Page 12 of Love Overboard
Gerry entered what little they had gleaned. “Was it my imagination, or was he being evasive?”
“You aren’t imagining things,” Daisy drawled from under her hat. “My late husband used to answer questions the exact same way. He would change the subject and have you off on a rabbit trail before you knew it.”
Emily’s gaze followed Jon as he walked away from Lacey on the lower deck. “My bones tell me he’s one of the good ones, but we have to be careful. Gerry, you’re the research queen. Fire up the internet engines. Let’s find out a little more about Mr. King before we give him the official Shipper stamp of approval.”
“Is that the old lady you told me about?” Collins smacked his gum as he rested his girth against the metal railing.
Jon surveyed the flocks of sun-drenched tourists. No one was close enough to hear them. “Emily Windsor. And she’s got three friends who are equally curious. I’m not sure who was grilling whom back there. Lace … someone I know, called them the Shippers. She said they live on board year-round and amuse themselves by matchmaking. Which might explain why they asked so many questions. I’ll keep an eye on them, but I’m pretty sure it’s a dead end.”
“Do we dock in Cozumel tomorrow?”
“Yes. Because it’s festival time, we bypassed our usual stop in Progreso and are spending two days in the Cozumel port as opposed to the normal one and done.”
Collins spit his gum over the side of the ship and drew a fresh piece from his pocket. “Prime time to sneak a stash aboard.” He unwrapped the stick and shoved it in his mouth. “Are the grandmas planning to get off?”
“They said something about visiting a salon. But I don’t—”
“Got it.” Collins raised both hands. “You don’t think it’s them. But go with me on this. I’ll trail the old biddies a while, mark their names off the suspect list, and then we have fewer people to track. Make sense?”
Jon shrugged. It was corporate’s idea to bring the retired FBI agent on the case, and he’d come highly recommended by their general manager, who’d worked with Collins on another cruise line. The idea sounded good at the time, but now he was beginning to wonder. Was the man on the job or enjoying a free vacation? Either way, while Collins was wasting his time on the wrong people, Jon would monitor the crew members. Port time provided a golden opportunity for an off-duty worker to make a pickup.
His phone buzzed, and he checked his text messages. Being the cruise director, he got plenty. Jon’s eyebrows scrunched as he read.
“Bad news?” Collins asked.
“It’s a message from Emily Windsor.”
“You gave her your number?”
“No.”
The detective chuckled. “Resourceful woman. What does she want?”
Jon rubbed his neck. “She says Lacey’s at the front desk, and she’s thirsty.”
“Lacey? Ah, thatsomeone you knowyou started to mention earlier. Why is the old lady telling you this?”
“Guess I should’ve paid more attention when Lacey warned me the Shippers’ hobby is matchmaking.”
“Or they’re onto you and trying to divert your attention elsewhere,” Collins said.
Jon tapped his phone against his hip. This was going to be a problem. Balancing the investigation with regular cruise director duties was difficult enough without a bunch of well-meaning but insistent busybodies pushing him toward romance. Even if the woman they had in mind was the one that got away.
CHAPTER 5
LACEY DRAGGED THE CURTAIN BACKfrom her tiny lower bunk, dived on the narrow mattress, and moaned into the pillow. Only a day and a half since Jon’s reappearance, and her emotions felt like an empty ketchup bottle that had been whacked too many times. How could she survive this for three more months? A soul-deep groan escaped her throat.
“That doesn’t sound good.” Lacey’s roommate, Abigail O’Brien, entered their compact cabin and swerved around a pile of dirty clothes. A fruit punch–colored stain covered the bottom half of her white Monarch polo. The five-foot-two fireball with flaming red hair to match was the sole person aboard who knew her secrets. “Is it your ex-fiancé again?”
“We were never engaged!” Lacey’s smothered voice rose from the pillow. She turned on her side to look at Abby.
“Fine. Is it your ex-boyfriend again?”
“Technically, we never officially dated.” She picked at a loose thread on the blanket. “We just hung out during our free time and port calls and meals and—”
“Did you ever kiss?”
Lacey averted her eyes. “Maybe.”
