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

The car was finally thawed enough to start moving, so Teddy threw it in gear and they headed back. Back at Teddy’s, Decklan jumped out of the car quickly and headed for the blue door. He wanted to get his bag and book his flight back as quickly as possible. He got lucky; there was a flight leaving in two hours. Teddy knew Decklan was ready to leave but he tried to convince him to stay and cool off before doing anything he might regret.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay here a little while, even if just for the night?” Teddy asked. “You just went through a lot of shit and found out some stuff you weren’t expecting. It might be a good idea for you to take a breather and try to rest.”

“Rest? You think I’ll be able to sleep after finding out my own brother was working with these bastards?” Decklan snapped. “I need to know why he would do something like this, and I won’t be able to sleep until I do.”

Teddy didn’t bother arguing with him; he could clearly see it was a losing battle. “All right, kid. At least let me give you a ride to the airport.”

“Thanks,” Decklan said, as they both headed right back out into the snowy night.

CHAPTER 22

The ride to the airport was quiet. Decklan was too focused on what he was going to do with Parker, and Teddy knew he could never find the words to help. He needed to figure out how to confront him. Should he act like everything was okay to see if he confessed, or should he let him know from the jump that he knew everything?

This was going to be difficult since it was his own brother. It was hard enough trying to deal with the fact that someone out there wanted to hurt his family, but the fact that his little brother was a part of it from the start was almost too much to comprehend.

“Here we are, kid,” Teddy said, as they pulled up to the front of the airport. It was almost the exact same spot where Decklan got in the taxi when he arrived.

“Thanks for everything, Teddy. I couldn’t have done it without you,” Decklan said.

“Anytime,” Teddy replied, as Decklan went to get out of the car. “And good luck with everything. I hope you can find some closure.”

Decklan nodded his head at Teddy and climbed out of the car. He closed the door behind him and headed into the airport through the automatic doors.

Since he had only been in this airport the one time, he wasn’t sure which direction his gate was. He headed for the security check and it didn't take him long to get through since there weren't many people at the airport at this time.

He looked down at his ticket: gate seven. He found someone who worked at the airport and pointed both directions, indicating he needed help finding his gate. The Russian looked up and pointed to his right.

“Thank you,” Decklan said, not knowing if the man could understand English.

He headed for his gate, and found an empty seat, which wasn't hard since there didn't seem to be anyone else on this fight with him. He had an hour to kill before his flight started boarding so he had plenty of time to think and reflect.

He couldn't shake the idea that there was no way Parker would be a part of this. Surely his own brother would have warned him or tried to protect his own niece and nephew if he knew they were in danger. Whether or not Vladimir was telling the truth, Decklan would soon find out.

He understood that Parker could easily deny the accusations. Hell, that was probably exactly what he would do because if it were true then he was a coward, and this time wouldn't be any different than when Vladimir first approached him.

Before he knew it, the hour had flown by and it was time to board. He stood up and slowly walked toward the gate as if walking off the plank of a pirate ship. He knew he needed to do this, but it didn't make it any easier.

He found his seat, stuck his only bag in the overhead compartment and sat down. He could see a few other people boarding the plane as well, but it was nowhere near full. He slid open the window cover and looked out into the dark, wintry night.

He felt as if he was leaving a part of himself behind, but that was okay because it was a part that he needed to let go of. Vladimir was dead and couldn't hurt anyone else. He had other things to focus on now, Parker and Igor. He knew that he could never be completely at peace if he didn’t hear it from his brother face to face. He got lucky this time and he didn't have to worry about carrying on a conversation with a stranger, because he was in no mood to talk. However, he did wonder how Rebecca was and if she was able to find her mother and get some closure.

She’s a nice young girl. She deserves to be happy.

Decklan could feel the plane start to move as it was backing out and heading for the runway for its takeoff. Soon he could feel himself being pressed back against his seat as the giant aircraft reached speeds of well over one hundred miles per hour. For some reason, this allowed him to relax, and he suddenly felt the weight of his eyelids. He knew he needed sleep. It’d been two days since he’d actually slept like a normal person. His body had been running on pure determination and anger, but that seemed to have worn off for the moment.

Fifteen hours later Decklan was woken up by the force of the plane's wheels hitting the runway. He slowly opened his eyes,