Undercover (6 page)

No. Alvarez could
not
be allowed to live. Niko hadn’t spent all these years working against the man to see him go to jail, then have one of Alvarez’s expensive lawyers bargain him out in a few years.

Niko put his finger on the trigger.

The side door burst open, blocking his shot. Niko dropped his finger from the trigger as three of Alvarez’s guards ran into the room.

“
Jefe
! Thank the Virgin we have found you.”

Niko sank back into the shadows, relieved that no one had noticed him. But damn, now what was he supposed to do?

One of the men slammed the door closed. Another went to help Alvarez move the heavy dungeon door the last few inches.

Niko felt a wave of despair. He could walk into the open and point his pistol at Alvarez, but either the guards would shoot him, or they’d shoot Aunt Madalena. He could pretend that he, too, was trying to escape and that he wasn’t involved in the raid. Would Alvarez buy it? Or would the announcement that the DEA was involved tip Alvarez off that Niko had set up the whole thing?

Fuck. He couldn’t believe he’d been so close to getting rid of Alvarez. He should have just shot the bastard without hesitation.

Alvarez, the guards, and Madalena hurried into the tunnel. In a moment, they’d be out of sight.

Okay. He’d have to chance playing the innocent. It might buy him enough time to shoot Alvarez in the torso or leg, forcing him to release Aunt Madalena.

Niko ran after them. “
Jefe!
Aunt Madalena! Thank God I found you.”

Multiple explosions shook the dungeon, throwing Niko to his knees in the middle of the antechamber. As he waited for the ringing in his ears to stop, he heard the unmistakable sound of falling rock, followed by the pounding of boots.

“Joint United States and Peruvian Assault Force!” a voice shouted, first in Spanish, then in English. “On the floor, hands on your heads.”

The sound of a pistol firing had Niko jumping to his feet and dashing forward. “Aunt Madalena!”

“On your knees,” a soldier shouted. “Now!”

Seeing that his aunt was all right, Niko obeyed. One of the guards lay facedown on the floor, blood seeping from under his head. Idiot.

The men from the assault force moved forward. Within minutes, they’d secured everyone’s hands.

“Jaime Alvarez,” one of the Peruvian soldiers said in Spanish, “I have been waiting for this day for seven long years. It is my deep pleasure to take you into the official custody of the Republic of Peru.”

For the first time since Niko had met the man, Alvarez appeared shocked. The look of outraged disbelief on his face as he was led away was almost comical.

Dios
. It’s over. It’s finally over.
Now all he had to do was make certain Aunt Madalena got safely back to the family.

“Tell your commander that the woman is Pocahontas,” Niko quietly told the DEA agent that stood behind him, using the code word he’d set up to make certain his aunt received the treatment he’d been promised.

The man looked sideways at Niko, but he spoke softly into his lip mike. A moment later, he nodded. “John Smith?” he asked.

Niko gave a slight shake of his head. “Nah. I’m more the Lone Ranger,” he replied, giving the rest of the code phrase.

The man flicked his eyes from Alvarez’s retreating back to Niko. He gave Niko a nod of respect. “Some day, I’d like to buy you a beer and hear how you managed to survive undercover so long. It takes cojones to cross a man like Alvarez from the inside.”

“Yeah, well.” Niko shrugged. “Look me up in another five to ten. By then I’m sure I’ll need a beer.” If he survived prison, that was. Based on the way this had gone down, Niko didn’t think Alvarez or his guards had suspected his role. But all it took was one comment said in the wrong company and he was a dead man.

The thought of being locked up again sent panic zinging through him. But this time he wasn’t an innocent boy of eighteen. He was a twenty-four-year old man. A man who’d survived in one of the most brutal criminal organizations in Latin America.

He’d continue to endure for as long as it took to win back his freedom.

Then he’d work on winning back the love of his family.

“C’mon.” The DEA agent took Niko by the arm. “Let’s get you out of here.”

“Yeah,” Niko said under his breath. “It’s long past time I left.”

Undisclosed Location, United States

I
t took ten days for Alvarez to accept that he’d been well and truly caught. Ten days and his extradition to a high-security holding facility in the United States. None of his usual allies within the legal community were standing by him. Oh, his expensive lawyer was on board, but the cops and judges Alvarez had paid over the years to ensure that his empire ran smoothly had failed to protect him. It appeared that he’d made a major miscalculation.

At the end of the hall, the door into the judge’s chamber opened. Niko stepped out, flanked by a pair of guards. Strong as always, Niko held his head high despite the fact that he wore a prisoner’s orange jumpsuit and was shackled at wrists and ankles.

On the surface, it appeared that Niko was being prosecuted as a criminal, the same as all of Alvarez’s men. But Alvarez wasn’t fooled. Miguel had been right. Only one man had the systemwide access to take down every one of his businesses.

Alvarez had no idea how Niko had managed it. Despite Miguel’s accusations, there had never been any proof that Niko had been in contact with the authorities.

Yet somehow he’d managed to ruin Alvarez.

“You,” Alvarez spat quietly as Niko drew near. He did not believe the guards spoke Spanish, but he had no wish to be overheard, regardless. “You’re the one responsible for this.”

Niko stopped. His face showed no emotion.

That infuriated Alvarez more than anything. To be treated like nothing by this man was the greatest insult.

“You betrayed me.” He surged to his feet and Niko’s guards shifted forward to protect him at the same time Alvarez’s guards grabbed his arms. He ignored them. They didn’t matter. “After all I did for you,
hijo
, you repay me like this?”

Niko didn’t answer. Just returned his gaze with a stony stare, as if Alvarez meant nothing to him.

“I will destroy you. Do you hear me? I promise you this, Nikolos Andros. I will destroy everything you hold dear. Tear apart your family until your heart breaks and you have no more tears to cry. You will die regretting the day you even thought about crossing me.”

Niko remained silent. After a long pause, he turned and resumed his walk down the corridor, his chains clinking as he moved.

“Fear me, Nikolos, for I am the devil that will never let you find peace.”

But Niko walked away, his back straight with pride, and Alvarez wondered if his fierce words were all talk.

No. He’d been one of the greatest powers within the criminal world. He would regain that power. All he had to do was find one person within the legal system willing to bend a few rules, and he would soon have his empire back.

Then, when they were both out of prison, he would fulfill his promise to Niko.

And get his Madalena back.

In the meantime, Alvarez would keep silent regarding Niko’s betrayal and put the word out that the man was not to be hurt. This was personal. He wanted to watch Niko suffer, not learn about his death at the hand of some overly aggressive inmate. And he could not afford to have his compatriots believe him weak because he’d been betrayed by his closest employee. His intended heir.

Yes, in order to maintain his reputation and to further his revenge, he would tell no one the truth. But one day soon, he would make Nikolos Andros pay dearly for his betrayal.

One Week Later

“T
wenty-five to fifty years? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” Niko stared in disbelief at his DEA contact. He’d known that he’d have to serve some jail time, but not that much.

Fear tightened his throat. Niko stood frozen, unable to think straight. He’d been moved into this solitary holding cell yesterday, but he’d thought it was for his own protection. Not a sign that they were going to throw the book at him.

“I’m sorry. The powers that be want to set an example,” the DEA agent said. The sympathy in his voice didn’t do anything to calm Niko down. “They’re pushing for maximum sentences on everyone involved. The good news is that your cover is still solid. There’s been no talk that you had anything to do with the raid.”

I can’t do it. I can’t last that long without seeing my family.

“Because you were so young when you started, and because you’re the one who is responsible for us capturing Alvarez, I’ve managed to work out a potential deal.”

“What?” Niko choked out.

“They’ll reduce your sentence to five years.”

Dios
, even five years seemed too long.

“Under the following conditions,” the agent continued. “First, you will assist the DEA and other law enforcement agencies in dismantling Alvarez’s organization, by giving them all the data they require.”

Niko nodded. That was a no-brainer. He wanted Alvarez completely destroyed.

“Second, upon your release, you must agree to work undercover as a full-time DEA employee for a minimum of three years. They’ll—”

“Why the
fuck
would I want to work for the DEA? All I want is a normal life.” Niko clenched his fists and told himself it would be stupid to reach out and strangle his handler. Or to take the man hostage and demand to be let go.

Damn. He really was on edge. But he hadn’t realized how desperate he was to see his family until the prospect got taken away.

“If you’ll let me finish?” the man snapped.

After taking a deep breath, Niko nodded.

“Agree to work for us, taking on other assignments in the Latin American underworld, and we’ll request that the year you spent in prison five years ago be credited toward your new term. We’ll also arrange for your sentence to be reduced by the three years of service to the DEA. That means you only need to serve twelve months.”

Christ. Another year. He rubbed the scars on his biceps. It wasn’t as if he had a choice, was it? But it sounded like the DEA wanted him to maintain his cover, which meant he still wouldn’t be able to tell his
mamá
the truth.

“Plus, you’ll get weekly visits.”

“Huh?”

“Look, I can tell that you’re not happy about serving more time, but you knew before you joined Alvarez that we were going to have to prosecute you.”

Niko shrugged. Yeah, his mind understood the situation. His honorable self knew he had to make reparation for the things he’d done. But his heart and soul just wanted to slough off his
La Mano Derecha
persona and return to being Niko Andros.

Whoever the hell that was anymore.

“As part of the deal, I’ve arranged for weekly visits from your family. Anyone who knows your parents will understand that no matter what they think you’ve done, they’ll support you and try to convince you to redeem yourself. So it won’t weaken your cover for them to visit.”

Relief loosened Niko’s muscles, but he refused to betray such weakness. “All right. I agree. What do I need to do?”

To his surprise, the man reached inside his suit jacket and pulled out a folded set of papers. “Sign these, then our lawyers will talk to the judge tomorrow.”

Niko read through the papers carefully, but everything was as the man had said. He scribbled his signature where indicated, then handed the papers back. The agent then countersigned the documents. Huh. The man must have more clout within the agency than Niko realized.

“Leave my copy with my father,” he said.

The man nodded and turned to go. Just before he opened the door he hesitated, then glanced over his shoulder at Niko. “You’ve done a great service to society, Niko. Not many men would have lasted as long as you did with Alvarez. But you had the strength and the courage to endure. For that, I admire you.”

Niko gave a one-shoulder shrug, unable to think of any response.

With a little smile of acknowledgment, the agent left the room. Once the door had clicked closed behind him, Niko sat down heavily on the room’s single chair. He put his head in his hands and concentrated on regulating his breathing.

I can do this. What’s four more years after what I’ve gone through?

Unfortunately, now that the raid was over, the reservoir of strength that had kept him moving forward seemed to be empty.

Dios,
please give me courage.

Chapter Four

Ten Years Later

A Village in Afghanistan

N
iko tossed feverishly on his bed.

They’d been betrayed. His team had gone into the mountains to speak to a supposed informant. Instead, they’d discovered a burned-out village. The charred bodies of women and children lined the streets. Before Niko’s team could begin to bury the dead, they’d come under automatic weapons fire.

One of Niko’s teammates on the joint SSU/DEA task force went down. Niko grabbed him in a fireman’s lift and started down the mountain. But he didn’t get far before a bullet tore into his thigh and his leg gave out. Niko stumbled, then collapsed, watching in horror as the skull of his teammate exploded under the impact of another bullet.

Niko woke up with his throat sore from screaming and someone’s hand on his shoulder. Weak as he was, he still twisted free and sent a fist flying toward the intruder.

“Niko. Whoa. Relax, bro. It’s me, Rafe.”

The Greek words penetrated Niko’s brain fog like nothing else could. “Rafe? What the fuck?”

He glanced around. Yep. He was still in the storeroom at the back of Yousef’s father’s house in the middle of the mountains of Afghanistan. Last he’d heard, Rafe was headed out on assignment to South America. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Niko sat up on his straw pallet, biting back a groan as the room spun and the wound in his thigh pulsed with pain. But at least his fever seemed to have broken. Now that he was awake, he felt clear-headed for the first time in days.

He took a moment to study his brother. Rafe sported several days worth of beard and Niko saw combat fatigues sticking out from underneath the traditional Afghani robe he wore. His brother looked like he hadn’t slept for days and, shit, were those tears in his eyes?