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  “She thinks we should worry about you.” Mary Louise studied his expression but the stoic pharmacist wasn’t giving anything away. “She said the cops have evidence that there’s a local businessman involved. According to her, you have the most to lose.”

  “Me? Why?”

  “Sam was your partner. Not hers.”

  “She married him!” Bitter words flew from his mouth. “She hated him and married him for his money.”

  Pearl sighed. “Look how well that worked out for her. He didn’t leave her a blasted thing.”

  “I’ve seen the will,” Mack said, living up to his reputation of talking too much. “She inherited it all. Sam didn’t have any children or other relatives.”

  “Look at the bright side. At least ya didn’t lose another silent partner.”

  Furious, Mack said, “No one would’ve known about a silent partner if you hadn’t started prowling around.”

  “You’re the one who told us about your relationship with Sam.” Mary Louise put two and two together. “But the truth is, Sam wasn’t your partner, was he? He was your landlord and sole owner of the business. You worked for Sam. When he died, Candace became your landlord and boss, but she had plans of leaving and never returning to Bristol. Didn’t she?”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Candace and I were friends. We’ve always been friends.”

  Pearl scoffed. “Do you tell your friends their number is up before or after they sign on the dotted line?”

  Opal inched closer. “Sam wasn’t the intended target. Was he?”

  “Sam always said she was a gold-digging honey.”

  “I’m more worried about the pharmacist who filled my prescriptions for many years.” A sorrowful look washed over Pearl’s face. “We trusted you.”

  “Well you should’ve recognized the blurred lines between friends and enemies. You made a detrimental mistake when you climbed up that hillside to spy on me. Detrimental.” He turned on his heel and unlocked the secured door. Before he could enter the private area of the pharmacy, he said, “Sam wasn’t supposed to die. All he had to do was follow simple instructions and we would’ve been in the clear. He could’ve been living the highlife right now but no, he wanted to keep Candace alive and double-cross me.”

  “What are you saying?” How had Mary Louise missed this? Candace had claimed Mack as a friend. Had she protected him to save herself? Had he threatened her in some way? “Why did you want to hurt her?”

  “She knew too much. She was a problem.” He motioned for someone. “Unfortunately, you’re representing that same kind of problem. Ladies, I’m sorry. I really am.”

  “Run!” Pearl screamed. “He’s got a gun!”

  Everything happened quickly then. They split-up and sprinted down the aisles. Agents and cops stormed the pharmacy with their guns drawn. Threats were issued as the bantering between the good guys and bad began.

  Sheriff Littleton waved them to the sidewalk. “Wait here. My guys will cover you.”

  Pearl grabbed his arm. “Be careful. Mack apologized like they do in the movies. He said he was ‘sorry’ so he plans to kill someone today.”

  “That wasn’t his first mistake.”

  Chapter Twenty

  The standoff took four hours and led to three arrests. When it was over, Agent Scarborough stopped to thank them. “We’ve got Mack and his main supplier. Littleton will keep in touch so you know what to expect from here.” He paused. “Ladies, we couldn’t have done this without you but it’s important to know that you wouldn’t have been in this position if you hadn’t been involved in past police business. Embrace retirement so maybe you’ll live long enough to enjoy it.”

  “Agreed.” Pearl pushed up her sleeves. “Wearing tape was worse than wearing a girdle. I couldn’t breathe.”

  “Too much information.” He slapped Sheriff Littleton’s back in passing. “They’re all yours.”

  Sheriff Littleton sat on the loveseat right inside the door. “What time will they be here to fix your window?”

  “Soon,” said Opal.

  “Good.” He sighed. “I guess you have questions.”

  “We do,” Mary Louise said. “How’d you know we’d show up here today?”

  “You’re nothing if not predictable.”

  Opal said, “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  “Not necessarily. You can’t spend time in the kitchen with someone without learning what’s important to her.” He winked at Pearl. “I took a wild guess that you’d want to get busy here. We picked up a tip from a confidential informant that Mack would return for some last minute items. Our CI let us know he had an opiate shipment arriving and kept a lot of cash in a hidden safe. DTF agents were already watching him so we were pretty sure he’d come back for his money before he left the country.”

  “He was leaving the country?” Pearl’s mouth fell open. “He was a big operator then, huh?”

  “All the pieces fell in place for ya.”

  “This time,” he agreed, gazing at Pearl. “It doesn’t always work out that way but if I had to choose when it would, I’d choose you.”

  She blushed. “We’d choose you, too.”

  “Glad we could help,” Mary Louise said.

  Sheriff Littleton hesitated. “Ladies, there’s something you should know. Mack’s still considered small potatoes in my book. We’d hoped to hook some of the cartel members with this bust but don’t think we’ll catch a break considering what we know so far. Witness protection may be a good option for you.”

  “Oh my goodness.” Pearl clapped her hands together. “That sounds exciting.”

  “It’s not. If you go in the program, you’ll never come out.”

  “I’m not leaving my life behind,” Opal stated flatly.

  “We’re not going anywhere,” Mary Louise added.

  “I thought you might feel that way.” He looked up at the rookie and nodded. A few seconds later, three burly fellows entered the store. “Officers, you can handle the introductions.”

  “What is this?” Opal looked frantic.

  “I wanted to offer witness protection first but either way, you’ll need and have protection until Mack and his friends are brought to trial.”

  “I refuse to live under the watchful eye of others,” Opal said stubbornly.

  “Would you rather have my guys or Mack’s suppliers watching you?”

  “But we don’t know anything.”

  “It’s not always what you know, Pearl. Sometimes it’s just being at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  Pearl followed Littleton to the sidewalk. “We didn’t see anything.”

  “Our politicians say the same thing when they go to the hill,” Littleton smiled. “Off-duty cops will look after you until the trial is over. It’s not open for discussion.”

  As he walked away, Pearl called out, “That’s a dictatorship, not a democracy!”

  “Let me guess.” Opal joined her outside. “Ya learned that from Hankerly?”

  “No. United We Stand, it’s the most scandalous program on Retiree TV. You should watch it sometime.”

  Opal said, “No thanks. We have enough excitement living our day-to-day lives.”

  Mary Louise draped her arms around their shoulders. “And we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Thank you for reading Bygone Days.

  If you enjoyed this novella, please leave a review and

  tell your friends about A Cozy Retirement mysteries. In the meantime, please watch for Christmas Treasures, a new novella coming soon to third party retailers and

  loaded down with scrumptious holiday recipes.

  If you tweet, follow me @RileyBlakeBooks.

  Let’s stay in touch!

  ~Riley

  Bibliography

  A Cozy Retirement Mystery

  Vintage Whispers

  Bygone Days

  Christmas Treasures

  Direct Sales Divas—New in November 2017


  Party for Many, Murder for One

  Party for Many, Death by Design

  Cozy Cosmetics, Shades of Blue

  Cozy Cosmetics, Killer Mascara

  Amazon Kindle Worlds

  Written for Jana Deleon’s Miss Fortune series

  Bayou Cozy Romantic Thrills

  Bayou Valentine

  Bayou Halloween

  Bayou Christmas

  Single Titles

  The Stiletto Scandal

  Hiding in the Bayou

  Bayou Babes

  Christmas in the Bayou