Chapter 14
When Chase had first suggested that she enroll in the police academy, after which Uncle Alec would appoint her to the department’s detective squad, Odelia had dismissed the idea out of hand.
She was perfectly happy with the direction her professional life had taken and had no ambition to become a police detective.
But the more she looked into it, the more she became convinced that maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
Especially since the Hampton Cove Gazette’s numbers had been steadily declining over the years and were currently at a pretty low ebb.
Even the online edition was having problems attracting new readers.
Most people got their news elsewhere these days and didn’t need a paper to tell them what was going on.
And even though Odelia’s byline remained as popular as ever, it was starting to become clear to both her and Dan that they might need to pivot.
When she had initiated a discussion with her editor Dan Goory about the topic, he wholeheartedly agreed that it was time for her to start thinking about a different future.
She had long ago decided that she didn’t want to pursue a career as a reporter at a different paper in another town, or at one of the bigger papers in one of the big towns like New York City, since she didn’t want to move away from her hometown of Hampton Cove.
So the only other possibility was that she become a freelancer and work when she could, and look for a second job that would give her some more job security and a fixed income.
When she had mentioned Chase’s idea, Dan had told her in no uncertain terms that she had to go for it and that he would support her one hundred percent. He said that he wasn’t losing a reporter but gaining an excellent freelancer with a unique skill set.
“This is the best of both worlds, honey,” he said as he leaned back in his chair, his hands folded behind his head while his long white beard waggled excitedly.
“You become a crime fighter, which you’ve been all along, and you report to the good people of Hampton Cove through your articles and your columns. What could be better than that?”
“But what about you, Dan? What if the circulation keeps dropping? You might be forced to close the paper if that happens.”
“I will never close the paper,” said Dan. “Even if the circulation drops down to one copy, I will still keep putting it out. And besides, I’m old, honey, so at some point the Hampton Cove Gazette will become more of a hobby to me than an actual job.”
She had forgotten that Dan would soon qualify for his pension. “You will keep on working, even though you could retire?”
“Well, I will retire, but I will still keep putting out the Gazette for as long as I can. And the fact that people are still reading the paper is all down to you, honey.”
“Oh, please, Dan. The people who read the paper read it because you’re its editor.”
“That may be, but a lot of them read it for your articles and your take on things. And I hope that you will keep doing that for a long time to come.”
She had become a little emotional by that time and had promised him, “I will never stop writing for the paper, Dan. As long as you keep putting it out, I will keep writing for you.”
“Well, that’s settled then,” said Dan as he grabbed hold of his beard and gave it a gentle tug, letting it pass through his fingers. “From now on, the Gazette will be a hobby project for both of us. So let’s have fun with it, shall we? And give the people the best paper we can.”
She looked up as the academy instructor standing at the front of the classroom droned on about the finer points of New York’s Penal Law.
When Chase had first suggested that she join the Hampton Cove Police Department and enroll in the local police academy, she had pictured herself scaling walls, crawling beneath barbed wire, and being shouted at by red-faced instructors.
Instead, she had discovered that a substantial portion of a recruit’s training was spent in the classroom, working through material as dry as anything she had encountered during her college days.
Still, she was determined to earn her badge and become the best detective she could be, so she didn’t complain. She simply continued taking notes and doing her best to keep up.
At that moment, her phone buzzed, and she quickly turned it over. The message was from her grandmother, and when she opened it, it showed a man dressed in a bumblebee suit.
‘Meet the Germinator,’ the message read. ‘Maybe a good idea for your next article?’
She smiled. She hadn’t told her grandmother that she was attending the police academy yet, but she would have to do so soon. Otherwise, Gran was bound to hear it from someone else—and she wouldn’t be happy that Odelia hadn’t told her firsthand.
Another message appeared.
‘Having fun at the police academy?’
Darn it. Looked like someone hadn’t been able to keep their mouth shut.
She turned over her phone again, picked up her notepad, and jotted down some notes.
Time to get her student’s hat on and stay focused. It had been such a long time since she was a student and had found herself in this position—seated on a bench and listening to a teacher or an instructor—that she had to say it felt a little odd.
She just hoped that her brain hadn’t gone to mush and would be able to absorb all of the information being taught.
At least she had a position waiting for her, since her uncle had been the one to set this whole thing up. He had been even more excited than she or Chase and said he couldn’t wait to welcome her to the team.
As a bumblebee buzzed against the window before settling on the sill, she found herself wondering who this Germinator could be.
It was certainly intriguing, and her reporter’s instincts were already supplying her with catchy headlines and possible angles for the story.
You could take the reporter out of the newsroom, but you could never take the newsroom out of the reporter.