Torsten Dahl book 1 - Stand Your Ground Read Online Free PDF

planet.”
    Dario stared hard, unblinking, with the empty shot glass still in hand. Vega knew he was trying to exhibit no emotion, to remain as stone-faced as the rest of his father’s men, but he had no chance of achieving it.
    “This is your chance, my son. Step up now. Prove you are worthy. This opportunity is fate, rising at the perfect time. Imagine the acclaim you will receive. Any boy would die for a chance like this.”
    Dario, whip-thin and as fetching as a young boy could be, threw out the cheap smile he’d no doubt purchased at Walmart with all the other losers. Vega didn’t like it. He grabbed the boy by the neck of his jacket, bunching the material between hard fists. “You will kill this man I choose,” he said. “You will succeed and save face for us all. And you will return as a valued member of my family. Do you understand what I am saying?”
    Dario nodded.
    “The free ride is over. It’s time to do . . . or die.”
    “Um . . . when?”
    “Right now.”
    Vega let the boy leave, returned to the office window for a moment and then buzzed in the man who now took care of the more physical side of the cartel’s business. A walking insurance policy, clad in an Armani suit and trained to kill by the toughest and maddest hard-asses all around the world.
    Vega exhaled with deep concern. “That boy is a mystery to me.”
    The man, whom everyone called Vin, remained mute, wisely choosing not to comment on his boss’s son.
    “I want you to go with him. As an advisor in name, of course. But supervise, alongside Grant. Grant’s forte is facilitation, so let him lead and supervise until you have the Dahls. I leave it to you, but make sure both he and Dario succeed. At the worst, you must succeed alone and then report to me. And, Vin?”
    “Yes?”
    “Report truthfully. No sugar-coating. No half a story. I want to hear the worst of it.”
    “And if the boy can’t come through?”
    Vega shrugged. “Then he’s not of my blood. You can kill him, for all I care.”
    Vin hesitated. “Is that your final word?”
    “Sometimes the blood does not run right, Vin. It skips a generation. Javier and I, we were the same. Dario? I find myself wondering.”
    “And the boy’s secret?”
    “Tell the men to keep eyes on her. Both you and I will be in Barbados, attending to business. That doesn’t mean she won’t be of help to us.”
    “You sure you want to go?”
    Vega smiled at Vin’s awkward attempt to phrase the indelicate question. It didn’t fit the man’s personality and made Vega’s loyalty for him deepen all the more. “Sometimes, my friend, the daddy is forced to keep up appearances. This is one of those times.”
    “It’s that big?”
    Vega nodded. “It is . . . nothing short of our entire future. Now, I’ll be following along in an hour. Prepare everything for me.”
    “Done.” Vin gave a half-amused smile. “It will certainly make the next few hours more interesting.”
    Vega followed his man from the office’s cool interior into blazing sunshine, opening his face up to the skies and basking in the increasing heat, his mind awash with the images of what might and what would happen shortly.
    “This is shaping up to be a most interesting day.”
     

SEVEN
     
    Grant’s plane landed an hour or so after Dahl’s, giving the Facilitator’s men already placed in Barbados a brief head start for their inquiries. Barbados was a small island. If you had associations with the right men in the right places and swiped their greasy palms with a fat wad, all types of forbidden fruit could be served up on a platter. The Facilitator had done it before, many times, and would do so again until retirement or death ended his run.
    A fusillade of missed calls assaulted his phone the moment the jet landed. Grant stopped outside the terminal, seated on a bench with a bottle of water, to contact his men. Dahl and family were booked into the Barbados Palm, a large, luxury resort. Grant studied the