to the regular forum moderation, and make your customers aware of blocking and banning options instead?"
"Then Soul Reaper adds another suicide to the list of kills he's taking responsibility for." Chance dragged a hand over his face. "The day before that press conference, Rhaven came in here and asked me to think about the kids who are - right at this second - sucking on the end of a gun, swallowing pills, or slicing their wrists open. Ones we will never hear about. Subscriptions that will lapse or be cancelled and we won't know why. The ones who don't say anything are the reason we can't just ignore it, because they do exist, and we can save them."
"Is it that bad?" Bradley asked. "I mean, I know Dez and a handful of others have been targeted, but is the threat really that intense for everyone?"
Chance pulled out a printed copy of Soul_Reaper's recent post and tapped the list of women who'd been killed. "I only know Nina from that list. She was a game journalist. Never met her personally, but Claudia knew her. I looked up the others. Livie was nineteen years old. Jumped off a bridge. Jasmine overdosed. She was thirty. Olivia? She cut her wrists, and her obituary said she'd been bullied at college. Just twenty-one. Those are the ones I could find, so you tell me if that's bad."
"I didn't mean it like that," Bradley insisted. "What this group is doing is wrong. I'm just not sure it's directly tied to your games. Chance, I'm saying it's not your fault. It's theirs. This all falls on the shoulders of the Kings of Gaming."
"Who are using our platform to amplify their voices!" Chance snarled. "We should be the safe space for these kids. Our unspoken promise to our customers is that they can escape here. Log into a game and put the real world on hold, right? But the real world is breaking in, and I'm not ok with that. If one post makes someone take their own life, then that's on us, damn it, because we gave them the microphone!"
Bradley moved the folder to the chair beside him. "I'll send those to the Section Chief, but I don't know what else I can do with it. You should also know that Rhaven's little stunt? Yeah, we've got some back up now. Jason has a team of analysts to parse the data for him. That'll help. It also won't be enough."
Chance nodded. "It's something, though. What else - "
A knock at the door cut him off. A moment later, it opened and Dez peeked her head in. "Hey. Um, I'm going to be out back with Jason for a bit."
Chance's eyes narrowed. "Ok?"
"He wants to talk about when they took me."
Chance immediately pushed to his feet. "Dez..." He only stopped because she lifted a hand, making it clear she wasn't ready to be touched right now. "Dez," he tried again, "you don't have to do this."
"I do," she assured him. "He understands, Chance. That's why it will be ok, but I'm not going to be much use tonight. I need you to run the warehouse."
He ducked his head to scratch at the back of his neck. "You don't have to do this alone, Sugar. The devs can handle the warehouse. Let me help?"
Her little tongue darted out to moisten her lips. "Not this time. I'd rather you don't hear this."
Then she turned and just walked away. Chance moved to follow, but Bradley caught his shoulder. "This isn't for you," he said gently.
"That's my partner!" Chance shot back. "There's no reason she should relive that horror alone, damn it!"
But a light tap at the frame made him aware that the door was still open. Turning back, it was the last person Chance expected to see. Zara leaned against the frame casually, as if she was as comfortable in his business as the regular employees. Out of habit, his eyes ran over her, aware that she was stunning. Jason's fianc茅e was the kind of woman who made men stop in their tracks and beg for a little attention. The only thing Chance didn't understand was why she'd ended up with Agent Raige.
"Can I have a minute with Chance, Bradley?" she asked.
From the way the man shifted, it was clear he hadn't expected that. "Zara?" he asked.
"Favor for a friend," she explained. "It also has nothing to do with your case. Promise I'm only meddling for civilian reasons." And then her