The Smiths
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About this ebook
When he was a kid, Kyle woke up early one morning to find a brand new, fully sealed Super Nintendo Entertainment System on his bedroom floor. He'd been begging for the game console for months and, apparently, Mom and Dad had finally made his dream come true. But they hadn't bought him the SNES, and when he burst into their room to thank them, the concerned look his parents shared revealed they knew something he didn't: a family secret, guarded over hundreds of years.
The Smiths have always been makers. For generations, the "maker" skills passed from parent to child have been refined and perfected. But San Francisco resident and factory owner Kyle Smith is an exception, even among his exceptional family, and tonight, at his parents' annual New Year's Eve party, he discovers the Smith family's special talents aren't the only secrets they've been keeping.
Michael Siemsen
Michael Siemsen is the USA Today Bestselling author of 7 novels, including The Dig, A Warm Place to Call Home (A Demon's Story), The Many Lives of Samuel Beauchamp, and Exigency. He lives in Northern California with "the wife," "the kids," "the dogs," "that cat," and he occasionally wears pants. facebook.com/mcsiemsen twitter: @michaelsiemsen
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Book preview
The Smiths - Michael Siemsen
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
About the Author
1.
New Year’s Eve in San Francisco, the skyline was still sprinkled with holiday lights, and the western span of the Bay Bridge glowed brake light red. Kyle Smith loved the view from his factory at the far end of Treasure Island, smack dab in the middle of the Bay, though in a few minutes he’d be joining the party-going throngs as they crept, inch-by-inch, into the city. But counter to his typical attitude on traffic, Kyle realized he didn’t mind so much tonight. There was no rush to get to his parents’ annual bash, and he looked forward to seeing all of his family members that had driven or flown into the city.
He walked to his luxury SUV and opened the door to the back seat where his neatly pressed change of clothes hung. Kyle peered around the vacant parking lot to be sure the coast was clear, and stripped off his shirt and undershirt. A misty, sub-forty degree wind gust told him it would have been prudent to climb into the back seat to change, and he hurriedly pulled on the fresh undershirt, dress shirt, and sport coat, tucking and buttoning with haste.
‘Spensive fucking clothes you got there,
spoke an odd voice behind him—a wet lisp atop throat gravel.
Kyle jumped and spun round to see a scruffy bearded man in tattered sweatpants and flannel shirt. The potent, bitter scent of body odor mixed with an old, wet ashtray. The man held a rusty length of rebar at his side. The pole wasn’t sharp, but certainly heavy enough to crack a skull.
You’re gonna gimme your wallet,
the man said as he took a step closer. He had no teeth in the top of his mouth, and only a couple on the bottom. And the keys to this sweet fucken ride.
Only vaguely worried, Kyle offered a kind smile. You hungry, buddy?
Won’t be in a little bit. Now shut the fuck up before I smash your pretty girl face in.
The man gripped the bar in both hands like a batter warming up for the pitch. "Wallet, phone, watch, fucken keys, jewelry … those fucken shoes—goddamn!"
Kyle sighed and glanced around again to be sure no other eyes could see them.
Five minutes later, Kyle pulled behind a sixteen-vehicle line to merge onto the bridge. He looked at himself in the rearview mirror, his face lit up red from the idling pickup in front. He wondered if he’d done the right thing with the man back there. Should he have called the police? Probably, but then he’d have had to wait around for them and end up arriving at his parents’ even later.
Sure, he’d done the