After a few more assaults, Zack must have known Carlo planned to make good on his promise, so he started hitting back.
Anna screamed, knowing she had to help, had to stop this before one of the two men were dead. Begging her brother to stop, she moved closer.
Zack glanced at her. He seemed to be saying, 'It's all right. I can take care of myself. Don't worry, Anna. Don't be afraid.'
But before he could say anything, Carlo landed another blow hard against Zack's jaw.
'Hold on!' Zack tried reason one last time. 'There is no need…'
Anna stepped between Zack and her brother as Carlo raised his fist once more. She cried, pleading with Carlo in two languages for she knew he would not stop until Zack was dead. She begged for his life.
Carlo's fist flew into the side of her face, knocking her off the ground. She tumbled against the hearth like a broken doll.
'I will deal with you later!' he yelled. The toe of his boot slammed into her middle, sending her rolling again, into the brick. 'I will make it so you will never leave this house again. I will see that no one ever looks at you again.'
Anna watched knowing Zack was not a fighter. He told her that, except for a few times when he had been drunk, he had never hit anyone in his life.
But he fought now. He fought for his life. He fought for Anna.
He plowed blow after blow into Carlo's stout body, paying no mind that Carlo hit him back, no pain seemed to matter. They rolled across the room, toppling chairs, breaking tables and lamps. Carlo swore at him in two languages and laughed each time he drew blood.
Zack tripped over the rug and hit the floor with a thud. He tried to stand but the fight was taking its toll.
Anna watched in horror as Carlo lifted a wrought-iron floor lamp high like a weapon.
The first blow slammed into the side of Zack's head. The second into his rib cage. Each drew blood.
'No!' Anna screamed. 'N-no! Put it down. You will kill him!'
Wiping the blood from his eyes, Zack tried to block the next assault, but Carlo swung the lamp once more.
Anna pulled herself up on the hearth, feeling the hits as if they were on her body and not Zack's. Blindly, she grabbed the Colt Carlo had left for her. With shaking hands she pointed it toward her brother.
Carlo laughed without fear. 'Say goodbye to your lover, Anna! You will not see him again in this lifetime.' He raised the lamp higher to make sure the impact would crush his bones.
Zack fought to get out of the way but he was fading in and out of consciousness.
The lamp started toward his head.
A shot rang out.
The world shifted to slow motion with the sudden explosion. Carlo looked surprised, then turned his anger toward his sister. The lamp fell from his hands tumbling against Zack's legs.
'Anna,' Zack managed to whisper before he fell backward.
The wide-open Texas land had an edge to it, never quite calm. It bred risk takers like white water breeds danger. Generations descended from desperadoes, wildcatters and gamblers.
Granger wasn't sure which he hated most: ice, or people who thought they could drive on it. He'd been on the roads once before dawn and finally found a minute to check in with the office. Inez was on the morning shift, but busy on the phone. Granger figured he'd do some paperwork and let Adam handle the roads for a while. He would send Inez home to read her spy novels on her own time.
When he walked through the door, he heard Inez scream, '911 coming in!' If her voice had been a little lower, she would have made a great extra in a WWI film. The whole battlefield could have heard her yell.
Calls to the department were common, but folks never used 911 unless it was something horrible or somebody had died. Even then it was usually natural causes or an accident so the hospital handled the call, because things like murder never happened in Clifton Creek. The last emergency call that came through had been the oil rig fire several months `go.
'Montano Ranch!' Inez yelled with her hand over the bottom half of the phone. 'There's been a shooting and a rape!'
Granger grabbed the extra phone. 'Sheriff Farrington…'
He didn't get time to say more before the caller was shouting.
Granger knew it was Carlo Vangetti by the accent. He had talked to Carlo enough months back to remember his voice well. 'Calm down, Carlo. We're on our way. Yes, we'll bring an ambulance.'
Inez was already on the other line giving the hospital instructions to send out Will, the only full-time medic in town,
'Trouble at the Montano place again. Trouble again.'
Granger hung up his phone. 'Get any details you can. Call Adam and tell him to back me up. The dented fend will have to wait.'
Inez nodded, her spy novel forgotten.,
Hitting the lights and siren buttons, Granger sped out of the parking lot. He knew Inez would get calls about all the noise, but he didn't want to lose a second. He flew past Meredith pulling into work, her car clanking and sputtering, as always.
The roads were bad, but once he hit the Farm-to-Market cutoff, it was a straight shot to the Montano place. The ambulance lights blinked in his rearview mirror, a half mile behind.
A dozen men who looked as if they worked on the ranch stood around in front of the main house as the sheriff pulled up.
Granger jumped from his car. 'What happened?'
'Don't know,' one of the men said. 'I thought I heard a shot, but there was no answer when I knocked. Carlo would be real upset if we bothered Mrs. Montano for no reason.'
Ignoring questions, Granger ran up the steps and pounded the front door. 'Carlo! You in there?' He thought he heard a yell but the place was like a fort.
Granger stormed around the side of the house and tried the door near the garage. None of the men followed. They acted as though some invisible line prevented their stepping any further.
The side door opened. Granger turned and waved the ambulance onto the driveway, then stepped inside.
He crossed the kitchen and noticed Carlo leaning against the wall with the phone clenched in his fist. Dark blood spots from his body had marked the wall in several places. Adrenaline must have been shooting like wildfire through his veins, for he talked as fast as he could in two languages.
But none of it made any sense. His normally dark skin was pale. He must have lost a great deal of blood, but a fire still smoldered in him as if he had one more battle yet to fight. 'Settle down.' Granger tried to stay calm, but Carlo's panic bombarded him. Blood dripped from several spots on his face and arms. His knuckles were raw, and his left pant leg was soaked in crimson.
Granger put his arm around Carlo and tried to maneuver him to a chair, but the stout man would not cooperate.
'He must have broken in sometime last night!' Carlo yelled beyond the kitchen to the huge living room as though someone else needed to hear him besides the sheriff. 'He was beating Anna when I checked on her this morning. Then the bastard shot me.'
'Who?'
'Zack Laison.' Carlo looked like he wanted to spit the words out. 'That worthless rancher from next door. Davis never liked the man. I should have been more careful about leaving Anna alone. It is my fault.'
The boys from the hospital banged in through the door with supply boxes and a stretcher. Will was the only hospital employee who drove the ambulance, and Granger wonded if he didn't sleep in the back on one of the stretchers. Will had talked the nursing program at the college into requiring each of their students to volunteer shifts to help him, so there was always a kid or two with him.
