All Chapters of Too Late, Mr. Cross: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Elena’s POV “I need you to see the complete file before I give it to counsel,” Damian said from the other end of the phone, his voice carrying none of the urgency that would once have made me suspicious of whatever came next. “I can send Ethan to Williams if you would rather not come here.” “I’ll come to Cross.” I closed the document Evelyn had left on my desk. “Give me thirty minutes.” “You don’t have to come alone.” “I know.” He did not argue. ****** “I put everything in chronological order.” Damian placed the first folder between us after I sat across from him in the same conference room we had used before. “The independent analysts confirmed the communication records this morning.” I opened the folder. Rosalie’s old phone number appeared repeatedly beside Michael’s private Henderson line. Carrington, the supplier dispute, Graham Keller, Maison Elena, and the bank transfers. The calls clustered around accusations I had spent years defending myself against. I turned anot

Elena’s POV “You should have closed the door.” Michael’s voice came from behind me. I kept my eyes on the laptop. The document on the screen still showed my name beside the words WILLIAMS CONTINGENCY, with Michael’s note sitting beneath it like a confession he had never expected me to read. “How long have you been standing there?” I asked. “Long enough to know which file you opened.” Michael closed the study door and remained near it. “That was not the question.” “About a minute.” I looked at the folders arranged across the screen. “Then you already know there is no explanation that makes this disappear.” “I know explaining it will not make you less angry.” “Do not reduce this to anger.” Michael took one step forward. “I am not reducing anything.” “You had files on my marriage.” “I had information.” “You had Rosalie reporting Damian’s moods to you.” Michael’s eyes moved toward the laptop. “You read that folder.” “I read enough.” “Elena, some of those

Damian’s POV “Elena sent me the photograph.” Ethan placed a printed copy beside the open Richard Cross archive and took the chair across from my desk. “Jonathan says it was taken outside a neurological clinic in Helsinki three weeks ago.” I looked at Adrian Williams’s face again. There were few things left in this investigation capable of surprising me, yet the photograph had managed it. “Do we have confirmation the clinic treated him?” I asked. “Not yet. Williams counsel is handling the medical side because Elena has the stronger legal basis to request anything related to Adrian.” “Good.” Ethan watched me for a moment. “You are taking that unusually well.” “What part?” “The part where you are allowing someone else to handle something.” “I have been told I have control issues.” “By half of Manhattan.” I ignored him and opened the file Richard had maintained under the name A. WARD. Richard had built the paper trail the way he built everything else: layered enough that nobo

Elena’s POV “I want to go in as Elena Williams, not through some protective alias.” I looked at Jonathan across the private terminal lounge while Williams security completed the last arrangements. “If the clinic knows who my father is, then they can know who I am too.” “Counsel already sent your identification and the court documents establishing your relationship to Adrian.” Jonathan closed the folder in his hands. “They agreed to meet you privately.” “And Damian?” Jonathan glanced toward the glass doors. “He is waiting outside.” I looked at him. “That was not what I asked.” “You asked me yesterday whether Cross records might help establish who paid for Adrian’s care. Damian brought those records himself.” “I know what he brought.” “Then you know why he is here.” I had asked Damian to come. That should have made the question unnecessary, yet I had spent the entire day wondering whether inviting him had been a mistake. He knew Richard’s records better than anyone still aliv

Elena’s POV “Marcus Vane worked for Victor for twelve years.” Jonathan placed three photographs across the table in the temporary conference room the clinic had given us. “He was officially listed as head of executive protection. Unofficially, he handled problems Victor did not want connected to Williams Holdings.” I looked at the photograph from the surveillance footage beside an older image of Marcus standing behind Victor at a charity dinner. “What kind of problems?” “Private surveillance. Background investigations. Pressure on employees who intended to speak to regulators. He also maintained relationships with people outside the company who could move money and information without Williams systems recording the contact.” “People outside the company sound very polite.” “I am trying to avoid making claims we cannot prove.” Jonathan met my eyes. “Then tell me what you can prove.” Damian sat at the far end of the table, working through the old security records recovered from Ri