His options were all dangerous, but he knew he had to try and do something. He couldn’t just let Langley die like this. Not after all they had been through together in the short time they had known each other. His only option was negotiation. He had tried this once already, and that was what put them in their current situation, but Vladimir was a businessman first so he would probably be up to hear him out.
“Wait! Before you do anything, I have a deal for you,” Decklan yelled.
“I believe the time for deals has passed, Mr. Jennings. I am done negotiating with two nobodies,” Vladimir replied.
“That’s right! We are nobodies. So why go through all this trouble to kill us? Just let Langley go and leave my house and we will leave town at first light. You will never have to see us again and you can get back to running your drugs with no one to cause you any trouble.”
Vladimir waited before responding so Decklan assumed this idea sparked some interest. He could get rid of the two men responsible for causing so much turmoil and damage to his operation, without having to sacrifice any more of his men or time. Plus, he wouldn’t have to worry about leaving a trail that could potentially lead the police to his doorstep. This was the best-case scenario for all of them. Vladimir could get back to running his drugs in peace while Decklan and Langley would get to live to fight another day.
“I must admit, that does sound intriguing. However, how could I trust that you would leave town? How would I know you wouldn’t just come back and try finishing the job?”
“Trust me, there is nothing left for me here. I have no reason to stay, and I definitely have no reason to come back,” Decklan responded convincingly.
Vladimir took a moment and looked around at his men, who were all ready to start shooting again on his order. He looked at Langley, whispered something in his ear that only the two of them could hear, and then responded.
“All right, Mr. Jennings. You have a deal.”
He let Langley go, motioned him back to the house, and ordered his men to stand down. It appeared that Langley’s wound from the dock was opened back up, as blood was starting to seep through his rain-soaked shirt. He managed to work his way back to the front door, which was now only a door frame. Decklan was positioned behind a side wall next to the front door, waiting for Langley to get close enough so he could grab and pull him into safety, but Langley stopped for some reason. He was just a few steps from safety, but something had his attention.
“Langley, what the hell are you doing? Get your ass inside!” Decklan said desperately.
But he remained still, like a statue. Vladimir was watching, confused and on high alert. He ordered his men to be ready, and they all pointed their rifles directly at Langley.
“I’m just thinking,” Langley replied in a quiet and bone-chillingly calm voice.
“Thinking about what? You really think now is the time?”
“My family. I miss them so much. I’ve been so hellbent on revenge since my son’s death that I’ve never taken the time to properly mourn him, or my wife. I just want to see them again.”
“Trust me man, I get it. There’s nothing I want more than to see my family again. But we made a promise to them that we would stop at nothing to avenge their deaths, remember? Just get inside and we can talk about all this when we don’t have half a dozen armed men who want to kill us standing on the front lawn.”
Decklan noticed that Langley had something in his hand that he was looking at as tears were running down his face.
“What’s that, buddy?” Decklan asked.
“Just a picture of my wife and son from a vacation we went on years ago. I’ve kept it with me every day as a reminder to keep going until the job was done,” Langley replied.
“I would love to see it,” Decklan said, hoping to get Langley to step in the house. “Hand it here.”
“It was one of the best times of my life,” Langley said, as if he didn’t hear anything Decklan had said. It was almost as if he was having a conversation with himself and nothing else around him existed or mattered.
Vladimir was growing impatient. “What’s the hold up, gentlemen? I don’t have all night!”
“Just give me a minute here!” Decklan yelled back, clearly distraught. “Langley, I am begging you, get in the house!”
Langley looked up at Decklan, as if he had just discovered peace or a revelation. “Promise me something, okay? Promise me that you will do whatever it takes to kill this son of a bitch and burn his whole operation to the ground.”
Decklan’s eyes widened. “That’s exactly what we are going to do, buddy.”
“Just promise me you will do it,” Langley said again.
“Okay, I promise.”
Langley’s attention turned to something on the ground next to his feet, and Decklan could see it as well.
Shit! Decklan thought.
“Langley! Don’t do it, man!”
“It’s been an honor getting to know you, Decklan. You’re a good man,” Langley said, as he bent down and reached for the gun on the ground.
Without hesitation, Vladimir yelled, “Kill them both!”
Decklan jumped forward and hit the ground, covering up as a flood of bullets began pouring into the house. Langley managed to get his hands on the gun but before he could turn around to shoot, his body was peppered with bullets. He fell back into the house, right under the stairs, with his face looking directly at Decklan.
Decklan looked over, still covering up, and watched as his friend bled out on his floor without being able to do anything about it.
You son of a bitch! We were so close! All you had to do was walk inside the fucking house.
After about thirty seconds of non-stop gunfire, it was finally quiet. Vladimir could see that Langley was dead, which was good enough for him. He ordered his men to stand down for a final time. The fight was over, for now.
“Mr. Jennings, I hope you learned a lesson tonight. I will be seeing you again, real soon,” Vladimir said, as he climbed into his SUV and drove off into the night storm.
CHAPTER 18
Decklan knew it was too late to save Langley, but he couldn’t just leave him there lying in a pool of his own blood. The sun was still a couple of hours away from rising and the rain was beginning to ease. Decklan was still trying to come down off the adrenaline high, but he knew, at least for now, the fight was over. He looked around to see the aftermath, and his house was completely torn apart. It looked like something straight out of the movies. Bodies, blood, and bullets everywhere. Glass was blown all over the floor throughout the house, and the front door was completely gone. It looked like someone quit a house renovation halfway through—minus the dead bodies and bullets, of course.
Decklan figured it wouldn’t be long before word reached the police and his brother showed up with a whole squad of cops. It would be the second time in less than a month that his house would be a crime scene. Only this time, he participated in the killings. He didn’t want to stick around for the cops to show up, but he didn’t want to leave Langley to be poked and prodded by a medical examiner and forensics team either. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a choice.
He leaned down to look at his friend one last time.
“I’m sorry, buddy. I let you down. This is my fault. I shouldn’t have left you alone. I swear on everything that I will kill Vladimir Ivanov, even if it’s the last damn thing I do. Go be with your wife and son. Rest in peace, soldier.”
He knew it was time to get his shit together and get the hell out of the house. He went throughout the house and gathered up all the guns and ammo he could. He grabbed his bag as well as Langley’s, since he wasn’t going to need it where he was going. Decklan knew he would need all the firepower he had to bring down Vladimir and the rest of his men. The only thing was, he had no idea where Vladimir had run off to. Decklan couldn’t risk going back to the strip club for information and he only ever saw him one other place, the house that he and
Langley had followed them to when they first discovered his little operation. Well, little might be a bit of an understatement. Nothing about Vladimir or his operation was little. The only issue with trying to go to the house to find him was it would undoubtedly be swarming with security. Especially after their all-out war.
He only had one choice, and he didn’t like it at all. He was going to have to go to Parker for help. It was the only way he was going to be able to figure out where Vladimir was or might be going. He tossed all his stuff into the truck, leaving Langley’s car behind to be dealt with by the police, and sped off. He picked up his phone to call his brother.
“Hey Parker, I need to talk to you,” Decklan said.
“Hey Deck. What’s up?” Parker replied.
“Not over the phone. I need to see you in person.”
“You can come down to the station. I am in my office for a couple more hours.”
“Not the station. I need to talk to you as a brother, not a cop.”
There was a slight pause in response. “What does this have to do with, Deck?”
“Well, there’s no point in beating around the bush since you will probably be notified about it any minute now, but I need help finding someone who just killed my friend at my house.”
“Jesus! Are you serious? What the hell happened, Deck?” Parker asked with a concerned tone.
“Got into a shootout with a drug dealer that we have been tailing,” Decklan replied, knowing good and well that he just told the chief of police he had been doing something that could get him in a lot of trouble. “I can tell you the rest in person, but I really need your help and time is everything right now.”
“Okay, yeah. You got it, Deck. Meet me at my house in fifteen minutes,” Parker replied.
Decklan hung up the phone and headed directly for Parker’s house. It was on the other side of town, but the drive wasn’t that bad with no traffic, and there wasn’t much traffic this early in the morning. The only people out were runners and businessmen rushing to the airport.
Decklan parked his truck on the street right in front of his brother's front yard. He beat his brother there, so he had to sit and wait, which was only making him more anxious as the minutes ticked by. Finally, he saw his brother's undercover squad car in his rearview mirror. Parker pulled into his driveway, parked the car, and got out to join Decklan in his truck.
“Are you all right?” Parker asked as he climbed into the truck.
“I’m fine,” Decklan responded sharply. “I don’t have much time. I need to find this guy fast.”
“Okay, but who is it you are talking about?” Parker asked.
“His name is Vladimir Ivanov. He’s a big-time drug dealer and a murderous psychopath,” Decklan answered.
“Holy shit! How do you know who Vladimir Ivanov is?” Parker asked, indicating he knew exactly who he was.
“You know who I am talking about? How do you know the name?” Decklan asked without answering his brother’s question.
“This guy popped up on our radar a couple months back, but we haven’t been able to pin him down yet. He keeps managing to slip through our fingers.”
“You guys are the fucking police!” Decklan said in a pissed-off tone. “Why not just bring him in for questioning, at the very least to see if you can get him to slip up?”
“Trust me, we have tried, more than once. This guy is as sharp as they come, and he knows we don’t have anything concrete on him. You still haven’t answered my question. How do you know him?”
“That’s not important right now. All I can tell you is that he killed my friend, and he was involved in the killing of my family. I need to find him before he gets away,” Decklan replied.
“You are going to go after this guy, by yourself? That’s a suicide mission, Deck.”
“Trust me, I’m aware of how dangerous he is. But I made a promise, and I intend on keeping it. Can you help me or not?”
“This shit could get me in a lot of trouble,” Parker said. “But you have been through enough lately. Let me make a call.”
Parker stepped out of the truck to make a call. Decklan watched nervously as his brother paced back and forth in the front yard, talking to someone. Decklan had no idea who his brother could be calling for help right now, but he hoped it was someone who could actually help. After about five minutes, Parker hung up the phone and got back in the truck.
“Well…” Decklan said, running out of patience.
“First, let’s make one thing very clear. You are not hearing any of this from me and I have no idea that you know who Vladimir Ivanov is or what he does,” Parker told Decklan.
“Got it!”
“My source is telling me that Vladimir was seen heading towards a private airstrip about thirty miles outside of town.”
“Airstrip! Where the hell’s he going?”
“Back home, if I were to guess,” Parker replied. “But again, you didn’t hear this from me.”
“And where is home for this son of a bitch?” Decklan asked.
“Moscow.”
Decklan slammed his hands against the steering wheel. “Of course, it is!”
Parker didn’t say anything, figuring that anything he could say would only piss Decklan off more.
“Why the hell is he going back to Russia?” Decklan said, not really expecting an answer.
“My guess would be because things got a little messier than he is used to and he was worried that if he stuck around too long, the scent might lead back to him. Like I said before, he’s smart. He knows he must put distance between himself and the situation. Plus, it sounds like you have made things much more difficult for him, and by the sound of it, he knows you’re coming for him.”
“Looks like I’m going to Russia. Shit!” Decklan said, knowing he had no other choice.
Decklan was not expecting to have to go to the other side of the world to take care of this problem. It was hard enough when all this was happening in his front yard, literally. Now he was going to be giving up home court advantage. Not to mention, Vladimir probably had way more reinforcements back home. This was going to be one shitty trip. Unfortunately, his only other option was to abandon the mission and break his promise. The promise he made to his dead friend and more importantly, the promise he made to himself and his family to avenge their deaths.
“Please don’t tell me you are actually considering going to Russia?” Parker asked his brother.
“What choice do I have?” Decklan replied. “There’s nothing left for me here except pain and suffering. The only thing left for me to do with my life is to kill Vladimir Ivanov.”
“Decklan, please listen to me. If you go looking for him in Moscow, they will kill you on sight. You are only one man. You don’t stand a chance.”
“I’ve managed to escape death thus far, on top of killing several of his men. I don’t see why it should be any different just because I’m in a different country,” Decklan said, knowing good and well that he was just blowing smoke. He was very aware of the dangers that awaited him in Russia, he just didn’t care.
“Let me go with you. I can help,” Parker said desperately.
“Go with me? Have you lost your mind? You still have a wife and job here,” Decklan responded harshly, even though he was less concerned with Parker’s wellbeing than he was letting on. He just didn’t want his little brother tagging along and slowing him down.
“I know that, but I know if you go alone you won’t come back,” Parker said, sounding concerned. “At least let me give you the name of my contact over there.”
“Why the hell do you have a contact in Moscow?”
“It’s an old friend from the academy. He went into the private sector and has been stationed in Moscow for a few years. No one knows the land better and he can get you the weapons and equipment you need. You can’t exactly kill someone like Vladimir without weapons.”
Decklan knew his brother was right. He
hadn’t thought about weapons or anything like that. He just knew he was going wherever Vladimir was going.
“Thanks,” Decklan replied.
Parker pulled out a card from his wallet and wrote down a name and address. “When you get to Moscow, go directly to this address. Knock on the blue door six times, separating every two knocks by two seconds. Knock knock, one…two… knock knock, one…two… knock knock. This will let him know you’re a friend. He will ask you who you are before he opens the door. You need to tell him that you are my brother and that you need supplies for a mission. He doesn’t need to know what you are doing there unless you feel like telling him. He will supply you with anything you need as well as give you a safe place to stay. He should be the only person you trust over there. Vladimir’s name carries a great deal of weight in Moscow, so it’s a good idea to try and limit your exposure out in public.”
“That’s a lot of shit to remember,” Decklan said with a smirk. “Anything else I should know?”
“I don’t think so, but if I remember something, I’ll call you.”
Decklan nodded his head.
“Just do me one favor,” Parker said.
“What’s that?”
“Please let me know when you get back.”
“Sure thing, little brother,” Decklan replied, even though they both knew the chances of him making it back were slim to none.
Parker put his hand on Decklan’s shoulder. “Good luck, big brother.” Then he exited the truck, knowing that it could be the last time they saw each other. Their relationship was strained, and it had been for a long time, but they were brothers, after all.
Decklan drove off and looked back to see Parker standing there in the street, watching him drive away toward imminent death. Vladimir would already be in the air by now since he had a private plane always waiting for him, according to Parker; unfortunately for Decklan, he didn’t have the same luxury. He was going to have to fly commercial. He figured, at best, he wouldn’t arrive in Russia for at least a day. He needed to go back to his house, which was still a battleground from hours prior, so he could pack some clothes and whatever else he thought might be necessary. He had no idea how long he would be gone so he needed to take as much as he could pack in his carry-on.
BLOOD TIES (Decklan Jennings Thriller Book 1) Page 12