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

Just as he was gloating in his head, he heard a barrage of gunfire.

“Shit! Langley!”

He made sure to lock the basement door and then sprinted as fast as possible back upstairs to provide backup.

“Hey Langley, you all right?” Decklan shouted, trying to regroup through the ripping gunshots that were tearing apart his house.

He looked over and saw Langley posted up against the back of the couch, trying to stay as low as possible to avoid being hit.

“I’m good,” Langley shouted back. “Did you get him?”

Decklan nodded his head. “Yes, but it looks like we got a few more to take care of. Any idea how many are out there?”

“I can’t say for sure, but I would venture to guess it’s more than one,” Langley replied jokingly.

“We need to get to a window and try and get a visual. We need to know how many we are up against,” Decklan said. “I’m going to try and get upstairs; can you cover me?”

“Hell yeah!” Langley replied.

They waited for a break in the action, and Langley stood up with his fully auto AR and started unloading his clip out through the window while Decklan made for the stairs. The plan worked and Decklan was upstairs safely and Langley was back to the defensive position behind the couch. The best window to get a visual from would be his baby girl’s room. This would be the first time he stepped foot inside since her death, but he didn’t have a choice. He made it over to the window, trying his best to ignore the baby dolls and stuffed animals that were left out from her playing for the last time. He pulled the curtain back just enough to see outside.

“You’ve got to be kidding. There are ten of you idiots,” Decklan said, out loud to himself.

He stepped back to avoid being seen and tried processing the insurmountable odds they were up against. Then, he decided to take another look to see if he could spot Vladimir. It didn’t take long for Decklan to spot him.

“I see you actually showed. Big mistake,” Decklan whispered to himself.

This was exactly what they wanted. They needed him to be here, hoping that he would go against his better judgment and show up. Of course, neither one of them really knew what Vladimir was capable of in terms of combat. All Langley ever saw was the work of his henchmen, but never anything from Vladimir directly. This would be the night that they found out what he was truly made of.

Decklan needed to get back downstairs to update Langley on the situation. He managed to get back down to the living room without being peppered with bullets, and for some reason, all the noise had stopped. He took position behind a wall parallel with Langley, who was still behind the couch.

“Why did they stop?” Decklan asked.

“No clue. They must be reloading, or perhaps they are about to burst through the front door,” Langley replied. “So how do you like our chances?”

“It’s not good. There are at least ten from what I could see, and they were lined up like a damn firing squad prepared to execute prisoners. I don’t see how we get out of this one,” Decklan replied.

“What about Vladimir—is he here?”

“I saw him in the back, just standing there watching,” Decklan answered.

“Perfect. We must find a way to take him out. This has to end tonight, no matter what,” Langley said.

“I agree, but it is going to be hard to get a clean shot off on him while trying to avoid the hundreds of bullets that will be pouring in here any second,” Decklan replied.

“Leave that to me,” Langley said, surprisingly calmly.

Decklan didn’t like the sound of that. It appeared that Langley’s plan was to embark on a suicide mission, and they both knew it, but neither one of them said a word. Then they heard someone yelling. It was the unmistakable voice of the heartless Russian, Vladimir Ivanov.

“My friends, it doesn’t have to be like this. Just put your guns down and come outside. You have no way of escaping. It’s over.”

Decklan and Langley exchanged looks. There was no way in hell either one of them was about to give up. They would fight to the death if that was what it took. First and foremost, they were soldiers. Surrender was never an option, especially not to this guy.

“Go fuck yourself, you piece of shit!” Langley yelled back.

Decklan smiled and yelled his own response. “This is your last chance to walk away while you still can!”

They knew they were at a disadvantage in every way possible, so they figured why not piss Vladimir off and have some fun in the process.

“I have to hand it to you, Mr. Jennings. You are much more capable than I gave you credit for. I underestimated you, but I can assure you that will not happen again,” Vladimir responded. “I have a proposal for you. Come out alone to face the consequences for killing my nephew and I will let your partner walk away.”

Without hesitation, Langley yelled back, “I have a better deal. We kill all of your guys, one by one, and then I put a bullet between your beady little eyes.”

Decklan looked over at Langley. “I like your plan much better. Let’s go with that one.”

They both laughed, which was probably something that only two former military guys would do in a situation like this. They had a way of feeling comfortable in the most hostile situations. There was no response, which only meant one thing. Vladimir was done negotiating and the firestorm was about to start again.

“All right buddy, one more time. We can do this. Let's take these bastards down once and for all,” Decklan said.

“Roger that,” Langley replied.

Boom! A loud, thunderous sound echoed through the house as they watched the front door kicked in. They heard the clinking of something being tossed and rolled across the hardwood