Free Recoil by Jim Thompson

do, I have Doc angry with me. I’m afraid it might lead to my parole being canceled.”
    “Umm. And if you thought it was going to be, you’d try to make a run for it. Well, we can’t have that; can’t have that, at all.”
    “I wonder if you’d have enough influence with her to make her stop,” I said.
    “We-ell—” he pursed his lips, “—yes. Yes. I can do that little thing for you.”
    “I’ll appreciate it very much,” I said.
    “That isn’t all you’re worried about, Pat.”
    “No,” I said.
    “Just no? You’ve trusted me with this other matter.”
    “I think you must know,” I said. “I can’t help wondering why Doc got me out of Sandstone.”
    “You can’t feature Doc doing that unless he stood to cash in on it?”
    “I didn’t say that,” I said. “I do feel it strange that he did it at this particular time. Judging by the way Burkman was treated and some other things I’ve seen and heard, Doc’s crowd may lose out at the election. They need everything they’ve got for themselves. Why should they use up a lot of their steam in helping me?”
    “A good question, Pat. But the answer is simple enough. Ever hear of Fanning Arnholt, president of the National Phalanx?”
    “The big patriotic organization?”
    “The super-patriotic organization,” Hardesty corrected. “What Arnholt and the Phalanx says, we common mortals feel obliged to heed and obey.”
    “Yes?” I said.
    “Arnholt’s slated to make six speeches in this state, the first here in the capital about two weeks from today. He’s going to attack a number of the textbooks now in use on the grounds that they’re subversive. When he does, it’s going to be an easy matter to get those texts thrown out and a new line adopted.”
    “I see,” I said. “But—”
    “I know. You’re wondering why we fool with books when we’ve got the oil crowd to play with. But we—Doc’s gang does get to the oil companies. A big stink about textbooks diverts the public’s attention from them. It’s worth heavy dough to them to get that attention diverted. We take a double rack-off.”
    He grinned and spread his hands, watching me out of warm dark eyes. “A dirty business all the way around, Pat, but with a boob crop like we’ve got here you just naturally find a threshing crew. And it’s worked out to your advantage. Doc set this deal up and agreed to cut his associates in on it. In return for that, they put through your parole.”
    “But that still doesn’t answer my question,” I said. “Why did Doc want me paroled?”
    “Well,” he hesitated. “I’m not sure that I can help you there.”
    “You must know,” I said. “You have a great deal more to lose than Burkman and the others. You wouldn’t have taken a hand in this unless you knew exactly where it was leading.”
    “You mean, unless I was certain of getting as much as Doc?” He shook his head. “Maybe not, Pat. There are other things besides money.”
    “You’re putting words in my mouth,” I said. “My point is that you know why Doc wanted me out of Sandstone.”
    “I might. But why should I tell you?”
    “Well…” I was stumped by the flatness of the question. “I can’t give you anything for the information. But you indicated that you were my friend, that I could trust you…”
    “Did you believe me?”
    “Well…”
    “Well, you see how it is, Pat,” he said, grinning engagingly. “You’re asking for something that you won’t give. And, as you pointed out a moment ago, I have a great deal to lose. Tell me. Don’t you have any ideas of your own?”
    “None at all. There’s nothing I can do for anyone. I don’t have anything, that I can see, but a bad reputation.”
    “Very bad,” he nodded.
    “You mean that’s something in itself?”
    “Let’s just say it’s something for you to think about.”
    “But I don’t see how—”
    “Go on, Pat. You’re doing fine.”
    “Then there’s Mrs. Luther,” I said. “If she got