BLOOD TIES (Decklan Jennings Thriller Book 1) by Philip Duncan (mobi ebook reader txt) 📗

“Thanks. And no more lies moving forward, I give you my word,” Langley said.

“I trust you,” Decklan said, surprising himself, considering he didn't trust most people.

***

They were back at Decklan’s house and now they had to figure out a long-term solution for the dead guy in his house. They couldn’t keep him here because dead bodies had a certain way of smelling after a while. They needed to figure something out fast because they were certain that Vladimir was now on high alert after seeing Langley.

“Any ideas?” Decklan asked.

“Any chance you have a deep freezer?” Langley replied.

“Yeah, down in the basement. It’s where I keep all my meat from hunting. It’s got about a year's worth of elk in there right now. Why? You’re not thinking about putting him in there, are you?”

“That’s exactly what I’m thinking,” Langley said. “It’s the only way we can get him out of sight and control the smell.”

Decklan didn’t exactly love this idea, but they needed to do something fast and he didn’t have a better solution.

They both bent down to pick up the rolled up carpet and headed down to the basement. They laid him down in front of the freezer so they could take all the elk meat out to make room for the body.

“We will have to get some coolers for the meat once we get this shit taken care of,” Decklan said.

Langley nodded in agreement. The freezer was now empty and ready for the body. They kept him inside the rug so they didn’t have to find a way to dispose of it as well. Despite the drug dealer not being a big guy, it wasn’t all that easy getting him to fit inside. After all, this freezer wasn’t designed for a human body. Finally, they got him situated inside well enough to be able to close the top. Now, Decklan needed to go into town and pick up some coolers and ice for the meat.

“I will go grab the stuff for the meat; you stay here and get yourself cleaned up,” Decklan said. “I’ll do the same when I get back. We smell like booze and cheap hookers.”

Langley made his way back up to the living room to grab some clean clothes from his bag and head for the guest room shower down the hall. Once clean, he crashed on the couch and pulled out an old, worn leather notebook. It was where he kept all of his notes from his case with Vladimir, including ones from after he was fired.

He opened the notebook and started reading.

Smart, cunning, and never alone. Ruthless and evasive, with tons of resources. Tons of firepower. Never in one place too long, but always leaves a trail of corpses. Drug of choice is always meth, or glass as it is known on the streets. Doesn’t seem to ever try his own product, which means he stays alert and ready for anything.

These notes didn’t leave him feeling confident. But he also knew Vladimir inside and out. He knew how he moved, how he dressed, and what kind of people he targeted for selling. Unfortunately, he had been running around the same circle year after year, never getting the opportunity to bring him down or take him out. Sure, there were moments when he could have just opened fire in hopes of hitting him and possibly killing him, but he couldn’t take the risk of possible collateral damage. Every chance he ever got involved too many civilians around. In order to take this son of a bitch out, he was going to have to get him alone, which up to this point seemed impossible.

But he felt more confident this time. He had Decklan, a Special Forces Army Ranger with a skill set that very few men possessed. And more than that, a similar reason for revenge.

Surely we can find a way to get this done. This has to be the place where I finally nail this bastard down, Langley thought.

An hour had passed and Decklan was back with the supplies. “Hey man, can you help me get the stuff out of my truck?” he asked.

“Sure thing,” Langley replied, getting off the couch.

They brought in three huge coolers and a hundred pounds of ice. They took it down to the basement and placed all of the meat inside and covered it with ice. They had a few bags left over so they decided to dump the rest on the body, just to be safe. They placed the three coolers on top of the freezer to make it harder to access, not that they planned on anyone coming down here.

They went back upstairs and locked the basement door behind them.

“I picked us up some burgers and fries, if you’re hungry,” Decklan said, walking over to the couch.

“Thanks, I could definitely use some food,” Langley replied.

As they sat down to enjoy their food, they both couldn’t help but wonder how long before Vladimir sent some guys to look for them. Someone as powerful as him could figure out where Decklan lived, assuming he didn’t already know. They needed to make sure they were ready for anything.

Langley looked over at Decklan. “How much firepower you got here?”

“I have a safe upstairs that has everything from high-powered rifles to stun grenades and flash bangs,” Decklan replied.

“How about rounds?” Langley asked.

“About ten thousand spread out between 9mm all the way up to 50 caliber.”

Langley's eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. “Perfect. I want to hit these guys with everything we got if they have the balls to show up.”

Decklan grinned and nodded in agreement.

“So what’s the next move?” Decklan asked, wanting to allow Langley to keep the lead on this since he had a history with Vladimir.

“We need to figure out a way to get Vladimir in a remote location, away from civilians. He does a good job of staying hidden in public because he knows it will be harder to make a move on him. Not everyone is