For CJ Hand, the corral bathed in the morning sunlight is a false sign of the day to come. Minutes after starting his run up Deadman Road, a dense fog shrouds the canyon. In the heavy, gray mist a hushed purr from the road bend behind him forces CJ to take cover in the stand of ponderosa pine and cottonwoods. He waits for the danger to pass. An hour later he stares at a dead man, blood covering the understory of brown pine needles and yellowing cottonwood leaves. The second death lay in front of CJ. The mountain lion is the focus of the first death, but the local County Sheriff realizes something other a mountain lion lurks in Dead Man's Canyon. CJ Hand and Tom Thies join the county sheriff, investigating the deaths. A Black Hills mining geologist who traveled to the Nebraska Pine Ridge is the key. The first dead man might be the answer. What they find hints at far-reaching impacts for the area and the United States.