Page 68 of A Life Imagined
Two cars were parked outside the villa, and as Rayan approached, he could hear voices coming from inside the open front door.They were speaking a language he didn’t recognize.He saw a plume of cigarette smoke and gathered that the voices belonged to two men clearly off their guard.
Which meant that when he barreled around the corner and swung his fist into the side of the nearest man’s head, Rayan caught him entirely unawares.The man staggered back several steps and then slumped to the floor, dazed.His partner seemed a little slow to catch up.His face was already bloodied and one eye swollen closed.It came as a welcome sight—proof Mathias had been here.Mathias must have scrambled the contents of the man’s brain because he stood gaping while Rayan lifted his pistol and brought it down against the man’s temple.He went down heavy.
Rayan turned to the man who was still conscious on the floor and leveled the gun at his head.“Where is he?”
The man didn’t speak.He simply raised a finger to point to the closed door to left of the vestibule.
“Don’t move,” Rayan instructed the man.
He stepped over to the door and tried the handle.It was locked.Rayan stepped back and slammed his heel hard against the panel beside the keyhole.He heard a creak as the wood strained from the impact.He gave it another kick, and the door splintered open with acrack.Not stopping to consider what or whom he might find inside, Rayan launched himself into the room.
He wasn’t prepared for the sight of Mathias standing impassively with his gun held slack in his hand.Mathias’s expression was blank, and he appeared unhurried as though here of his own free will.Rayan caught a movement in the corner of his eye and saw a blond woman struggling to rise from the floor.
Is this the woman Elise was talking about?
His gaze returned to Mathias, and only then did he notice the bruises that mottled his face.Rayan felt a swell of anger and moved toward him then stopped short when he realized the reason for Mathias’s apparent serenity.Rayan had spent enough time around his brother to know the signs—pupils large and unfocused, eyelids heavy, an easy roll to his limbs.When Mathias spoke, confirming Rayan’s fears, his voice was slow and distant.They were in serious fucking trouble.
Rayan decided against grilling the man.Explanations would have to wait.Instead, he told Mathias in no uncertain terms that they were leaving.
“She’s coming with us.”Mathias reached down to yank the woman to her feet, and Rayan saw her hands were tied behind her back.
Rayan stood dumbly.“What?”
“Relax, I know what I’m doing.”
Rayan gave a snort.“Sure, this all seems very well-thought-out.”
Mathias turned to him, and in place of a terse remark, he gave Rayan a charming smile.There was an ease to the expression that was so foreign Rayan thought he’d imagined it.“Trust me.”
Rayan was too taken aback to reply.He followed Mathias as he dragged the woman from the room and past the two men Rayan had immobilized by the entrance.Outside in the driveway, Rayan raised his gun and plugged the front tires of the Porsche and the black Beamer parked out front.That would buy them some time at least.
As they made their way back up the lane to the road, Rayan glanced over at Mathias.For someone pumped full of dopamine, the man appeared remarkably functional.
“Give me your gun,” Rayan ordered when they got to the car.
“Why?”It dangled loosely from Mathias’s fingers like a toy.
“Before you shoot your foot off.”
Mathias smirked, but he relinquished his weapon and unceremoniously shoved their captive into the back seat.Rayan got in behind the wheel and turned to the woman.
“What did you give him?”he asked in English.
She pursed her lips.“Why should I tell you?”
He curved one arm behind him to press Mathias’s gun against her forehead.“What did you give him?”
She seemed to be assessing Rayan.In his T-shirt and jeans, he didn’t exactly appear threatening.“You wouldn’t know what to do with it,” she goaded him.
“Would you like to find out?”
Mathias was watching their little back-and-forth from the passenger seat and let out a laugh.“Don’t push him.”
The woman hesitated, a flicker of fear in her eyes.Then she exhaled through her nose.“It’s a speedball.Our most popular export.”
“So, coke and what?”
“Ketamine.They call this one Calvin Klein.”She snickered as if the whole situation was amusing.“Lasts about an hour.Then see if you can pick him off the floor.”
