Rocky Lane Western #45

When a band of settlers headed for a new home faces a desperate Indian attack after taking a dangerous shortcut, a wounded pioneer named Webster makes a harrowing ride to town to fetch Rocky Lane and a rescue posse. But Webster's heroism earns him an unexpected honor—elected mayor of the settlers' new home—and that unexpected turn of fortune plants the seeds of a murderous revenge plot that only Rocky can stop in time.

Dee Dickens stands up to Toughy, the overbearing bully who lords over everyone in town, by sharing a cautionary tale about a lion who learns the hard way that not everyone will bow to his rule. When Toughy dismisses the lesson and tries to prove his dominance, Dee shows him exactly what happens when you push the wrong person—and the town gets its peace back.

Rocky Lane faces a frame-up when he's arrested for the murder of Burt Nelson, a bullying rancher, just hours after a heated confrontation with him—but the real killers are among Nelson's own relatives at the Walking T Ranch, who stand to gain the fortune in jewels locked away there. Racing against the clock to prove his innocence before justice miscarries, Rocky must outsmart a conspiracy of greed, betrayal, and a woman willing to turn the tables on her own partners. A tense western mystery where the lawman becomes the hunted, and only cunning and his trusty horse can clear his name.

When gold is struck in the abandoned Thompson Hills, Rocky Lane rides in to keep the peace—only to uncover a scheme by a ruthless gambler named Gerard and his men to force out the local restaurant owner and seize his property. Rocky confronts Gerard directly, but finds himself outnumbered and in mortal danger as the criminals plan to silence him permanently.