Carved into the rugged landscape of the Big Bend region by the hoofs of galloping horses bearing desperate men, it crosses the muddy waters of the Rio Grande into Mexico, where freedom-of a kind-can be found. Ten years ago, Jim Markle rode the trail south, fleeing for his life. Now he's coming home with a new name: Stormy Knight. For years, young Jim had chafed under his stepfather's whip. Everything changed the night he gunned down the evil old man. Now a battle-tested gunslinger with a stern countenance, Stormy Knight is unrecognizable to all who knew him as a boy. He forfeited his inheritance the night he rode across the border. Now he's ready claim it-even if it means killing once more.