BLOOD TIES (Decklan Jennings Thriller Book 1) Read online

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  About the Author

  BLOOD TIES

  Philip Duncan

  Copyright @ 2021 by Philip Duncan

  Cover design by 100covers.com

  Edited by Dr. Vonda, firstediting.com

  Formatting by Polgarus Studio

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious and are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Dedicated to my loving wife who allowed me the time to write so I could bring my dream of becoming an author to life! Without you, this remains a dream!

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  About the Author

  CHAPTER 1

  Decklan Jennings was many things, among them a devoted husband, a loving father, and a highly trained Special Forces Army Ranger. The first two would prove to be unexpectedly temporary and the latter, a useful set of skills that would allow him to do things most men couldn’t. Things that must be done in order to exact revenge and gain justice for the events that had unfolded in his own home in the few hours he was gone.

  He had been helping his younger brother Parker move some furniture into his new house just a few miles down the road. Although he wasn’t gone long, he was exhausted, hungry, and desperate to see his family. He had been married for ten years to the love of his life, Maria, and they had two beautiful children. Their first born, Sophie, was seven and blossoming into a spitting image of her mother. And their youngest, Tyler, was five and looked and acted just like his dad. Unfortunately, the three of them never stood a chance without Decklan.

  Pulling into his driveway, he noticed something strange. All the lights in the house were off, but it was well before the kid’s bedtime. His house was never this dark.

  As he was starting to get out of his deep blue F-150 he noticed an eerie silence in the air. With all of his years spent in the military and time as a private sector security operative, he could sense when something wasn’t right.

  As he closed his truck door, he pulled out his Glock 43, ready for anything; unfortunately, something hit him from behind before he had the chance to react.

  “Wake up, you piece of shit,” a strange voice said. “We have a surprise for you.”

  As Decklan began regaining consciousness and getting his vision back, he noticed he was inside his own house. When he tried to move, he was met with the resistance of zip ties around his hands and feet. He started to scan the room. He counted four masked men standing around him. They were all heavily armored and packing serious firepower. Clearly, these guys weren’t taking any chances.

  “What the hell is going on?” Decklan said out loud to anyone who would listen. “Where the hell is my family?”

  Without speaking, one of the men turned Decklan’s head toward his TV. It began playing some kind of movie, or show, or recording… He couldn’t really make out what it was at first.

  His heart dropped like an anvil. What he saw next was every husband and father’s worst nightmare. His family was in danger and completely helpless.

  “Tell me where they are!” he screamed. “I swear to God if you…”

  “Just shut up and watch.” A different voice spoke this time.

  One by one, he had to watch in horror as his family was executed in their very own home.

  His amazing, beautiful wife that he fell in love with the second he laid eyes on her. The one person that he felt completely safe with and the only person that ever really understood him. Bang! One shot and she was gone from this earth forever, like a breath in the wind.

  Next up, his son. The man who was going to carry on the strong Jennings name. Bang! Gone.

  Finally, his whole world wrapped up in a tiny little bleach-blond blue-eyed princess. His baby girl, only seven… The same sound with the same result, only this time it felt as if the bullet had hit his heart directly. Just like that, everything he had known and loved in this life was taken away from him and there was nothing he could do to bring them back.

  It was a senseless crime that seemed oddly personal, and three innocent lives were taken because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time…or so it seemed.

  I don’t understand what is happening, Decklan thought to himself. Why my family? What did they do to deserve this? Who did I piss off so badly that they would do something like this?

  The whole world seemed to have fallen silent and he was no longer concerned with the masked men still standing around him. It was as if all of the noise had been swept away in a single moment and the only thing left was pain and heartbreak.

  As the noise started to creep back in, he quickly snapped back to reality. He wasn’t sure if they were going to kill him or let him live. He couldn’t see their faces so he had no way of knowing who they were. Instead, he tried to study and learn everything he could about these spineless cowards. His highly specialized training as an Army Ranger taught him to learn as much as possible about a potential target, no matter how small the detail might seem. He tried to get a gauge of how tall each man was and how much they weighed. He looked for any visible tattoos or markings that would help him down the road if he was still alive. He was going to use anything he could to make sure he could track these sons of bitches down and kill every last one of them, no matter what.

  There!

  Decklan could see a tattoo on the wrist of one of the men. He couldn’t make out what it was but it looked foreign, perhaps a word in a different language: Смерть. What does that mean?

  Then, without warning, everything went black. He was knocked unconscious for the second time in as many hours. As soon as he came to, he realized he was alone and the murderous bastards who stole everything from him were gone. As he went to move, he noticed that his hands and feet were free. They had cut the zip ties off, but why? Why leave him alive? Why not finish the job and take his life too? Unless the job was to leave him alive. Someone out there wanted him to suffer immense
ly, and they had succeeded.

  No time to grieve. I will grieve when their murders have been answered for. Blood for blood. A life for a life. Or in this case, as many lives as it will take.

  Only one thing mattered to Decklan Jennings now…

  Finding the men responsible and making sure they paid the ultimate price!

  CHAPTER 2

  He headed directly for his gun safe hidden away in the back of his walk-in closet. As soon as he opened the bedroom door, his body suddenly stopped moving. He felt as if time had stopped and his body was stuck in a freeze-frame and he had no control.

  He stared hopelessly at the bed that he once shared with his wife. The bed that they had just shared together the night before. Now the bed seemed pointless and without purpose.

  Who needs a bed when you won’t be sleeping? Who needs a bed when you don’t have someone to share it with?

  He continued to stand there, still unable to move his body.

  Snap out of it, you idiot; you don’t have time for this.

  Finally, he regained control of his body and headed for his safe. It was the kind of safe that was meant to store the weapons of an ex-Army Ranger. He needed enough room to store all kinds of guns, ammunition, and tactical equipment. Although it had been years since he last needed to use lethal force, he always made sure he had the necessary means if a situation ever arose…and now was that time.

  He gathered everything he needed. His bullet-proof vest, an AR-15 specially equipped with military sights and armor-piercing rounds, his SIG-Sauer P226 9mm handgun, and finally, his M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle. He knew a sniper rifle wasn’t necessary in most situations, but he wanted to be over-prepared rather than under.

  He laid his guns on the bed and put on his vest. He made sure everything was properly equipped and loaded and grabbed a couple of extra mags for his AR and handgun. He still didn't have a plan or even the slightest idea of where to start.

  The only positive thing he had going right now was the connection he had on the inside. He pulled out his phone to make the call but saw he had three missed calls from the chief of police. Or little brother, as Decklan knew him.

  “Hey Deck, I heard what happened. I’m so sorry. Please call me as soon as you can,” his brother’s voicemail said.

  Decklan knew his brother was his only hope right now, but he also knew that his help would have to come by police procedure. He wasn’t interested in that. He wasn’t interested in having these guys arrested and put on trial where they could potentially get off free or spend years behind bars. No, he wanted to take matters into his own hands. He wanted to deal with it like he would have when he was in the forces. He wanted to make sure these bastards paid for what they did. Plus, how did Parker know that something had happened? He hadn’t called and reported it yet, and anyone who would have been able to hear or see anything was out of town.

  Who the hell called this in? Decklan thought.

  He contemplated for a few minutes whether he should call his brother back or not. He knew he needed to at least let his brother know that he was okay. That was the least he could do since he had just helped him move some stuff at his house less than twelve hours ago.

  Then again, why did he owe anybody anything right now? His whole life was just ripped away from him. To hell with everyone else and their feelings. He had a singular focus and he couldn’t let anything or anyone break him from that.

  As he started making his way back downstairs, he noticed some people walking through his front door, which until now he didn’t even realize was wide open. It was the police, a forensics team, and a couple of detectives. They were here to try and gather any information or evidence they could to help with the case.

  There was only one problem: There was no evidence left behind. These guys were pros and knew exactly what they were doing. They didn’t leave so much as a drop of blood behind.

  The only thing they left was the gruesome recording. The video that shows his family’s last moments on this earth. They must have left it behind on purpose because they wanted him to have to relive the nightmare for the rest of his life.

  He didn’t want to stick around while all these strangers poked around his house and violated what little he had left of his family. Plus, he wasn’t in the mood to answer questions and he had nothing to give them anyway. He wanted to get out of that house and try to start connecting some dots, if he could. There was only one problem… he had no idea where to begin.

  Then he knew. He had to call his brother and see if he could get any information that could help.

  “Hey little bro, I saw all your missed calls and just wanted to let you know that I’m okay,” Decklan said.

  “Are you sure?” Parker said. “I can’t imagine what you are going through right now and we are going to do everything we can to find out who is behind this and bring them to justice.”

  Of course, this was of little comfort to Decklan because he had plans of his own and he knew the only justice they wanted was to arrest them and bring them before a judge and jury. This wasn’t going to happen as long as he had breath left in his lungs.

  “Thanks,” he replied with little emotion. “Any idea who could have done this? Any leads yet?”

  There was a slight pause…

  “I’m sorry, Deck, but you know I can’t discuss an open case with a civilian, even if you are my brother,” Parker replied.

  “I understand that,” Decklan snapped back, “I’m not an idiot. All I want to know is if you had the slightest idea where to start.”

  “Unfortunately, we don’t have much to go on right now. I’ll know more once I get with my forensics team after they are done sweeping your house.”

  “Did your lead detective tell you about the video? Did he tell you that these bastards recorded the whole thing and tied me up to a chair to make me watch as my whole world was ripped away from me?” Decklan said firmly.

  “Yes, I know about the video. Again, I’m so sorry, but hopefully, they left some kind of clue on there that we can use. But I didn’t know about you being tied up. Did you not tell the detectives that when they interviewed you?” Parker said.

  “I didn’t stick around long enough for them to ask me any questions. I don’t have anything to give them, anyway, that they don’t already have,” Decklan said, purposefully leaving out the detail about the wrist tattoo.

  Decklan was tired of this back and forth. He couldn’t waste any more time playing twenty questions while the men responsible were out walking the streets like nothing happened.

  “Okay Parker, let me know if you find anything on the tape. I mean, if it doesn’t get you in trouble, of course,” Decklan said sarcastically, ending the phone call.

  CHAPTER 3

  Since he didn’t have the first clue where to start or where to go, he decided just to drive around and try clearing his head. Although this was pretty much impossible, considering the circumstances.

  It was the middle of October and the weather was almost perfect, but to Decklan it felt dark and dreary even though there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The sight of families walking to and from the beach was magnifying his pain and loss. He knew that was something he would never experience again.

  It wasn’t the busiest time of year but there seemed to be more people than usual this far past the summer months. Hilton Head was a hot spot for vacationers. Even though his house was tucked away quietly in the back of a not-so-busy area about 100 yards off the shore, it still seemed too crowded for him. Even when his family was still alive, he preferred quiet solitude over crowds and noise.

  He needed to focus on finding the men behind the murders and not be distracted by others' happiness and ignorance to the danger that potentially walked the same sidewalks, shopped the same stores, and ate the same restaurants.

  Also, more people around meant a higher chance of collateral damage when he finally found who he was looking for and started raining down the wrath of God on t
hem.

  If his special forces training taught him anything, it was to eliminate your target fast, quietly, and without civilian casualties. However, that couldn’t always be the case in war. But this wasn’t war. At least not the war he was used to. Despite having been to the most dangerous parts of the world and dealt with the worst kinds of bad guys, this situation was unique. It felt like nothing he had ever experienced before and it was something he thought he never would.

  He couldn’t bring his family back from the grave, but he could make sure that whoever was responsible couldn’t do this to anyone else. Assuming it wasn’t a one-time special treatment just for him for some sick twisted reason.

  ***

  He grew tired of driving so he decided to park his truck at some local shops that he used to go to with his family, which was no longer an option. He wanted to walk around and clear his head for a bit. He figured some fresh air would do him some good.

  He could still remember the first time he and Marie came here on their first vacation as a young married couple. It was just a year after they married and they instantly fell in love with everything about it. They loved the food, the people, the sights, and it was known as one of the safest places to live and start a family. It seemed perfect and he vowed to her right then and there that they would own a house here one day. Little did he know, he was buying her coffin.

  He made sure to do his research prior to their move. He wanted to know every crime statistic this place had. He couldn’t help it. This was just how his brain worked after so many years in the forces. He thought tactically and practically. If something seemed off then it probably was. But how could he have ever seen this coming? How could anyone?

  Once he fully retired from the military and his wife’s business started taking off, they decided to make the move. It started out as just the two of them, but it wasn’t long after that Marie was pregnant with Sophie. Everything in their life seemed perfect.

  Now this place seemed like the worst place in the world. Like one of those places where he was deployed to wipe out scum and try and restore some peace and order. It felt like Hell. The pain in his heart was almost too much to handle. It was the worst pain in the world and yet he was numb at the same time. Life had a much different meaning now, and every second he was here without his family was a second too long.