The Patriot Threat

by Steve Berry

  Constitution of the United States

  This he knew about from Howell’s book. It had been written by the then solicitor general to the secretary of state. There were references to it in other documents—that much he’d learned from Howell’s book—but the report itself had never been seen publicly. Apparently it had been hidden away in secret classified files within the American Treasury Department, found by Paul Larks.

  Excitement surged through him.

  Part of believing Howell was believing this report existed.

  And here it was.

  * * *

  Malone listened to Howell, trying to assess the younger man’s credibility.

  “I don’t know you from Adam,” Howell said. “I shouldn’t even be talking to you. I’ve spent three years hiding from the government.”

  “I don’t blame you for not trusting me. You’re right, I was sent here to bring you back. But things have changed. Larks is dead, and your lady friend is in deep trouble. So do yourself a favor and keep talking.”

  “Are you always so pleasant?”

  “Actually, this is a good day for me.”

  The younger man shook his head. “I wrote my book using bits and pieces and lots of conjecture. I admit that. But it was all I had. I heard the story about Mellon and FDR years ago. One of those urban legends American history is full of. Mellon supposedly had proof that the 16th Amendment was illegal. He also had evidence that America owed a huge debt to the heirs of a man who loaned us money during the Revolution.”

  “That why you don’t pay taxes?”

  “Damn right. It’s illegal what they’re doing. I started a website and tried to pass the word, but all I got was the IRS coming to visit. They showed up one day and ransacked my whole house. Oh, yeah, they had a search warrant, but they weren’t after anything. They just came to deliver a message.”

  “Which your failure to pay taxes gave them probable cause to do.”

  “I know. They indicted and tried me fast. I went to the first day of the trial and saw it was all a farce, so I got the hell out of Dodge before they convicted me. Which they did, without me being there. I’ve been on the run ever since.”

  “You didn’t have to surrender your passport when they indicted you?”

  Howell shook his head. “The morons never even asked if I had one, and I didn’t volunteer a thing. I got the passport a few years before for a Caribbean cruise. It definitely came in handy when I ran. I drove from Alabama to Mexico, then just disappeared, ending up in Croatia. I figured nobody really gave a damn about some small-time tax evader.”

  He figured wrong. “When did Paul Larks appear?”

  “He contacted me through my website. The part about the government owing money to those heirs turns out to be true. A few months ago Larks was tasked with finding out if there was anything in the official records about a debt owed to Haym Salomon. That request came from the president himself. There wasn’t much, but he did find out that Mellon, in the 1920s, may have taken proof of that debt from Treasury records. Then Larks came across stuff on the 16th Amendment in the same classified files. Stuff that shocked him. He was a quirky old guy. Kind of weird. For career government, he had little love for his employer. It pissed him off that the U.S. may have been committing tax fraud since 1913. He went to the Treasury secretary, who ordered him to forget he ever saw any of it. That just made him madder. Thank God that before he lost his job he managed to copy a bunch of stuff. That’s what he was bringing to me.”

  “Why you?”

  “He found my book online, read it, and told me he may actually have some stuff to prove I was right. It bothered him that people like me were being prosecuted and sent to jail. And it really upset him that his boss told him to forget it all. He told me what he had, which did fill in some of the gaps. Larks was right. It’s wrong what the government is doing.”

  “Where does Kim fit in?”

  “With me? Nowhere. I thought he was another guy the IRS was after. He called himself Peter From Europe. He and I talked online about the usual stuff. Taxes, jail, that sort of thing. Only with Larks did I discuss details.”

  Malone figured Kim was playing both ends against the middle, working Howell and Larks, learning what he could from both.

  “Larks finally mentioned to me that he’d been talking to a Korean,” Howell said. “But I never connected the two. Why would I? He told me that the Korean wanted to meet. There was no way I was going back to the States, but he said that was not a problem—the guy was overseas. So Larks offered to pay for my cruise and reserved me a ticket. I just changed it into Jelena’s name. After talking it over some more, Larks and I agreed that we didn’t want foreigners involved. We’d do this ourselves. We needed a face-to-face anyway, so we took advantage of the trip. Look, shouldn’t we be doing something? Searching? Jelena is in trouble.”

  “It’s a big ship with nowhere to go until we dock.”

  A picture was forming in Malone’s head, but a piece was missing. “Treasury sent an agent here to get those copies back. You clipped her into the water back in Venice. How did you know she was here?”

  “I didn’t. I just saw her zeroing in on Jelena, so I took her out. I didn’t know who she was.”

  “So tell me what you haven’t said. And don’t lie to me. I’ve tried to make this clear, but you don’t seem to get it. I’m the only friend you’ve got.”

  He could see Howell was beginning to believe that.

  “There is one document in what Larks brought that’s extra special. The only original among all those copies. That’s what I really wanted to see. It’s why Larks came.”

  He waited.

  “It’s a crumpled sheet of paper that Andrew Mellon supposedly gave FDR.”

  THIRTY-TWO

  Department of Justice

  _______

  Office of the Solicitor

  _____________

  Memorandum

  February 24, 1913

  Ratification of the 16th Amendment to the

  Constitution of the United States

  Previously, the Secretary of State referred to the Solicitor’s Office for determination the question whether the notices of ratifications by the several states of the proposed 16th Amendment to the Constitution are in proper form, and if they are found to be in proper form, it is requested that this office prepare the necessary announcement to be made by the Secretary of State under Section 205 of the Revised Statutes.

  Eleven days ago this office forwarded to the Secretary of State a detailed memorandum concerning problems noted with the ratification process for the 16th Amendment. I will not reiterate what was stated therein, except to question why no action was taken relative to its contents. It seems that something more than silence is warranted, given the serious legal questions raised (which was why the example from Kentucky was included). Yet instead of a further investigation, the Secretary of State has now requested legal clarification as to his powers relative to declaring a constitutional amendment ratified. The Supreme Court has never directly considered this precise issue, but it has ruled in Field v. Clark, 143 U.S. 649 (1892), that

  What the president was required to do was simply in execution of the act of Congress. It was not the making of law. He was the mere agent of the law-making department to ascertain and declare the event upon which its expressed will was to take effect.

  The same principle is true of the Secretary of State, relative to declaring a proposed amendment to the Constitution ratified. Congress has delegated to him the authority to declare the “expressed will” of the states relative to any proposed amendment. The Secretary of State is the sole administrative official who can make that legal determination. How that is done by the Secretary is for him alone to decide. History is instructive, though. As to all other constitutional amendments previously approved (and disapproved) since 1787, in every instance the Secretary of State declared that the requisite number of states had notified his office of their approval or disapproval. Th
at declaration has never been questioned by any court.

  Kim stopped reading.

  Here was some proof that there were doubts, in 1913, about the validity of the 16th Amendment to America’s Constitution, just as Anan Wayne Howell had speculated. The amendment, he knew, was declared valid on—he checked Howell’s book—February 25, 1913, the day after the memo he held was sent from the solicitor general to the secretary of state. But as Howell noted in his book, that official action merely said the amendment was “in effect,” not “properly ratified.” A play on words, for sure, but an important one. Perhaps done by the secretary of state in response to the solicitor’s written concerns?

  But what were those concerns?

  The memorandum was silent on details, referring instead to another document dated eleven days earlier. He rummaged through the remaining pages and found no copy of that communication. But he did find a report, from the secretary of Treasury, Henry Morgenthau, to the president of the United States, dated January 26, 1937. This, too, had been referred to in Howell’s book.

  More unsubstantiated fact there.

  Now here it was.

  Per your presidential order, the one dollar bill was redesigned in 1935. The changes incorporated at that time were as follows: On the obverse, the blue numeral 1 was changed to gray and made smaller; the gray ONE to the right was removed; the Treasury seal was made smaller and superimposed by WASHINGTON, D.C.; and a stylized ONE DOLLAR was added over the Treasury seal. The reverse was also modified to include the Great Seal of the United States. Per your specific request (as noted on the next page) the seal was depicted with its reverse side to the left, obverse to the right.

  He flipped to the next page and studied a copy of the bill’s image, noting that Roosevelt had both approved and specifically asked for the seal to be depicted as noted.

  He turned his attention back to the memorandum, which explained that the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States, as it appeared on the redesigned $1 bill, featured a barren landscape dominated by an unfinished pyramid of thirteen steps, topped by the Eye of Providence. At the base of the pyramid were engraved the Roman numerals MDCCLXXVI, 1776. At the top stood a Latin phrase, ANNUIT COEPTIS, which meant “God favors our undertaking.” At the bottom of the seal was a semicircular banner that proclaimed NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM, taken from Virgil, meaning “a new order of the ages,” a reference to the new American era. A string of thirteen pearls extended outward toward the bill’s edge.

  The obverse of the Great Seal featured a bald eagle, the symbol of the United States. Above the eagle was a radiant cluster of thirteen stars arranged in a six-pointed star. The eagle’s breast was covered by a heraldic shield with thirteen stripes that resembled those on the American flag. The stars and stripes stood for the thirteen original states of the union. The eagle held a ribbon in its beak reading E PLURIBUS UNUM, “Out of many states, one nation.” In its left talons the eagle grasped thirteen arrows. In its right talons it held an olive branch with thirteen leaves and thirteen olives. Together, those represented the opposing powers of war and peace. Another string of thirteen pearls extended outward toward the bill’s edge.

  Your question relative to a message hidden within the Great Seal was considered. The fact that drawing lines between letters A M S O N on the seal’s reverse side not only forms a six-pointed star, but also provides letters that form the word MASON cannot be explained. The Great Seal was created over a 23 year period, starting in 1776 and ending in 1789. Many designs were considered and rejected. Symbolism abounds throughout the seal, especially with the repeated use of 13 in much of its art. But all of that was intended to reflect a patriotic flavor, a celebration of the newly formed United States of America. No evidence could be found of any intentionally inserted secret messages.

  The latest redesign of the one dollar bill occurred over a period from late 1933 to the end of 1934, per your order. Many career Treasury officials participated, most of whom were hired when Mellon was Treasury Secretary, but no influence from him on the redesign has been uncovered.

  The remaining copies dealt with the 1935 redesign, the reasons and justifications given for each artistic inclusion. Nothing seemed particularly relevant. Then he came across another report.

  More recent.

  Dated in the last ninety days.

  From Paul Larks to the current secretary of Treasury.

  THIRTY-THREE

  ZADAR, CROATIA

  Isabella climbed down from the small plane, Luke Daniels already on the tarmac, his sunglasses gone. The weather had steadily worsened on the flight across the Adriatic. The splendid sunshine of an Italian morning had been blotted out by the black curtain of a Balkan squall blowing in from the east, along with a noticeable temperature drop.

  The flight had been quick and uneventful. They should be about an hour ahead of Malone. The ferry’s docking terminal waited seven miles away, on a narrow peninsula that accommodated Zadar’s town center. She’d never visited Croatia, her overseas travel confined to central Europe and England and always work-related. She never took vacations. Her accrued leave time had ballooned off the charts, so much that her supervisor had told her she had to start using it. So far she’d ignored that directive.

  “I saw some taxis on the other side of the airport as we approached for landing,” Luke said. “You need to know that the Chinese and North Koreans may have assets here, on Kim’s trail. We could run into them.”

  “How would they know where Kim is?”

  He shrugged. “Probably because they’ve been watching him, too. Just keep alert.”

  “I always do.”

  “Yeah, like you did back on the dock in Venice.”

  “Did saying that make you feel better?”

  “Actually, it did. But let’s get real, okay? How much experience do you have facing down a kill squad? This isn’t a bunch of high-steppin’ tax evaders. These folks will really hurt you.”

  She stared him down. “I know how to use a gun. I can take care of myself.”

  He chuckled. “Lady, you got no idea.”

  “Just follow my lead,” she said, “and we’ll be fine.”

  “Here’s a news flash. Pappy doesn’t take orders.”

  “Pappy isn’t in charge. I am.”

  “Since when?”

  Male abruptness seemed an occupational hazard. Of late, though, the female kind had begun to raise its ugly head. Her last two partners had been women, both loose cannons, both trying to stand out in what they believed to be a man’s world. So they took risks. Made mistakes. She hated the description a man’s world. Women could succeed. She was living proof of that, now working directly for the Treasury secretary on a top-secret mission. All you had to do was play by the rules, do as you were told, and deliver results. That always paid dividends, regardless of your sex. Everything about this mission had been explained to her in detail. She got it. The stakes were high. And she knew what had to be done, this Southern cowboy and a retired guy named Pappy be damned.

  She. Was. In. Charge.

  On the flight over she’d managed to learn a little about Luke Daniels. Washington had emailed that he was ex-military, special forces, decorated, with several overseas tours. He’d worked for the Magellan Billet going on two years and had the good fortune to be the nephew of the president of the United States. Which dropped him several notches on her list of respect. No one had ever helped her climb the ladder, and she resented any and all who took shortcuts.

  “We need to get to the ferry dock,” she said. “Before this storm arrives.”

  * * *

  Malone waited for Howell to explain.

  “Larks told me about an original sheet he found in the Treasury archives, all crumpled up. As soon as I heard what he had to say, it all made sense. We know that Mellon met with Roosevelt on New Year’s Eve 1936. That comes from the diary of David Finley—one of Mellon’s closest people—published in the 1970s. The meeting was to finalize the National Gallery of Art, but Me
llon gave something to Roosevelt, which the president crumpled up and tossed away.”

  “You think it’s the same piece of paper?”

  “If not, it’s one heck of a coincidence.”

  He couldn’t argue with that.

  “That page has random numbers on it. Larks scanned it and sent it to me.”

  “Then it’s within Larks’ email account, or on a computer at Larks’ house?”

  Howell shook his head. “The old guy was paranoid as hell. He told me he sent it from somewhere else. He didn’t say by whom or from where, and I didn’t ask. All my email accounts are under false names. A copy is stored on one of them. It’s some kind of code, but I couldn’t crack it. I really wanted to see the original, so he brought it over. That’s part of what that Korean just took with him.”

  Which called into question his decision to allow Kim to walk away. Stephanie and the president’s orders had been clear. Retrieve the documents.

  “There’s also a copy of a 1913 report from the solicitor general in that satchel. Larks sent me a scan of that, too. It’s significant because it tells the secretary of state that he can pretty much do whatever he wants relative to declaring a constitutional amendment valid. It references a previous memo from the solicitor general. That previous memo, I believe, is the smoking gun. It’s the one that lays out all the problems. But Larks never could find it in the archives.”

  He understood. “You think Mellon took it?”

  “It’s entirely possible.”

  “How in the world do you know about any of this? It seems all of the important information was sealed away. How did you piece it together?”

  “I first read about this on the Internet. There’s a lot of crazy stuff about the 16th Amendment. For decades people have tried to convince courts that the income tax is illegal. Was Ohio a state at the time the amendment was ratified? Some say no. I disagree. It was. Others say that the amendment did not specifically repeal previous contradictory clauses of the Constitution, therefore it’s invalid. That’s ridiculous. Still more say that the filing of a tax return violates the Fifth Amendment’s protection against self-incrimination, or that it’s a ‘taking’ and cannot be imposed ‘without just compensation.’ One guy argued that the 16th Amendment was unconstitutional since it violated the 13th Amendment’s prohibition against ‘involuntary servitude.’ Original, but nuts. None of those are the way.”