"There will now be a brief pause," she said, "while Madame Flournoy goes into a trance and interprets Professor Cosgrove's message."
"I think you know what I mean," I said.
"Quiet," she said. And, turning, she lay down and put her head in my lap.
I bent my head and kissed her. She gave me two quick kisses in return before moving her mouth away. There was something about them, something so warm and confiding and innocent, that I wanted to thrust my hands into my pockets and keep them there; to sit on them, if necessary. And, of course, I didn't.
She opened her eyes and looked up at me. She raised one small finger and put it on my lip and moved it up and down. She lowered the hand and let it lie on mine.
"What are you doing in-in all this anyway?" I said.
"What are you?"
"That's hardly the same thing."
"Isn't it?" she said. "You did an impulsive, seemingly easy thing-something that seemed to promise a lot- when you were too young to judge the consequences. So did I."
I lighted a cigarette, tossing the match into my saucer. She pursed her lips and crinkled her eyes at me, and I lowered the cigarette while she took a long deep puff.
"Well?" she said, puffing the smoke out in rings.
"It's hard for me to imagine," I said, "that you'd put up with anything over any very long period that you didn't want to."
"You put up with Sandstone, didn't you?"
She took another puff from my cigarette, and bobbed her head emphatically. "When I first saw you on the capitol steps yesterday-oh, yes, I did see you- I thought, there, that's it-"
"I thought the same thing."
"I know you did, honey." She patted my cheek. "And I made up my mind to bump into you on the way back, or-or drop something, or fall down in front of you. Anything to get to know you. And then I found you were with Doc and it made me kind of sick inside. But still…"
"I know," I said.
"You must have had some pretty strong friends to set Doc in motion. If they could get him to swing the parole they can probably get him to put through a pardon.. – Did I say something wrong?"
"I don't have any friends," I said. "Doc got me out on his own."
"Huh?" She gestured with her hand. "You mean just like that?"
"Just like that." I told her about the letter I'd written him. "I'd never seen him before."
"But, why? Pat! You didn't agree to-you didn't promise-"
"What could I promise?" I said.
"But-"
"I know," I said. "There's a reason. But the only one I can think of doesn't make sense. That I'm valuable or will be valuable to him just by being what I am. That he thinks I will be."
"Thinks?"
"It's just a hunch," I nodded. "He had a reason for getting me out; someone else had another. His plan isn't going to come off.. – and the other will."
"Now, that doesn't make sense," she said. "Believe me, Pat, that guy knows what he's doing. Always. I've worked for him for years, and I've been on the inside of every crooked deal he's pulled. I-I-"
"Don't feel bad about it," I said. "For a person who hasn't had to work at it to stay alive, you're pretty good."
"What… I don't understand."
"Lying. Pretending. You're Doc's right hand. You knew that he was getting me out of Sandstone. You know why he got me out. Why don't you tell me? What has he got on you that makes you afraid to talk?"
"Is that why you came here today, Pat, to pump me?"
"I didn't think I'd have to pump you. I thought you had some of the same feeling for me that I have for you. I-"
"Oh, I do, Pat!" She thrust herself upwards and clung to me tightly. "You must believe me, honey. I do feel that way!"
"Tell me, then."
"Don't-don't let him make you do anything, Pat! Talk to me first! Don't do anything without talking to me. Will you promise that?"
"I-" My scalp crawled suddenly. "Did you lock that hail door?"
"I probably didn't. No one ever comes up here during the day."
"Someone did," I said, and I nodded at the glass panel of the connecting door.
Just as he looked through it, grinning.
12
He was about my height, though heavier; and he had a lipless tobacco-stained mouth and little red-rimmed pig eyes and a nose that might have been made out of soiled putty. He wore a blue serge suit, without a vest, a snap-brimmed gray hat, and black high-topped shoes. Shoes and hat were spotless. The suit wasn't.
I knew what he was before he ever spit the toothpick out of his mouth and showed his credentials.
I nodded and handed them back to him.
"This gentleman is with the probation department, Madeline," I said. "He's caught me in a pretty serious violation of my parole."
"Huh!" She stared at him fiercely. "That doesn't give him a license to housebreak! Where's your warrant, you-"
"You don't understand, Madeline. This gentleman can have me sent back to Sandstone. Now just close the door, and lock it this time. We don't want to be disturbed while we're talking, do we, sir?"
He grinned and the caution in his pig eyes disappeared.
"Now," I said, smiling, staring straight into his eyes. "What did you have in mind, sir? How would a couple of C-notes do?"
"Two C's?" His ugly face lit up, then contorted into a scowl. "Huh-uh. Ain't half enough. Make it five."
"Would that be enough?"
"I said so, didn't I? For five it's a deal."
"You're making a mistake," I said. "It's worth much more than five hundred for me to stay out of Sandstone. I'm afraid I can't tell you how much it is worth to me. I'd have to show you. Now, don't be alarmed, sir…"
He was alarmed, or beginning to be. But I was smiling, and holding his eyes; and so he stood and watched while I slid out of my coat and shirt and undershirt.
I heard Madeline gasp.
He gulped and whistled softly. "My God!" he whispered.
"You were looking at those welts, sir?" I said. "Why they were nothing, relatively speaking. A little annoying, perhaps, when you get them full of gnats and salt sweat and rock dust; but nothing compared to those ribs. You should have seen them popping out through the flesh like splinters bursting through tree bark. You should have seen this arm the day a friend tried to chop it off for me. That's right, sir. A friend. He got thirty days in the hole and I got three weeks in the hospital.
"I hope I didn't upset you, sir?" I said. "I just wanted to demonstrate that I don't and won't have enough to pay you to stay out of Sandstone. Which brings us to our problem. Since I can't pay you, what can I do to show how highly I value your silence? What can I give you… that will last and always be enough? That you'll never want any more of?"
He took a step backwards.