Hi there,

I hope you enjoy this week’s episode of Renee and Frei. As always please excuse the typos.

Big smiles

Jody

Act 3 Scene 4

Frei tapped the earpiece in her ear as she tried not to throw her phone in frustration. Her dealings with the Lavelle sisters had been useful but her dealings with Gem were not.

“Did Theo call?” Renee asked as she strolled into the living room, blue jeans snug against her legs and bed hair.

“Why do you ask?” Frei glanced at Renee’s hair. She didn’t understand how anyone could concentrate when their hair was so puffy.

“I wore that face a lot when I was engaged to Abby.” Renee pulled her dark blonde eyebrows down into a scowl, pulled her lips to the side and twisted them with her fingers like she was bemused then threw her hands up like she was exasperated. “Heated discussions with people who you find attractive face.”

Frei cocked her head. “You did used to have that expression. You don’t have that with Lorelei.”

“No,” Renee said then scowled and flapped her hands around in a temper. “I pull this face with Aeron.”

Frei nodded. “I’m unsure why there is a difference.”

“I love Aeron so much I want to throttle her,” Renee said then shrugged and leaned against the doorjamb. “Abby didn’t ever get me that angry.”

“I do not pull that face with either Theo or Susan,” Frei wagged her phone. “Do I?”

“No, the only person you pull that face with is me,” Renee said, smirked as if that was a triumph and nodded to the phone. “Why are you throttling your cell if Theo isn’t bugging you?”

“You think I love you so much I want to throttle you?” Frei asked forgetting her phone as she stared at Renee.

“Yes, and I love you enough I want to flatten your hair,” Renee waved at the phone again. “But get on with why your cell phone is getting waved about.”

“Why would you flatten my hair?” Frei scowled and touched it to make sure it hadn’t puffed up like Renee’s. “Gem is untrustworthy.”

“Duh.” Renee held up her hand. “Were you expecting him to be?”

“No.” Frei paced over to the window. “But I didn’t think he’d go to Pucker so quickly.”

“The files on Lavelle’s computer didn’t convince him?” Renee tapped her lip.

“No.” Frei waved her phone again. “Well, they did but he told on Lavelle to Pucker… who then checked herself and has shown him her temper.”

“I’m guessing that doesn’t mean making him sleep on the sofa.” Renee fussed with her hair then tried threading her fingers through it. “I used to sleep on the sofa a lot with Abby.”

“No, it means he was unconscious for hours.” Frei pocketed her phone and slapped the cold stone work around the window. “We need him in one piece so we can hand him over to Fleming so she can help.”

“That’s more difficult if he isn’t conscious, I agree.” Renee shrugged. “And Abby could pull her weight more.”

“Fleming is unable to help unless we have evidence.” Frei shook her head. “She needs to work carefully without Hewitt noticing.”

Renee folded her arms. “Abby is more than capable of working her father-in-law. She’s better at sucking up than I am at shooting.”

“You are angry with her?” Frei searched Renee’s gray eyes.

“Yup, she called me to whine at me because her assistant, Gould, discovered I was Hartmann’s mistress… well, Jessie let it slip.” Renee pulled her scowl-bemused-exasperated look. “So, I got heckled even when she’s married to a guy.”

Frei chuckled. “Gould told on you?”

“Gould didn’t know Jessie was talking about me until she was telling Abby and then tried to backtrack but Abby is better at interrogation than she is at sucking up.” Renee blew out a long breath. “I would have explained that I used vials but I yelled at her back instead… so grown up…” She rolled her eyes. “Do I need to rescue Lavelle or are we just going to see if he remembers he’s a chump?”

 “No, we’re going to have to get to him because otherwise Alanna is going to find it too difficult to maintain she has no memory.” Frei pursed her lips then turned from the window. “And you’re going to have to distract Pucker.”

“Why do I have to distract her?” Renee put her hands on her hips.

“You do the shooting and the entertaining, I do the fun parts.” Frei smirked then shook her head at Renee’s hair. “And I use a hair brush.”

“Why?” Renee turned and headed to the door. “You barely have enough to gel.”

“Don’t heckle me, Black or I’ll make you use vials.” Frei strolled after her.

Renee glanced over her shoulder. “Then you can tell Aeron why you ordered me to entertain another woman.” She winked. “Because she will flatten your hair and give you a static shock.”

Frei shrugged. “What can I say? She loves me.”

Renee snorted. “We both do, Urs, we both do.”