BLOOD TIES (Decklan Jennings Thriller Book 1)

by Philip Duncan

  “I can’t tell you that, Deck; you know that. I just wanted to let you know that we are going to use all of our resources on this one to make sure we get something promising.”

  “Jesus, Parker. You can’t honestly expect me to just sit here in this empty house wasting away while you and the goon squad go meet my family's potential killer?” Decklan snapped back.

  “I know, Deck. Trust me, I get it. But I am the chief of police and it’s my job to follow the law and make sure private citizens do the same.”

  “Okay, little brother. You win. I’ll stay home and wait for you to call, but you better not let this son of a bitch get away.”

  “You have my word. I will call you when I can.”

  Decklan sat back down on his couch, both pissed off that he couldn’t go and hopeful since this was the first break in the case. Despite telling Parker that he would sit back and let the police handle this, he had no intentions of doing so. Even if he wasn’t going to interfere, he was going to at least be there when they met this guy. All he needed to do was follow Parker to the meeting without being seen.

  CHAPTER 7

  There was only one problem, Parker didn’t say when this was going down. Decklan was so hung up on the tiny bit of good news that he didn’t realize that he had no clue when this meeting was going to happen, and he couldn’t just follow his brother around like a relentless stalker tailing an ex-girlfriend.

  He needed to figure out a way to get the time and day of this meeting. So he decided to go for a Hail Mary. He had to call his brother and somehow get him to say it without raising suspicion.

  “Hey Parker, I just got a call for an out-of-town job so I am going to be gone for a few days. When can I expect an update on this anonymous source? I want to make sure to have my phone on me so I don’t miss your call,” Decklan said.

  “A job. Now? Are you sure that’s a good idea, Deck?” Parker said.

  “Probably not, but I need something to get my mind off everything for a little while and since I can’t help here, I might as well take it,” Decklan replied.

  “Okay, if you say so,” Parker said. “It’s going down tonight, actually, at eight. I will call you as soon as I can afterwards.”

  He took the bait.

  “Thanks, talk soon,” Decklan said as he hung up.

  This gave him about six hours to kill before he needed to leave. He had nothing to do and nowhere to go so he just sat there and waited. The hours seemed to be rolling by slower than a sniper in a perch waiting for his target. It was only five o’clock so he still had two hours before he needed to be at the station so he could follow his brother to the meeting.

  Finally, time to go. He headed straight for the station, where he parked and waited for his brother to leave. He could see his brother's unmarked police car parked about thirty yards from the front door. There was no way he was going to miss him.

  There he is, game time.

  It looked like they were only going with a few officers. Parker got in his car with a young female officer while the other two officers followed separately. Decklan knew he had to be careful not to be seen or his brother would pull the plug on the whole operation.

  They rolled through red light after red light, and finally arrived.

  Where the hell are we? This looks like an abandoned warehouse.

  Despite living here for the past several years, Decklan had never seen this place before. It appeared to be an old factory or warehouse, just like the kind you would see in a movie where only sketchy meetings and drug deals happen. He watched as Parker and the female officer cautiously made their way inside while the other two cops waited outside.

  As he made his way closer to the building, trying his best not to be seen, he heard several shots fired. He was no stranger to this sound and he instantly went for cover. This was what he was trained to do when shots were being fired. Stay low and find cover.

  Once he was certain no more shots were going to be fired, he continued to make his way closer. If nothing else, he wanted to be close enough to hear a conversation and possibly find out what the hell just happened.

  Shit, someone is coming.

  He immediately sprinted for a giant palm tree that was sitting adjacent to the building. He stared at the warehouse door, waiting for someone to walk out, but no one came out. Finally, he heard someone talking through one of the police radios.

  “Officer down! Officer down! We need an ambulance now!”

  Decklan recognized Parker’s voice. Finally, he saw his brother exit the warehouse. His hands looked like he’d just butchered a deer in the woods after a kill. His clothes were also covered in blood, but it wasn’t his own blood. The female cop was the one who was shot. But was she alive or dead? It wasn’t a good sign that Parker had come out without her.

  That lowlife must have killed her. This was a setup.

  Decklan stood there watching, unsure what to do next. He knew he couldn’t sit behind the tree all day. Eventually someone would see him, which would look suspicious, at best. He did have one burning question, however. Where was the guy they came here to meet? Did he get away? Did he meet the same fate as the cop? Unless he could get in there and see for himself, he wouldn’t know for sure.

  Parker and the other two cops started making their way to their cars, waiting for the ambulance to arrive. This would be his only chance to get inside, but he had to be quick. He managed to slip inside undetected, but he only had a few minutes before this place would be flooded with people. As he made his way farther inside, he noticed two bodies on the floor. Both were surrounded by a pool of blood.

  Dead.

  The female cop, probably no older than twenty-five, had a single gunshot to the abdomen. This particular wound usually resulted in a slower, more excruciating death because it didn’t kill you instantly. You slowly bled out until you could no longer talk and then slipped away into death. Decklan had seen this too many times on the battlefield.

  The other body also had a gunshot wound but it was much different than the cop’s. The pool of blood around his body drained from his head. He was also lying facing away from where they all would have been standing. By the looks of it, he was shot in the back of the head as he was trying to make a run for it. Parker must have stopped him dead in his tracks after he managed to shoot the female cop.

  Although Decklan was happy that someone like this was no longer alive to hurt people, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Not only was he back to square one with potential suspects, but if this guy was one of the murderers, he didn’t get to make him pay for what he did. Yes, he was dead now, but his death was more swift and painless than what Decklan had in mind.

  ***

  Time to get the hell out of here.

  Decklan headed back out the same way he came in, but he could hear voices approaching. He knew he couldn’t just walk by without someone asking questions, so he quickly changed his route and went to look for a different way out. He made his way through some old factory equipment until he finally saw a back door. He managed to slip outside, unseen, and found himself behind the building.

  Now I have to find a way to get back to my truck without anyone seeing me, especially Parker.

  As he racked his brain for his next move he heard a loud booming sound, as if someone just shot off a cannon. It was Parker. He had kicked the door open with such force that it almost came clean off the hinges.

  “Damn it! I can’t believe I let this happen,” he could hear Parker saying to himself.

  Decklan didn’t move a muscle as he sat crouched behind a rusty old dumpster. He just sat there listening to his brother cuss up a storm, clearly upset about losing a fellow cop, and a young one at that. Finally, the cussing stopped and he heard the door shut.

  Coast is clear. Time to get the hell out of here.

  He made it back to his truck without being seen and headed back home. He knew Parker would be calling sometime soon to let him know how
it went. It was getting late and Decklan could feel his eyes getting heavy, but he didn’t want to miss the call. Rather than lie down on the couch, he went to his kitchen to make coffee.

  Finally, his phone went off.

  “Hey, any good news?” Decklan asked.

  “Unfortunately not,” Parker said.

  “What happened? Did he tell you anything?”

  “He shot and killed one of my officers before we had the chance to get any information, so I had to kill him,” Parker said.

  “So what now?” Decklan asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, what’s your next move?”

  “Jesus, Deck, we just lost a good cop to a lowlife piece of shit and that’s your question?”

  “She ain’t coming back, man, you know that. The only thing you can do is get back out there and try to find the rest of these guys.”

  “We don’t even know if he had anything to do with it. Right now, all we know is that he killed a cop for no good reason.”

  “There is always a motive. You just need to dig deeper.”

  “Don’t tell me how to do my job! I am working my ass off here, but nothing is ever good enough for you. Just like when we were kids.”

  “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 you in the morning,” Decklan said.

  He headed out of the living room and down the hall toward the stairs. But it wasn't until he got to the top that he realized he needed somewhere to sleep, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to be in his bed. He walked past his room and found himself face to face with his daughter's bedroom. Or at least what used to be her bedroom.

  He couldn’t face looking inside, so he moved on. Now he was in the same situation, only with his son's room. The only difference was this door was slightly open so he could see inside. He caught a gl
impse of his son’s favorite pajamas lying neatly on his bed. They were patterned with little soldiers. He wanted to be just like his daddy when he grew up, which he would never get the chance to do.

  His emotions were starting to take over and he couldn’t keep them bottled up anymore. Tears started streaming down his face and soaking his untrimmed beard. He slumped against the wall and slowly fell to the floor until he found himself in the fetal position, sobbing like a baby. Here he was, an ex-Special Forces Army Ranger, lying in his own hallway weeping uncontrollably.

  There was nothing he could do to stop it, but he tried to be as quiet as possible so he didn’t alert his new houseguest. This was pain like he had never felt before. Nothing could hold a candle to the pain of a grieving parent, and no one could be equipped to handle this kind of pain. Not even a soldier.

  CHAPTER 9

  Light started to peer through the window at the end of the hallway.

  Morning already? I must have cried myself to sleep.

  He headed downstairs to make some coffee and see if Langley was up yet.

  “I hope you don’t mind, but I have been up for a few hours and thought I would make a pot of coffee,” Langley said, as Decklan made his way into the kitchen.

  Decklan didn’t care. All he cared about was getting some coffee into his system so he could wake up. Or at least try.

  “So what’s the plan?” Decklan asked, as he poured his coffee into his favorite mug that read World’s Best Dad.

  Langley smiled. “I can see your military ways haven’t left you. Plan and execute.”

  Decklan nodded and sipped his coffee, waiting for Langley’s plan.

  “I was thinking we would start by going into town so I can get more familiar with this place. I am always more productive when I understand where I am,” Langley said.

  “I thought you were already here for another job?” Decklan said.

  “I was, but it didn’t take me as long as I planned so I would like to get more familiar. If that’s okay with you,” Langley replied.

  What a great plan, Decklan thought to himself sarcastically.