Read Online The Gender Experiment: (A Thriller) by L.J. Sellers - Free Book Online Page B

death.
    But why kill his brother’s widow? Bailey loaded the Denver Post website and keyed in the dead woman’s name. The news report was brief, and she learned only one new detail. Bonnie Yost had retired from the clinic where she’d worked the day before she was murdered. Probably a coincidence, but still odd. Bailey googled
Carson Obstetrics
and learned that it was an offshoot of Fort Carson Community Hospital. The army angle deepened her interest. Like the bureau and the CIA, the military was a keeper of secrets.
    Other than their connection to Owen Granger, how were Bonnie Yost and Clay Richmond linked? Had they both testified against Roland Granger? If so, Owen might be carrying out his revenge.
    Bailey tried to set the puzzle aside. She had other sites to monitor and should be looking for anti-government militants and young Islamists with bomb-making plans. But the Granger incidents nagged at her. She would do one more brief search before she dropped the idea that the two crimes were connected. Yost’s death right after her retirement bothered Bailey the most. She keyed in the clinic’s name and landed on a news article about the medical center hosting a twenty-year reunion, celebrating the babies that had been delivered by its doctors. Completely unrelated. She skimmed the article and came away with two names. Logan Hurtz, age twenty, had been mentioned as the oldest of the children in attendance, and Dr. David Novak was cited for the most deliveries. Bailey filed the information in her methodical brain, then went back to investigating the murder of the militiaman’s sister-in-law.
    She searched for a morgue in Colorado Springs and came up with the El Paso County Coroner’s office. She made the call. “This is Agent Bailey with the FBI. I’d like to see the report on Bonnie Yost’s death.”
    The woman started to speak, but Bailey cut in. “Yes, I’ll give you my badge number, then you can send the report to me at the bureau.” Bailey rattled off her ID and her long government email address.
    “Can I ask what this is about?”
    “I’m looking into a militant group. Please keep that to yourself.” The information wasn’t classified, but it made people more willing to help if they thought it was.
    “We have our share in Colorado.” The woman’s voice was hushed. “What else do you need?”
    “That’s it for now, but I may call back.” Bailey pressed off the call and realized she’d forgotten to say thanks.
Oh well.
The woman got paid to do her job. Next she called the Denver Medical Examiner. If Owen Granger, the militia extremist, was on a personal vendetta, he might have put other victims in the Denver hospital or morgue. She gave her name and badge number and asked for a list of all the dead bodies they’d processed in the last few weeks. The receptionist said she would compile the report and email it soon.
    Bailey’s private cell phone beeped. A text from Garrett:
Lunch today?
    Garrett was her twenty-five-year-old lover, which technically made her a Cougar. The thought always made her smile. At forty, she might be too young for the term, but maybe not. Most people didn’t seem to notice the age difference because her attractive face and thick ginger-red hair made her look younger than her years. She texted back:
Poppy’s at noon?
    He agreed to meet her, then signed off, saying he had to get to class. Garret, who’d lost a foot saving a child, was studying to become a physical therapist. She admired his commitment to a career helping others. She liked to think of her job that way too, but in reality, working at the bureau was self-serving. It challenged her intellectually, gave her an opportunity to seek and use power, and kept her from acting on some of her worst impulses. She’d been questioned by an FBI agent in college—about a boyfriend’s fraud activity—and had coveted the agent’s authority and investigative focus. A life-changing moment.
    A ping let her know that the email