No critter is lower than a soldier who murders his own. But Jess Fairly had done just that -- killed his buddies to grab a paymaster's gold. With it, he'd bought himself a new identity and became mining magnate Ben Maule. He owned an entire Arizona town and an army of hired guns. Lieutenant Pete Brisbin had a simple mission: bring the deserter to justice. And there was only one way to do that. He'd have to brawl and shoot his way into the town of Banning and become Ben Maule's most trusted man.