The Killing Time — Paul Lederer

An out-of-work lawman rides into the hills in search of a runaway killer

Before he draws his gun, Tom Dyce waits for John Bass to shoot first. He plugs the killer in the stomach but doesn't fire again. A marshal's deputy, Tom has never killed a man in cold blood . . . at least, not yet.

The confrontation with Bass sours Tom on working for the marshal. Needing a change, he decides to return home to Thibido and the woman he loved long ago, Aurora Tyne. Before he leaves Rincon, the marshal offers him one last assignment: tracking a fugitive bank robber who has fled into the hills outside of Tom's hometown. Though he wants nothing to do with bounty hunting, the reward isn't the only thing that draws him to the chase. Aurora's life is in danger, and saving her may require murder.