A TEENAGE GIRL, HER FACE SUDDENLY DISFIGURED BY PARALYSIS, TURNS HER BACK ON THE WORLD AND DISAPPEARS DEEP INTO THE DESERT. HOW LONG CAN SHE REMAIN HIDDEN? A MYSTERIOUS NATIVE AMERICAN IS THE ONLY PERSON WHO HAS EVER SEEN HER AS SHE WANDERS THE DESERT ON MOONLIT NIGHTS, AND HE KEEPS HER SECRET. KEEPS IT, THAT IS, UNTIL A DRUG CARTEL PLANE CRASHES NEAR HER MOUNTAINSIDE HIDING PLACE, PUTTING HER IN DANGER. Two federal agents, one from ATF and one from the FBI arrive in Smoke Tree. They seek the help of Captain Carlos Caballo of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department in finding thieves...

In the foothills of the desert mountains west of Smoke Tree, someone has murdered Caleb and Eunice Clovis. They were impoverished squatters living a life of bare subsistence far off the beaten track in a miserable lean-to made of discarded lumber and cast off building materials. Who would want to kill them? And why? There seems to be no motive for the crime. Lieutenant Carlos Caballo, known throughout the Lower Colorado River Basin simply as “Horse,” is charged with solving the crime. A crime that might not have been discovered for months or even years except for a minor twist of fate. ...

Two arsonists are at work in Smoke Tree. One is a slick professional; the other is an evil pyromaniac using fire to settle old scores. One would be bad enough, but two? Captain Carlos Caballo, commander of the Smoke Tree substation of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, is fighting to save the town he loves. If that weren't enough for Captain Caballo and his deputies to contend with, illegal drugs are arriving in Smoke Tree. The source seems to a motorcycle gang operating from the river bottom on the Arizona side of the Colorado River.

Kiko Yoshida works as a Keno runner at the Serengeti Casino in Las Vegas while dreaming of a career as a singer and dancer. She catches the eye of a big-time mobster who demands to have her sent to his room. Casino manager Eddie Mazzetti promises her a part in “The Flower Drum Song” when it comes to Las Vegas if she will be the mobster’s escort for one evening. Kiko shows up at Frankie “The Whale” Pescatore’s executive suite expecting to be his date at a fancy dinner with politicians and executives of the gambling industry. Within minutes, she realizes she has made a terrible ...

After eight years in the United States Army, Johnny Quentin, who joined in 1961 on the buddy system with his friend Charlie Merriman, has returned to Smoke Tree without Charlie. Johnny intends to stop only long enough to pay his respects to Charlie's widow and his mother, but Webster Charles, the oldest man in the Mojave Village and the strongest link to the tribe's cultural heritage, has other plans for Johnny. Once those plans are revealed, Johnny stays to honor Charlie Merriman's last request: that Johnny be more than a godfather to the slain soldier's twin sons. Nothing is easy for ...