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

couple of minutes of the two arguing, Decklan noticed a sudden change in the gang member’s body language and facial expressions. This guy was about to snap and possibly hurt a lot of people. The guy went to lift his baggy t-shirt, indicating he had a gun in his waistband, but Decklan quickly took notice and tackled the kid to the ground. He was much bigger and stronger than the gang member so keeping him subdued until the situation died down wasn’t too difficult for him.

He thought about that day a lot because he knew if he hadn’t recognized what was happening or hadn’t been paying attention, kids would have died at that party. Now, he made sure he was always aware of his surroundings, no matter what.

He scanned around the sitting area at his gate and noticed only a few people were waiting with him. A middle-aged man dressed in a nice suit with a leather briefcase. Clearly a businessman who must be going to Russia for work. He looked to his left and to see a mother and two small children, one boy and one girl. She was fighting a losing battle, trying her best to contain their energy.

Good luck, lady. I can tell you firsthand that you don’t stand a chance.

Seeing this young family suddenly triggered a wave of emotions in Decklan, but he didn’t want to start sobbing in the middle of the airport. Instead, he leaned over with his elbows on his knees and just held his face in his hands for a few minutes until the emotion passed. He still hadn’t properly grieved over his family, but he knew now was not the time to start. There was still a job to get done. Finally, he looked over about three rows in front of him and noticed a young woman, probably only twenty or twenty-one at the most. She had headphones in and was reading a book. She was traveling alone, which meant she was trying to explore the world while she still could. Before she grew up and realized how dark, cold, and unforgiving life really was—or she was going to meet some guy for the first time that she met online. The latter was typical for kids these days. Damn millennials.

“Now boarding all seats. Please make your way to the gate. Your flight takes off in twenty minutes and the gate will be closing in fifteen.” Some woman behind the counter spoke over the loudspeaker.

Decklan waited a few minutes while he watched the other passengers board. He wasn’t much for standing in line so he’d rather wait until he could just walk straight on without having to stand right on top of strangers. Getting on a plane like this was weird for Decklan. He was more used to walking straight up to the plane from the tarmac, since that is how they boarded planes in the military. He was finally inside the plane, making his way towards his seat, 15A, which put him around the middle. He put his bag in the overhead storage and took his seat. He was a window seat, which he always loved because he secretly had a passion for scenery. It was a way for him to escape.

He was anxiously waiting to see who was going to be taking the seat next to him, because whoever it was, he was going to have to get used to them for the thirteen-hour trip.

“Hello!” a young and innocent-sounding voice said.

Decklan looked up and saw the same young girl he had noticed when he was waiting to board.

“Hi, how are you?” Decklan responded, trying to sound polite even though he wasn’t really in the mood for small talk.

“Great! I’m Rebecca, how are you?”

“Can’t complain, I guess.” Which was a bald-faced lie. “I’m Decklan. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Same!” the young girl replied with a big smile.

Decklan could tell this girl wasn’t going to shut up anytime soon and was probably going to talk the whole damn way.

For the love of God, kill me now!

“If you don’t mind me asking, why are you going to Russia?” Rebecca asked energetically.

“Just got some business I have to take care of,” Decklan replied, lacking the same energy.

“Oh cool! What kind of work do you do?”

“It’s kind of hard to explain.”

Rebecca leaned in, playfully whispering, “Are you a spy or something? Or a hitman?”

“Oh no, nothing like that, ma’am. I just wouldn’t want to bore you with the details,” Decklan replied lightheartedly, hoping to get her to stop pressing.

Rebecca leaned back, acting shocked but clearly not being serious. “Ma’am! How old do you think I am?”

“Sorry, force of habit, I guess,” Decklan said.

“No need to apologize, Decklan. Not enough men have manners these days. It’s quite refreshing,” she replied, pretending to be proper.

Decklan just smiled, hoping this was the end of this childish back and forth.

“Well, aren’t you going to ask me?” she said.

“Ask you what?”

“Aren’t you curious why a young single girl is going to Russia all by herself?”

I could give two shits, Decklan thought to himself. But she was a genuinely nice girl and he didn’t see any harm in playing along. “Sure, why not. Why are you going to Russia?” he asked.

“It’s actually a pretty crazy story. I found out about three years ago that I was adopted. I was completely shocked by the news, so I wanted to try and find my actual birth parents. Don’t get me wrong, I love the people who raised me. I still call them Mom and Dad, but what little girl wouldn’t want to meet her real parents, right?”

Decklan wasn’t expecting that and didn’t know what to say, so he just nodded in agreement.

“After doing some digging around on the Internet for a year, I finally found them… well, her anyway. It said my real dad passed away from cancer when I was ten.”

Decklan remembered Langley’s wife losing a battle to cancer and how much that wrecked his life, so he knew the turmoil cancer