DB rubbed his forehead. “You can also do that later.”
“Fine.” I swear the man was pouting. How he could get away with doing it at his age and not look absurd was something I’d never understand.
“So, as you’ll now know, I’m the mayor of our great town, but I’m also a resident, a father, a grandfather, a great-grandfather, and a human being. I dislike being called the mayor and prefer being called Hurst. With that out of the way, I took over the position after the former guy used the town like a game of Monopoly.
“The corruption and greed almost drove us to our knees financially, morally, and physically, so I take all of those responsibilities seriously. To put it mildly, I give a damn about the people here and the ones who are looking to move here. They all matter, regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, or anything that can be used to discriminate against them.”
I’d only ever seen him this serious on rare occasions, but seeing the juxtaposition between this Hurst and the normal Hurst was kind of scary.
“Your position as a police officer for these people is one you should feel honored by. They will trust you, look to you for help and support, and I will not have that trust broken. In short, your ability to be impartial is sacrosanct.”
I glanced over at the recruits to see them watching him thoughtfully. All I was looking for was a flicker or even a minute reaction to what he was saying that might have given away any underlying issues, but there were none.
“If you cannot do this, please be honest and let DB know. We have Major Crew in with us because if you do prove to have a bias against a certain group of people, we can stress that you were warned to be upfront and honest. We aren’t here for you to hide behind, we’re here to support you while you work for the town. That might sound cold, and that’s not to say you don’t have our full support if and when you need it, but I’ve had about enough with people letting power get to their heads and them abusing it. Not in this town, not ever!”
Reid shifted beside me. “Damn, I might need to change my underwear.”
DB took over. “If any of you have any moral or religious preferences—for example, halal, kosher, you can’t have pork near you, or you even take part in Ramadan—please, please let us know so we can make sure it’s respected by everyone here.”
We all made noises of agreement with this request. “You will all undergo refresher training for de-escalation techniques, and Alex will roll out up-to-date rules and regulations. We understand that the job is stressful and full of unknown situations, but the better your training is, the safer you and the residents will be.”
Carson raised his hand. “I come from a police force that doesn’t arm all its officers. For us to be able to work on call-outs effectively and safely, we had to use de-escalation techniques constantly. This isn’t anything to do with your right to bear arms here because I respect that hugely, I’m just saying it can and does work.”
“What he said,” Gareth agreed.
“Excellent!” Hurst clapped his hands. “Now that the uncomfortable part’s out of the way, when you leave here, if at any point you decide you can’t be impartial, please be honest with us.”
They all nodded. Hurst’s expression changed from serious to his customary jovial grin. “Anyone want a donut?”
I should have been firmer or threatened my brother when I said no to the Luminol. Somehow, he’d managed to get some and was now waiting on my doorstep with a spray tank strapped to his back. Cole was also standing next to him along with Tom.
Getting tiredly out of my car, I strolled toward them. “To what do I owe this pleasure?” They all shifted to look at me, and I saw identical tanks on all of their backs. “Are you fumigating the place?”
I stopped once I was close to them, just as Cole took a step forward and pointed his finger in my face. “I want you to know I’m still pissed off with you—like, really pissed off—but I’m too curious to pass up the chance to do this, so I’m going to be the bigger man and drop it for now.”
“You’re going to be the bigger man and drop it?” I repeated slowly. “For now?”
He nodded his head once. “Exactly.”
Looking behind him, I saw my other brother joining us. “Sorry, I was curious about where Mr. Mitchell died. Plus who could ever pass up the chance to see that pool.”
“Someone who knows what they got up to in it,” Luke muttered under his breath. “Can you let us inside?”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I looked around them all. “What exactly are you doing?”
Tom turned and gestured to his back. “We got some Luminol, and we’re going to see what we can find. Luke was telling us about what Mrs. Keegan said, and now we’ve got to know.”
I felt my upper lip curl. “No fucking way. I don’t want to know what you can find in there with that stuff.”
My other usually serious brother shook me slightly while wrapping his arm around my neck. “Come on, wouldn’t it be good to know where you shouldn’t lean or touch in the place? The areas you should get sterilized before you decorate or just knock out altogether?”
Now that Adam mentioned it, I’d been scared to touch anything since the discussion yesterday, so knowing where I could and couldn’t touch would be a relief.
“I even brought my GoPro.” Tom tapped the small device attached to his cap.
“Me, too.” Cole pointed to one I hadn’t seen because it blended in with the strap of the contraption on his back.
Groaning, I dropped my head to glare at the small covered area in front of the entrance, only just noticing that some of the plaster had come off and needed to be repaired. Damn it.