THE RANCH HAND: Eighty-Third in a Series of Jess Williams Westerns (A Jess Williams Western Book 83)

Jess finds himself in a gun battle with the crafty outlaw, Lewis Crocker, in Hempstead, Texas. Crocker has already shot the town marshal and escapes Jess’s grip. Jess eventually tracks Crocker to the town of Furman, but again, Crocker slips through his fingers. Worse, the outlaw uses dynamite to try to kill his pursuer. Jess sees the ambush in time to save himself, but his two horses are slightly wounded.

While in Furman, a ranch hand working for a cattle baron finds Jess and offers him money to just talk with his boss, Adam Thatcher. Jess, knowing his horses won’t be able to ride hard for a few days anyway while they are tended to, agrees to the meeting.

Thatcher had originally wanted to hire Jess to transport his daughter, Ruby, to Topeka, Kansas, but when Jess arrives, Ruby has run off with one of the ranch hands. Jess agrees to borrow a horse from Thatcher and find out where his daughter is, but things get complicated. The man Ruby is in love with is a kind-hearted fellow and Jess doesn’t want to hurt him. Separating the two seems impossible.

Jess begins the task of escorting Ruby to Topeka. Along the way, trouble pops up again and again, making Jess’s job more dangerous. Meanwhile the elusive and crafty killer, Lewis Crocker, gets farther and farther from his grasp; however, as always, Jess is not one to give up easily.

• RED: Eighty-Second in a Series of Jess Williams Westerns (A Jess Williams Western Book 82)
• THE BOONE GANG: Eighty-Fourth in a Series of Jess Williams Westerns (A Jess Williams Western Book 84)
• JUSTICE REIGNS: Eighty-First in a Series of Jess Williams Westerns (A Jess Williams Western Book 81)
• WOUNDED: Eightieth in a Series of Jess Williams Westerns (A Jess Williams Western Book 80)
• AGAINST ALL ODDS: Eighty-Fifth in a Series of Jess Williams Westerns (A Jess Williams Western Book 85)
• BERKSHIRE: Seventy-Ninth in a Series of Jess Williams Westerns (A Jess Williams Western Book 79)
• SCHOOLMARM: Seventy-Eighth in a Series of Jess Williams Westerns (A Jess Williams Western Book 78)
• THE GUARDIAN: Seventy-Seventh in a Series of Jess Williams Westerns (A Jess Williams Western Book 77)
• THE APPRENTICE: Seventy-Sixth in a Series of Jess Williams Westerns (A Jess Williams Western Book 76)
• LEAD JURY: Seventy-Fifth in a Series of Jess Williams Westerns (A Jess Williams Western Book 75)