“What? No!” I realized Zeke in his uniform might be confusing. “This is… I need to talk to you for a moment.”
“If it’s about you coming out, your coach did keep me in the loop. We stand behind you. Consult with media relations for any statement you might make.”
“It’s not about coming out. Can I just tell you something?” I glanced at the receptionist. “Not out here?”
Petrosian hesitated, then pulled the door of his office wider. “Five minutes. Come on in.”
Yin said, “I’m coming too. We have a vested interest in Fitzpatrick.”
That made me feel good and terrified at the same time. I liked that the Dragons’ management was interested, but Yin was known for being all-business where Petrosian was more of a people person. What if Yin decided I was a bad risk?I should’ve just kept quiet.
Too late for that now.I wondered for a panicked moment if I could make this about being gay and coming out after all. Say nothing about the bribery. They’d be irritated with me for wasting their time, but I’d be safe.
Petrosian didn’t sit down. “You have a police officer with you. Is this a legal issue?”
“No. He’s…Well, yes, I suppose.”
“Explain,” Yin commanded.
“I, uh, okay I have to go back to the game I played on March ninth.”
Yin glanced at Petrosian, who pulled out his phone. “Ah, yes. The loss to the Cardinals. You had a bad game.”
“Yeah. I did. Just a normal bad game like every goalie has, a couple of soft goals. Then, the next evening, my uncle showed up at the arena with this man, Ronald Shoemark, well, he called himself Smith…” I fumbled on through my account of the money, the extortion, the whole thing. Petrosian asked a few questions. Yin just eyed me, his face impassive.
“And now the cops are dropping the case,” I finished. “So there won’t be any charges or a public record.”
“So you didn’t have to tell us anything,” Petrosian noted.
“No. But I didn’t want it hanging over my head. For my whole career, I’ve been in the closet, worrying about being outed as gay. I did some stupid shit— I mean stuff— to stay hidden.”
For the first time, Yin cracked a tiny smile. “We manage hockey teams. You can say ‘shit’ around us.”
“Yes, sir. Well, I just gotthatload off my back, and it felt so good not to hide. But this was another secret that might make you want me gone. I can’t trust my uncle not to use it against me out of spite, and I sure as shit don’t trust Shoemark.”
Yin raised an eyebrow. “So you thought you’d get your confession in first?”
“It’s not a confession,” Zeke said, breaking his silence for the first time. “Callum did nothing wrong. Every part of his story is documented.”
“And you are?”
“Zeke Evans, Vancouver PD.” Zeke glanced at me, and I shrugged. Might as well come all the way clean, if he was okay with it. “And Callum’s boyfriend. I made the original arrest of Shoemark, when he came to Callum’s house.”
“Are you here to confirm his story or as moral support for your… boyfriend?”
“Both.” Zeke didn’t let Yin’s acid tone shake his cool. “Callum asked the Gaming Commission officers if they would give him any kind of documentation to show you, that the case was genuine. Sadly, they said no. Not their job. I didn’t want him to be here telling you his story without corroboration.”
“So if I was to ask your supervisor about this?”
“He wouldn’t know what you’re talking about. The entire case was a GREC operation. I’m not here officially. I hope hewouldtell you he has a lot of faith in my word.”
Yin nodded slowly, then turned to me. “And that first two thousand dollars? What happened to that?”
It’s still in my account, because the GREC said there was no way to return it. I thought it might be compensation for all the bullshit.But even as I had that thought, I knew I’d feel like shit about using that money on myself. “I’d planned to donate it. Hadn’t picked an organization yet. Maybe the You Can Play foundation.”
Petrosian nodded slowly. “Anything else we should know?”
“I’m a good goalie, and getting better,” I said. “I’ve never once let in a goal I didn’t try to stop. I love the game and I hate that someone tried to make me play it badly.” Whatever happened, I needed them to know that.
