James Walker (1) (1948–)

Every family needs a leader...but, in many families, husbands become passive toward the leadership role. Consequently, wives may unavoidably take on the responsibilities they'd rather not bear. This results in resentment and an emotional distancing that can sabotage an entire family system.

From back of book:

Zachary Cobb came West carrying the bitter memories of the long walk home from Appomattox. The scars the battle left in his soul were a part of life he couldn't put to rest and that time seemed never to cure. Yet the skills developed in battle now serve Zac well as an undercover agent for Wells Fargo.

A series of payroll holdups in the Mohave Desert puts Zac on the dangerous trail of someone who's apparently working from inside the Wells Fargo company. But the investigation show more that follows leads Zac and the local sheriff, Jeff Bridger, into a confrontation with powerful underworld figures who will stop at nothing for control of the opium trade and the illegal supply of Chinese workers for the railroad.

When Jenny Hays, the young woman who cares for Zac, is unwittingly drawn into the final confrontation, he finds himself facing danger from without and within. show less