Chapter Six: Please Give Me a Confession

They split up with the plan of disguises. Shepard had to return to her hotel room and dig through her things and he informed his superior of the situation before donning his own disguise. He covered his blue colony markings with white paint and dressed in a dark red material.

It was agreed to meet back up at the bench they had been at, and Garrus made sure to get his contact on the phone and set up a meeting.

Shepard had changed from her Alliance casuals and into civvies. A thick black scarf was wrapped around her neck, and she wore a light gray sweater with a strange pattern on it. If he thought correctly, they were the Earth animal 'owls'?

"Aren't you hot in that?"

She smirked, before dropping it and changing her posture.

Within moments she had transferred her appearance from over-dressed human to a very sickly human. She had make up on, coloring her eyes a dark blue and her cheeks were flushed a bright red. She sucked in a quick breath through her nose, and a wet sound followed as she coughed.

She was a good actress.

He must have appeared surprised because she smiled as she wiped at her nose.

"How did you do that?"

"I'm allergic to a lot of flora. I just took a couple hard sniffs and bam, allergy attack."

"I thought the human liver had nothing to do with the sinus cavity and more with filtering the blood stream?"

"Not a lot of non-humans know the human biology."

Garrus shook his head, humming in mild disapproval. "Your lack of faith is disturbing, Shepard."

They stood outside a warehouse in the Tayseri Ward, level 54.

"So, what's with the new hair cut?"

"Half of it got singed off in my last mission. A sign to switch things up, I guess."

"I like it."

She smirked. "The story or the hair?"

"Both."

Half an hour later, Shepard sat down on a crate, legs cramping from the constant standing but Garrus was like a statue, nothing could shake him.

"You really need to tell me your secret leg work out. I'm about to die."

She sniffled, and he let out a low laugh.

"I thought you were a Commander, Shepard. More like a corporal."

"Hey!" She tossed a ball of lint from her pocket at him. "I've been stuck on a ship for the past week kissing ass."

"In other words, you got soft."

"You like my curves."

He didn't reply.

Garrus looked down at the bright orange clock of his omni-tool. They had been waiting almost two hours.

"Okay, I'm taking a nap. Wake me up when they get here," Shepard said with more mumbled words afterwards. He didn't bother trying to understand her. She curled up on the crate she had been sitting on and whined in protest when the cold metal made her shiver.

Cold dark cold dark cold dark cold dark cold dark-

"You Hecto?"

Garrus turned and looked at the Batarian coming from the shadows, a dark gray box under his arm. He nodded, and Shepard stayed laying down, pulling her pity act. It must have been working because he watched the Batarian relax and shift the box in his arms.

"Yeah. That the..." He trailed off, waving toward the box.

The Batarian nodded before looking at Shepard. "She okay?"

"I've got a failing liver. You tell me," she grumbled, coughing harshly until tears rolled down her cheeks. Garrus kept his expression even, but his subvocals told that he was impressed by the act.

"Here's the credits," Garrus said, handing over the prepaid chit plugged with a tracking device. The Batarian took it as he handed off the box. It wasn't too heavy, not too light. There was something in there, and he half-hoped it was the liver.

The Batarian tilted his head in departure and walked off. Garrus and Shepard walked the opposite direction, Shepard coughing into her hand until they arrived at the stair well to take them back to their sky car.

"Well, that's wasn't so hard."

Two days later, the results were back on the liver. And it belonged to a very alive and very unhappy human. They brought her in for questioning, much to their misfortune, and walked out of the interview room with their heads down and tail between their legs.

Garrus was back at his desk, rubbing his gloved fingers over his face as he tried to conjure up some possible explanation. He now had more questions than answers. But at least the tracker on the credit chit had worked.

The dealer was currently in a holding cell, cursing his contact with everything he could.

"I swear, I don't know where the guy is! I get a message of where to pick up the package and where to deliver it. I drop the credit chit off in another location and then my cut is automatically uploaded. I'm not the only one, there are others. I didn't even know I was carrying organs until my third run when someone opened it in front of me."

"But you kept doing runs, why?"

"It pays good money. I've got three kids with no mother."

He had the recording playing on a loop.

I get a message.

Another location.

There are others.

Garrus racked his brain. Now that they had caught one, the others would more than likely be on edge.

"Credit for your thoughts?"

Garrus looked up at Velio, mandibles down in chagrin. They had been on the case for over a week and still no lead. If my father had the case he would have solved it in two days.

He frowns at his own bitter thoughts.

"Take your lunch. Food seems to help you think," Velio suggested, grabbing a file from his desk and leaving the office. Garrus sat there for a little longer.

Shepard helps me think, he silently corrects his office mate.

Garrus perks up.

"Shepard!" She'll know what to do. She helped him with the sting operation, she can help him get the sick bastard who's been cutting out organs.

"You rang?"

Garrus turned suddenly, almost losing his balance as he felt his equilibrium give in. Shepard was standing in the doorway of his office, smirk on her face and arms crossed. He had not seen her since their departure after dropping off the box that held the liver.

He felt embarrassment vibrate in his subharmonics, the sound humming through his entire body.

"I'm hoping you weren't shouting my name out in a moment of passion?"

Garrus quickly covered his face with a large hand, mandibles flicking in embarrassment.

"No, I wasn't."

"Ah, such a shame."

She walked over, dressed in a pair of Alliance casuals again, the dark blue slacks contrasting with the white polo. A stripe of red ran down the right shoulder, from underneath the collar to the sleeve. Leaning on the edge of his desk with one hip, arms folded over her chest, she smirks at him.

"Well then, what were you shouting my name for?"

"I figured if I'm going to die that shouting the name of someone right before I do will help prove who my killer was."

"And how would I kill you?"

"Of embarrassment."

Shepard gave her own laugh, this one a bit more sheepish than he expected, and he caught the faint red on her cheeks.

"Alright, Vakarian, you win that one. So, how's this case of yours going?"

With his mind back on his dead end case, Garrus groaned, mandibles flicked out in a mixture of annoyance and frustration.

"I've hit another dead end. The organ we picked up had the same DNA as a very much alive shop owner here in the Citadel. She wasn't happy when we told her she was missing a liver."

Shepard snorted in amusement, but covered it quickly with a cough.

"And the dealer?"

"Doesn't know where the guy is or even what he looks like. He's harder to find than the Shadow Broker."

"Ah, and that's where you're wrong, Vakarian."

She patted his shoulder, the armor blocking off any touch, but he still appreciated the motion. She pushes off the desk and waves a hand over her shoulder, walking out of his office. "Follow me, officer."

His eyes linger further down than they should.

Soft and squishy? No, firm with a little give.

Damnit, Vakarian.

Garrus follows after her, and she walks through C-Sec like she's the Executor who has just found a break in the case.

"You're trying to find new resources, Garrus. You can't do that in these situations. You have to work with what you have."

He's confused, and his subvocals tell as much. She walks into the long hall of holding cells and interview rooms. He mumbles the room number, and she makes a beeline for it. Inside is a slightly annoyed, even more slightly fearful Batarian. He looks up as they answer, and his eyes squint slightly before they widen.

"You're that human! You tricked me!"

"Yep, that's me. Mighty human trickster here to put you in jail," she says sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. "Look. I understand the 'I needed the money' part, I really do. Hell, I even sympathize with you. But there are organs being transported through the Citadel that don't need to be transported and we need to know how to get in touch with the guy doing it. If you tell us where the next pick up is, we'll let you go free. Help you find a decent job that pays well."

Garrus didn't open his mouth to correct her. They couldn't just let him go. Neither had the authority.

"Can you really do that?" He asked them, eyes pointedly at Garrus, sounding hopeful. The Turian nodded, he couldn't tell the man 'no'.

There was a mild silence in the room, before the Batarian nodded.

"Alright, I'll help. I get messages three times a week. I should get another one tomorrow. When I do, I'll tell you where the pick up is and when."

Shepard nods and steps out of the way, arm arcing out to motion toward the door.

"Thank you."