Short Hand Trent: (5 The Lazy K)

A Western novel of justice, love, and the fight for what's right. In the high country of New Mexico Territory, where lawmen ride alone and justice is too often written in blood, Deputy U.S. Marshal Silas Trent has earned a name that brings fear to outlaws - Short Hand Trent. His Colt speaks as quick as his word is honest, and both are feared by men who trade in deceit. But this time, the danger waiting for him doesn't wear a gun belt - it wears a badge. Newly married to Emily Locke, Silas hopes for a quiet season - a patch of land, a small house, and a life earned the hard way but kept clean. Emily, strong and sure in her own right, has traded the hardships of the trail for a home she can build with the man she loves. Yet as peace begins to settle, the shadow of corruption falls across Albuquerque. When Bill Wallace, a good man and trusted Marshal, is found dead under suspicious circumstances, Silas is ordered to look away. But Silas Trent has never looked away from the truth - and he's not about to start. While Silas rides into the desert to follow a trail gone cold, Emily faces a threat of her own - the smooth-talking and powerful Solomon Walsh, the very man who wears Wallace's badge now. Behind his charm lies ambition and greed, and he means to claim more than his new title. Alone, Emily must summon the courage she once used to cross the plains, knowing that in the West, survival doesn't always come with a gun - sometimes it's a matter of heart, grit, and faith. Miles apart, husband and wife face their own battles - one against outlaws, the other against the creeping hand of corruption. As the desert wind carries the dust of deceit, Silas uncovers a web of betrayal that stretches from the saloons to the courthouse steps. Back home, Emily's strength will be tested by danger that no bullet can stop - and by the question every frontier woman must face: how much can love endure before it breaks? From prairie dawns to courthouse reckonings, Short Hand Trent is a sweeping Western that blends action, romance, and moral courage. It's a story of a man bound by honor, a woman defined by resilience, and a world where justice rides hard and mercy rides slow. Fans of Louis L'Amour, Elmer Kelton, and C.J. Petit will find themselves at home in this vivid frontier world - where the dust never quite settles, and every good deed carries a cost. Series Note Short Hand Trent follows the events of Emily Locke and Silas Trail but stands on its own as a complete story. It's part of the Lazy K series, a continuing saga of Silas Trent - a man who began as a boy with a gun and a sense of right and wrong, and became a legend of the Western frontier.