Also present were Chip, a Scarlet resident, Janice, a nurse at the local hospital, and Jake, the co-owner of the climbing gym.
“Good to meet you.” Darius sat, accepted a glass of water.
Megs broke the silence. “Bob, Marcia, Janice, Chip, Jake, and I make up Scarlet’s Town Council, with Michael serving as the tie-breaking vote. Sorry to be so vague on the phone, but I wanted to keep this quiet.”
Darius bit back a grin. He wasn’t sure it was possible to keep something important quiet in Scarlet. “Julia Marcs told me that Chief Randall has finally agreed to retire, and you’re looking for his replacement.”
Megs raised an eyebrow. “Well, that saves time. Let’s get right to it.”
Michael described a police department that had fallen into poor order and a town that had changed. “Seasonal tourist traffic continues to increase and brings crime with it—mostly theft and vandalism. But there are also encampments of transients just outside of Scarlet and along the banks of the creek that runs through town.”
Megs took over. “These aren’t all men down on their luck. Some have fallen into hard times, but many are criminals—sex offenders who refuse to register, escaped cons. Others are men who served their time but haven’t changed their stripes.”
“Criminal transients.” Darius knew the type only too well.
“Exactly.”
“Now, Chief Randall has served this town well, but when he came on board, fewer than a thousand people lived here.” Michael chuckled. “There was no Internet, no cell phones. Marijuana was illegal. Tourists mostly passed us by. It’s time to modernize our police department.”
“He’s been here a while, then.”
“Since Carter was president.” Michael laughed at Darius’ surprised expression. “The incident with Sasha showed Chief Randall that it is time for him to go. Posting officers at Sasha’s place left him short-handed, and he was overwhelmed.”
“That’s putting it kindly,” Megs muttered.
Michael gave Megs a sideways glance, obviously the diplomat on the council. “He has agreed to step down at the end of the year with well-deserved accolades and a nice pension, and we want to offer you the position.”
Darius had assumed as much.
He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Chip, who spoke so quickly that Darius couldn’t get in a word. “You’ve got only nine staff, but the town has put together a budget for equipment upgrades, uniform upgrades, training, and the like. We’re willing to match your current salary and include a generous pension plan. It will be your department to shape the way you see fit. You can evaluate the staff, and fire or hire—”
“Can I speak?”
Heads nodded.
“First, I want to thank you for your confidence in me. To my knowledge, you’ve never looked at my résumé or spoken to my bosses, so that means you’re going by your gut instinct here.”
Megs waved him off. “We know everything about you we need to know.”
“Not everything.” Darius took a breath. “When I was nineteen, my girlfriend was brutally raped and murdered, and I was arrested and charged in her death.”
Jaws dropped.
“I was exonerated when another young woman died in the same way. A man who lived in our apartment building—an unregistered sex offender—was convicted of their murders and died in prison. That’s why I became a cop. If you’d done a background check on me, you’d have learned all of this.”
For a moment, no one said a word.
Then Marcia spoke. “So, will you take the job?”
Darius couldn’t help but smile. “I’m interested, but I need to know more about your vision for the police department and for Scarlet.”
All heads turned to Joe.
Was the brewpub owner the real power in town?
Joe met Darius’ gaze. “I know you’ve worked in big cities most of your life, and I’m sure that our little town isn’t somewhere you’ve imagined yourself working or living. As I recall, Megs didn’t want to live here, either.”
“You recall correctly.”
