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

“I wish you luck, Mr. Jennings. It was never personal, only business,” Vladimir said, as if those words meant anything to Decklan.

“That’s where you're wrong, Mr. Ivanov. It's always been personal,” Decklan said.

Vladimir noticed a sudden change in Decklan’s eyes. It was as if his eyes had been emptied of all hope and faith in humanity. He now had the eyes of a ruthless killer, dark and void of light.

“Ah, finally! Let’s get this over with!” Vladimir yelled. “Pull the trigger!”

Decklan raised his rifle and pointed the barrel directly at Vlad’s chest. He stood about five feet in front of him as Vlad was still seated on the floor, but for some reason he hesitated. He didn’t know why, but his finger wouldn’t squeeze the trigger. He closed his eyes and instantly saw his beautiful wife holding his hand and leading him toward the ocean. She was wearing a white sundress and had a smile that could outshine the sun on the brightest day. He could hear her voice—her sweet, caring voice. He didn’t know why this was happening right now. Right before he was about to kill the man who was responsible for the slaying of his family.

I see you, baby, and I miss you so much. I’m doing this for you and our children. I’m so sorry I let this happen. I love you!

“Well, what the hell are you waiting for!” Vladimir yelled again, now on his feet.

This caused Decklan to open his eyes and snap back to reality.

Then Teddy spoke. “Hey kid, you need to make a move. We don’t have all night.”

Teddy was trying to give Decklan a push. Every second that passed was a second that more men could be closer to showing up.

Decklan had no problem killing Vladimir Ivanov. Even though he wasn’t the true mastermind behind the whole thing, he was still just as responsible as Igor…and Parker.

Six shots fired from his rifle and directly into Vladimir’s flesh. The force of the bullets knocked him back against a dresser and blood leaked from the bullet holes. Amazingly enough, he was still alive as he tried to mutter some words through his blood-filled lungs, but they were in Russian, so Decklan didn’t understand. Rather than finish the job off with his gun, he pulled out his knife and knelt down next to Vladimir. He slowly plunged it deep into his abdomen, making sure to keep direct eye contact the whole time. He wanted Vladimir to know that he took pleasure in killing him.

Decklan stood back up and turned toward Teddy. “Let’s go. Parker’s next.”

Teddy nodded in agreement, not having any words for what just unfolded, but he did know they needed to get the hell out of there before reinforcements showed up.

They hurried out of the house, leaving the same way they came in. They didn’t want to risk walking out the front door into possible trouble. The snow was still falling, but not as heavily as before. The wind was still howling, which made the icy cold air feel like it was cutting right through the skin. They walked back through the same hole Teddy had cut for them to enter and headed straight for the car a couple hundred yards through the snow-covered field. Teddy was hauling ass as fast as he could, but Decklan had stopped and turned around to look at the house one final time. Here he was, over five thousand miles from home, standing in the middle of a foreign field and having just killed the man responsible for killing his family. But the job wasn’t finished.

Now he had to go back home and confront his little brother, who had betrayed him and his family. They may have never been close, like most brothers were, but what he did was wrong and unforgivable. To Decklan, Parker was just as responsible as Vladimir and Igor. Hell, maybe more so since he was his own damn brother. He hadn’t had time to figure out how he was going to confront him yet, but he figured the long flight back would give him time. He gave the giant lifeless house one last look before turning around, never to return. His mind was now set on getting back home as quickly as possible.

Teddy had been so focused on getting back to the car he hadn’t even noticed Decklan had stopped. He was a good fifty or so yards ahead of Decklan and almost back to the car. Decklan picked up his pace to try and catch up as well as wanting to get out of the brutal and unforgiving Russian cold. Finally, back, they tossed their shit in the back and climbed in. Teddy cranked the key and blasted the heat as high as it would go. Considering what they just went through and managed to pull off, they weren’t actually gone that long. However, it was long enough for the car to be covered in snow and half frozen. It would take several minutes before they could drive.

“What are you going to do about your brother?” Teddy asked. “I still can’t believe he would do something like that.”

Decklan stared at the dashboard with such intensity, it was as if he was trying to burn a hole through the car with his eyes.

“What would you do if you were in my situation?” Decklan replied.

“Shit, kid! I don’t know. I guess I’d be pretty pissed off. Probably want to kill him,” Teddy said.

“Do you think Vladimir was telling the truth?” Decklan asked, still clinging to the hope that it was all a lie.

“Hard to tell with someone like that, but he did seem to know a lot of shit that he shouldn’t have known,” Teddy answered.

Decklan’s glare didn’t budge from the dash. “We never really got along but never in a million years would I have thought he’d be capable of something like this.”

“Me either, kid. But I guess you never really