From the moment Jim Reed drove the stage into the wild town of Outpost, he was in constant danger. In the stage were two men--one dead and the other the dying. The dying man lived long enough to tell the doctor what had happened. The dead man was Johnny Drennan, a cowhand who worked for Brad Gulistan, one of Outpost's largest ranchers. Reed identified Drennan as one of the outlaws who had shot up the stage. Immediately Harry Wright, owner of the large Slash W ranch, accused Gulistan of secretly leading the gang of outlaws that have been terrorizing Outpost with rustlings and killings. Gulistan, in turn, hotly accused Wright of trying to start a range war with his wild talk and accused Reed of not telling a straight story. Soon Reed discovered his deputy US marshal's badge that had been hidden in his pocket was missing. He had been sent to investigate talk of a clash between the large ranching outfits, as well as rumors about Jack Braley's wild bunch. He had hoped to remain under cover, but soon someone would find the badge and figure out who it belonged to, and the badge would put an even bigger target on his back.