The Prodigal Spy Read Online Free PDF Page B

only Red he’s ever seen had feathers coming out of his head. No cameras. That’s what he’s doing this
for
. Once they turn the lights off, he’s
gone
. And right now, all he’s got is you. No one else to call. The girl didn’t give them any names. How they tricked her into naming you, I don’t know, but it won’t work again. You’ve seen her up there–she never expected any of this to happen. She’s not the Bentley type. You’re the end of the road as far as Welles is concerned. He’s not going to trade you for some musical chairs over at State. You’re all he’s got.”
    “Do you know this?”
    Larry shrugged. “Nobody keeps a secret in this town. Believe me, his in-box is empty. She’s not giving him anything. She can’t even prove what she said about herself. At this point, he’d be lucky to make the charges stick against
her
.”
    “She confessed.”
    “If you believe her. Maybe she did Judge Crater too. People confess to anything–they like the spotlight. That doesn’t make it true. Even Welles is nervous about her. The louder he gets, the less he has to say.”
    “Then he ought to jump at this.”
    “He won’t. Listen to me, Walter. There is no deal here. Welles is too dumb to make one and you’re too smart. You don’t have to give him anything–you just have to stop fighting with him. If he can’t cite you for contempt, he’ll walk away with nothing.”
    Nick heard his father sigh. “What’s the difference, Larry? I’m going to have to resign anyway. I keep waiting for the phone call. No, it’ll be a meeting, I suppose. Acheson’s office. Just the two of us. Nothing personal. Better under the circumstances–Christ, I’ve already been through it. Why not get something for it? A little peace of mind at least.”
    “If you do that now, it’s as good as an admission, Walter. We can’t have that.”
    Nick’s father raised his eyebrows in surprise. “We?”
    “You’d be a political liability.”
    For a moment they stared at each other, a silent conversation, then Nick’s father leaned against the desk again. “I don’t care, Larry. I’m going to resign.”
    “No, it’s not going to happen that way,” Larry said, his voice low and steady, as if he were explaining something to a child. “He’s going to shout and you’re going to be polite. Nothing will happen. You’ll be the loyal American you always were–maybe a little foolish and idealistic, but nothing worse. One of the good guys. She–let’s say she was confused, maybe a nut case, anyway confused.”
    Larry moved toward the desk, as if he were adjusting the sights of his words, taking aim. “In the spring, two, three months from now, you resign quietly. All that time in the limelight–well, it would make anyone shy. You want the quiet life. The administration regrets. It’s a pity reckless accusations are driving talented men out of public life. Or maybe nothing has to be said–no one notices. They’ve moved on. By the time the elections roll around in the fall, you’re not even a memory and Welles is out on the stump with a different fight on his hands. Nobody’s soft on Communism. Nobody’s been embarrassed.”
    Again, an awful stillness in the room.
    “It’s been decided, then,” Nick’s father said softly.
    “It’s been discussed.”
    And then Nick saw, without knowing why, that it was over, like a tennis game.
    “They don’t pay you enough, Larry,” his father said finally, now slumped against the desk.
    Larry looked at him, and let it pass. “This one’s for free, Walter. I’m on your side, believe me.”
    “I do, Larry. That’s the funny part. Well,” he said, standing up and straightening, the way he did when he walked over to the net to shake hands, a good sport, “so I get to make a deal after all. What’s in this one for me?”
    “You’ve got to think about your future, Walter. What are you going to do after?”
    “With my land of resume, you mean.”
    “It never hurts to