After the death of his long-time partner Nathaniel McBain forms a new partnership with Spenser O'Connor, a man he'd ridden with before he'd turned his back on a life of crime. Spenser claims that he, too, wishes to lead an honest life and he helps Nathaniel with his task of transporting prisoners to Beaver Ridge jail.

Despite carrying out his duties with distinction, Nathaniel fears what would happen if temptation were to come Spenser's way, and their mission to transport Irvin Bess to jail does just that. Irvin escapes before they can take charge of him and Spenser wants to help with the search. Unfortunately, it seems that Irvin has a stash of ill-gotten gains leaving Nathaniel to deal with the possibility that his uneasy partner is more interested in finding the cash than the prisoner.