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He took her hand and lifted it to his lips. “You deserve better than that. Now, do you want to walk around a bit and see the sights, or are you hungry?”
She looked around with a smile. “I’d really like to walk around. I’ve been dying to come back here and explore a bit.”
“Perfect.” He kept his hand in hers as he turned down the street. The tiny town didn’t have many businesses, but it was growing.
“Are all the businesses in old homes?”
“Pretty much. It was a pioneer town at one point. The sawmill out on the lodge’s property was the reason the town built up at all. Not really sure why the town itself is a few miles away. Tansy probably has it figured out but I’ve never asked her about it.”
Joe watched as her eyes wandered over everything. She seemed to be soaking in every detail. “They didn’t knock everything down and build new. I like the feel of the place.”
Joe nodded. He did too. “There are obviously new buildings too, but Troy tells me that his family has always encouraged people to renovate and restore rather than start from scratch.”
She pointed at a large building, probably built in pioneer times. “I love that building. Look at the woodwork on those windows. Too bad it’s boarded up.”
Joe nodded. “They tell me it used to be a saloon at one point. I guess several people have tried using it as other businesses over the decades, but nothing seems to stick.”
“It’s a shame to see it not being used.”
That was one problem with small towns. It was probably hard to keep a business running with so few customers. Lia was right that there was something special about the building. It shouldn’t be sitting empty.
They walked down one side street to see the firehall. It was a more modern building, having housed a garage and an oil change business before being renovated by Mitch and the rest of the crew.
Up the next side street, he pointed out Jim and Carl’s B&B.
“Is that the only place for visitors to stay in town? I didn’t notice any motels when we drove through the other day.”
“This is it. You have to go to one of the nearby towns for an actual motel. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few motels or new B&Bs pop up, though. With all the clients coming to town for Midnight Security, there’s a growing demand.” They turned onto Phail Avenue again. “Come on into Phail General and meet Troy and Marcus. Troy runs the store. Marcus is the local deputy. His office is in the back of the store.”
A few customers were browsing, but Troy was at the counter. Joe tugged Lia over. “Hey Troy. I’d like you to meet Lia Moreno. She’s spending some time out at Midnight Lake with us.”
Troy shook her hand over the counter. “Nice to meet you and welcome to Phail.”
They chatted for a few minutes when Marcus strode from the back room with his serious face on. He spotted them at the counter and walked over. “You driving a rental electric car with Burlington license plate covers? Parked in the lot a couple of doors down?”
Joe frowned at the oddly specific question. “Yes. Why?”
“Janine just called in. She was walking her dog down the street and noticed your tires are all flat. Says she thinks they’ve been slashed.”
Lia stood at the edge of the group while Joe, Troy, and Marcus looked over the vehicle. The tiny town didn’t seem the type to have a lot of vandalism.
Her eye went to Phail Phoods across the road. Which was now Fail Foods with bright yellow letter Fs over the original name. According to Joe, that was always done with washable paint and everyone took it in good humor. Slashing tires was something else entirely. Not just one tire, all four. Someone had made sure the car was useless.
Why?
There were a few other cars in the lot but none of them had been damaged. Joe had parked near the street, so slashing at his tires instead of a car farther back had been a bigger risk. Kids looking for kicks? A dare?
Joe kept looking over at her, checking to make sure she was okay even though she hadn’t been the target. Was it targeted or random?
From her position, Lia could see people walking along the street or popping into buildings. No one acted furtively. She’d always walked to and from her shifts back in Atlanta. Because she worked at odd hours, she’d taken care to be aware of her surroundings. She’d learned to identify suspicious behavior pretty well. No one she could see acted suspiciously. In fact, most of them walked over to see what had happened and asked questions with genuine concern.
Even though he didn’t live here, Joe had made a lot of friends. Every single person who approached knew his name. They all commiserated with him and offered to keep their eyes and ears open. Every one of them talked about how this type of thing never happened in Phail. A few of them even offered their cars if he needed one.
Sam’s vehicle pulled into the lot. He, Tansy, Graham and Nico hopped out. Tansy moved to hug Joe and then Lia while the men joined the cluster around the car.
Tansy squeezed her tightly. “I’m glad you two are okay. Why in the world would someone slash Joe’s tires?”
Lia knew Tansy hated crowds as much as she did, so the two of them stayed out of the action as everyone checked the slashes and the rest of the car as well as the other cars in the lot. Graham dropped to the ground and looked under the vehicle.
