Deputy US Marshal Arliss Cutter (still carrying his grandfather's Colt Python revolver) and deputy Lola Teariki are assigned to protect an uncooperative federal judge when he travels to Stone Cross, a remote and road-less Native village in western Alaska. The judge has received death threats but refuses protection. Cutter and Lola travel under the guise of working a fugitive case—though their real mission is to keep an eye on the judge. Winter comes early to this part of Alaska, and though it still seems like fall in Anchorage, the rivers around Stone Cross are already beginning to slush, making travel by boat impossible.It is the season for hunting caribou and moose, major sources of winter food for the people in this region. Gun, blades, and blood are everywhere... The night before Cutter and Lola fly in, a young couple who are caretakers at a remote fishing lodge eight miles upriver from the village, are abducted and the handy man is murdered. The body, along with a mysterious design drawn on the ground in blood, are discovered shortly after Cutter and Lola arrive in Stone Cross. A heavy fog rolls in, leaving the village and the fishing lodge cut off until the fog lifts and/or the river freezes solid enough for travel. Alaska State Troopers are unable to travel in, and no one can travel out. Cutter and Lola must find out who is sending death threats to the judge, and save the missing couple from a man who has already demonstrated that he's not afraid to kill.Cutter's job would be difficult enough as the grip of winter settles over this wild place, but everyone in the village is hiding secrets.