Clay Darringer should have known from the start that Katherine Turner would be trouble. Any fool could have told him he'd be better off walking away when he found the beautiful, dazed young woman wandering in the desert unescorted. Katherine is the sole survivor of an outlaw attack, and once the killers find out she is still alive, her life won't be worth a plugged nickel. But the Darringers never seem able to stay out of other people's problems...By the time Clay and Katherine reach their destination of Castle Creek, they have added a teenage boy to their entourage-and have fought off some deadly Apache along the way. With his charges safely delivered, Clay intends to be on his way. But less than an hour after they reach town, he finds himself in the middle of a gunfight, and he realizes he can't leave Katherine unprotected-her valuable ranch land is about to trigger an all-out war!