Two deputy sheriffs are dispatched to evict two vagrants from an abandoned farm in a remote mountain area of Arizona. Neither the deputies nor the vagrants are ever heard from again. Paul George, recently retired from the military, becomes drawn into the mystery because of an old friendship with the sheriff. The case becomes complicated when a developing romantic relationship between Paul and an attractive banker is sidetracked as she becomes a prime suspect in the case. The case is further complicated by his estranged relationship with his son, a deputy in the sheriff 's department. Throw in an old legend about Cochise and the mysterious someone or something that protects his grave and you have the ingredients for a very good read.