Excerpt: THE CUL-DE-SAC by Christopher Null

Genre: Thriller

Summary: How well do you really know your neighbors?

Veteran serial killer Klaus Fischer is determined that his most recent murder will be his last, but like many retirements, this one isn’t sticking. No one has come close to suspecting he’s buried the victims on his quiet suburban California cul-de-sac property—but he’s feeling the urge to kill again, and this time he’s set his sights on a target dangerously close to home.

Widowed Peg Jurgensen has lived on the cul-de-sac for the past fifteen years, and she’s ready to shed her doldrums and re-enter the world around her. And where better to start than with mothering the curious young teen Eliza van Damal, whose family just moved to the cul-de-sac in order to expose their daughter to a better life.

Eliza, however, prefers to coerce the enigmatic hermit next door, Alex, into helping her pass math. Alex wishes the lot of them would disappear.

The closer these misfits become, the more danger even the most ordinary conversations invite. As the body count rises, can these residents trust anyone hiding behind their doors on this street?

~~~

Chapter 5

Klaus

 

I thought fondly of the nurse. You’re probably thinking of a young woman like you’d see in a movie, but that’s not the right mental picture. She was in her early fifties, a “second act” career they call it, and after tiring of her life as an English teacher, she spent years going back to school to learn a trade in medicine. She had told me this was common, and that many of her fellow students were in the same position: sick of what they’d been doing for the last thirty years and ready for something new. I got it.

 

Of course she said she wanted to help people, too. And I suppose the best way to do that was by taking temperature readings, stitching wounds, and wiping hintern.

 

I saved the identification badge she always had pinned to her uniform. Scrubs, wasn’t it? I would love to have had one of those little nurse’s caps, but I guess those went out of favor in the seventies. Sure, the badge was risky, since it had her name and picture on it, but it was unlikely to be found in the safe with my other mementos. I especially liked it because it had a surprisingly good picture of her on it—better than real life—and I knew that would bring me joy down the road.

 

What was lingering in the safe? Cash, passport, some documents, and the collection.

Available for Pre-order: https://www.amazon.com/Cul-sac-Christopher-Null-ebook/dp/B0DGVD98RR/