8. Phail Jail
Chapter 8
Phail Jail
M arcus watched Elina’s gaze rove the space that had recently held thousands of books but was now a mostly empty shell with a few shelves along the sides.
“You said this was once a telegraph office? It’s easy to imagine a counter here and the telegraph workers at desks behind it. Not that I have any actual idea what a telegraph office looked like, but it’s fun to imagine it.”
He loved her enthusiasm. “I wouldn’t mind finding some old telegraph equipment to showcase here. It’s part of Phail’s history, and it would be fun to see how it all worked.”
She nodded. “I wonder if anyone has old family photo albums that show people working in here?”
He hadn’t thought of that. “Maybe I’ll get Piper to put a request on the website. We could copy old photos and put them up.”
“Phail seems like the type of community where people might hang onto things like that. And I bet they’d love to share. You could also ask for any photos of law enforcement officers from the past.”
“Good idea. Although there wasn’t anyone before me, there may have been officers in the past. I never think about art or things on the wall, so you’re helping already.”
“I noticed you didn’t have any pictures in your office. I fully expected to see a picture of your team from overseas.” She walked to the front of the room and peeked across the hall into what he figured had originally been an office. “Tell me what kinds of spaces you need here and what you’re thinking.”
He hadn’t thought of decorating his office. It had always been meant to be a temporary space. He needed to get at least one photo of his team in his new space. “I want this room to be the squad room because it’s the largest. I’d like a counter near the front of the room to separate the space. We’d need a few chairs for a waiting space, but it doesn’t need to be large. I think the counter would help with privacy issues. There wouldn’t be any need for the officers to hide everything on their desks when someone walks in.”
“You have to do that now, don’t you? I think you should have an actual office. Is that room across the hall where you’d like to be?”
He nodded. “I’d like to be able to look out at the town, even though I doubt many criminals are going to break the law in full view of the window.”
She nodded. “You’re part of the heartbeat of this town. You should definitely have the front window. And there’s even a door that you can close when you need to.”
Her words filled him up. Part of the heartbeat of this town. Wow. He hoped that was true and hoped he could keep doing his part.
They walked through the main floor, debating where best to put desks and a conference table. Filing cabinets and at least one locked storage unit on the main floor.
“I’ll need a more secure locked room upstairs for more evidence. There are three rooms plus a bathroom up there. I’d like to keep the other rooms as bedrooms.”
She frowned. “Why? Are you planning to live here?”
“No. But I want to recruit good quality candidates. If I have a space where they can stay while they check out the town, it’ll be easier to talk them into coming for a visit.”
“That makes sense. You could have a trial period of a few weeks and see how it works for everyone.” She sent him a look he couldn’t interpret. “You haven’t mentioned a cell.”
He hadn’t. Mostly because he’d seen how she reacted to the space in his office. He shrugged as if it was a coincidence. “I’ll have to talk to Sean about that. I’d like to have two holding cells, but we’ll likely have to reinforce the area. I’m thinking in the room behind the office.”
She nodded and turned her attention to the hardwood floors. He imagined the memories were difficult, and he wanted to press for details. He knew from experience it was difficult to heal from trauma unless you were able to talk it out with someone.
She’d only been back in his life for a day, but he wanted to help her heal. Wanted her to be free from the memories. But today wasn’t the day.
They checked out every corner of the house, and Marcus loved her enthusiasm for the project. As he’d expected, she had a good eye for detail and space. He felt much more prepared for his conversation with Sean about what he wanted. “Now, I’ll have to see if Falcon can do all the things we want within the budget.”
“I’ll offer up free labor with the caveat that I have no actual skills in this area. But I can follow your instructions.”
And his entire body flamed. Her words had been completely innocent, but his imagination ran rogue whenever she was around. Even when she wasn’t.
Something must have shown on his face despite his attempt to bank the heat immediately. He wasn’t a kid anymore, and he wasn’t going to rush a single damn thing. Except now he needed to touch her again.
Before he could step forward to kiss her smile, her phone beeped. Her eyes widened in surprise, and for a moment, she looked confused.
She pulled it out of her jacket pocket and read the notification. “Sorry. I’m not used to my phone ringing. I mostly use it for research. It’s Piper.”
A huge smile lit her face. Such joy because a friend had texted her. His instincts had been right. She’d led a very lonely, isolated life. This was a woman full of compassion and joy. She deserved to have a life full of friends and love.
After reading a text, she looked up at him. “She’s wondering if I could meet with her to talk about a mascot for the town.” Excitement radiated from her over a simple request.
Marcus reached down and kissed her lightly. “You’re going to have a ton of fun with Piper. Between the two of you, creativity will be bouncing off the walls.”
Her eyes sparkled. “That’s a lovely thing to say.”
He shrugged. “It’s the truth. How about I walk you over to their house? Maybe we can meet up again later on.”
Her smile widened further, and he captured the smile in another kiss.
E lina sat at the counter in Piper and Troy’s kitchen and sipped excellent chai tea while they flipped through the town’s website on Piper’s computer.
“I’m so impressed. The town is inviting and friendly. I planned on sticking around for a while even before I realized Arrow and the rest of the team were here.”
Piper grinned. “It’s amazing how you found them without knowing their names. I’m glad you’re here. And I know Marcus is very glad you’re here.”
Elina laughed. “It’s amazing seeing them all again. I always felt safer when they were in the village. Everyone in the village itself was great but there was always the threat of insurgents arriving or the drug cartels swooping in to force the people to work for them.”
Piper shuddered. “I can’t even imagine. It was scary enough when some jackass I used to work with got involved with blackmail stuff and stuck me in the middle of it all.”
“That’s awful. I hope you weren’t hurt.”
Her friend shook her head. “A couple of bruises, but Troy figured it out before it got awful. Marcus helped him. They make a really great team. And now that all six of them are here, they’re a formidable group. Someone would have to be a real idiot to start up anything nefarious with them here.”
Elina nodded. She’d known plenty of strong people over her lifetime, and these men were in the elite tier.
Piper shook her head. “Back to happier thoughts. As you can see, the town is having a ton of fun leaning into the quirky side of living in Phail.”
Elina nodded. “I smiled when I saw the name. When I was driving through the first time, I saw the I-Phail Tower, Phail Way Park, Phail General, the No Fail Diner, and Phail Phoods. I was laughing before I realized I’d driven through the entire town.”
“That’s exactly what we’re hoping for. Not being right off a major highway limits the number of people who see the town name and come to explore, but we’re finding more ways to lure them in.”
“How can I help?”
Piper grinned. “Since the beginning, I’ve wanted to have a town mascot. Like a team mascot, but for the town.”
“Tell me more about how you’d like to use the mascot.”
Piper pulled up a spreadsheet. “I have a few ideas.”
A definite understatement. The spreadsheet was loaded.
“We’ve got a walking or jogging trail that starts in Phail Way Park, winds through the woods, and back to the other side of the park. There are lots of small waterways and ponds in the area. I’d like to keep expanding the paths and bridges to cross the water in multiple places. At each of those spots, I’d like to have at least one bench and a plaque holding Phail facts or history. Or riddles. Tips for spotting birds or animals.”
Elina nodded. “And corny jokes. I think this town cries out for corny jokes.”
Piper laughed. “You’re so right. We’ll have to do some brainstorming there.”
Elina pointed at the laptop. “You’ve got polls on the website. Can you add a form where people can submit jokes? Then, you can sprinkle those around town at various times. If you don’t tell anyone, and change them up regularly, you’ll have people looking for them, trying to find the ones they submitted.”
Piper added the idea to her spreadsheet. “I love that idea. You know us so well already, and you’ve only been here for a couple of days.”
Elina’s heart warmed. “Everyone is so friendly. You’ve got a wonderful town.”
Piper waggled her eyebrows. “Don’t you mean we ? We’ve got a wonderful town?”
Elina laughed. It would be so easy to stay. It felt like it was right to stay. But she’d give herself time to make that decision.
She turned the conversation back to the mascot to avoid making any commitments. “From your spreadsheet, I can see a lot of ways to use the mascot. Or mascots if you want a couple.”
Piper nodded. “I’ll go along with the change in subject. Tell me what you see.”
She grinned at her new friend. “Thanks. Okay. Obviously, you can add the mascots onto the website itself. You can have them talking about the pages or the places. They could have silly or serious opinions depending on what the page is showcasing.”
“You could have merchants use the mascot’s image on posters and flyers when they have sales or something to showcase. There could be posters on the walls with your Phail fun facts about the buildings and businesses. Or what those businesses used to be.” She thought about Marcus’s telegraph office, which would soon be a police station.
“We could have the mascots wearing hats or carrying props that reflect the various businesses.”
Piper kept typing. “I was thinking of merchandise, too.”
“That would be great. People love to buy mugs and shirts from places they visit. You could team the mascot up with the town slogan, or more fun facts, or general silliness.”
“I like general silliness. Do you have any ideas about what the mascot should be?”
Elina sat back. She’d been thinking of this when she hadn’t been thinking about Marcus. “I’ve had a few. If you stick with animals that live in the area naturally, you have lots of opportunities for the Phail facts. And if you keep to the F sound for the animal and their name, it keeps in with the town theme.”
Piper agreed. “I think the same. I came up with fox, firefly, and pheasant with the initial F sound. And snail because it rhymes with Phail.”
“Those are great. And for names, you could do the same. Phil. Fay. Fancy. Philomena. Fred. Fiona. Fannie. Ferdinand. Faith. Felix. And I’m sure there are tons more.”
“I think we’d have to eliminate any of those that share a name with a current town resident. That would take Fiona and Felix out of the mix.”
Elina picked up the sketchpad she’d brought with her and flipped to a new page. She wrote down fox, firefly, pheasant, and snail.
Then she opened her tablet and pulled up photos of each of the animals, except for the fox. She’d already done a ton of research on foxes for Zorro in her strips.
They spent a couple of hours working out sketches and deciding on genders and names for the creatures. Elina drew a male and a female for each creature. Then they decided to add another that appeared gender-neutral.
“These are fantastic, Elina. You’re so talented. I’ll snap photos of them, and then we can post them on the website as a poll. We’ll see which ones the town likes best.”
“Don’t bother with pictures. I’ll use my tablet later tonight to finish them off. Then I’ll send you the final images for you to post.”
“Send me a bill at the same time. I’ve taken up your entire afternoon.”
Elina laughed. “Not a chance. I’ve had so much fun doing this, I think I should pay you.” She took a deep breath and decided to be honest. “I’ve never had a lot of friends. When I was little, my parents and I moved a lot. And we always lived in places where we were the outsiders who were trying to help. I never spoke the same language as the others when I first arrived. Made it a challenge to get close to anyone. Spending these hours with you has shown me what I’ve been missing. So, if I can consider you as a friend, that’s payment in full.”
Piper’s eyes sparkled with tears, and Elina blinked back a few of her own. “As an introvert who never had a big circle of friends until I came here, I’d love to be your friend.”
Piper hugged her, and they shared a watery laugh.
“Okay, friend. Consider my comic skills at your disposal.”
Piper laughed. “You may live to regret that.”
Elina laughed as well. “Not a chance.”