He entered the house, afraid of what he might find. The memory of the fight still hung in the air. He could almost hear the echoes of Carlo shouting and Anna crying. The smell of the fire he and Anna built late that night still lingered, spiced now with the hint of gunpowder. The feeling that he'd die of pleasure, the fear he'd die of pain now blended in the silence of the huge room.
But no sign of the fight or the loving remained. Not even the quilt. Everything was back in order as if the hours had never happened.
'Anna?' Zack whispered her name. Maybe she wasn't even here. Crystal and the others could be worried about nothing. Anna might have gone to stay with friends.
But Zack knew she had no friends except for the widows and Bella…and him.
He flipped on the light in the kitchen. 'Anna?' he called.
The sound of a round being chambered clicked in the silence.
'Take another step mister and you're a dead man,' Bella's voice ordered from the darkness of the great room.
Zack moved into the light so she could see him. 'You'll have to kill me to stop me,' he answered. 'I've come for Anna.'
Bella smiled and lowered the weapon. 'Evening, kid. I didn't expect to see you here tonight. Some guard I am, I must have fallen asleep on the couch.' She met his stare. 'I might just be falling back to sleep right now.'
Zack nodded, understanding what she was saying.
Slowly, he crossed from room to room. He remembered seeing Anna being hit, falling, holding the gun. She was hurt, and probably frightened. If she knew Carlo was coming home, she might even be hiding. Time was running out for him to find her.
'Anna?' he called as he stepped into her bedroom.
In the shadows, he saw her, huddled in a corner with her grandmother's quilt wrapped around her.
'Anna.' He couldn't move, afraid of what he might see if he came closer.
'G-go away.' Her voice sounded hoarse as if she'd cried all she could. 'I-I almost got you k-killed, Zack. G-go away before I do. Just go away and forget about me.'
She shifted, and he saw her dark eyes. There was a calmness about her as though she had accepted her fate. She was giving up any chance they might have in the hopes of keeping him alive.
'That I can't do.' He fought the urge to draw closer. 'The way I see it, we've got two choices. I can stay here to face Carlo and probably his men, or you can come with me. Crystal's waiting for you at my place. She promised to take you somewhere safe.'
He walked toward her.
'If I leave, he will kill me,' she whispered, 'and then he'll kill you.'
Zack knelt in front of her. 'If you stay, he'll kill you, Anna. Maybe not tonight, or next month, but eventually.'
'I know. He wants control of the ranch, and the only way he can get that is to control me.'
Zack brushed her dark hair from her eyes. 'Come with me. Somehow together we'll work it out.' When she raised her arms, he lifted her, blanket and all, ignoring the pain in his side and shoulder. She held tightly to him. He walked out of the house the way he came. Bella looked sound asleep on the couch when he passed the old woman, but he noticed a smile on her lips.
They did not say a word to one another as they crossed the darkness between their ranches. He sat her on top of the walkover, climbed it and lifted her once more in his arms. When he turned toward his house, a huge Buick pulled up next to the Mustang he had borrowed.
Or stolen. The way his luck was running, he would be charged for that, too.
Three women climbed from the car, an old woman, a cowgirl and what had to be a schoolteacher. Helena, Randi and Meredith. Anna had told him too much about each for him not to recognize them, even in the shadows. The widows had assembled.
They all turned and watched as he walked toward them with Anna in his arms.
'Be careful with her,' Helena ordered.
Zack frowned. He wasn't about to drop the only wonder in his life.
'Set her down inside.' Crystal held the door. 'I'll get her some tea.'
'Now, don't you worry, girl,' Randi followed Zack into the house. 'No one is going to hurt you again.'
'I will not talk to the sheriff,' Anna said over Zack's shoulder.
'You don't have to talk to anyone about what happened at your place if you don't want to,' Randi promised.
They clustered around her, forgetting about Zack. He wanted time with Anna, but he would wait. He was not sure, but he would swear all four of them were talking at once. And Anna… Anna smiled.
Finally, Helena raised her hand and called the meeting to order. 'I've got one question, Anna, and I need an answer even though we think we all know the truth.'
Meredith sat on one side of Anna, patting her hand. Randi stood behind her on guard. Crystal offered her tea.
Helena looked straight at Zack. 'Did this man hurt you in any way?'
Tears bubbled in Anna's eyes. 'No,' she answered without stuttering.
'Good. We didn't think so, but I was prepared to shoot him if we'd guessed wrong.'
Zack looked at Helena, trying to figure out if she was kidding. The woman did not look like the type who would ever handle a gun. But what he didn't know about women would fill volumes.
He backed into a corner, fighting the pain in his side as he watched them pamper Anna. It felt great to have her here, safe and among friends. He had almost driven himself mad thinking about what might be happening to her. Now, he had a feeling that no matter what happened to him, these women would see Anna through this.
They were somehow connected to each other. He read once that people chose to love one another. These five women had made that choice. The bond was more than friendship. A comradeship he felt honored to be allowed to watch.
Lights blinked like static lightning across his windows, slamming him back into crisis. A line of cars and pickup trucks were coming at full speed directly toward his house.
Zack headed for the old rifle he kept mounted over the fireplace.
'Wait.' Helena stopped him. 'Let us deal with them. You stay with Anna.'
Zack shook his head. This was his land, his fight, his problem.
Helena didn't back down. 'They're not going to bother us, but they might shoot you on sight.'
Randi shoved his shoulder. 'Sit down, cowboy. Tonight's not your rodeo.'
Without another word, Helena, Randi, Crystal and Meredith went outside to the porch. Zack lowered slowly to one knee so he could see Anna's face.
'We know he's in there! Get out of the way!' someone shouted in the frosty air. Car lights shone like footlights in front of the porch.
'Yeah, who's gonna make us, Tucker? You?' Randi yelled back at the line of men moving toward the house. 'Step one foot on this porch and I'll be visiting your wife tomorrow telling her what kind of man you are.'
'There is nothing happening here, gentlemen,' Helena announced. 'I suggest you all move on about your business.'
Zack watched Meredith shade her eyes with her hand. 'Butch Colwell, what do you think you're doing here frightening us? Put that rifle down.'
A young man in the front lowered his gun. 'I was told Larson kidnapped Mrs. Montana I come to help.'
'Do you think if he kidnapped Mrs. Montano, I'd be out here visiting him?'
'No, ma'am.'
'Well, why don't you take Kirk there with you and go on home? The two of you haven't changed since grade school, still looking for a fight you can get involved in.'
'I will not go home!' Carlo yelled as he slowly climbed from the pickup, his leg in a cast. 'That man stole my sister and I will take her back.'
Randi stormed. 'She ain't no sack of potatoes Zack drug across the property line. If she wants to be with him, there is nothing you, or anyone else can do about it.'
Zack felt Anna's hand touch his bandaged forehead and he forgot about the circus outside.
