BirthMark (9 page)

She cleared the elevator and walked toward the nursery. When she stepped inside she wasn’t surprised to see Silas and the twins sitting in rocking chairs, holding babies while a nurse changed Renee.

“Hey guys.” She strode to Silas and met his lips for a kiss, then she placed a kiss on Adam’s forehead.

“
I don’t want anyone to know about the conversation with the human breeders yet, not until I talk with the Goddess. We are amping up security because of the bomb. I’ll tell you more about it tonight,”
Silas said through their link.

She nodded and went to greet the twins.

“Hi, Mom,” Tyrone and Tyrese called out. She leaned down to Tyrone and he kissed her cheek while Tyrese reached over and kissed the other side. She brushed David’s dark curls from his forehead and kissed him, and then turned to kiss Jackie in Tyrone’s arms.

“Everything okay?” she asked as she took a seat.

“Yeah, everything’s good. We have our best planning sessions after we spend a little time with the pups, so we’ll be doing some brainstorming as soon as Hank gets here to handle Renee,” Silas said.

“Well, I’ll go do a little eavesdropping on our guests and see if I can learn anything useful.” She leaned down and brushed her lips across Silas’ as she sent him a message. “
I don’t want to be your Eve, but the idea of walking about naked with you is all kinds of sexy.”

He coughed and cleared his throat as she headed for the door. “
I have a rising boner with my son in my lap. You will pay for that, sexy mama.”

She looked at him over her shoulder as she reached the door. “
I’ll hold you to that, Wolfie
.”

He sputtered through their link as she left the room and headed for Rose’s office. Rose was on the phone when she walked in.

Chapter 6

“Thank you, we appreciate any assistance you can give us in this matter.” Rose hung up and looked at Jasmine with a grimace. “Detective Jenkins is turning out to be a royal pain in my ass. He’s got the Merriweather’s thinking the Patron was somehow involved in the death of their son. So the police chief can’t close the investigation without serious blow-back right now. I told the chief, Jenkins is not permitted on our property without a warrant and the chief agreed.”

Jasmine sat in one of the smaller leather chairs facing Rose. “Didn’t Silas read Jenkins?”

“I don’t know,” Rose said. “Did he?”

“
Silas did you read Jenkins?”
Jasmine asked through their link.

“
Yes, why?”

“
Rose just talked to the police chief and Jenkins is stirring up a pot of mess with the family of the dead guy. What’d you find?”

“
He’s a breed but his wolf’s sick. I’ve got some things in the works to deal with Jenkins.”

“
Hmmm, you might want to step it up because he’s gunning for you.”

“
Who isn’t these days?”

Jasmine didn’t have an answer for that and left it alone. Instead, she sent a wave of warmth through their link to remind him he wasn’t alone. She was glad he had Tyrone and Tyrese to help him with some of the madness.

“Jenkins is a half-breed,” she told Rose.

“What?” Rose jerked back, her eyes widening. Frowning, she said. “I didn’t smell his wolf.”

Jasmine shrugged, glad she lacked that ability. “Silas said the wolf’s sick.” Her thoughts traveled to the women in lockup. Silas didn’t want anyone to know the things they’d discussed. But her spidey senses were tingling, something was off about that entire conversation with Siseria. She couldn’t put her fingers on it and it was going to drive her crazy until she figured it out. She needed to find a spot to listen to Julie and Siseria’s conversations. Julie would be back in the cell soon, she needed to get situated before that happened.

“I need a room to listen on the women downstairs. I left a bug in the chair.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Rose said. “Those rooms have audio and video in place. I can set you up in a secure spot where you’ll be comfy. Have you had lunch?” Rose asked, rifling through a steel box of what sounded like keys.

“No, not yet.” Jasmine wondered why Silas hadn’t mentioned the surveillance equipment before. Not that she told him she planned to leave the listening device Tyrese had given her yesterday, but he could’ve listened and watched the monitors instead of through their link.

“I’ll have the kitchen prepare you, what? Sandwich? Salad? Pizza?” Rose stood, holding a ring of keys.

“Club sandwich and some of those sweet potato fries with a bottle of water will be good, thanks. I appreciate it,” she answered, standing as well.

Rose tapped the small device in her ear and placed Jasmine’s lunch order as they stepped into the hall and headed toward the elevator. It always amazed Jasmine how certain rooms in this wing were warm, comfortable and inviting, and others areas were cold, sterile. The moment they turned the corner, the hallways changed. There were no pictures on the walls, no wallpaper, instead, a pearl gray paint coated the plaster and concrete floors. It felt like walking in a time capsule.

Rose glanced over her shoulder at Jasmine. “I stopped by the nursery and saw Rone holding Jackie, he’s a natural. We want to have a litter once he settles this Challenge. I’m a bit nervous.” She licked her lips and looked at Jasmine just as the elevator arrived.

They stepped in and pushed the button for the level above the tunnels. “Silas chose Rone to be Alpha of West Virginia, that means he has faith Rone can do the job. I have confidence in them both.” She said, hoping she hit the right tone with the right amount of assurance, because it took everything within her to believe those words.

Rose visibly relaxed and smiled.

Relieved, Jasmine breathed through the tightness in her chest. “This way.” Rose pointed down the hall once they left the elevator.

The room they entered was small and could fit four adults; five would be tight but doable. There was a bank of monitors on three long consoles. Rose turned on all the screens and showed Jasmine how to pan the hidden cameras to see everywhere in the cells and the halls outside the holding area. Next she taught her how to deal with the sound equipment.

From one of the consoles Jasmine had the capability to talk to the women, to change the temperatures or the lighting in both the cells and the hall outside those rooms. Jasmine was impressed that the lights could be dimmed, and even that wasn’t too dark, but they could not be turned off.

“Has anyone been in here lately, messing with their room?” Jasmine asked, remembering the women were beneath a mound of covers when she had first arrived to talk to them.

Rose typed in a few keys and looked at the screen. “Hmmm, someone has been watching them the past four days around the same time, between nine and ten at night.”

“Does it tell you who?”

Rose tapped a few keys and waited for the information to display. She gasped. “Shit. What the hell is going on?” She looked at Jasmine. “It’s Thorne. My brother has been spying on these women.”

That didn’t sound right to Jasmine. “Is there any way to play back what happened last night during that time?”

“
What’s wrong?”
Silas asked with a long sigh.

“
I’ll let you know tonight.”
she said, reminding him of his promise to tell her what’s been going on later.

“
Jasmine, it doesn’t work like that. Now tell me what’s going on? Did you learn something?”

“
Shhh. I have to listen. I’ll let you know later.”
She shut down their link knowing it would piss him off. But she wasn’t ready to throw Thorne under the bus until she discovered his role in all of this.

“I got it,” Rose said with some hesitancy. “Uh…this is my brother, do you want me to step out?”

She looked at her daughter-in-law’s red face and her heart squeezed. “No. Turn it on.”

Rose pushed a button and at first there was nothing. Jasmine leaned back in her chair and placed her hands over her stomach, glancing at the clock. Five minutes until Julie returned to her cage.

“You have everything you need?”

Jasmine sat up and looked at the monitor. Julie was lying on her cot and Siseria paced the small cage. “Yes, young one, we are fine. How is your sister? She is well?”

“Yes, I wish I could help her more but she won’t let me visit her anymore. She says it’s too dangerous,” Thorne said. Jasmine could hear him but there was no visual. His voice was a timbre between adolescence and manhood; Jasmine had teased him about it last week. She glanced at Rose. The woman was frowning at the conversation.

“Things are speeding up. The signs are all around us. You must be careful you are not caught, young one. Your service is necessary for the cause. Tell me of the children,” Siseria said.

Jasmine blinked at the vibrant woman on the monitor. This was no bumbling, nervous ass.

“I have only seen them once. The boys are as I told you before, Adam and David. The girls, Jackie and Renee.”

“She did that right at least,” Siseria spat. “Gave them good biblical names of men who changed history, both strong leaders, but…which way will they lead?” she whispered, searching the floor for answers.

Goosebumps rose across Jasmine’s flesh. She opened her link to Silas but didn’t say a word.

“You think one of the boys will lead, why not one of the girls? My sisters are strong, they are leaders.”

“No doubt you are right, young one, but we have the names of the leaders, it will be the males. They must be watched. No harm can come to them. When will your sister arrive?”

Jasmine started and looked at Rose. Her skin had lost its color. Jasmine stopped the tape. “Rose, are you okay?”

“He’s …my brother has been…he’s been talking to Lilly.” She looked shell-shocked. “My twin, Lilly, that’s who they’re talking about. I’ve been seeking her through our link and never gotten a response. But she’s somewhere close. Thorne’s seen her, talked to her. What’s going on?” she asked Jasmine brokenly.

“
Rone’s on his way. I think Rese and I need to see those tapes as well. Record whatever is happening live in Julie’s cage, we’ll get to it later. Right now I need to see how much our security has been compromised,”
Silas said, sounding weary
.

Her heart hurt for him and for Rose. She knew Silas couldn’t, wouldn’t, allow this to pass. Thorne would be called in to give an accounting for his actions.

“I can’t believe this,” Rose whispered. “We were never really committed to their cause. Mom kept so much of it from us that…all we ever knew were bits and pieces. Lilly and I played the role to keep peace with mom…but it was never real to us.” She looked at Jasmine with tear-filled eyes. “Please don’t kill my brother. I don’t know what’s going on, but he wouldn’t betray me, us. There’s something wrong here.”

Jasmine reached over and squeezed her hand. “I promise your brother will not die behind this.” She shut down the link behind Silas’ growling. “I have some questions I’d like to ask because the Siseria he’s talking to is not the woman I talked to earlier today. I’m wondering if there’s some kind of game they’re playing. He could help me understand that,” she said, changing the tone of the conversation.

“Now that you mention it, she did seem arrogant, bossy. I thought you said Julie was the one in charge.”

“I know. That’s who talked to me most of the time. I thought she was the leader. Now, I think I got played. These two are playing a deep game with us. They wanted to be here in the compound, close to my babies.”

“I picked up on that too. But why?” Rose asked, then stood and rushed into Tyrone’s arms as he entered the room.

“You okay?” he whispered, holding her tight. His lips brushed against her forehead. Jasmine smiled as she watched her baby, now a man with a family, take care of his woman. Her heart warmed with pride at the man he had become. She wondered what Davian would say if he could see Tyrese and Tyrone now. Probably try and take credit, the asshole.

“Yeah, shocked, disappointed, but, I’m okay.” She laid her head on his shoulder and stood there for a moment. Tyrone’s eyes met Jasmine’s. This was not good. Silas might be tolerant to a point, but not when it came to the safety of his pups. For the most part, she was right there with him. This was special because of Rose and Tyrone, but Thorne needed a good explanation to avoid Silas’ wrath. He wouldn’t die, because she had promised, but he might wish he had.