BLOOD TIES (Decklan Jennings Thriller Book 1), Philip Duncan [bill gates book recommendations TXT] 📗

easy for someone to be coming down at the same time we were going up, so you have to be on high alert,” Teddy said.

What else would I be in this situation? I’m not an idiot, Decklan thought. “Roger that,” he said after his internal dialogue.

“I believe upstairs is where he will be entertaining his lady friends if that is what he wants that night, so shit could get a little messier than you would like,” Teddy said.

Decklan knew exactly what he meant and shot him a sharp glare. “I’m not risking the chance of killing innocent girls. Enough people have died already because of this bastard!”

“I understand that, kid. But sometimes that is out of our control and we have to be willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Even if that means a few loose girls get killed,” Teddy said.

Decklan didn’t back down from his position. “Like I said, Teddy, that shit ain’t happening on my watch. There’s always an alternative and those girls wouldn’t deserve to die.”

Teddy sighed, and looked back down at the map, purposely choosing not to respond.

“Upstairs will be a little trickier to navigate since we will have to enter closed rooms. We won’t have any idea what’s waiting inside until we go in, so hopefully we get lucky and find Vladimir early on. Once we take him out we will need to haul ass out of there and get back to the car as quickly as possible. One call from Vladimir or one of his men, and their whole cavalry will show up. If that happens before we get out, I can assure you we will die in that house.”

Their plan was laid out. Although it wasn’t airtight, it was good enough to have them both on the same page and know what to do once inside the house. As long as they stayed together and had each other’s back, they stood a fighting chance. Teddy rolled up the map and tossed it in his duffle bag.

“Any questions?” Teddy asked.

Decklan shook his head. “Nope. I’m all set.”

“Good. We roll out in half an hour,” Teddy said. “I just need to piss and grab another drink before we go. You know, in case we don’t come back. Might as well have a little buzz if I’m planning on walking through the gates of hell to meet the Devil.”

They both headed back upstairs where they would wait to leave. Decklan sat anxiously on the couch, thinking about all the things that had happened over the past month. Losing his family. Almost getting shot at the docks. Having to save Langley’s life, only to have it taken shortly after. And now, here he was, halfway around the world in a frostbitten country that he had no business being in, about to make one last effort to finally right all the wrongs caused by one man… Vladimir Ivanov, the Russian drug kingpin.

One thing still didn’t add up in Decklan’s head. It was the one question that had been burning since the start. Why would Vladimir pick out his family to carry out such a brutal act? There would be no way of Vladimir knowing who he was, and even if he did, why the hell would he want to harm his family? There was a piece to the puzzle missing and Decklan had no clue how to find it. His only chance was to get Vladimir to tell him before finally putting an end to his miserable life. But would someone like Vladimir even tell the truth?

“Teddy, I have two things that are a must for this operation,” Decklan said.

“Sure, kid. What are they?” Teddy asked.

“I have to be the one to kill Vladimir. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep at night if I’m not the one to finish the job.”

“Makes sense. No problem. And the second thing?”

“We have to make sure he stays alive long enough for me to get some answers. If he dies before I get the chance to ask him about my family then I may never know why he did it.”

“Again, makes sense, and I’ll do my best. You have my word,” Teddy said.

“Thank you,” Decklan replied.

Teddy finished off his final cup of bourbon, and slammed it down on the table, indicating it was time.

“Grab your shit and let’s go get this son of a bitch,” Teddy said with enthusiasm.

They opened the big blue door and stepped out into the freezing cold air with heavy snow falling from the dark sky. It was the kind of snow that silenced all the noise in the world, which was exactly what they needed.

CHAPTER 20

They tossed their bags in the trunk and got in Teddy’s car. It was snowing so heavily at this point that not many people were on the roads, which meant they wouldn’t have to fight the kind of traffic that Decklan saw coming here from the airport. However, they couldn’t drive very fast, which meant it was going to take them longer to get there. This would give them more time to mentally prepare…if anyone could actually prepare themselves for something like this. To Decklan, it felt like another mission like he had done dozens of times in the military. Only now, there were two of them, not a whole team. The odds were stacked against them and they both knew it, they just didn’t care. This was something that had to be done and it had to be done now.

The longer Vladimir had breath in his lungs, the more anger and rage built up inside Decklan. And the better chance that more people would die. Plus, it seemed Teddy didn’t have anything better to do, or at least not that he cared to mention. They slowly moved through the snow that only seemed to get heavier by the minute. Decklan stared out of the window, unable to see more than a few feet. The sheets of white covered everything. It was something Decklan