A Face to Die For (Forensic Instincts 6)

An eerie feeling crawled up his spine.

“Yoda, I need you to run this photo through your facial recognition software,” he said. “But first, morph him into a forty-five-year-old. The guy would be twenty-seven years older now than he was then.”

“Facial recognition software search underway,” Yoda replied. A short while later, he announced, “Facial recognition complete after age enhancement applied. Photos printing now.”

Ryan hung over the printer until the photos came through. He took one look at them and then raced for the stairs, taking them two at a time.

He burst into the room where the rest of his teammates, and Gia and Dani, were waiting for news of any kind.

“Casey.” He shoved the photos at her. “I know where Jimmy Colone disappeared to. Photo one is a graduation picture. Photo two is Jimmy Colone today—sans his broken nose and a few other cosmetic tweaks.”

Casey’s gaze darted from one picture to the other. Then she raised her head, her expression utterly stunned.

“My God,” she breathed. “Jimmy Colone is Neil Donato.”

CHAPTER 38

The Brando gazebo

3:05 p.m.

Joseph arrived at the white lattice structure to find his campaign manager already waiting for him. He was standing, feet planted, clearly ignoring the bench, and poised and ready for whatever confrontation Joseph had in mind. Oddly, he exuded an air of calm that Joseph hadn’t expected.

Then again, he had no idea how much Joseph knew.

“I assume this isn’t about the campaign,” Neil began as Joseph stalked up to him.

“No. It’s not.”

“Then it’s about Lina.” An irritated sigh. “I told you everything.”

“That’s a crock of shit.” Joseph’s eyes were blazing. “What you told me is that you had no clue where the triplets came from. I’ll refresh your memory. They came from their natural parents, Anthony and Carla Ponti, the couple you shot to death in Brooklyn twenty-seven years ago.”

Neil’s head jerked back in surprise, but Joseph didn’t wait for a denial.

“You brought those babies to Angelo, and he split them up and turned the world upside down to protect you. You, you son of a bitch. You. My long-term legal associate, my family friend, my campaign manager. I gave you your first job, took you under my wing, and made you a part of my family.”

“What do you want, Joseph?” Neil demanded, abandoning all pretense. “I love your family. I kept you all out of this, not just because Angelo wanted it that way but because I did.”

“You did this to save your own ass. It’s why you had to vanish so quickly, not because Angelo was keeping you away from the mob the way he told me but because he was keeping you out of jail. What do I want? I want you to look me in the eye and admit the truth. I want you to provide the authorities with a full confession. I want you to flush yourself down the toilet and exonerate me of any wrongdoing.”

“Now who’s saving his own ass?” Neil shot back. “Plus, you’re crazy. You want me to look you in the eye and admit that everything you just said is true? Fine, consider it done. I killed the Pontis and took their three kids. But you’re insane if you think I’m turning myself in. Prison? After all these years? No fucking way.”

“Fine. Then I’ll do it.” Joseph reached into his pocket and pulled out his iPhone. “The voice recorder app—a wonderful tool.” He tapped the icon and played a few sentences back to Neil. “I’ll be playing this for the cops and the FBI—who I’m calling right now.” He opened the phone app to press 9-1-1.

Neil’s composure snapped.

“Give me that!?

? He lunged forward, grabbing for the cell phone.

Joseph held it out of reach and punched Neil in the gut.

Neil recovered quickly, groping in his pocket and pulling out a gun. With a shaking hand, he pointed it at Joseph.

“Don’t make me do this, Joseph,” he said. “Just give me that cell phone and let me walk away. You’ll never see me again.”

Joseph went still, his stunned gaze fixed on the weapon.