Showing results by author "R. W. Stone" in All Categories

Retired US Army sergeant Thaddeus McCallum joins the Pinkerton Detective Agency, where he makes enough money to purchase the ranch he's always wanted. But just as McCallum begins to settle in to his new life, he receives an urgent letter from a former comrade in arms, whose son Jeff has gone missing. The men soon learn that Columbus, New Mexico, was the site of an attack by Pancho Villa and his army of revolutionaries, and young Jeff has been taken prisoner.

A young teenager named Red and the old prospector who raised him arrive in Baker's Gap, anxious to start a new life, having struck a glory hole of gold. Much to Red's horror, however, the prospector is gunned down in the street. Suddenly alone in a strange town, the boy is angry and distrustful, but fortunately Tom Harrison, the local sheriff, is willing to accept responsibility for his care if he can convince him to stay. A strong bond soon develops between the two, and in exchange for Red agreeing to attend school, the sheriff pledges to pass down all he knows about law enforcement.

Badger Kershaw was becoming a familiar figure on the frontier after the War between the States. Riding an Appaloosa with Lobo, his dog-wolf hybrid, often by his side, he was feared by most outlaws on the dodge on whom there was a bounty. It was not a savory profession, perhaps, but Kershaw was honest about what he did. Frontier lawmen for the most part were accustomed to dealing with Kershaw. When the fugitive was willing to surrender, Kershaw would bring in an outlaw alive, but it was not an option he encountered very often.

The grandson of a US senator has been brazenly kidnapped out of a hotel room in St. Louis. His life has been threatened if the senator cannot raise the ransom money, an exorbitant amount that even he can’t scrape together. Ultimately, the boy’s fate falls into the hands of a select group of undercover agents known for their discretion, cleverness, and bravery - the Pinkertons. When Allan Pinkerton realizes the confidential nature of the kidnapping, he calls in his best field agents, a group of five professionals with specialized skills and unconventional backgrounds.

The first time the Donovan twins, Lucas and Jamie, saw a Canadian Northwest Mounted Police officer, they knew that's what they wanted to be when they grew up. Years later, Lucas Donovan, now a member of the force, is on a mission to bring a ruthless serial killer to justice. For years, Jack Emerson has eluded capture in the vast Canadian wilderness, but now Donovan has vowed that nothing on earth will stop him from seeing this man caught and punished. The oath is both personal and professional, since one of the men Emerson killed was Constable Jamie Donovan, Lucas' twin brother.

Owen Burke is at loose ends in the Mexican town of San Rafael. While at the local cantina, he overhears a conversation between two Mexican vaqueros seated nearby and decides to introduce himself. The two men work for Don Enrique Hernandez de Allende at a horse ranch some distance south. The don is planning a horse drive to the north and then west to California, where the don's brother-in-law has a ranch. Owen knows those trails and hopes the don, who has never made the trip before, might be in need of a guide.