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

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. No matter what I did, you always had something to say about it.”

“You really want to do this now? With everything I just went through? You really want to bring up shit from when we were kids? Maybe I’m not the problem. Maybe the problem was you always needing someone there to hold your hand or give you praise. You couldn’t just do something to do it. Maybe you just need to grow the hell up and take some responsibility for yourself.”

“Take responsibility? You want to talk to me about taking responsibility? Was I the one that as soon as something wasn’t going my way turned to the bottle? Was I the one that decided to run off to the military the second I could because I didn’t want to stay back and face my problems?”

“How about you come to my house and we have this conversation face to face, like real men?”

“Always resorting to violence, Deck.”

Several seconds passed with no words. Yet somehow the silence was just as intense as words.

“Do me a favor from now on, and stay the hell out of my way. I am done needing your help. I can take care of this on my own,” Decklan snapped.

“You know I can’t let you do that, Deck. If you do something reckless or against the law, I will bring you in myself.”

“Perfect, you know where I live,” Decklan said before hanging up.

CHAPTER 8

Now Decklan was truly alone with this investigation. Which, if he was being honest with himself, was always the case. Decklan knew Parker had a job to do. After all, he was the chief of police, but he figured he would have been a little more willing to bend the rules or go outside the law to help. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.

Knock-knock.

If this is Parker, I swear to God I am going to break his nose.

He opened the door, only to see a stranger standing in front of him. Dressed sharply, about six foot three and couldn’t weigh more than two hundred pounds.

“Can I help you?” Decklan said, with little patience.

“Decklan, Decklan Jennings, right?” the unnamed man said.

“Who’s asking?” Decklan replied.

“My apologies. My name is Detective Langley Jones, but you can just call me Langley.”

Decklan rolled his eyes. “Let me guess, the chief sent you over here because he didn’t have the balls to do it himself.”

“No sir, I am here by my own accord.”

“Why?”

“I want to offer you my services.”

“Services for what?”

“To help you find the bastards who killed your family.”

Detective Jones could see the confusion on Decklan’s face.

“How do you know about my family?” Decklan said sharply. “Who told you?”

“I saw it on the news at one of your local bars,” Langley said. “I am very good at my job and I believe I could be quite useful in helping you track the murderers down before it’s too late.”

“And why should I trust you?” Decklan said, still not changing his suspicious tone.

“That is a great question, Mr. Jennings. Let me answer your question with a question of my own. Who else do you have to help you?”

Where the hell did this guy come from?

Unfortunately, Decklan didn’t have options right now and after what just happened with his brother, he could use any help he could get.

“Do you mind if I ask who you work for, Detective?” Decklan said, needing to make sure he wasn’t one of Parker’s guys.

“Of course, my apologies. I’m a private detective from out of town and I was just finishing up a case here when I saw your story on TV. I figured I would at least offer a helping hand before heading back home,” Langley said.

“Okay, and if I decide to let you help, I assume you have a fee or something?” Decklan said.

“Typically, yes. But for a fellow vet like yourself, this one is on the house,” Langley replied.

“You served?” Decklan said in a surprised tone.

“Yes sir. Navy SEAL for ten years.”

“Army Ranger,” Decklan said, pointing to himself.

“I’m aware of your background, Mr. Jennings, and I thank you for your service.”

“You can call me Decklan. And thank you for your service as well. I knew several SEAL guys and they were some of the toughest and most honorable men I had the privilege of knowing.”

“Thank you, Decklan,” Langley said. “I do have one request, and it might sound a little odd, but it’s vital to our success.”

“What is it?” Decklan asked.

“I need a place to stay while I’m in town and I just checked out of my hotel this morning,” Langley said.

“No worries, you can take the couch in the living room,” Decklan said.

“Thanks, I really appreciate it,” Langley replied.

Decklan let Langley in and showed him to the living room.

“There ya go, it’s all yours,” Decklan said, pointing to the couch. “I’ll grab you a cover and a more comfortable pillow.”

Langley sat his bag down next to the couch and took a seat. He opened the bag, pulled out a long cloth to place across the living room table, and began laying out the contents from inside.

“What kind of detective carries that much firepower with him?” Decklan said.

Langley smirked. “When you have been doing what I do for as many years as I have, you learn that it’s best to be over-prepared,” he replied. “I’ve dealt with my fair share of heavy hitters and class A murderers.”

Good! Because I plan on giving these assholes everything I’ve got, Decklan thought.

“Any leads yet?” Langley asked.

“Well, I thought I did. But that went south so now I am back to square one,” Decklan replied.

“No worries, Decklan. I’m used to starting from scratch,” Langley said. “Let’s get some rest and we can start first thing in the morning.”

It was late and Decklan knew he needed to try and get some rest, so he decided not to press.

“Sounds good. I will see