The driver cracked the reins and the horses whinnied jerking the stage to a start. The long, rough trip across the plains to St. Joseph, Missouri was underway.

Frank Clairmont worked for the stagecoach company as a security officer. There had been a rash of hold-ups along this particular route. There had also been numerous complaints from customers about pickpockets and card sharks working the line. Passengers’ personal items had been stolen. Other passengers had been cheated at card games by unscrupulous operators.

Frank glanced from face to face, but failed to recognize anybody from the collection of Wanted Posters of known bandits and confidence men and women kept back at headquarters in St. Jo. He didn’t even recognize the sheriff or the gunslinger. But that wasn’t all that unusual – men in those two professions tended to come and go pretty quickly in the Wild West.