The Gender Experiment: (A Thriller) by L.J. Sellers

seen them from her post on the corner. Had she missed them while focusing on the major’s orders?
    No, they’d snuck out a back door. She’d lost her targets. Devin sprinted down the side of the building. As soon as she had Lopez and Wilson in sight again, she would move quickly to silence them.

Chapter 7
    A few minutes earlier
    Jake grabbed Taylor’s hands, and this time she didn’t pull away. “We need to leave now,” he urged. “And go out the back door, in case you were followed.” An equal mix of fear and excitement pulsed in his heart. He hadn’t felt this alive since he’d lost his job. Or maybe ever. This was big, a news story unlike anything he’d ever investigated. He pulled his backpack over his shoulder and stood. “I’m serious. Let’s go.”
    Taylor’s green eyes searched the small cafe, as she clutched her cup. She looked terrified, but he couldn’t help that. Four people were already dead, and she could be next. For a second, her face caught his attention. Smooth skin, angular cheekbones, and hauntingly attractive. Yet not distinctly feminine or masculine. Was she intersex too? Like the others on the list? He would ask her eventually, but it didn’t matter. He liked her already for her courage, even though she didn’t know she was brave.
    The door opened again, and they both spun toward it. Two teenage boys. Jake turned back to Taylor. She was already standing and pulling on her sweater.
    “Is there a back door?” she asked.
    “There has to be. I think fire codes call for it.” Jake rushed toward a small alcove at the back of the cafe, finding a bathroom door on the exterior wall plus an unmarked door on the right. After glancing over his shoulder to make sure Taylor was behind him, he pushed open the unmarked door and entered a small kitchen. The middle-aged woman who’d served their drinks turned in surprise. Jake grinned and kept moving. He’d spotted a door with a push-bar handle tucked between two steel refrigerators. But the exit didn’t lead outside. They found themselves in a dim hallway that connected to the business on the other side of the building.
    “Oh no. Can we get out?” Taylor asked, keeping a half step behind him.
    “I think so.” If the business was still open to the public, and if its back door wasn’t locked.
Shit
. Jake didn’t know this area well. Denver was a big city, and he hadn’t lived here long. He spotted an opening to the right and turned. Another door with a red Exit sign. He pushed through, and a cold blast of air chilled his face. The dark alley reminded him of finding Zion’s body, and he repressed a shudder.
    Grabbing Taylor’s hand, he ran left, away from the coffee shop. If a hit man was waiting near the corner, watching the front door for Taylor to exit, the assassin might still be able to see them. Or at least see their movement. The low-wattage bulbs over the doors didn’t offer much light.
    Jake didn’t look back until they’d reached the sidewalk at the end of the alley. He let go of Taylor’s hand and asked. “Where is your car?”
    “On the next block, not far from the coffee shop.”
    If the killer had followed Taylor, then he knew her car and might be watching it. “We’ll circle the block and see if we spot anyone lurking.”
    “I can’t abandon my car!” Taylor strode down the sidewalk, passing a closed storefront.
    Jake hurried to catch up. “I know. We need it to drive to Colorado Springs.”
    Taylor glanced over at him. “We need a plan, and for the record, you’re not in charge.” Her voice was soft, but determined.
    Jake laughed. “I know. I tend to be bossy. Especially if I’m worried.”
    “I think you might be overreacting. My name wasn’t checked. It just had an asterisk, and maybe Bonnie did that, just as a note to herself.”
    Wishful thinking.
“Maybe. But now that you’re investigating, they’ll want to shut you down.”
    Taylor didn’t respond.
    They reached the end of the block and