Free Undercover by Vanessa Kier Page B

You’re too young and we don’t have the authorization to send an untried youth into such a vicious organization. You won’t even be an official confidential informant. I can’t guarantee that Alvarez doesn’t have contacts inside the DEA that would expose you. But I’ll keep in contact with you and I’ll use all the influence I have to keep you relatively safe inside prison. Once you’re with Alvarez, we’ll work out a way for you to send me information once or twice a year. I’ll share it with people I trust, then let you know what more we need to take Alvarez’s organization completely apart.
    “As soon as you’re in a position of authority, you can let slip some information to allow us minor raids. But Niko, what we’re really asking is for you to turn yourself into a criminal. We need Alvarez to trust you. We’re talking years of working inside before you’ll be in a position to destroy him. Are you certain you can do this?”
    Niko’s anger remained strong at the DEA for not putting Alvarez away before his father got shot, but Pop swore that the DEA agent who’d approached Niko was a good man. A friend as well as a colleague. A man who honored his word and could be trusted.
    After the first three rejections, Alvarez had stopped offering jobs to Niko. Yet, true to the DEA agent’s prediction, Niko had received another offer last month. This time, he’d accepted.
    Niko had to hand it to the bastard. Alvarez didn’t hide the fact that he believed he could turn Niko against his family. He wanted Niko’s parents to suffer the betrayal of their eldest son in return for their part in the death of his brother.
    It was up to Niko to stay strong and do whatever necessary in order to turn the tables on Alvarez.
    “What happens to me when we finally take Alvarez down?” Niko had asked the DEA agent.
    “I’m not going to lie to you. You’ll have to serve time for crimes committed. But I promise we’ll arrange it so that no one knows you brought Alvarez down. That way you won’t become a target in prison.”
    At the time, Niko had thought he could endure anything, so long as he was the one responsible for Alvarez’s arrest. After spending a year in prison, he knew that serving any more time would stretch his limits.
    But I’m getting ahead of myself. I have to win Alvarez’s trust first.
    Realizing that his pace had slowed, Niko marched forward. The town car at the end of the block flashed its headlights and started toward him.
    He swallowed nervously. Here we go.

Chapter One
    Ten Months Later
    Peru
    T he last thing Niko had expected when he accepted Alvarez’s job offer was to end up working the fields. He swiped the sweat off his forehead and pulled his hat lower down to keep the setting sun out of his eyes. After ten months of hard labor, Niko was in the best shape of his life. Since he’d played sports in high school, that was saying a lot.
    Niko knew that Alvarez’s mother had been Peruvian and that the crime lord owned an elaborate fortress in the mountains of Peru. He hadn’t known that Alvarez ran a paramilitary training camp on one of his multi-crop plantations in the foothills of the Andes.
    Digging a hole in the furrow in front of him, Niko waited for his partner, a man from the local village, to plant the tiny coca tree before he covered the roots with dirt. Alvarez believed that the best way to ensure loyalty among his guards was to start them on the plantation, working next to villagers who depended on the crop for their livelihood. To observe first hand how generous Alvarez was with his money at holiday and festival time.
    Niko didn’t let that blind him. Every cent Alvarez spent was tainted with the blood of good men like his father. Not a day went by that Niko didn’t renew his vow of vengeance.
    That vow kept him going through the grueling days. Every morning, in the pre-dawn dark, the two dozen trainees, young men ranging in age from sixteen to twenty, participated in