Page 23 of Hearts Aweigh

A KNOCK INTERRUPTED E MILY ’ S PUZZLE efforts. She groaned in frustration, shuffled to the door, and opened it.

Gerry entered and walked to the mess of torn papers on the table. “How much progress did you make?”

Emily closed the door and pointed at the partially reassembled card. “He shredded it good, but I’ve got a portion of the message put together.”

Gerry pulled her glasses from her pocket, settled them onto her skinny nose, and read the matched pieces. “‘Girlfriend. Wife. Don’t want.’” She cocked an eyebrow. “That’s all?”

“It’s been slow going. But with two of us working on it, we should be done in no time.”

No time stretched into three hours. If her cabin had a window, Emily imagined she would’ve seen the sun dipping ever lower in the sky. But an ocean-view room was too pricey since she lived alone. Still, privacy was worth the sacrifice. She slid the last rumpled piece of paper into place.

Gerry slumped in her chair and massaged the back of her neck. “I need to go to my room and take a nap. That was worse than editing my book for weasel words.”

“What’s a—” Emily yawned. “Never mind. You ought to finish your novel someday.” She pointed to the reconstructed note. “You could add a dash of blackmail.”

Gerry read the words aloud. “‘Indiscretion equals money. If you don’t want your real wife finding out about your girlfriend, it costs five thousand dollars. I will let you know where to drop the cash.’” She clicked her tongue.

“If I used this in a book, I’d increase the price or my readers might roll their eyes.

What kind of blackmailer asks for a measly five thousand bucks? ”

“Good point. He’s risking a jail sentence for such a small payout.” Emily drummed her fingers on the table. “Maybe it’s a matter of quantity over quality.”

“How so?”

“Consider how many people must have affairs on cruise ships. If he charged the same fee to twenty cheaters a year, that’s a hundred thousand dollars.”

“You think he’s doing this to more than that lothario and Daisy?”

“I’d bet on it.” Emily grabbed her cell phone to take a picture of the completed puzzle.

“Wait till we tell the others.” Gerry adjusted one of the paper pieces.

Worry squirmed in Emily’s brain. Daisy’s happiness trumped any investigation.

Dear Lord, please show me what to do.

Was it really possible one of the blackmailer’s victims was their quiet and demure Southern belle?

What could Daisy have done to warrant such a threat?

It didn’t bode well that their friend’s note contained two of the same words, indiscretion and money .

If the Shippers hunted down the person responsible for the black envelopes, would it mean exposing one of their own?