Sheriff Cassidy Yates couldn't believe his eyes when he read the Wanted Poster.

His ex-deputy, and friend, Nathaniel McBain was both a wanted man and a member of Rodrigo Fernandez's ruthless outlaw gang!

There's nothing worse than a lawman gone bad, and Cassidy's knows it's his duty to arrest McBain. But when he finds him, McBain claims the Wanted Poster is wrong and that his true intention is to infiltrate Fernandez's gang andbring the outlaw to justice.

Is McBain really working undercover? Only one thing is certain: when Cassidy learns the full truth about McBain's plan, it will test to the very limit the strength of his friendship and his duty as a lawman.

'This ain't the time for heroes,' Nat McBain muttered. 'Just keep those hands above the counter and we'll leave town real peaceful like.'

The bank teller glanced at Nat, then at Spenser O'Connor. He gulped and returned a frantic nod as he shoved the bulging bag across the counter.

'Take it and go,' he whined, his voice shaking as he thrust his hands high.

While keeping his Peacemaker aimed at the teller's chest, Nat hefted the bag in his left hand, then slipped it into the saddlebag at his feet.

'I'll trust that you ain't holding out on us,' he said.

'And if you are,' Spenser said, his voice gruff behind the kerchief that hid his lower features. 'We'll return for the rest later. And you don't want the Fernandez's gang back in town, believe me.'

As the teller closed his eyes and murmured a silent prayer, Nat swung the saddlebag over his left shoulder and, with Spenser at his side, backed away from the counter, one steady pace at a time.

Nat glared left and right at the customers, who had been unfortunate enough to be in the bank when they'd raided it. Luckily, most weren't packing guns, and the ones that were didn't meet Nat's gaze as they stared aloft, waiting for this raid to end.

Even so, Spenser edged through the door first, leaving Nat to stand in the doorway and deliver a last glare at the teller, then everyone else.

Outside, Spenser whistled, signifying that nothing was amiss. So, with a last tip of his hat, Nat danced back through the door and slammed it shut behind him.

Despite Nat's warning to the teller, Nat was sure that within a minute he'd raise an alarm. But Nat and Spenser still sauntered to their horses outside the bank, avoiding suggesting to the few people on Bear Creek's main road that they'd raided the bank. Even so, both men kept their kerchiefs over their lower features.

Together, they mounted their horses but, as Nat swung the reins to the side, a warning cry erupted from inside the bank.

'Raid!' the teller shouted, other voices echoing the cry.

Nat and Spenser glanced at each other, both men wincing. Then Nat shook his reins and urged his horse to gallop down the road.

Spenser swung to the side and thrust his gun hand beneath his arm to blast a slug through the bank window, cascading shards of glass into the bank and forcing the customers inside to dive to the floor.

Fifty yards on, Nat kept his gaze set forward. He spurred his horse for more speed, then glanced to his side to ensure that Spenser was beside him, but on failing to see him, he looked over his shoulder.

Outside the bank, Spenser was struggling.

A portly man with more courage than sense had dashed from the bank and had grabbed Spenser's trailing leg. Spenser's horse was prancing round in a circle as Spenser tried to drag his leg away while also regaining control of his mount.

But the man had grabbed Spenser's leg in a grip that was so tight it would either drag Spenser from his horse, or drag himself beneath the horse's hoofs.

Either way, the delay meant that someone would capture Spenser. So, Nat swung round and hurtled back down the road. He bore down on the man, his gun raised but aimed over the man's head.

Thirty yards away, the man looked up and, in a momentary burst of panic, released his grip of Spenser's leg and staggered back from Nat, falling to his knees in his haste to escape. He glanced up at Spenser, who was prancing his horse from him, then stumbled to his feet and hurtled into the alley beside the bank, his arms wheeling as he fought for more speed.

As the man disappeared from view, Nat pulled his horse to a halt. Then, with Spenser at his side, he glanced in all directions to check that nobody else would act foolishly.

But now, everyone that had been on the road had deserted it, leaving doors open and swinging in their haste to hide.

Spenser and Nat exchanged a nod then, side by side, hurtled down the road towards the plains that lay beyond the edge of town.

Both men held their guns high and blasted off a volley of high shots, aiming over the roofs of the buildings on either side of the road. Each blast echoed down the road and caused open doors to slam shut and window blinds to hurtle down.

On the edge of town, Nat glanced over his shoulder, then grinned behind his kerchief as their warning shots had the effect they wanted and stopped anybody from emerging out on to the road.

'I thought I'd have to shoot that damn idiot,' Spenser shouted. 'He wouldn't let go.'

'We don't do that.'

'Yeah, but Fernandez's gang sure don't worry about that.'

'I know they don't.'

They maintained a furious gallop, not wasting time in looking back and seeing if a pursuit had started.

But a mile out of town, at the first incline, they stopped to glance back at Bear Creek and, from this distance, the town was serene. Rooftops captured the glint of sunshine and through the afternoon heat haze, returned it was lazy thrift.

Spenser grinned and shrugged out from the kerchief that had been over his mouth. He raised his hat, then slapped it against his thigh and let rip with a joyous whoop.

'We did it,' he hollered. 'We sure did. There ain't no pursuit.'

Nat let a smile emerge, but then turned his horse and hurried on down the trail.

'That's what happens,' he shouted over his shoulder, 'when you know Sheriff Ballard ain't around.'

'Yeah.' Spenser said, hurrying to draw his horse alongside Nat's. 'Waiting for him to leave town sure did make a difference.'

'But that was still the easy part.' Nat ripped his kerchief from his face and thrust it in his pocket. 'The dangerous part comes after we've escaped.'

Cassidy Yates and Nat McBain's friendship had gone sour.

In The Ten Per Cent Gang Nat McBain had seemingly turned his back on his former life when he worked as Sheriff Cassidy Yates's deputy.

And when Cassidy heard that his friend was now a wanted man, he just had to track Nat down and find out the truth for himself.

To some extent this novel is less action-orientated than some of my previous books, and is more of a character based story. Cassidy is a trusting man who desparately wants to believe that Nat has been wronged and the fact that he is mistaken in that belief means he is due for a crushing discovery.

But the bond Cassidy feels with Nat works both ways and the one man that Nat doesn't want to disappoint is Cassidy, so Nat, too, is heading for a terrible encounter when he seeks to justify to both Cassidy and himself that his outlaw ways are right.

And when they meet, can they reconcile their differences?