A RANSOM THAT CAN ONLY BE PAID IN BLOOD - BOOK TWO IN JEFFREY J. MARIOTTE'S ACTION-FILLED WESTERN SERIES.

Eleanor Bishop's Empress Ranch is a sanctuary for women who need one. Susan McKittrick seems to be one of those women. But Susan disappears from the ranch, and Rip McKittrick, the father she ran away from, gets a ransom demand that he can't afford to pay. Eleanor comes up with the money and asks Cody Cavanaugh and Freeman Douglas to deliver it to the kidnappers and retrieve Susan.

Things rarely go as planned for Cody, and the ransom delivery is no different. Now, without the money or the young woman, Cody sets his sights on Rip McKittrick, who is spending money he didn't have before to buy up businesses and hire gunmen to protect his newfound wealth and influence.

Suddenly the most important man in town, McKittrick makes himself mayor and installs an outlaw as the town marshal. The town becomes a haven for outlaw gangs, and Cody and Freeman need to clean it up. But doing so won't be easy or cheap-and this time, the payment will be in blood.