Page 88 of Scoring Position

“Then vent.”

Yorkie laughed and tapped his glass on the table. Ryan refilled it. “We might not know law, but we know how to find lawyers. You need one, my friend. Tomorrow we’ll hire you an immigration lawyer, preferably one that knows all about Russia.”

Ryan raised his glass again. “I’ll toast to that.”

NICO’S SECONDOrcas game was the first in a road trip. He tried not to think about the upcoming stop in Indianapolis—about being in the same city with Ryan after the latest set of soundbites. Nico should’ve stuck to his habit of staying away from the media, but he couldn’t help it. If he couldn’t be with Ryan in person, he wanted to hear his voice, see his face.

And the internet let him do that.

“Ah, well. I hate to disappoint everyone, but there’s no sordid tale to tell.” Nico had to admit that was a nice sidestep of the actual question. Ryan had been fidgeting with his water bottle, but he set it aside on the table and scratched at the back of his neck. “We’re missing a key part of the team, and that’s hard.” The dark circles under his eyes spoke to how hard it was. Or maybe he’d been having trouble sleeping again. “Obviously I miss Nicky around the house too—cooking for one gets tedious—but at least I’m not losing at chess anymore.”

Nico tried not to focus on the hitch in Ryan’s voice when he said Nicky instead of Nico, and switched his phone to his audiobook for the rest of the flight to try to keep his mind from jumping to the seat next to him, which held his new teammate Noah instead of Ryan. He didn’t know what had prompted his phone’s algorithm to suggest historical fiction, but the fact that he had to pay attention to follow the story made it an ideal distraction.

In Nashville, Nico and some of his new teammates went out for drinks and spent time bonding on an off day. Vancouver wasn’t home yet, and the Orcas weren’t family, but they could be. Jordan was solid and a decent roommate, and he’d helped Nico fold into the group. They were out tonight with some of the other young guys who were just as easygoing as Jordan.

Nico was contemplating a second beer when one of the guys exclaimed, “Holy shit!”

Everyone turned to Noah, who was staring intently at his phone.

“Don’t leave us in suspense, Howler,” Jordan griped. “What is it?”

Noah lifted his head and caught Nico’s gaze with wide, stunned eyes. “Dude. The Fuel just fired Vorhees and, like, half the front office.”

The bottom of Nico’s stomach dropped out. For a moment the world tipped on its axis and nothing made sense. “What?”

“The owner came down and fired the GM and a bunch of his staff. Most of the coaching staff is staying for now,” Noah added, eyes back on his phone.

Jordan whistled. “Someone is cleaning house. They say why?”

“Yeah, but it’s absolutely batshit. Here, I’ll drop the article in the group chat.”

Curiosity got the better of Nico, and he pulled out his own phone to read it for himself.

Fuel Fire GM, Coach as DA Files Indictments

Rees, Vorhees charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and illegal fixing

By Neil Watson

February 13

Indianapolis Fuel ownership shocked hockey fans this morning by doing what they should have done months ago—fire coach Chuck Vorhees and general manager John Rees. But the real news story is what’s behind the shakeup.

Late last night, the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana filed charges against Rees and Vorhees for their roles in an alleged gambling and sports-fixing scheme.

If you’re confused about how one can work a losing team into a profitable gambling scheme, you’re not alone. For that type of analysis, we turn to my colleague Cassandra MacTavish and her article on the mathematics of game-fixing (though be warned, she had to take me through it three times before I felt like I had a reasonable grasp on the intricacies). As of press time, the exact mechanism of the scheme and its potential ties to organized crime are unclear from the documents available.

Though no official statements have been made about which of Rees’s actions have been deemed suspicious, a few trades seem obvious—sending first-overall pick Nicolai Kirschbaum to the Vancouver Orcas, and last summer’s acquisition of Ryan Wright for star defenseman Lucas Lundström.

Nico finished reading and made a mental note to run it through an English-to-German translator, just to make sure he understood. He’d known Vorhees was bad… but actually, literallycriminallybad? He almost wanted to laugh.

And as for Rees, well… the idea that the man who’d embarrassed him with a babysitter and then upended Nico’s life anyway had lost his job and potentially his freedom for doing it? Nico wasn’t above a little Schadenfreude.

Jordan ruffled Nico’s hair.

Nico ducked out of the way. “The fuck.”

“They grow up so fast,” Jordan said with a sigh and brushed away a fake tear. “One moment they’re scoring their first goal, the next they’re taking down management teams.”

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