Freezeout! — J.D. Harkleroad

The Big Blizzard of 1887-88 forces down-to-his-blanket cowboy Race Evans to seek shelter at the Hensens' Rafter Three-H Connected Ranch in Northern Arizona. The ugly situation he encounters inside the ranch is no less daunting than the bitter storm outside. Josh Hensen resents his half-sister Sage and her cousin Libby who inherited two-thirds of the ranch. Gunman and gambler Maize Jackson connives to wrest control of the ranch away from all three of them, abetted by his henchman, convicted woman-killer Kell Farley. Because the two women befriend Race, he feels obligated to help them. What the women don't know is that Race once shared a cell at the Wyoming Territorial Penitentiary with Farley. Freezeout! is also a variant of poker in which there can be only one winner. Maize Jackson aims to be that winner, but Race Evans lays his life on the line to ensure that will never happen!