Free BirthMark by Sydney Addae Page A

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