontation that will test whether preparation can overcome raw, deadly experience.