Part 26 (1/2)
I need professional help. Something is wrong with me. After I take down Asher, I'll get some help.
And then Asher's words stopped her mental tangent. ”What are you thinking about?”
”Hmmm.” She paused, rummaged for a quick thought, and blurted it out, ”I'm wondering if Cupid is a sociopath or psychopath?”
A neutral mask slipped onto his face. ”Interesting.”
”What do you think?” she asked.
”I don't know.”
”Surely, you would have an opinion,” she pushed further.
”Surely.” He sighed. ”Is Cupid a sociopath or psychopath? That's a hard one. Why does it even matter?”
”In order to catch a killer, I have to get into the murderer's mind. In order to do that, I have to know something about his type of pathology. Some killers do it based on crimes of pa.s.sion, those people tend to be narcissist and one-time murderers. They hate rejection. That isn't Cupid, he had no real relations.h.i.+p with his victim's women.”
”Okay,” he muttered.
”So we move on. Other killers are hit men commodifying death, or gang members doing it for loyalty to the group. These aren't Cupid, either.”
”I agree.”
”Then we have the sociopaths and psychopaths.”
Asher s.h.i.+fted uncomfortable in his seat.
”That's what I'm wondering.” Diana placed her hands into her lap. ”Which one is Cupid?”
”I don't know.”
”But do you know anything about psychopaths and sociopaths?”
”A little. I read a few books.”
”I know. I've seen your library. Most book worms would get an o.r.g.a.s.m from just gazing at your bookshelves.” She forced a fake giggle.
He didn't laugh, in fact, he didn't seem happy with this discussion at all.
I should stop, but I'm not. If he thinks I'm just going to sit around and be scared of him, without pus.h.i.+ng his b.u.t.tons and a.n.a.lyzing him, then he's wrong.
”But, what do you know about those types of murderers?” she asked. ”Psychopaths and sociopaths.”
Surprising Diana, Asher turned to her with a smirk that looked just as strained as her forced giggle. ”A psychopath is mentally ill in some way. When he kills, it's usually someone he's known. In his mind, that person has provoked him into killing. I don't think that's Cupid at all. He's not crazy enough to think people are making him murder them. That would be just crazy. So is Cupid a sociopath?”
Asher's smirk widened into a wicked grin. ”No. A sociopath is more hostile to society. At times, he murders with no real explanation and has no moral responsibility. I think Cupid possesses a moral duty to his world.”
”But Cupid is hostile to society.”
”I don't think so. Cupid may not be happy with a society that allows brothers to molest sisters and nothing gets done, or men to rape women and then have the court system s.l.u.t-bash the victim until she is scared into dropping the case. Maybe, Cupid wants society to fix itself, and it's not. Instead, it drags around, polluting its citizens with celebrity gossip and drunken rants of stars. While ignoring the fat that there are children all over America sitting in broken homes. And they're scared, and there are real sociopaths, but those men are their fathers. And those men, spend their days battering the women they call their wives. And those men destroy every day of their kid's childhood until it's nothing but memories and nightmares of their mother's screams and her b.l.o.o.d.y nose. . .”
Diana's mouth dropped wide open.
”No, Diana, I don't think Cupid is a sociopath.”
Diana twisted her fingers in her lap. ”You don't think so because neither one of those definitions fit Cupid?”
He spat out the word, ”Exactly.”
”But Cupid is mentally ill. There's no denying that.”
”No?” He looked at her.
”No. He's taking people's lives. Regardless of the reasoning, he's killing.”
”Or is he saving other's lives? Is it not self-defense for others?”
”That's a stretch.”
Rage thickened his tone and although Asher appeared calm, he was also stiff. ”One of Cupid's victims molested his daughter. Do you think that she is unhappy with Cupid, now that her monster is dead?”
”Maybe.”
”Maybe,” he whispered. ”And are you happy now that Neil is dead?”
Tension crept along her shoulders. That had not been the line of questioning that she'd wanted to pursue. She hoped to understand Asher some more, not have the topic turned back to her.
”Neil didn't truly hurt me,” she replied.
”You're lying.”
She let out an exasperated breath. ”I wasn't defenseless. I could've left.”
”When were you going to leave?”
”One day.”
”When?”
The limo rounded a corner. A lovely home appeared with a white picket fence outlining it. Outside of the place, yellow police tape surrounded it and blocked all of the people standing outside. Tons of young girls stood there.
Diana checked her watch. ”It's pretty late for these teens to be out tonight. Don't you think?”
”Maybe, they work here.”
She raised her eyebrows and pointed to the house. ”Here?”
”Yes, I've heard that this is a brothel that attends to dark needs.”
”You've heard that, not been here yourself?”