‘You met with a bloody SVR agent? You shared news of what we’re doing with them?’
Narov shook her head. ‘A Russian mafiosa. A drug-runner, or rather one of the drug-running kingpins. They have their network spread right across the Caribbean. They know everything and everybody. They have to, to be able to run their cocaine through these islands.’ She glared at Jaeger resentfully. ‘But if you wish to find a devil, sometimes you have to do a deal with the devil himself.’
‘So – what did he tell you?’ Jaeger rasped.
‘Two weeks ago, a group of Eastern Europeans turned up in Cuba. They started throwing money around and partying like crazy. Nothing so unusual. But two things came to the notice of my contact. One, they were mercenaries. Two, they had a woman they were holding captive.’ Defiance blazed in Narov’s eyes. ‘That woman – she is Brazilian. And her last name – it is Santos.’
Jaeger’s eyes searched Narov’s features for a long moment. Oddly, as part of her complex psychological make-up, she seemed incapable of telling a lie. She could play a part to perfection, but with someone she trusted the truth would invariably out.
‘Okay,’ he growled, ‘screw how you found them.’ His gaze went back to the image on his iPad screen. ‘First we find Leticia, and then . . .’
A look had come into Jaeger’s eyes – one of ice-cold, steely calm. He had his team, he had a lead – and more importantly, he had the world and his family to save.
He turned back to Narov. ‘Pack your bags. We’re going on a journey.’
‘We are,’ Narov confirmed. ‘You: Will Jaeger. And me. It’s time we went hunting.’
Will Jaeger will return . . .
Also by Bear Grylls
Facing Up
Facing the Frozen Ocean
Born Survivor
Great Outdoor Adventures
Living Wild
To My Sons
Mud, Sweat and Tears
A Survival Guide for Life
True Grit
Your Life – Train For It
Extreme Food
Mission Survival
Gold of the Gods
Way of the Wolf
Sands of the Scorpion
Tracks of the Tiger
Claws of the Crocodile
Rage of the Rhino
Strike of the Shark
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to the following: literary agents at PFD Caroline Michel, Annabel Merullo and Tim Binding for their unfaltering support and perceptive comments on early drafts. Thanks to Laura Williams, Associate Agent at PFD, as ever for all her Herculean efforts. To Jon Wood, Jemima Forrester and all at my publisher, Orion – Susan Lamb, Sophie Painter, Malcolm Edwards, Mark Rusher, Gaby Young and everyone on ‘Team Grylls’.
To Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE MD CBRN, Avon Protection, for his advice and expert input on chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and defence and protection measures. To Chris Daniels, and all at Hybrid Air Vehicles, for their insight and guidance on all things Airlander. To Dr Jacqueline Borg, foremost expert on brain-related disorders, including ASD. To Anne and Paul Sherrat, for their incisive advice and criticism on all things Nazi and Eastern Bloc.
And the final, biggest thank you, of course, to Damien Lewis for helping build on what we discovered together in my grandfather’s war chest, marked ‘Top Secret’. Bringing those documents to life in the way you have is pure brilliance.
Author's Note
My grandfather, Brigadier William Edward Harvey Grylls, OBE, 15/19th King’s Royal Hussars – and Commanding Officer of Target Force, the covert unit established at Winston Churchill’s request towards the end of WW2. The unit was one of the most clandestine bands of operators ever assembled by the War Office, and it was predominantly charged with tracking down and protecting secret technologies, weapons, scientists and high-ranking Nazi officials, to serve the Allied cause against the world’s new superpower and enemy, the Soviets.
No one in our family had any idea of his covert role as Commanding Officer of T Force until many years after his death and the release of information under the Official Secrets Act seventy-year rule – a process of discovery that inspired the writing of this book.
My grandfather was a man of few words, but I remember him so fondly from when I was a child growing up. Pipe smoking, enigmatic, dry humoured and loved by those he led.
To me, though, he was always just Grandpa Ted.
Copyright
AN ORION EBOOK
First published in Great Britain in 2015 by Orion Books.
This ebook first published in 2015 by Orion Books.
Copyright © Bear Grylls 2015
The right of Bear Grylls to be identified as
the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All the characters in this book, with the exception of those
already in the public domain, are fictitious, and any resemblance
to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in
any form or by any means without the prior permission
in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form
of binding or cover other than that in which it is published
without a similar condition, including this condition,
being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978 1 4091 5684 0
Orion Books
The Orion Publishing Group Ltd
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ
An Hachette UK Company
www.orionbooks.co.uk
Table of Contents
Dedication
Title Page
Contents
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Also by Bear Grylls
Acknowledgements
Author's Note
Copyright
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