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Casey drew in a slow breath. “We have our proof. Now we have the Brandos and Lina to deal with, each in different and separate ways. The Brandos come first. Getting information out of them is crucial to the investigation. We owe that to our clients.”
“Plus, whatever answers we get will give us more facts to present to Lina when we talk to her.”
“You mean when we upend her entire world.” A flash of sadness crossed Casey’s face before she got back to the business at hand. “I’ll run the meeting. But in this case, I want you to be my wingman. You’re the best when it comes to intimidation.”
“I aim to please.” Marc glanced at his watch. “It’s still early. We can call the assemblyman and see how soon he can see us.”
“It’ll be sooner rather than later—and it won’t be Brando who’ll make it happen.” Casey rummaged around in her purse, extracting a business card. “This is Neil Donato’s card. He practically shoved it at me when he saw how enthused Brando was during our conversation.”
“He probably visualizes us as potential campaign donors.”
“Big-time. He hung on to every word of our conversation. I thought he was going to ask for a check from us on the spot.”
Marc’s grin was wry. “Donato will probably bump some appointments to fit us in.”
“Count on it.” Casey picked up her cell and dialed the number on the card.
Two upbeat minutes later, Forensic Instincts had an appointment at the future congressman’s home for ten a.m. Rush hour would be avoided, and magically, Joseph’s other meetings didn’t begin until eleven.
“Setup complete,” Casey said after hanging up. “Ten o’clock at Joseph’s home office. Oh, and I think I’m Neil Donato’s new best friend.”
“I’m sure you are.” Marc tapped his coffee mug thoughtfully. “Brando has no idea what we’re really there to talk about, so his guard will be down. We’ll get an honest reaction.”
Casey nodded, continuing to think things through. “We’re only going to discuss the reality that Lina is a triplet. No sisters’ names. No cluing Joseph in on the dangers Lina’s sisters are in or how we’re investigating those dangers. And certainly no mention of the fact that we know who the three girls’ real parents were and what happened to them.”
“Very little talking, a whole lot of listening.” Marc was well-trained in this science. “If Joseph is guilty, maybe our revelation will shake him up enough to blurt out something incriminating.”
“Whether or not that happens, this is going to be an ugly confrontation. We can handle whatever Brando throws at us. But once we hit him with what we know, he’ll want to talk to Lina, to tell her his version of the truth. We’re going to have to find a way to get to Lina first.”
“I already thought of that,” Marc replied. “Joseph will want some time to discuss all this with his wife and to decide together how they’re going to approach Lina and what to tell her. So we’ll beat them to the punch. We’ll call Lina before we leave for Todt Hill and ask her to meet us at the brownstone for a late lunch.”
“A thank-you get-together for the great time we had on Sunday,” Casey agreed. “Good idea, I like it. She’ll get here right after we get back from seeing her parents, who, as you just said, will be figuring out what to say to her.” A pause. “They might ask us not to talk to Lina until after they do. In which case, we’ll lie. We’re talking to Lina right away. She’s a grown woman with two sisters she deserves to know about.”
“Agreed. But remember, Dani and Gia have to be told first.” Marc slowed Casey down, saying what had to be said. “The two of them are our clients. Lina is just our friend. I know that sounds hard, but it’s true.”
“You’re right—it does sound hard.” Casey struggled, realizing that what Marc was saying was accurate, and unable to combat her emotions enough to be objective. “You’re the one who suggested getting Lina here ASAP. So how do you suggest we handle this?”
“Other members of the FI team need to go to Rye while you and I are in Todt Hill,” Marc replied. “They need to fill Dani and Gia in, find out what they want Lina to be told, and ask if they want to meet their sister—which I’m sure they will.”
“I’ll send Claire and Emma,” Casey said without hesitation. “They’ve got a great rapport with the girls. They’ll do what has to be done, and we’ll have our answers by the time Lina gets here. That’ll lay out the course of our conversation.”
“Once Lina is ready—and assuming all parties want to meet—Emma and Claire can drive Gia and Dani to the brownstone,” Marc added.
“Once Lina is ready,” Casey reiterated Marc’s words. “She’s going to need some time to process what we tell her. Even though it’s going to be a shocker for Gia and Dani, it’s going to completely upend Lina’s life. The poor girl is completely in the dark. Not only is she going to find out she’s a triplet, she’s going to find out her parents have been lying to her all her life. And if it turns out that those lies were told for any reason other than because the Brandos wanted her to think she was their biological child, Lina is going to go to pieces. I don’t blame her. I would, too.”
Pausing, Casey picked up her cell and forwarded Aidan’s email to the rest of the team. “Last I heard, everyone’s in-house, working late tonight. I want them to see the lab results. That’ll get them in the conference room fast so we can share our plan.”
Sure enough, not three minutes later, the door flew open, and Ryan burst into the room, with Emma and Patrick close behind. Claire entered a few minutes later, wearing her yoga clothes and looking a little out of it.
“At last—a lucky break,” Ryan said. “I’ve been digging into Brando all night—his campaign supporters, his law firm, his personal life—and so far, I’ve come up empty. Now we’ve got what we need to get the truth out of him.”
“Assuming there’s a criminal truth to tell,” Patrick reminded him. “He could be innocent of everything except lying to his daughter. We have to tread carefully.”
“Great. More diplomacy.” Ryan was clearly disgusted.
“Patrick’s right.” Claire’s dazed expression, accompanied by that faraway look in her eyes, said her words were based on more than just opinion. “Taking a confrontational approach with Joseph Brando is a bad idea. He’s going to clam up quickly even if we soft-pedal it. We need to find out what he knows in a backdoor way.”
“That’s easy,” Ryan responded, looking at Marc. “We’ll get the information after you guys leave Brando’s house.”
