Hunt is shocked when a previously captured criminal escapes and kills two security guards. The prisoner, Howard Yancy, is angry and has sworn vengeance against U.S. Marshal Hunt. Howard Yancy robs, rapes, and murders his way from Alabama to Colorado to satisfy his thirst for vengeance. Hunt disperses his men across Colorado and New Mexico, and they handle various situations on their own while helping local lawmen deal with troublesome convicts and troublemakers, all the while waiting for Howard Yancy to show up. Hunt loses one of his top men to replace U.S. Marshal Jed Fox of Kansas City, and the burden of finding a replacement weighs heavily on his mind. Howard Yancy makes a deadly mistake when he stops to raid a ranch in the Texas Panhandle. The rancher is away buying a bull for his herd and comes back to find his ranch hands and pregnant wife murdered. Being an ex-Texas Ranger, he sets out to find and kill Howard Yancy. Howard Yancy took his red Morgan horse, his favorite. U.S. Marshals from Austin are at the ranch when the rancher returns with the newly bought bull, and one agrees to ride along to track Howard Yancy. They track Howard Yancy across three states, finding dead people and stolen horses wherever Yancy stops.