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

“These babies will help us clear out a room that we don’t feel like going into,” Teddy said, with a sadistic grin.

Trust me, I know, Decklan thought to himself after having just dealt with some in his fight with Vladimir.

Decklan was no stranger to tossing a frag into a room that was being held up by some terrorist. Sometimes it was better to make sure everything inside was unable to fight back before actually going in, rather than take a chance of getting shot. Decklan was starting to have flashbacks of him and Langley preparing for Vladimir back home. The only difference here was they were going into unfamiliar territory this time. It was going to be one hell of a ride.

“You any good with a knife?” Teddy asked.

“About as good as I am with my hands,” Decklan said.

“You're a special forces guy, so I’ll take that as a yes,” Teddy replied. “Here, this should suit you just fine.”

Decklan watched as a knife came flying his way. He reached out and caught it by the handle and placed it in his waistband. After a few more minutes, they had everything they needed. Or at least everything they could carry. If they could, they’d bring the whole armory.

“I believe this should work.” Teddy said. “If we can’t kill him with all of this, then we deserve to die.”

Decklan didn’t have a response. Clearly Teddy didn’t fear death, and at times it seemed as if he welcomed it. He was like a modern-day Viking. Dying in battle like a true warrior was the most honorable way to die. Decklan had a similar mindset in that he didn’t fear death. However, he did fear not keeping his promises and letting down the ones that he lost. That thought alone drove him to keep pushing, even when he felt like giving up. Some people would probably have even ended their own life after experiencing such loss, but Decklan Jennings was built differently.

He followed Teddy out and over to a large metal table where a map was spread out. Once he was close enough, he could tell it was a map of Moscow. Since Teddy knew where Vladimir was probably going to be, they could use the map to lay the best route and plan for getting into the house unseen. Of course, that would be the best-case scenario, which seemed too good to be true. Decklan always found himself on the other side of the fence, where all the chaos and death was. The good news was, he has great experience in killing Vladimir’s men so that shouldn’t be any different if… when shit hit the fan. Decklan was battle worn and unfazed by violence. He had been handling bad guys his whole life. He just needed to do it one more time, that was all… just one.

Teddy was surveying the map, trying to figure out the best route. There was only one road leading to the house, so that part was easy. It was after they got out of the car that would be the tricky part.

“Here. This is where we will stop and get out of the car. I don’t want to risk getting too close and being seen. He’s not used to uninvited guests so it’s best if he doesn’t see us pull up. We want to avoid a firefight as long as possible,” Teddy said. “Once we park, we will grab our gear and work our way toward the back of the house. We should be able to move in undetected on foot, especially with all this snow. It will help decrease their visibility.”

Decklan looked at Teddy. “How do you know the snow will pick up?’

“Because when it snows in Moscow, it fucking snows,” Teddy replied.

Decklan got the point, and Teddy went back to the plan.

“It should only be a couple hundred yards from the car to the house, so it shouldn’t take us too long, but I think we should post up about fifty yards out and use the scope from the sniper to do some surveillance. The better idea we have of what we are up against, the better chance we have of getting the job done.”

Decklan nodded his head in agreement. “Makes sense.”

“Then we will make our final push to the house against the south-facing wall. It has a large set of concrete stairs that leads up to the back doors.”

“How the hell do you know so much about his house?” Decklan asked. “Did you build the damn thing?”

Teddy smiled at Decklan’s reaction. “I worked a party there a couple of years ago as part of an undercover operation. It was a long party with lots of people, so I was able to get a good feel for the layout,” Teddy replied.

“Wouldn’t that mean he knows what you look like?” Decklan asked.

“Maybe he does and maybe he doesn’t, but that doesn't really matter, does it?” Teddy said.

“Why not?” Decklan asked.

“We know without a doubt he knows what you look like!” Teddy said. “You said it yourself: He was just on your front lawn a couple of days ago.”

Decklan let out a short laugh. “Touché.”

“Once we get inside the house, we will move room to room, taking out any of his guys along the way. We will have to do this without making noise or else the whole place will come crashing down on us. I have silencers for our pistols, but our knives might be the best option, depending on the situation.”

“How many rooms does he have on the main floor?” Decklan asked.

“If my memory serves me correctly, there should be four, including the kitchen,” Teddy answered.

“Okay, continue,” Decklan said.

“After we clear out the main floor we will head upstairs. It’s important that we are both very aware here because it’s the only set of stairs that leads to the second floor and it’s right in the middle of the house. It would be very