When Frank Morgan gets to a town called Los Angeles, he can see the forces gathering around him. For the Spanish landowners, wealth is measured in cattle on the open range. For hardnosed oilmen, a fortune is in the ground-in the form of shining black crude oil...When blood is spilled on the sun-seared land, Morgan allies himself with a beautiful, widowed rancher-even as he cuts a deal with an ambitious wildcatter. Morgan is not trying out treachery. He's just trying to get to the truth about a cycle of violence that's about to explode. But when he discovers that a third party has entered the fray, Morgan knows the rules have changed and justice will only be forged with bullets.