Lorena, lover of Gus McCrae, has left Clara and married Pea Eye Parker, of the former Hat Creek Outfit.

The American West is no longer rough and tumble, and Captain Woodrow F. Call has become a relic, albeit a greatly respected one.

Nineteen-year-old Joey Garza and his deadly German rifle (capable of killing a man at a distance of half a mile) are not about to let law and order close the book on the Wild West just yet.

The book opens with former Ranger Captain Woodrow F. Call (now a bounty hunter) and Ned Brookshire, the "salaried man" of the title.

Brookshire has been sent to Texas from New York City by his boss, railroad tycoon Colonel Terry, to contract Call's services in apprehending a bandit.

The bandit in question is a young Mexican named Joey Garza, who has cost Terry significant business and money through his deadly train robberies.

Brookshire himself does not strike a particularly imposing figure, and soon proves not to be cut out for train or horse travel, inexperienced in the ways of the west or violence, and very homesick for his bossy but loving wife, Katie.

Protecting settlers in innumerable skirmishes with hostile Indians, rustlers, and dangerous gangs has earned him a great deal of respect and a reputation that generally strikes fear into the hearts of criminals.

Pea Eye is now married to Lorena Wood (Lorie), the heroine of Lonesome Dove and now a school teacher and mother of five.

Pea Eye is increasingly pressured by his wife and children to stop following the captain in pursuit of bandits, but his loyalty and devotion to Call usually prevails.

Joey disappears, stealing his mother's horse, and rides to Langtry, Texas, where he shoots and hangs Judge Roy Bean, the "Law West of the Pecos".

After rescuing Pea Eye and Famous Shoes from the corrupt bordertown sheriff, Call and his gang close in on Joey Garza.

Garza then drags himself back to his native village and attempts to kill his younger siblings, Teresa and Rafael, for whom he has long reserved his greatest hatred.

Also featured were Randy Quaid as John Wesley Hardin, Ned Beatty as Judge Roy Bean, Wes Studi as Famous Shoes, Charles Martin Smith as Ned Brookshire, George Carlin as Billy Williams, Alexis Cruz as Joey Garza, Kevin Conway as Mox Mox, James Gammon as Charles Goodnight, and Sonia Braga as Maria Garza.