Tap Duvarney lost his innocence in the War Between the States and then put his skills to the test as a soldier in the frontier army. Now he has settled on the Texas coast, working a ranch as the partner of his old friend Tom Kittery, and finding himself in the middle of a feud between Kittery and the neighboring Munson family. But the danger from outside Kittery's camp is nothing compared to the threat within, as Duvarney begins to suspect that Kittery's woman isn't everything she appears to be.