Especially the wild ones.
When Ethan and Stella were in the ob-gyn’s office getting an ultrasound and seeing their offspring for the first time, they were both taken by surprise when the doctor announced: “There are two!”
Sure enough, two embryonic forms appeared through black-and-white grain on the monitor.
Ethan smiled ear to ear.
Stella wiped a tear and spoke her father’s words: “Twins courent dans notre famille. C’est la vie.”
Twins run in our family. Such is life.
Six months later, Stella gave birth to two beautiful, healthy boys.
They looked identical to everyone, but not to the parents. Confusion in the delivery room prevented the doctors from being able to record who was born first. Ethan and Stella both know, but they’ll never tell.
Birth order and birthrights shouldn’t matter, but they always do.
The End.
Acknowledgments
First, always first, I thank my wife and children, for your love and support. Next, I thank Tyson Cornell, Julia Callahan, Hailie Johnson, Guy Intoci, Jake Levens, Sydney Lopez, and all the great folks at Rare Bird, for publishing this book, and my next. Big thanks to my awesome agent, Paula Munier, for your guidance and dedication. Special thanks to Naomi Weiss, Lenore Weiss, Mittie Arnold, Troy Arnold, David Rocklin, Rhoda Weber, and everyone who gave me inspiration and encouragement. And much gratitude to the International Thriller Writers community and all the teachers, mentors, and muses that taught me the craft of storytelling and the value of discipline and persistence.
I don’t necessarily write what I know, but I do write what I love—mysteries and thrillers set in fascinating places, where complex characters find the depth of their courage, and thematically, at their core, examine the layers within us all that reveal themselves when our world turns upside down, inside out, and out of control. I also like to explore how technology and transparency affects human behavior—as I did in this book—and how cultural evolution, for better and for worse, changes us. Which brings me to the biggest thanks of all: To you, dear reader—for picking up The Second Son. I sincerely hope you find it as compelling to read as it was for me to write. For more information about this book, or my forthcoming novel, Flamingo Coast, please visit martinishotfilms.tv, and connect with me on Twitter (@martinjayweiss) and Facebook (martinjayweiss).
A Sneak Peak of
FLAMINGO COAST
Chapter One
Jennifer Morton had just seen her father for the last time. The look on his face—their shared countenance—already haunted her. He was once her raison d’être, her anchor; now he was the reason she was on a runaway power cruiser seeking retribution.
The yacht hit a set of pounding whitecap swells and the unmanned wheel shuttered. Jennifer braced herself and watched the island lights fade away as they charged out to sea. There was no turning back, even if she wanted to. Two men were hunkered down somewhere in the bulwarks, planning their attack. It was time to make her move.
She slipped through a teak hatch, hopefully unseen, found her way into the engine room, and went to work. As she rigged a detonator to the fuse box, her mind drifted back to her earliest memory of her dear old dad, when she was barely five years old and he had taken her for a joyride on his most prized possession—a vintage mahogany Chris-Craft Capri—befittingly christened The Great Escape. She remembered how the classic Italian speedboat shimmered from endless pampering as it cut through the rippled surface of the sea like a skimming stone, the warm summer breeze flowing through her long auburn curls, and how safe she had felt as her father preached life lessons: “When it comes to money, people will do unthinkable things…”
She was too young back then to know that The Great Escape was more of a decision than a desire, or to understand the scope of her father’s betrayals. Three decades later, it was payback time. She would soon feel safe again, or so she hoped.
She set the time delay. She had two minutes, which seemed like an eternity, so she tucked behind two bolted-down ice chests and prayed for the first time in years. She asked to be forgiven for the sin she was about to commit. It was a big one, she silently confessed, but justifiable, and well deserved.
The hatch door sprung loose and she saw one of the men approaching through the relentless rain, then the other, and they were both about to fire their sanctioned Glock 23 pistols when the cruiser crushed a crestless six-foot swell, lifting them off their feet. They both landed face down. The yacht shimmied through a series of whitecap rolls, sending them back to the quarterdeck.
Jennifer checked the timer.
Twenty seconds left.
Her father’s deep, throaty voice continued to echo in her head as she pulled herself back through the porthole: “Whatever you desire—love, money revenge—doesn’t matter…”
One of the men noticed her and fired.
Jennifer dived behind the downriggers.
The yacht struck another enormous wave and knocked the shooter back down.
Jennifer climbed up to the ledge.
Ten seconds left.
The islet lights were barely visible now. The cruiser had drifted too far out for anyone to see them. Jennifer shut her eyes and her father’s final words resounded: “The more you have, the more you want. And the more you get, the harder it is to protect yourself. Unless, you take it all and disappear…”
Everything that had been murky was now perfectly clear.
Jennifer leapt, jackknifed into the raging sea, and descended into the ink-black void.
“…And there is only one way to truly disappear.”
A thunderous explosion bellowed above.
About the Author
Martin Jay Weiss is an award-winning filmmaker who has written, directed and produced a vast anthology of commercials, films, and television projects. He has a BS in Journalism from the University of Illinois and an MFA in Film from New York University. Born and raised in Chicago, he now lives in California with his wife and two children.
The Second Son Page 24