Decket had a tiger by the tail when he arrested notorious killer Shotgun Travers. But Decket had asked for it. He had been wearing a U. S. Marshal's badge when he was nothing of the sort. He was a small-town peace officer who had used the badge to his own ends, forcing bigger men than he to bend to his will. But now the tables had turned...

Dan Wade left Big Bill Krask's Double K Ranch because there was little chance for advancement when everything Big Bill did was to benefit his son and heir, Little Bill. Then a letter comes to Wade in Abilene from Marshal William Krask, asking him to come back and help out. Wade returns to find that much has changed: The marshal is not Big Bill, but his son Little Bill. And the great enemy to law and order is Big Bill and his gang of hardcases.