A knock at the door interrupts Stuart Brannon's fortieth birthday party. Standing on the doorstep is a twelve-year-old Indian boy with a shocking announcement: Brannon is his father! The boy also brings the sad news that his mother, whom Brannon befriended at Broken Arrow Crossing, is dying in a Navajo camp. Brannon determines to bring her back to the ranch, but decides to wait and see her before telling Littlefoot the truth about his parentage—that his real father was an outlaw. Danger stalks the trail to the Utah border. A desperado Brannon once sent to prison closes in on him, determined to get revenge. A gun battle breaks out. Brannon captures Trevor again. However, the outlaw tricks a gullible sheriff into letting him go and locks Brannon up instead. This Stuart Brannon adventure pits the famous ex-lawman against the shrewdest outlaw of his career, takes him into perilous situations, and again puts before his heart a crucial question.