“Hell, school was not an interest in school. Not my thing.”
“Paul Larks was investigating some sensitive matters for the Treasury secretary that dealt with Haym Salomon and the heirs’ claims for repayment. The president himself ordered that inquiry. Larks found some information but, unfortunately, the important stuff was purged by Andrew Mellon in 1925, when Congress was once again looking into authorizing repayment. A previous investigation, ordered in 1937 by FDR, confirmed that Mellon had probably taken the Salomon repayment documents.”
“Which proves the U.S. government now owes his heirs $330 billion?”
“Something like that.”
“I don’t get it. How could this interest a guy like Kim Yong Jin? Okay, we might owe somebody $330 billion, but that’s not an international incident.”
She needed this man to believe her.
Get those documents, Isabella.
She could not let her boss down again.
“Larks copied some confidential papers—”
“I get that. But you still have the originals. It’s not the end of the world.”
“Actually, it is. Those copies are important, particularly if you know what you’re looking at. We don’t want them floating around. And Anan Wayne Howell, for all his fanaticism, actually might know exactly what they mean.”
She wondered how long Luke Daniels had worked with the Magellan Billet. From what she knew, that agency only hired the best. Stephanie Nelle, its longtime head, bordered on legendary. She’d even once considered applying there herself. For a long time you had to be a lawyer to be a part, but in recent years that requirement had been waived. Perhaps Stephanie Nelle might take notice of her here. A move to international espionage would be good. She’d had a few tastes of that on several other assignments.
Daniels smiled at her. “You must really think me an idiot.”
She said nothing.
“I hear what you’re sayin’. But I also hear what you’re not sayin’. All this trouble for a bunch of copies? Bullshit. But I’m going to give you the benefit of allowing you to keep what you’re holdin’ back to yourself. At least for a while longer. ’Cause right now, it doesn’t really matter.”
She remained silent.
“Lockjaw?” he asked. “I get that myself sometimes. A word of advice. Don’t try this bullshit story with Pappy. He’s—”
A perplexed look came to her face, which he noticed.
“Malone. That’s Pappy. Me? I’m downright congenial compared with him. He has a zero bullshit-tolerance level. Don’t push him.”
“I’ll remember that.”
She watched as he studied the dollar bill again.
“That is pretty amazing, though, about the Star of David,” he said. “You almost had me with that one.”
“What I said about that is true. There are many amazing things about the dollar bill.” She decided to toss him one more tidbit. “In recent years the $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills have all been redesigned. Lots of bells and whistles have been added to make counterfeiting harder. Ever heard of the Omnibus Appropriations Act?”
He shook his head.
“Section 111 of that act expressly forbids Treasury or the Bureau of Engraving from using any funds appropriated by Congress for the redesign of the $1 bill.” She pointed at the money he held. “That has to stay exactly like it is.”
The look on his face asked why.
So she led him along.
“That is part of what we’re here to find out.”
TWENTY-NINE
ADRIATIC SEA Kim was enjoying his anonymity. Neither Howell nor the woman had a clue to his identity. The crowded room was full of strangers, except for one face, on the far side, sitting at a window table by himself.
Malone.
The American had managed not only to escape the trap set for him, but had also found his way here. He assumed Howell had led him, as there’d been no sign of Malone from their tail of the woman with the satchel.
Hana stood at a counter twenty meters away sipping a bottled water.
For him, knowing the lay of the land, and the players in a room, came from living in an autocratic society where no one trusted anyone. Keeping everyone off guard was the most effective mechanism in retaining control. His family, occupying the apex of the political pyramid, had always enjoyed the luxury of only looking for trouble beneath them, never above. But that didn’t mean you ignored your family. His father had executed his own father’s brother, branding his great-uncle an enemy of the state. As a younger man, he’d never understood that. But as he’d grown older, the idea that family might pose the greatest threat had become a much clearer reality.
His half brother was living proof.