Shadow Mountain Ranch, near Jessup, California Franzi DeLisle--She's not your typical rancher--she raises mules. But then, there's nothing typical about Franzi, from her skill as a tracker to her distrust of lawmen. She's tough and self, sufficient to a fault... because she has to be. Levi Hunter--U. S. Marshal. City slicker. Horse-lover and all-around traditionalist. He's a lawman on a mission... chasing a vicious killer who's escaped into the Sierra Nevadas. When Franzi insists on helping Levi track his quarry, he quickly learns there's only one creature as stubborn as those "ugly, long-eared mules"--and that's Franzi herself!