BLOOD TIES (Decklan Jennings Thriller Book 1) by Philip Duncan (book recommendations for young adults txt) 📕

Glock and pointed directly between the guy’s eyes. “Last chance, asshole.”

“Okay, I'll tell you,” he finally responded with his eyes shut tight, hoping Decklan didn’t pull the trigger. “His name is Vladimir Ivanov. He's one of the biggest drug dealers in the world.”

“How did he end up here? How long has he been dealing drugs in my town?” Decklan said, growing impatient.

“I don't know. He just moves from city to city recruiting local drug dealers to do his bidding. I just do what I am told and don't ask questions. I have seen him do things to people for just looking at him wrong. He’s fucking crazy, man.”

Decklan and Langley stood there staring at each other. They finally got the information they were looking for, but somehow it didn't bring them the satisfaction they imagined.

“Where can we find this Vladimir?” Langley asked.

“Come on, man, I told you his name. Just let me go. I swear I won't tell nobody.”

“Just tell us where he is and you are free,” Langley said.

This surprised Decklan. He didn't think that he would be so quick to dismiss this guy back into the streets. But he guessed it was the only alternative to killing him. And they had no real reason to do this.

“He likes to hang out at some high-end strip joint just a few miles outside of town. You can usually find him there most nights when he doesn't have other obligations.”

“Name?” Langley asked.

“The Mouse's Ear.”

Neither one of them knew where this was but it couldn't be too hard to find. There weren’t many strip clubs around here. Actually, until now, Decklan didn’t know there were any.

“Great, how far?” Decklan chimed in.

“It’s about half an hour away.”

“Do you know if he’s there tonight?” Decklan asked.

“I don’t know, man, probably. His favorite girl works on Fridays.”

“Perfect,” Langley replied.

Decklan knew they needed to go tonight but he didn’t feel comfortable leaving a drug dealer that they just beat up and basically kidnapped in his house alone, even if he was tied up.

“What are we going to do with him?” Decklan said, looking at Langley. “We can’t just leave him here. What if he escapes or someone finds him here before we get back?”

“Good point,” Langley replied as he pulled out his silenced 9mm Ruger. “We can’t leave a trail.”

And before Decklan could respond, Langley put one straight through the thug’s skull.

“There, problem solved.”

“Jesus, Langley! What the hell did you do that for? We can’t just walk around shooting people. That’s not exactly the best way to keep a low profile.”

“I get it, Decklan. But we both know we couldn’t just let him run back to his friends after seeing our faces. We can’t take that chance. Especially now that they will eventually catch on that someone is messing with their guys. Even if the other one didn’t see our faces, he still knows something out of the ordinary happened and they will come looking for this one,” Langley said as he pointed to the corpse on the floor. “We need to get ahead of this. Let’s go to the club and see what we can find out.

Decklan was still stunned by what just happened. Another life taken in his home. It had become a fifty-five hundred square foot coffin for four people now.

They couldn’t just leave him on the floor bleeding everywhere, so they rolled him up in the living room carpet and sat it against the back of the couch.

“There, this will do for now. We’ll figure out a long-term solution when we get back,” Langley said.

CHAPTER 12

They were back in Langley’s car, where it seemed they spent most of their time. It would be around nine-thirty before they got to the strip club. They wanted to get inside and get comfortable with the layout while they kept their eyes peeled for Vladimir.

They could see the neon sign about a hundred yards before they could even see the building. The Mouse’s Ear, where the drinks are cheap but the company is not.

“Damn, this place is packed,” Decklan said as they pulled into the parking lot. “How could I not know this place existed?”

“Probably because you're not a lowlife piece of shit,” Langley said, jokingly.

After they finally found a place to park, they got out and started to make their way to the front door where two giant men stood, picking and choosing who was allowed to enter. They saw several well-dressed men enter, but right behind them, a couple of guys were stopped. They looked to be in their early twenties and had clearly been drinking prior to arriving.

“The bouncers don’t like to take their chances with guys like this because more times than not, it ends up with a fight or someone getting too handsy with the girls,” Langley said.

Decklan shot a quick look at him. “How do you know that? You come to places like this in your spare time?”

Langley laughed. “Only for work reasons. Kind of like tonight. But I’ve done it enough to know what kind of people are inside.”

“How do you know they will let us in?” Decklan asked.

“Well, for one, we can actually form a coherent sentence. And two, we look old enough for them to assume we have money to spend.”

“I’m not giving a penny to this shithole,” Decklan said.

“It’s fine; I got you covered,” Langley replied.

They got inside with no problems, and made their way over to the bar to get a couple of drinks. Not drinking in a place like this would make you stand out, and that was the last thing they needed.

“Two whiskeys on the rocks, please,” Langley said to the bartender.

“I don't drink,” Decklan responded. “I have a complicated history with booze.”

“You don't have to drink it, just hold it so it looks like you are. We need to blend in.”

I don't want to blend in with these people, Decklan thought, but he knew he didn't have a choice.

They stood there, with their backs to the bar, scanning the club. They