Chapter Six

"Psst!"

Jacana stopped dead in the middle of the Presidium and rolled her eyes at the familiar voice as she waited for the inevitable follow-up.

"PSST!"

She turned, folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at the top of the salarian's head that was poking up from behind the well-kept foliage that grew around the vast lakes of the Presidium.

"Quetzal," she said, loud enough for anyone passing to hear her, not that the bustling crowd seemed particularly interested in her or him as they rushed about their morning business. Quetzal, however, obviously though otherwise.

"Shh!" two big, black eyes emerged though a curtain of leaves and glowered, "You'll break my cover!"

"Cover? As what, a rose bush? Get out here you idiot!" she glanced around as he pulled himself from the shrubbery with much difficulty, pausing to brush the broken twigs from his, now torn, clothing. They were right next to the consort's chambers, near an outdoor café and on a thoroughfare to the embassies so there were plenty of people around. Luckily, to anyone bothering to watch they just looked like a couple of idiots making fools of themselves. An effect that was enhanced as Quetzal looked about surreptitiously, moved closer and slid a datapad from under his jacket.

"I have a message for you from you-know-who," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth, continuing to glance around in a manner that would probably attract more attention than his exit from the bushes.

"Will you cut the cloak-and-dagger crap?" Jacana snapped, swiping the datapad swiftly from his hand, "This is not a spy vid! Agents aren't meant to look shifty! What is it?" she added, looking down at the data.

"Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani's finances," he replied, suddenly seeming wholly unconcerned with secrecy as he scratched the underside of one eye with a long finger and thrust his hands deep into his pockets, "makes for some interesting reading I can tell you."

"Just give me the short version," Jacana muttered, the last thing she wanted was one of Quet's endless explanations.

"Suit yourself. She's broke."

"Broke? Really?" Jacana looked up sharply and he nodded, "What about the rich family?"

"She doesn't get a penny from them, hasn't since she left Bekenstein. I get the impression she did a runner and cut all ties."

"Which would explain why she's working as a small time reporter," Jacana reasoned, "Even so, she's got a decent enough job. She's not the highest paid journalist on the Citadel but she must do alright."

He nodded again and smiled smugly, Quet always enjoyed the brief moments when he knew more than she did, "All the money gets transferred out of her account at the end of each month."

"All of it? What does she live off?" it's not like Khalisah wasn't well turned out, she was clean, presentable, well dressed, looking like that didn't come cheap.

"Favors," Quetzal shrugged, "she seems to have a lot of dirt on a lot of people."

"Blackmail?"

"Nothing that could get her into too much trouble, she gets an apartment rent free in a block just down from the embassies. Has something on the owner, something about his wife and his mistress or… something. I wasn't really listening."

Jacana looked up and sighed, "You're a credit to the Broker's agents, Quet. Where does the money go?"

"Off world. Filters through several different accounts, bounces halfway across the galaxy and back and ends up on Earth. Took some finding. The Broker has had me on this for weeks, gave me access to resources I didn't even-

"Quet! Where on Earth?"

"Oh, some private school. Very expensive, dunno what they could be teaching them there that could be worth it, once you can talk and hide and hit back what more do you need?"

Jacana ignored him, "Why give all her money to a private school?"

"Dunno," he replied, apparently not realizing that she wasn't actually asking him, "but this school is serious, we can't get anywhere near the pupils, even the Broker can't trace who they are or why they're there. Their identities are better protected than ours."

"Could Khalisah have attended it when she was growing up on Earth?"

"Nah," he dismissed casually, "it didn't open until three years after they moved off world, I checked."

"Mm," Jacana looked at him for a moment, "you know, sometimes Quet, I almost think you might be competent at this job," she tucked the datapad into her inside pocket, "now hurry up and get lost, you're drawing more looks than a topless asari."

He paused and looked briefly around bustling Presidium, then shrugged and sniffed indifferently, "You're the conspicuous one Jacana, it's much rarer to see an asari with her clothes on," he gestured vaguely to her leathers, shook his head and walked away.