Tom McLaughlin, was the sheriff for more than six years in a place called Fossil Creek. A quiet little town in southern Arizona near the Mexican border. He along with his wife Ava and their daughter Emma Jane, now twenty-years old, which her parents nicknamed EJ. They had to move west from Ludlow, Kansas for his wife Ava's health.
Not having a son, McLaughlin had spent much of his time imparting his daughter with his knowledge and expertise with handling a gun. He had acquired these skills first as a deputy sheriff in Ludlow, Kansas, then as sheriff of Fossil Creek. He was known for his hard fisted, no nonsense manner. He was a man of quick wit, smart and above all, quite proficient with a six-gun.
He passed these attributes on to a young EJ as she developed the skill's that would one day come in handy when fate shatters her own dreams of becoming a school teacher and the attractive young lady would ultimately, be cast in a role destined to follow in her father's footsteps. Hence, she soon would become a sheriff.