Headwaters: Book 2, Roper

Sent to Montana to assist a sheriff, Roper finds a town-full of trouble. The outlaws he's supposed to be after may be the only innocent men in the territory. All he knows for sure is the mayor and the sheriff are keeping secrets, from him, from each other, from everybody. Will he figure out the answers before everything blows up in his face? A western page-turner with plenty of action and surprises, this is the second novel featuring Tom Roper.
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Headwaters is a mining town with too many bosses. As soon as he gets there, Roper finds himself caught in the crossfire. Outside of town, there are more surprises in store, including a couple of dangerous fugitives who may not have done anything except venture into town with the wrong color skin.

The miners don’t have a union, but they’ve heard about the union activity in other parts of the territory, and they’re getting restless. When a body turns up, everybody gets very quiet. Roper better figure out which side he’s on before an angry mob makes him the honored guest at a lynching.

There’s a pretty woman working at the café. She’s smart, resourceful, and engaged to the town lawyer; who may be the help Tom needs, or may be just another problem. She seems to know a lot more than she should about those outlaws in the hills. And what’s the story about the folks at the landing, and their children?

Untangling the mystery of Headwaters is likely to be a bigger job than Roper is prepared for, and he doesn’t even know about the Sioux, yet. What he needs is a friend or two, but the mayor and the sheriff are getting mad. Tom better keep his head down low and his gun handy. Right to the end, getting out alive is never a certainty.