he offered to drive Jason there. The remaining officers were more than willing to tell them which hospital, and quite a few wanted to congratulate Jason for making so many impressive shots. It seemed they'd all heard about exactly what had happened on that roof.
But the press had beaten them there. Dozens of news vans were lined up at the edge of the hospital parking lot. Local police had formed a barricade, but plenty of reporters had pushed in with their cameramen, hoping to get a good view. Bradley found a parking space and then looked over at Jason.
"You ready for this?"
"I want to see my wife," Jason told him.
That seemed to be all Bradley needed, because they got out and headed that way. There was a clear walkway blocked off, so patients could still get to the emergency room. Still, when the pair neared the doors, an officer stepped up, lifting his hand to ask them to pause.
"Patients only, beyond this point," he warned them.
In unison, Jason and Bradley pulled out their badges. "We're with the victims," Jason informed him.
The officer's eyes dropped down to look at Crysis. "You the sniper?"
"I am," Jason said.
"Yeah, heard he had a service dog. Guys were worried you couldn't make the shot. Guess they were wrong." He stepped back. "Good work up there, agents."
But one of the reporters heard that word. "Were you at the scene? Can you give us any information? Are the victims ok?"
Bradley caught Jason's arm and clearly intended to keep walking, but Jason couldn't let this chance go by. "I'm waiting to find out the status of the victims, but what I can tell you is that five women were targeted for doing nothing more than playing video games." He paused as more reporters shoved closer. "The internet terrorist group called the Kings of Gaming was willing to harm, bully, cyber-stalk, and even kill women. They claimed it was related to video games, but the truth is that they also targeted women who were journalists, who made the mistake of dating - and then breaking up with - any of them. These men used any perceived insult against them as a reason to perpetuate violence against women. By saying it was about video games, they twisted the subject to get more and more people on their side, but that was never how they chose their targets. They merely wanted to tear down women they perceived as being too strong, too confident, too successful, or even too beautiful. This, ladies and gentlemen, is an extreme result of sexism, nothing more. Thank you."
He turned and headed for the doors, reaching down to snap a leash onto his dog. Bradley moved to his side, glancing over once, but he didn't say anything until they were inside the doors and unable to be recorded. Only then did he turn to Jason.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Testing Alex," Jason said. "I'm also giving them a soundbite that will stop the news from asking if video games are too violent and start asking if toxic masculinity has gone too far."
"Warn a man next time," Bradley grumbled before turning to the nurse's station. "I'm looking for the victims of the casino hostage situation?"
"I'm sorry," the woman tried, but she paused when Bradley showed her his badge. "Oh! Yes, they're right this way. Um, they asked for a communal room, and I should warn you that it's pretty packed."
Down the hall, around the corner, and up another, the nurse led them away from the central area. A few police officers stood at the end of the last turn, proving this area was being watched. Then the nurse turned into a large doorway. The sounds of people talking drifted out.
"...He's probably busy." That was Zara's voice.
Jason stepped in and began searching for her. His eyes landed on Logan first, who pointed, showing Jason exactly where his wife was. Zara was on a bed in the corner. Murder sat beside her, clutching her hand, and a nurse was setting up a machine with a small monitor on it. An ultrasound machine.
Seeing that, nothing else mattered. Jason stormed across the room, pushing in next to Murder to steal her hand away. "Zara?" he asked. "Are you ok? Is the baby?"
She just smiled at him. "You made it!''
"I..." He paused. "Yeah. Are you ok?"
"I'm fine," she promised. "The pee test came back positive, so they want to make sure junior's ok after all of that. You made it just in time