Hayward is a sleepy Southwestern town full of cattle, trucks, and tumbleweeds. Virgil Daltons been the sheriff for over a dozen years and has lived there all his life. Its a place where everybody pretty much knows everybodybut they dont know each others secrets

Buddy Hinton is just a good ole boy. So when he disappears after a night drinking at the Black Bull, his friends just figure he went down to Mexico to find himself a girlfriend and eventually will come back. But this case quickly becomes a homicide after the sheriff discovers the missing man floating in one of his stock tanks.

For a man who wasnt known to have enemies, Buddy clearly upset someone. Figuring out who that was will require Virgil and his deputy, Jimmy, to retrace Buddys last stepsand to remain a step ahead of a murderer who may have no qualms about killing again