AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Have you ever loved someone that much you’ve done something you would never normally have done just to please them.”
Chad attached his gaze to Lynn awaiting her reply.
“No.”
“Liar.” Vincent hissed. “Of course you have. It might be something minor, like you went to a seafood restaurant when you hate seafood because your partner loved it or you watched a movie you didn’t want to because someone else was desperate to see it.”
“Then yes,” Lynn said. “I’ve done something I didn’t like to please someone else.”
Vincent nodded. “It’s normal. Putting someone else’s desires before our own. We call it selfless, honorable, chivalrous. We encourage those qualities in a person.”
Chad met Vincent’s eyes. Vincent smirked before looking at Lynn again.
“So if your best friend wanted to go to a club you weren’t keen on, you’d go?”
“Yes.” Lynn said.
“And if your husband really wanted to try out that swanky new wine bar even though you hate wine…”
“I’d go.”
“Of course you would.” Vincent slammed his hand down on his table.
Chad jumped.
Vincent’s smile climbed higher.
“And you’d do it because youloveyour best friend, your husband, your sister, your brother –whoever— because love, Lynn, is fucking toxic and so easy to manipulate.” He turned to Chad. “You want to talk about Tate? You want to know how I got him to kill someone?”
Chad opened his mouth but no words came out. He nodded stiffly.
“Once you find a person’s weakness you can make them do whatever you want. I found his. It didn’t require much finding. Tate reached out to me after all. Then I gave him something he wanted.”
“What?” Chad asked.
“Someone to talk to, someone to be proud of him, someone to guide him, and tell him he mattered. Someone that cared, and then—and this is key,” he wagged his finger at Chad. “I threatened to take it away unless he killed for me.”
“Anyone can be a serial killer.” Chad muttered.
“When you know how to exploit their weakness, yes, but that’s not to say this isn’t a complete success. Tate’s wishy-washy way of dispatching his victims leaves a lot to be desired, but it’s like being confronted with a child’s painting. You know it’s not good but telling them so would leave them disheartened and less likely to do it again.”
“Tate staging himself as a victim…was that your idea?”
“He had a wobble, but I set him back on the right track.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was a cry for attention, and I responded, before telling him he’s in too deep to turn back now, and I’m so proud of him.”
“The writing on the victims?”
“That was my idea. That documentary had recently come out and I thought it might rattle the public but it never made it to any news reports. You kept that under wraps.”
“Romeo Knight is…”
“I have my theories, but I imagine the only person who knows how Romeoiswould be you.”
“Officers are looking through your cell—”
